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The Cataclysm Series #1
The Cataclysm
The world has never recovered from the Cataclysm a century ago. Though the fires have died, and the famines ran their course, the scars left behind blur the lines between right and wrong.
Caldera, one of the remaining great cities of the world, trembles as the balance of power shifts. Rivals maneuver to take control of the city and will stop at nothing to come out on top.
Asher, a mercenary mage, is given a job too big to refuse. He and his companions must navigate the city's landscape of corruption, betrayal, and political upheaval, or it’ll be their heads on the next contract.
Short stories and custom illustrations start each chapter, telling tales of the Cataclysm from dozens of cultures and different perspectives.
Caldera, one of the remaining great cities of the world, trembles as the balance of power shifts. Rivals maneuver to take control of the city and will stop at nothing to come out on top.
Asher, a mercenary mage, is given a job too big to refuse. He and his companions must navigate the city's landscape of corruption, betrayal, and political upheaval, or it’ll be their heads on the next contract.
Short stories and custom illustrations start each chapter, telling tales of the Cataclysm from dozens of cultures and different perspectives.
- GenresFantasy
375 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2022
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 28, 2022
An intriguing novel and first in a trilogy to be released in monthly intervals starting in December. Set some decades after a world-changing cataclysm which is described in many vignettes at the beginning of each chapter from various perspectives, the book is set in the city-state of Caldera, one of the powers of the changed world. There is a looming conflict between various powers, including the government, the local underworld guild named The Black Hand, a new religious order and the mages of the Spire who are under new management.
The universe is quite intriguing (due to the varied effects of magic in the world, various races of humans diverged across history) and the characters are interesting - former mage Asher (Calderan and generic human) who together with his partner Deishiro of a warrior race which is assumed destroyed in the Cataclysm with only few survivors descended from those away from their homeland like Deishiro's grandparents at the time, are the topmost independent Guild operatives and are offered a huge contract they cannot refuse. One guild official has big ambitions and Asher's former mentor at the Spire, now marginalized by the current leadership, has discovered something unexpected, while a new messianic religion is taking hold of Caldera to the dismay of both the Guild and the council of advisors who lead the country in the name of the mentally challenged king and queen. And so it goes in a fast-moving and energetic storyline. The writing is a bit stilted and occasionally dampens the energy of the plot, but it gets better as the pages go on.
Ending at a good tbc point, I definitely plan to get the second novel asap
The universe is quite intriguing (due to the varied effects of magic in the world, various races of humans diverged across history) and the characters are interesting - former mage Asher (Calderan and generic human) who together with his partner Deishiro of a warrior race which is assumed destroyed in the Cataclysm with only few survivors descended from those away from their homeland like Deishiro's grandparents at the time, are the topmost independent Guild operatives and are offered a huge contract they cannot refuse. One guild official has big ambitions and Asher's former mentor at the Spire, now marginalized by the current leadership, has discovered something unexpected, while a new messianic religion is taking hold of Caldera to the dismay of both the Guild and the council of advisors who lead the country in the name of the mentally challenged king and queen. And so it goes in a fast-moving and energetic storyline. The writing is a bit stilted and occasionally dampens the energy of the plot, but it gets better as the pages go on.
Ending at a good tbc point, I definitely plan to get the second novel asap
Want to read
March 11, 2024This is not a full review. I read through the beginning of all 300 SPFBO9 contest entries. This was a book I wanted to read more of.
Magic changes peoples over time. A boy in a city teeming with different magically changed races pals around with his friends, until he witnesses a horrible murder by an unlikely assailant.
The opening to this debut is lively, detailed, and focused on its setting and central character from the start as we follow our young scamp with a stable, simple life without care.
The banter between the young friends was charming to me. There have been quite a few stories that feature young friends fooling about, and I find I’m a fan, personally.
The dialogue here is balanced well with the narration and descriptions of our setting, which is well detailed, but in a way that comes alive instead of feeling like a stuffy catalogue.
The prose is a pleasure to read. It was informative, focused, developed the story, and made for an easy read without being simple.
The opening takes a drastic, and unexpectedly welcome turn when our MC suddenly finds himself at the scene of a murder and in a tête-à-tête with the killer.
I don’t want to say more and feel I have already spoiled some of the surprise in this opening, but with a name like The Cataclysm, this was not the shock I was expecting. But this is only the beginning!
I am delighted with the beginning. It manages different tones well. I feel I’m in great hands. This debut, released a year ago, has only 7 ratings on GR! Dear friends, I recommend it to your attention. I’m in!
Magic changes peoples over time. A boy in a city teeming with different magically changed races pals around with his friends, until he witnesses a horrible murder by an unlikely assailant.
The opening to this debut is lively, detailed, and focused on its setting and central character from the start as we follow our young scamp with a stable, simple life without care.
The banter between the young friends was charming to me. There have been quite a few stories that feature young friends fooling about, and I find I’m a fan, personally.
The dialogue here is balanced well with the narration and descriptions of our setting, which is well detailed, but in a way that comes alive instead of feeling like a stuffy catalogue.
The prose is a pleasure to read. It was informative, focused, developed the story, and made for an easy read without being simple.
The opening takes a drastic, and unexpectedly welcome turn when our MC suddenly finds himself at the scene of a murder and in a tête-à-tête with the killer.
I don’t want to say more and feel I have already spoiled some of the surprise in this opening, but with a name like The Cataclysm, this was not the shock I was expecting. But this is only the beginning!
I am delighted with the beginning. It manages different tones well. I feel I’m in great hands. This debut, released a year ago, has only 7 ratings on GR! Dear friends, I recommend it to your attention. I’m in!
August 11, 2023
Over 100yrs ago something fiery fell from the sky, landed in the middle of the continent Arana and caused cataclysmic events that affected everybody living, even away from ground zero of the blast.
Afterwards there were shifts in power, new religions sprung up and there was magic - magic of dark and light supposedly to keep an equilibrium.
Moving forward and long after the Cataclysm, our story begins in the coastal city of Caldera.
Mages and The Guild of the Black Hand run the city but their grip on the city is starting to waver. A new religion is springing up, with an extremely wealthy man at its head and an efficient soldier at his side and a large number of the population are beginning to follow him.
Asher, a mercenary mage and Deishero, an extremely talented and efficient mercenary killer are hired to assassinate the leader of this new religion but when things go wrong they become the perfect foils for those who are losing their power and a price is put on their head. Fleeing the city, they head towards the Blasted Lands, to the edges of the Cataclysm. (Their adventures there will be continued in the next book. Cataclysm tells us the reasons why they end up there)
Asher and Deishero are an engaging pair - total opposites but one person's weakness is the other ones strength. Asher is lazy, relies too much on his magic and decides since he can't change fate he may as well enjoy life. Deishero however trains every night, is extremely perceptive and a bit of a worrier. He is also one of the last members of his race as the majority were killed in the Cataclysm, this affects everything he does.
An extremely good story and I particularly liked the pictures and comments at the beginning of each chapter; all from different people around the continent who were alive when the cataclysm happened.
I look forward to the second book and see more of the continent and how the cataclysmic events changed people, animals and the landscape.
Afterwards there were shifts in power, new religions sprung up and there was magic - magic of dark and light supposedly to keep an equilibrium.
Moving forward and long after the Cataclysm, our story begins in the coastal city of Caldera.
Mages and The Guild of the Black Hand run the city but their grip on the city is starting to waver. A new religion is springing up, with an extremely wealthy man at its head and an efficient soldier at his side and a large number of the population are beginning to follow him.
Asher, a mercenary mage and Deishero, an extremely talented and efficient mercenary killer are hired to assassinate the leader of this new religion but when things go wrong they become the perfect foils for those who are losing their power and a price is put on their head. Fleeing the city, they head towards the Blasted Lands, to the edges of the Cataclysm. (Their adventures there will be continued in the next book. Cataclysm tells us the reasons why they end up there)
Asher and Deishero are an engaging pair - total opposites but one person's weakness is the other ones strength. Asher is lazy, relies too much on his magic and decides since he can't change fate he may as well enjoy life. Deishero however trains every night, is extremely perceptive and a bit of a worrier. He is also one of the last members of his race as the majority were killed in the Cataclysm, this affects everything he does.
An extremely good story and I particularly liked the pictures and comments at the beginning of each chapter; all from different people around the continent who were alive when the cataclysm happened.
I look forward to the second book and see more of the continent and how the cataclysmic events changed people, animals and the landscape.
February 15, 2023
Great first book in the series. I love the short vignettes at the beginning of each chapter and the artwork throughout. I really enjoyed the different storylines happening in parallel and I'm excited to see how they all come together in books 2 and 3!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews