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The Second Sun
Laxis Dymon is a young woman of nineteen. Seemingly apart from the world, she lives a reticent lifestyle, satisfied by her solitude. She also possesses wonderous and mystical powers, the extent, and origins of which are unknown to her.
Tasked to capture the ancient and evil witch Wyo, she is met along the road to Steele Holm by a retainer of House Steele, Djain Klous. Unbeknownst to them, Lord Williard Steele has been murdered. Being held for questioning and execution is a young mother and servant of House Steele, a maid named Sallis.
The Steele family, having fled Steele Holm Keep after the murder of Lord Williard, leave only a distant cousin, the honorable knight Sir Marel Steele as lone remaining Steele to administer justice. It is his job as Keeper of the Dungeons to decide the fate of young Sallis.
Laxis and Djain arrive in the Keep to the dismay of Sir Marel. At his wits end, he is sure Sallis is innocent of the crime, but has no way of proving it. Djain, seeing a chance to grab power for himself, as well as his lover Lady Hunsley, puts in plans to have Sallis executed regardless.
Wanting only to be paid for her commission and be on her way, Laxis is confronted with the idea that an innocent woman will be put to a grisly death. She asks for the chance to speak with Sallis. Her only alibi, a mysterious half-starved little girl of about ten years of age, whose identity will unlock the keys to everything Laxis has unknowingly sought her entire life
Tasked to capture the ancient and evil witch Wyo, she is met along the road to Steele Holm by a retainer of House Steele, Djain Klous. Unbeknownst to them, Lord Williard Steele has been murdered. Being held for questioning and execution is a young mother and servant of House Steele, a maid named Sallis.
The Steele family, having fled Steele Holm Keep after the murder of Lord Williard, leave only a distant cousin, the honorable knight Sir Marel Steele as lone remaining Steele to administer justice. It is his job as Keeper of the Dungeons to decide the fate of young Sallis.
Laxis and Djain arrive in the Keep to the dismay of Sir Marel. At his wits end, he is sure Sallis is innocent of the crime, but has no way of proving it. Djain, seeing a chance to grab power for himself, as well as his lover Lady Hunsley, puts in plans to have Sallis executed regardless.
Wanting only to be paid for her commission and be on her way, Laxis is confronted with the idea that an innocent woman will be put to a grisly death. She asks for the chance to speak with Sallis. Her only alibi, a mysterious half-starved little girl of about ten years of age, whose identity will unlock the keys to everything Laxis has unknowingly sought her entire life
304 pages, Hardcover
Published July 28, 2022
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November 18, 2023If you want a book where pretty much only bad things happen... and you get a centipede POV.
September 21, 2023
Laxis, a competent warrior and gifted magic wielder, apprehends a child-kidnapping witch, but when she goes to collect payment for the bounty, she discovers that the lord who hired her is dead, murdered under strange circumstances. Lack of clear succession prevents Laxis from getting paid immediately, and she's drawn into the investigation. If Laxis doesn't track down the murderer, an innocent woman will die.
My earliest observation of this book is that it would've benefited from some more beta readers and a good editor. Despite the flaws, I'm boosting my rating because I found it to be an engaging page turner. At no point did I put The Second Sun down and not pick it up again in a few hours. I was reading while I was cooking dinner and waiting for my kids to get their haircut.
Starting at the beginning, the set-up is full of world building as we meet Wyo and Laxis. Instantly I'm impressed by the casual brutality of this world. Many books that attempt to convey this kind of setting, "the strong eat the weak," are contrived: the author wants to make the world brutal but doesn't have a grasp of what that would actually look like. Not here. This world has a settled, lived-in feel, like I've arrived and get to witness how people operate. I might not like it, but I don't question it.
Then there's the action. I was riveted to the page to see how fights turned out. Laxis is a "chosen one" type character, the best at what she does. In some books, that can be obnoxious, but here the author does a fair job conveying that she uses her skill and training advantages to overcome the advantages of strength and size possessed by her male opponents. More importantly, her opponents underestimate her, and she doesn't give them the opportunity to revise their opinion before she puts them down.
Stakes and motive. This book has both in oodles. Every character in this book has something they want, and something they're afraid to lose. The story regularly updates what's at risk if plans don't go the way the character wants. And of course, every character's plans conflict with the other characters's plans.
Writing style. The narration reads like a modern myth retelling, somewhat formal in its sentence construction. An example: "Yes. I know of her arrival. The day is in question, but the certainty is not." It's not difficult to read, no SAT words peppered throughout. I'm reminded of how the cast at a Renn Faire might address me. Quite unlike the vernacular I find in other modern fiction.
I would've liked to know Laxis is a bounty hunter from the very start, and the specifics of the bounty she's collecting. She knows the details about Wyo. There's no reason I shouldn't know it, too. The story continues to skirt around her occupation, and I'm not sure why. Aside from apprehending Wyo, her occupation becomes irrelevant to the story, which is a pity. Consider Geralt from the Witcher, he's always making reference to this or that job, and his past jobs help him analyze what he's facing now. Laxis has none of that. We do learn that she's from a well-off family, with parents who loved her, and she learned how to fight. I appreciate that she doesn't have some crazy traumatic backstory, but there was no motive established for why she took up the role of bounty hunter. It's not a deal breaker, but would've been nice to have.
Laxis's magic isn't adequately explained. She needs material components to do certain things, but we never know where these material components came from (did she have a mentor who gave them to her, were they stolen), and while she's to be able to use magic to solve several major problems in the story, she doesn't use magic outside of those specific moments. Which begs the question, is her magic freeform, and her tools help her channel it, or is it fixed and she can only do a few specific spells. I was happy with the way her telepathy played out in the story. Her gift is always on, sometimes to her benefit and sometimes to her disgust. She is also able to summon a small flame on command.
The magic used by the supernatural beings featured in this story is handled better. They have a code that dictates what they can and can't do, but that their abilities are more freeform. I especially loved the threat the book's major antagonist faces, though his motive and role should've been revealed sooner, because my attention had wandered by the time I learned the truth about him.
Repetition. I read the same backstory and events 3-4 times for most of the characters. In the case of Sallis and Hunsley, their backstories were given close to a dozen times. I even got the backstories of characters who never made an appearance in the book, from several POVs. Once or twice would've been enough. Might as well mention it here, abuse against women happens a lot. Completely in keeping with the setting, so I'm not going to dock points for that. But heads up, it's in there, with a lot of other violence.
Info dumping. Mike is an engaging storyteller, so I enjoyed all the asides that told me about a character's past as they're introduced for the first time. For example, Rayn the blacksmith, is a minor character who's useful for sharing gossip from the town, and I shouldn't care about him, but the moment he appears on the page, I get two memories of how he interacted with one of the other characters. Now I'm invested. The randomly inserted backstories for characters like Gerid, Sir Preeg, and Rayn made me care about them, stories engaging enough that I didn't mind the interruption. Just note that writers are told to not do that.
Characterization. The male characters are clearly either good guys or bad guys, and the bad guys come in one flavor: abuse of power/strength. I didn't necessarily want to feel sorry for Djain or Lord Steele, but it would've been nice to see how they are a product of their environment. Also, I would've liked to see Rayn do some questionable stuff. Lord Preeg, the executioner, seems like he could've been an interesting character, but he doesn't get much time on the page. Which leaves us with Sir Marel as the most interesting male character. As the man responsible for throwing people in jail for executions, he crosses into "I did what the law says, even though I know it's evil" territory, but the realization comes too late to feel relevant. I would've liked to see him struggle more with knowing he was causing prisoners serious pain that they probably didn't deserve, sooner. His situation at the end of the book, though not through any fault of his own, is a fun twist for his character.
The female characters have far more depth, with backstories that contribute to their current behaviors. The book could've done a better job explaining why Laxis is on her path, and I would've liked to see her have some non-honorable moments. Sallis spends most of the book being a victim. Which is fair, but she's got the whole "You're strong because you survived," compliment going on. It's not like she had much choice. Hunsley, on the other hand, was far more intriguing in how she dealt with her crappy hand in life and the way she coped with it. Lady Steele was a great combination of good (love for her family) and bad (arrogance), and those two elements made me both respect and dislike her. Wyo was bad news from the start, and the book does a good job revealing why in bits and pieces along the way.
Not a major complaint, and apparently I got an early copy, my book is riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes. Stuff like "It was a heavy yolk to carry", "he wondered through the forest," and "she couldn't bare the pain", as well as comma omissions that changed the meaning of the sentence. I didn't mind, but if that's something that takes you out of the story, this book is not for you.
Mike has an excellent grasp of pacing. No situation is resolved without setting up some graver threat looming on the horizon. His brief forays into backstories are fun, and I'm right back on track with the primary plot once those finish up. I hope he continues to explore this style of storytelling, because it is quite innovative from what I typically see in modern fiction. If Chuck Palahniuk can insert a random explanation for how soap is made in the middle of his fiction and it works, why can't Mike include mini-tales about his characters?
My earliest observation of this book is that it would've benefited from some more beta readers and a good editor. Despite the flaws, I'm boosting my rating because I found it to be an engaging page turner. At no point did I put The Second Sun down and not pick it up again in a few hours. I was reading while I was cooking dinner and waiting for my kids to get their haircut.
Starting at the beginning, the set-up is full of world building as we meet Wyo and Laxis. Instantly I'm impressed by the casual brutality of this world. Many books that attempt to convey this kind of setting, "the strong eat the weak," are contrived: the author wants to make the world brutal but doesn't have a grasp of what that would actually look like. Not here. This world has a settled, lived-in feel, like I've arrived and get to witness how people operate. I might not like it, but I don't question it.
Then there's the action. I was riveted to the page to see how fights turned out. Laxis is a "chosen one" type character, the best at what she does. In some books, that can be obnoxious, but here the author does a fair job conveying that she uses her skill and training advantages to overcome the advantages of strength and size possessed by her male opponents. More importantly, her opponents underestimate her, and she doesn't give them the opportunity to revise their opinion before she puts them down.
Stakes and motive. This book has both in oodles. Every character in this book has something they want, and something they're afraid to lose. The story regularly updates what's at risk if plans don't go the way the character wants. And of course, every character's plans conflict with the other characters's plans.
Writing style. The narration reads like a modern myth retelling, somewhat formal in its sentence construction. An example: "Yes. I know of her arrival. The day is in question, but the certainty is not." It's not difficult to read, no SAT words peppered throughout. I'm reminded of how the cast at a Renn Faire might address me. Quite unlike the vernacular I find in other modern fiction.
I would've liked to know Laxis is a bounty hunter from the very start, and the specifics of the bounty she's collecting. She knows the details about Wyo. There's no reason I shouldn't know it, too. The story continues to skirt around her occupation, and I'm not sure why. Aside from apprehending Wyo, her occupation becomes irrelevant to the story, which is a pity. Consider Geralt from the Witcher, he's always making reference to this or that job, and his past jobs help him analyze what he's facing now. Laxis has none of that. We do learn that she's from a well-off family, with parents who loved her, and she learned how to fight. I appreciate that she doesn't have some crazy traumatic backstory, but there was no motive established for why she took up the role of bounty hunter. It's not a deal breaker, but would've been nice to have.
Laxis's magic isn't adequately explained. She needs material components to do certain things, but we never know where these material components came from (did she have a mentor who gave them to her, were they stolen), and while she's to be able to use magic to solve several major problems in the story, she doesn't use magic outside of those specific moments. Which begs the question, is her magic freeform, and her tools help her channel it, or is it fixed and she can only do a few specific spells. I was happy with the way her telepathy played out in the story. Her gift is always on, sometimes to her benefit and sometimes to her disgust. She is also able to summon a small flame on command.
The magic used by the supernatural beings featured in this story is handled better. They have a code that dictates what they can and can't do, but that their abilities are more freeform. I especially loved the threat the book's major antagonist faces, though his motive and role should've been revealed sooner, because my attention had wandered by the time I learned the truth about him.
Repetition. I read the same backstory and events 3-4 times for most of the characters. In the case of Sallis and Hunsley, their backstories were given close to a dozen times. I even got the backstories of characters who never made an appearance in the book, from several POVs. Once or twice would've been enough. Might as well mention it here, abuse against women happens a lot. Completely in keeping with the setting, so I'm not going to dock points for that. But heads up, it's in there, with a lot of other violence.
Info dumping. Mike is an engaging storyteller, so I enjoyed all the asides that told me about a character's past as they're introduced for the first time. For example, Rayn the blacksmith, is a minor character who's useful for sharing gossip from the town, and I shouldn't care about him, but the moment he appears on the page, I get two memories of how he interacted with one of the other characters. Now I'm invested. The randomly inserted backstories for characters like Gerid, Sir Preeg, and Rayn made me care about them, stories engaging enough that I didn't mind the interruption. Just note that writers are told to not do that.
Characterization. The male characters are clearly either good guys or bad guys, and the bad guys come in one flavor: abuse of power/strength. I didn't necessarily want to feel sorry for Djain or Lord Steele, but it would've been nice to see how they are a product of their environment. Also, I would've liked to see Rayn do some questionable stuff. Lord Preeg, the executioner, seems like he could've been an interesting character, but he doesn't get much time on the page. Which leaves us with Sir Marel as the most interesting male character. As the man responsible for throwing people in jail for executions, he crosses into "I did what the law says, even though I know it's evil" territory, but the realization comes too late to feel relevant. I would've liked to see him struggle more with knowing he was causing prisoners serious pain that they probably didn't deserve, sooner. His situation at the end of the book, though not through any fault of his own, is a fun twist for his character.
The female characters have far more depth, with backstories that contribute to their current behaviors. The book could've done a better job explaining why Laxis is on her path, and I would've liked to see her have some non-honorable moments. Sallis spends most of the book being a victim. Which is fair, but she's got the whole "You're strong because you survived," compliment going on. It's not like she had much choice. Hunsley, on the other hand, was far more intriguing in how she dealt with her crappy hand in life and the way she coped with it. Lady Steele was a great combination of good (love for her family) and bad (arrogance), and those two elements made me both respect and dislike her. Wyo was bad news from the start, and the book does a good job revealing why in bits and pieces along the way.
Not a major complaint, and apparently I got an early copy, my book is riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes. Stuff like "It was a heavy yolk to carry", "he wondered through the forest," and "she couldn't bare the pain", as well as comma omissions that changed the meaning of the sentence. I didn't mind, but if that's something that takes you out of the story, this book is not for you.
Mike has an excellent grasp of pacing. No situation is resolved without setting up some graver threat looming on the horizon. His brief forays into backstories are fun, and I'm right back on track with the primary plot once those finish up. I hope he continues to explore this style of storytelling, because it is quite innovative from what I typically see in modern fiction. If Chuck Palahniuk can insert a random explanation for how soap is made in the middle of his fiction and it works, why can't Mike include mini-tales about his characters?
January 19, 2023
An exceptionally well-written dark fantasy...
In Mike VanHoose’s “The Second Sun” we discover nineteen-year-old Laxis Dymon who appears to be isolated from the rest of the world, leading a solitary existence. She also possesses amazing supernatural abilities, the extent, and source of which are unknown. She merely wants to get paid her commission and be on her way after being tasked with capturing an ancient and nasty witch. Along the journey, she is confronted with the thought that an innocent woman would be killed. Her only alibi is a strange half-starved ten-year-old girl, the identity of whom will unlock the keys to everything Laxis has been searching for her entire life…
“The Second Sun” is a superb narrative in how it gives the main character an opportunity to confront herself and realize she is both imperfect but trying. The pathos created is expected but captures the tone of the book well. Highly recommended for fans of dark fantasy and it gets a well-deserved five stars from me.
In Mike VanHoose’s “The Second Sun” we discover nineteen-year-old Laxis Dymon who appears to be isolated from the rest of the world, leading a solitary existence. She also possesses amazing supernatural abilities, the extent, and source of which are unknown. She merely wants to get paid her commission and be on her way after being tasked with capturing an ancient and nasty witch. Along the journey, she is confronted with the thought that an innocent woman would be killed. Her only alibi is a strange half-starved ten-year-old girl, the identity of whom will unlock the keys to everything Laxis has been searching for her entire life…
“The Second Sun” is a superb narrative in how it gives the main character an opportunity to confront herself and realize she is both imperfect but trying. The pathos created is expected but captures the tone of the book well. Highly recommended for fans of dark fantasy and it gets a well-deserved five stars from me.
October 10, 2022
modern but epic
This book was not what I thought it would be. The way it’s old is a lot more modern than what it was compared to in other reviews, such as Lord of the rings, or Game of Thrones. That being said, it fits in well, as just as good of a story. You can tell this author spent a lot of time researching other well told stories before they decided to tackle this one. I’m very excited to read more from this talented author!
This book was not what I thought it would be. The way it’s old is a lot more modern than what it was compared to in other reviews, such as Lord of the rings, or Game of Thrones. That being said, it fits in well, as just as good of a story. You can tell this author spent a lot of time researching other well told stories before they decided to tackle this one. I’m very excited to read more from this talented author!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews