The Awakening

Eve of Redemption #8

by Joe Jackson

The dead are rising from their graves. Somewhere beneath the land of Terrassia, something stirs from its ages-old slumber.Leighandra Evenstar planned to attend the resulting summit of nations simply to chronicle the problem and the suggested solutions. Soon, however, she finds herself wrapped up with a group of young heroes intent on making solutions rather than talking about them. They are an odd assortment - humans, an elf, and one of the wolf-like luranar - and yet Leighandra finds purpose in the unity of peoples and nations.Will it be enough? Can the gathering of many peoples from many nations stop the awakening of an ancient evil? Or will Terrassia be the first continent to fall?

432 pages, Paperback

Published December 23, 2020

About the author

As an avid fan of fantasy, I try to combine shades of some of my favorite authors' writing - Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, and RA Salvatore, among others - into my own world. The result is a world of rich descriptions, complex politics, and heart-racing combat.

I started writing Sci-Fi short stories in fifth grade after seeing the movie "Aliens" in the theater. After getting into Dungeons & Dragons with friends as a teenager, my interests moved to Epic Fantasy, but still rooted in a Sci-Fi alien world. The Eve of Redemption series represents the culmination of years of world-building and back-story development, much of it through epic AD&D campaigns, that takes familiar epic fantasy and brings it to an alien world.

I live in Rhode Island with my wife and two daughters. When I'm not chasing the rascals around the yard or counting beans for the boss, I'm usually imagining the next turn on the long road that the Eve of Redemption series brings.

Reviews

[Joe Jackson]

This is not a review of my own work, of course, but I wanted to give future readers a heads-up on what to expect before this volume releases.

Author’s Note

“The Awakening” is a bit of a departure from what you’ve come to expect from the Eve of Redemption series. This will be the first work that doesn’t follow Kari at all, until its last pages. It details the work of the group who found the first jade seal as mentioned in the final chapter of Convergence. This book takes place soon after Kari’s departure from Terrassia following her hunt for Annabelle, and the timelines will meet up at its conclusion.

In short, don’t panic. This cast is not replacing Kari and the Silver Blades; they are being added to the main cast, but I chose to do this in a way that they would be intimately familiar to you rather than have them appear as add-ons who took care of an incredibly complex subplot.

So buckle in and enjoy this classic quest, and get to know these new heroes!

[Aelvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dead are rising, and the cities have called a council to address the issue. But a group of attendees aren't content to just talk---they've banded together to investigate. Leighandra, a half-elf who is neither great warrior nor great mage, finds herself swept up in that group who seeks the truth . . .

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I bought the book anyway because I love the series.

This follows a new set of characters, although it lightly touches on Kari's adventures (mostly as reports or rumors from other characters) which helps orient series readers to where this is in the timeline. Because of that, this is also a good place for new readers to hop in despite being so late in the series.

Despite a mostly new cast, there are a few cameos. Karinda has a small role, and it's hysterical to see the differences between how Karinda acts with Kari versus this bunch. Kari just can't help seeing a familiar friend and these guys get O Mighty Archmage.

Of the new cast, I adore Max, who is a lunarar (wolf-like humaniod). I like his wife, and how the two of them interact. I'm really not much of a romance fan in general---I hate "relationships" that are just physical attraction, especially when one or both of the participants are behaving in ways that would be clear warning signs in a real relationship (so sick of "dark past" love interests who are just jerks with a pretty face). Max and Audrei were so much the opposite. They had an established relationship, based on mutual respect, and they were both PEOPLE WORTHY OF RESPECT. They honored each other. They were kind to each other and to those around them. They were HUMBLE. But they weren't some too-perfect-to-feel-real relationship because of the struggles Max has with letting even his wife see his burdens, and the child that rocked their relationship and their faith. Max was faithful to his wife together or apart, and she to him.

And of course all those scenes with Max looking like a wet dog were too much fun.

Galadon is also a great deal of fun. I liked his fragmented memories, his confusion about where he's been since the war, and the way everyone back home reacted to his return. At the same time, I like that he's not, by and large, the main focus, as his story and Kari's have a lot in common.

Quote:

Galadon nodded.  “We’ll need to confer with my generals anyway, to ask about the local trouble with the gnolls before we go out blindly.  So we’ll get our answers either way.  But I beg of you: If they try to forcibly put me back on the throne, take me hostage and head north.”

And this had me just about dying laughing:

“What the heck is a paladin doing with a crowbar?” Starlenia blurted.
“Always be prepared,” the knight replied with no trace of humor.

I really liked that scene where Leighandra was talking to Starlenia about what each of them can do. It's true that Leighandra isn't contributing much in one sense---but she knows her role, is COMFORTABLE in it (wow, that's huge), and is able to see big picture and small (again, without pride getting in the way. . . . I'm sensing a theme here. No wonder these feel so different from pretty much all the other books I read).

The trials for the seals have a number of interesting twists. The "collect them all" plot device is a familiar one, but I was still surprised at several points. Each one has a focus: some emphasize strength, some cleverness, some wisdom, and so on. And it really does take the whole team to pull this off.

And that tease for Irrathmore . . . I can't wait to see what that world is like.

Overall, this is another excellent adventure, with a new set of amazing characters to follow. Given the end, it looks like Kari will be interacting with them a lot in the future, so I look forward to more great stories to come. I rate this book Highly Recommended.

See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....

[Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet The New Heroes

*The Awakening* is the eight book in *Eve of Redemption* series by Joe Jackson.

In this installment the biggest difference by far are the central characters - the story this time around isn't focused around Karian Vanador and her ever-growing cadre of friends and allies. Instead, an entire party of new characters are presented, and they are the movers and shakers of the events that play out. The heroes in *Awakening* are less interesting than usual, since they're composed mainly of humans and two run-of-the-mill fantasy races - elves and wolf-people - while the series' unique races like rir and half-demons are absent for the most part, except in particular parts of the story. Still, the new cast, standard as it is, have distinct personalities, and spending time with them is enjoyable in an old-fashioned way. And to be honest, a shakna-rir character *does* join the party halfway through the book; and humans have played prominent roles in the previous novels anyway; and the continent where the action takes part is different, so there's in-world justification for the character composition. What I probably want to say is, that things this time around are *different* - which can serve to make the series more varied for readers, although this boils down to personal preference.

The story is nothing new - the dead suddenly start to rise all across Terassia, further investigation points that a great evil god is behind all the commotion, and it's up to the heroes to stop said evil god before things get ugly. Been there, read that. Well, not really; the story at first starts in that direction but then quickly diverges into multiple plot threads, though none of them have center stage - it's the characters and their personal adventures who have that honor. The party spends the entire book globe-trotting across the continent, visiting ruins, cities, enchanted forests, islands, mountains, deserts, and more in their quest for... well, I won't spoil it, I'll just say the quest is tied to large-scale events central to the whole series. As you can expect from such epic journey, the party has encounters with equally impressive individuals such as rulers, councilors, wizards, and dragons; and in actuality, there are not one, but *two* monarchs among the main characters themselves! So, the plot may be cliche, yet it pulls all the stops along the route to give a good old-fashioned epic-feeling experience.

Yet the meat of the story, as I said above, are the main characters themselves. As they go from one adventure to another, they gradually become friends, inventing and teasing one another with inside jokes, sharing their personal stories, and learning during the journey what binds them together. The narrative is told exclusively from the point of view of Leighandra, a half-elven bard/chronicler, who acts as the group's emotional support and repository for all kinds of legends and lore. This wasn't immediately obvious, but it does feel a little strange decision in a novel that features over half-dozen main characters and as much secondary characters. Overall, the book doesn't suffer from it, yet with so much available POVs, it feels as if some potential has been lost here.

Finally, for those of you who would prefer to see more of Kari and the old gang rather than get acquainted with a totally new cast, fret not; she and the Silver Blades do appear in the book, albeit at the very end. Their role is to serve as a bridge between *Awakening*'s story and the series' overall plot, but it is still a welcome sight to see them again, if only for a few pages.

CONCLUSION

*Awakening* is somewhat a detour in the series. Granted, an important one given what it is accomplished by the end of the story, but nevertheless a divergent branch. Given the series' previous entry, *Convergence*, this seems ironic when compared to that book both in terms of title and narrative content/focus. On its own, *Awakening* is a fun read if you're seeking lighthearted, standard-fashion fantasy. Though it bears some of the hallmarks of what makes the series refreshing - for example, the family-like warm interactions between its main characters - I'm not entirely satisfied by the differing premise. As such, this is a 4.5 star review; if you like the idea of a sidestep in the series round it up to 5 stars; and if you rather prefer the narrative to have been more focused then round it down to 4 stars.

[Remy G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Joe Jackson opens the eighth and thus-far-latest entry of his Eve of Redemption series with a warning that it doesn’t follow Karian Vanador and the Silver Blades until the very end. The first two chapters revolve around zombies rising from the graves due to necromancers, although revenants don’t seem to play much of a major role within the story. A few of the protagonists are ultimately introduced, among them being a wolf prince named Auremax, Max for short, married to fellow lupine Audrei. There is a bit of confusion throughout the text with one character who isn’t Aeligos referred to as “the rogue” and another as “the ranger” without clear indicators of whom they refer to.

Swords based on compass directionality play some role within the narrative, as does a blind medusa named Alissiri that the dragon Fireblade wants the characters to slay. A set of jade seal MacGuffins serve as driving factors later on in the plotline as well, with several desert treks and Audrei yearning for offspring with Max. A boy named David whose true identity the book quickly reveals serves as a squire to the group as well, and at one instance Max has a battle with a knight named Dame Taeranna Sakiveldi, who holds several titles including Desert Eagle, First Huntress of the Crown, and Knight-General of the Order of the Western Star.

The group does cross paths with Kari and her friends at the end of the book, and while this entry’s emphasis on a new group of characters somewhat disappointed this reader, he would very much rate it on par with its predecessors, since the change of perspective added a degree of freshness to the literary franchise. This reviewer definitely did get a sense of confusion regarding some of the aforementioned kennings for some of the characters, and consequentially had a difficult time remembering who was of what race, and the author could have chosen a name for a settlement other than “Emerald City,” but he would definitely recommend this book to fans of prior entries, although with the warning of the new cast of characters.

[Erin Groppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

We meet a new group of characters in 'The Awakening' and they are fantastic. This story is told from the viewpoint of the historian/bard traveling with the group but it is in no way one dimensional. Each character has a rich back story and their own personal motivations for joining the quest. This story also takes place on a different continent, the one where Kari defeated Annabel, so we are introduced to new cities and peoples. Every time you think you have the story figured out Jackson throws in a twist to make it even more interesting. This was a great read and I am eagerly awaiting the next book.

[Katie Nadya]

I've read up to this book by the seat of my pants. The world is amazing and so are the characters. I just seem to be having a problem actually even reading this book. Just as with the previous books in this series, it is written rather well and engaging but I just don't feel like the main character holds any kind of charm or gusto as Kari. After Blowing through all the other books and even missing sleep to finish them, it was a real dissapointment when I picked this book up and just was not sucked in at all. I am not sure if it's the fact that it takes a step back in time or that Leighandra just isn't the badass in your face character as Kari or both but there just seems to be such a tone shift and it left me wanting to almost skip this book and dive into the next. I am sure the book gets better further in, I'm just not sure if this book will even hold a candle to the amazing story of the previous 7 books.