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Order of the Spirits: Initiation
Destiny is a matter of choice.
Trained by legendary warriors, Wolf and Nemo are the newest recruits of the Order. They’re both on the path of becoming the next Elite knights—the most prominent role a fighter could wish for—but how much must they sacrifice for it?
Ripped away from their ordinary lives and thrown into a primordial war between monsters and mankind, the two young recruits must quickly decide what it is that they fight for or pay the price in blood.
Their journeys begin now.
Trained by legendary warriors, Wolf and Nemo are the newest recruits of the Order. They’re both on the path of becoming the next Elite knights—the most prominent role a fighter could wish for—but how much must they sacrifice for it?
Ripped away from their ordinary lives and thrown into a primordial war between monsters and mankind, the two young recruits must quickly decide what it is that they fight for or pay the price in blood.
Their journeys begin now.
574 pages, Paperback
Published November 17, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 3, 2023
3.8 Stars
A partial origin story for Fragments, Initiation covers how the members of the Elite trained under the guidance of the Spirits and the Order, how they operate as a team, and sets up most of their paths going forward. It then opens the stage for a war with the Rhagg and introduces a new antagonist which I’ll get to in a second.
For those of you reading Initiation before Fragments, here are the basics: Our two main characters are Wolf the vigilante and Nemo the dual sword master, members of the Elite. The Elite also consists of Alex the gunslinger, Irea the portal master, Lothar the tank, Sarah the mage, Jane the shield-maiden, Nabrick the craftsman, and Gable the master craftsman. Trained by spirits from another world called Under Realm, a plane laced in magic — or at least, alternate physics and rules — the Elites are elevated as the protectors of the Realm; though in Wolf’s case, he favors the protection of Earth at any given opportunity.
Portals link the two worlds, necessitating them being constantly guarded to prevent supernatural creatures like the Rhagg (humanoid wolves), Sodrai (vampires), demons, and other malicious entities from seeping into the world and causing the downfall of mankind. The Order and the Spirits work in tandem to keep this balance intact, but it’s a constant war to survive.
To the surprise of no one who’s already read Fragments, Initiation starts with Wolf joining the team and then promptly noping out of being a soldier to be ordered about, choosing to serve Earth with his abilities more so than Under Realm — though that doesn’t mean he abandons the Order outright, just that he’s… unreliable. His home city of Krus is a mess and a half with several crimelords running amok, sending him down a solo vigilante crime fighting spree that continues into the events of Fragments. He spends much of this book trying to solve the murder of Aleksandra’s father, Ivan, and getting caught up in one web of villainy after the next in the process.
Nemo, the second main character, focuses his time on protecting Under Realm. Though, he does almost get himself dipped in magma at one point while trying to find the magic swords he trained with in the Dream, and those same swords — although helpful — have a dark nature to them that will undoubtedly grow worse as time goes on. Never, ever trust sentient blades that eat souls.
While Wolf focuses most of his efforts on Krus, the rest of the Elite are sent across the territory of the Order far from Ontengan’s walls to deal with a rising threat of Rhagg that blooms into an all-out war. Along the way, the depth of some of the characters is given a little more love, and a few new ones are introduced. Nabrick definitely took the spotlight among the secondary characters in this book, quickly claiming his place as 3rd best member of the Elite. He’s a skittish genius of a kid who’s somehow both very insecure and very independent at the same time, and he adds a great balance to the dynamics of the team.
Alex, Nick, Irea, and Sarah get some more time to grow their personalities — Irea coming the furthest the fastest in terms of her story and core motivations — though to be honest they’re all still lacking their spark moments that make characters like Wolf, Nemo, and Nabrick shine, though they’re probably close to hitting them soon. I’m still not sure how I feel about Gable, but that will be cured by more time spent with him.
Jane and Lothar are the two that suffer from fading into the background, and to be frank, I sometimes forget Jane is even there. Lothar at least stands out as the tank of the team, but Jane is defined more by what she isn’t than by what she is at this point. “The female teammate that’s not Sarah and not Irea”. She does have one good character moment talking with Wolf early in the book, but aside from that, she and Lothar lurk in the peripheries more like tertiary characters than secondary ones.
Part of this is because Order Of The Spirits is a more action-focused series in general than a series that’s deeply and constantly involved with each character, so it does at least partially come down to genre. That said, I’d love to see some more time dedicated to these two in the future so that they feel like integral parts of the Elite and less like shadows that follow the team.
Ifcarus however, the antagonist of this book, does shine through nice and clear, and though his scenes are few and far between, he’s already shaping up to be an excellent contrast to the Elite as he leads the Rhagg and Sodrai into open warfare with the Order. I’d say more about him, but no matter what I’d choose to spill would be major spoilers, so I’ll save that for the long rant after this mostly spoiler-free section.
Oh, and for those who might be wondering, this book is kind of the first chronologically speaking, but both Initiation and Fragments can be read independently of each other. Unlike Fragments however, Initiation is much more linear in nature; but don’t worry, the interludes are still here, they’re just packaged into compact sections, making for a much cleaner story progression that’s more novel-like in style rather than a collection of shorter stories.
All in all, there are some really good scenes scattered between chapters and there’s always something to be pieced together from all the little threads sprinkled throughout the world-building, lore, and dialog. The lore is obviously quite expansive, and it’s going to take several books to get a handle on, which is exactly my cup of tea.
Favorite Scene:
Pg. 510
“There are two ways to stop a Rhagg… Kill them, or destroy them.”
Definitely not spoiling that scene for those who haven’t read it, but for those who have, you know what that was. Best character moment of the series so far bar none. That side of Wolf’s character is what makes him my favorite of the entire lot. It also added a meta layer to his alias, which is the cherry on top.
I had a lot of fun with Initiation, and look forward to Nightmares!
Ogh devon, ogh ahgis!
(I post exended reviews and book memes on Patreon, Minds, and my website. This is because Goodreads does in fact have a word cap that I’ve hit before and I can't upload pictures here.)
A partial origin story for Fragments, Initiation covers how the members of the Elite trained under the guidance of the Spirits and the Order, how they operate as a team, and sets up most of their paths going forward. It then opens the stage for a war with the Rhagg and introduces a new antagonist which I’ll get to in a second.
For those of you reading Initiation before Fragments, here are the basics: Our two main characters are Wolf the vigilante and Nemo the dual sword master, members of the Elite. The Elite also consists of Alex the gunslinger, Irea the portal master, Lothar the tank, Sarah the mage, Jane the shield-maiden, Nabrick the craftsman, and Gable the master craftsman. Trained by spirits from another world called Under Realm, a plane laced in magic — or at least, alternate physics and rules — the Elites are elevated as the protectors of the Realm; though in Wolf’s case, he favors the protection of Earth at any given opportunity.
Portals link the two worlds, necessitating them being constantly guarded to prevent supernatural creatures like the Rhagg (humanoid wolves), Sodrai (vampires), demons, and other malicious entities from seeping into the world and causing the downfall of mankind. The Order and the Spirits work in tandem to keep this balance intact, but it’s a constant war to survive.
To the surprise of no one who’s already read Fragments, Initiation starts with Wolf joining the team and then promptly noping out of being a soldier to be ordered about, choosing to serve Earth with his abilities more so than Under Realm — though that doesn’t mean he abandons the Order outright, just that he’s… unreliable. His home city of Krus is a mess and a half with several crimelords running amok, sending him down a solo vigilante crime fighting spree that continues into the events of Fragments. He spends much of this book trying to solve the murder of Aleksandra’s father, Ivan, and getting caught up in one web of villainy after the next in the process.
Nemo, the second main character, focuses his time on protecting Under Realm. Though, he does almost get himself dipped in magma at one point while trying to find the magic swords he trained with in the Dream, and those same swords — although helpful — have a dark nature to them that will undoubtedly grow worse as time goes on. Never, ever trust sentient blades that eat souls.
While Wolf focuses most of his efforts on Krus, the rest of the Elite are sent across the territory of the Order far from Ontengan’s walls to deal with a rising threat of Rhagg that blooms into an all-out war. Along the way, the depth of some of the characters is given a little more love, and a few new ones are introduced. Nabrick definitely took the spotlight among the secondary characters in this book, quickly claiming his place as 3rd best member of the Elite. He’s a skittish genius of a kid who’s somehow both very insecure and very independent at the same time, and he adds a great balance to the dynamics of the team.
Alex, Nick, Irea, and Sarah get some more time to grow their personalities — Irea coming the furthest the fastest in terms of her story and core motivations — though to be honest they’re all still lacking their spark moments that make characters like Wolf, Nemo, and Nabrick shine, though they’re probably close to hitting them soon. I’m still not sure how I feel about Gable, but that will be cured by more time spent with him.
Jane and Lothar are the two that suffer from fading into the background, and to be frank, I sometimes forget Jane is even there. Lothar at least stands out as the tank of the team, but Jane is defined more by what she isn’t than by what she is at this point. “The female teammate that’s not Sarah and not Irea”. She does have one good character moment talking with Wolf early in the book, but aside from that, she and Lothar lurk in the peripheries more like tertiary characters than secondary ones.
Part of this is because Order Of The Spirits is a more action-focused series in general than a series that’s deeply and constantly involved with each character, so it does at least partially come down to genre. That said, I’d love to see some more time dedicated to these two in the future so that they feel like integral parts of the Elite and less like shadows that follow the team.
Ifcarus however, the antagonist of this book, does shine through nice and clear, and though his scenes are few and far between, he’s already shaping up to be an excellent contrast to the Elite as he leads the Rhagg and Sodrai into open warfare with the Order. I’d say more about him, but no matter what I’d choose to spill would be major spoilers, so I’ll save that for the long rant after this mostly spoiler-free section.
Oh, and for those who might be wondering, this book is kind of the first chronologically speaking, but both Initiation and Fragments can be read independently of each other. Unlike Fragments however, Initiation is much more linear in nature; but don’t worry, the interludes are still here, they’re just packaged into compact sections, making for a much cleaner story progression that’s more novel-like in style rather than a collection of shorter stories.
All in all, there are some really good scenes scattered between chapters and there’s always something to be pieced together from all the little threads sprinkled throughout the world-building, lore, and dialog. The lore is obviously quite expansive, and it’s going to take several books to get a handle on, which is exactly my cup of tea.
Favorite Scene:
Pg. 510
“There are two ways to stop a Rhagg… Kill them, or destroy them.”
Definitely not spoiling that scene for those who haven’t read it, but for those who have, you know what that was. Best character moment of the series so far bar none. That side of Wolf’s character is what makes him my favorite of the entire lot. It also added a meta layer to his alias, which is the cherry on top.
I had a lot of fun with Initiation, and look forward to Nightmares!
Ogh devon, ogh ahgis!
(I post exended reviews and book memes on Patreon, Minds, and my website. This is because Goodreads does in fact have a word cap that I’ve hit before and I can't upload pictures here.)
January 23, 2023
Great fantasy/adventure novel
If you read and liked the first book "Order of the spirits - Fragments" you will love the Initiation! It is revealing many things you were wondering about in the first book, and it gives you deeper perspective on the characters, their past and motivations. Of course, there are new characters and events, and all is well connected, the ending is so great!
If you haven't read Fragments, on the other hand, you can also read the Initiation first because it is an independent novel. Both of them are smartly and skilfully written, so no matter the order of reading, one will complement the other. Furthermore, now I want to read Fragments again, to have new experience with all the knowledge from the Initiation :)
I don't like to spoil the plot with any details, so I will just say you won't miss excellent characters, exciting action and nice worldbuilding. I truly enjoyed it!
If you read and liked the first book "Order of the spirits - Fragments" you will love the Initiation! It is revealing many things you were wondering about in the first book, and it gives you deeper perspective on the characters, their past and motivations. Of course, there are new characters and events, and all is well connected, the ending is so great!
If you haven't read Fragments, on the other hand, you can also read the Initiation first because it is an independent novel. Both of them are smartly and skilfully written, so no matter the order of reading, one will complement the other. Furthermore, now I want to read Fragments again, to have new experience with all the knowledge from the Initiation :)
I don't like to spoil the plot with any details, so I will just say you won't miss excellent characters, exciting action and nice worldbuilding. I truly enjoyed it!
February 7, 2024
5/5 - Can’t wait for book 2.
I loved this book. The prose had me caught up so much I’d reread sentences, even paragraphs over a couple times because the writing was so well written.
The fight scenes were top tier. So much action and detail incorporated to create amazing word pictures of the world I felt like I was in the same place as Nemo and Wolf.
The dichotomy between Wolf and Nemo was crafted in a way that I had strong feelings toward each of them. I connected the most with Wolf, rather than Nemo, however, both characters were written with their own unique voice. The nuances of Wolf and Nemo were so smooth.
The storytelling, the prose, the characters, all were inspirational to me for many different reasons. Writing is hard, although, Vladimir Radojković made it look easy.
I loved this book. The prose had me caught up so much I’d reread sentences, even paragraphs over a couple times because the writing was so well written.
The fight scenes were top tier. So much action and detail incorporated to create amazing word pictures of the world I felt like I was in the same place as Nemo and Wolf.
The dichotomy between Wolf and Nemo was crafted in a way that I had strong feelings toward each of them. I connected the most with Wolf, rather than Nemo, however, both characters were written with their own unique voice. The nuances of Wolf and Nemo were so smooth.
The storytelling, the prose, the characters, all were inspirational to me for many different reasons. Writing is hard, although, Vladimir Radojković made it look easy.
August 17, 2023
A prequel to Order of the Spirits: Fragments, this book introduces us to the origin story for the Elite, a team of spirit-trained warriors in Under Realm, from the points of view of Nemo and Wolf. Both Nemo and Wolf are from Earth. They know each other through a mutual friend, but while Nemo is ready to dedicate his life to Under Realm, Wolf has some unfinished business on Earth. His home city of Krus is a lawless cesspool run by corrupt politicians and criminal bosses, and he has assigned himself to the task of righting a one of the many wrongs these villains have inflicted on the population.
Nemo trains with the newly formed team of warriors who are expected to defend the humans living in Under Realm and guard the portal to Earth, and Wolf is missing practice by getting himself mixed up in Earth-side trouble. This tension forms the initial conflict of the story, but as you would expect in an adventure novel, bigger threats loom on the horizon.
I had some trouble understanding exactly why Wolf felt so drawn to help the girl he finds in the opening scene of the book, setting him on his path of revenge against the city's crime lords, or why he adopts a non-lethal fighting style. That said, it becomes an intriguing part of his character. I'm always a fan of investigative stories, and Wolf doesn't disappoint as he tracks clue after clue to bring him closer to understanding what's going on and what's at stake.
Wolf's story parallels the threat his teammates are facing in Under Realm, a threat he mainly ignores, and his disregard puts him at odds with his team. More could've been done with this tension. I enjoyed the route the story took, but I can't help but wonder what the story would've looked like if the author had really ratcheted up the animosity between Wolf and his teammates due to his absence.
While Wolf is off trying to save Krus from itself, his team gets sent on their first mission, and it all goes sideways in a glorious manner. The team dynamic is explored, not as thoroughly as I would've liked, but definitely well enough to establish the roles of each member and how they work together.
The story was well told and easy to follow through the two points of view of Nemo and Wolf. Personally, I found Wolf to be the more engaging of the two, though Nemo reads as the more standard protagonist. The story features many tech gadgets which play a significant part in both Wolf and Nemo's story arcs and their resolution. I'm not a huge fan of high tech, but if Batman/Spiderman-style gadgets appeal to you, this story is your jam. I also have to mention here the combat scenes. I easily followed all the action, from two-person duels to massive battles. Somehow the author maintains the tight point of view while also giving encompassing views of the fights. It's beautifully done and the book is worth reading on merit of its fight scenes alone.
I found myself putting the book down towards the end, probably because I favor interpersonal/character development over action, and the last section of the book was action-packed. A sense of imminent doom was maintained, and the conclusion was satisfying. The antagonist is terrifying and intriguing, a worthy adversary for our team of Elite in the books to come, and I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel, Order of the Spirits: Nightmares.
Nemo trains with the newly formed team of warriors who are expected to defend the humans living in Under Realm and guard the portal to Earth, and Wolf is missing practice by getting himself mixed up in Earth-side trouble. This tension forms the initial conflict of the story, but as you would expect in an adventure novel, bigger threats loom on the horizon.
I had some trouble understanding exactly why Wolf felt so drawn to help the girl he finds in the opening scene of the book, setting him on his path of revenge against the city's crime lords, or why he adopts a non-lethal fighting style. That said, it becomes an intriguing part of his character. I'm always a fan of investigative stories, and Wolf doesn't disappoint as he tracks clue after clue to bring him closer to understanding what's going on and what's at stake.
Wolf's story parallels the threat his teammates are facing in Under Realm, a threat he mainly ignores, and his disregard puts him at odds with his team. More could've been done with this tension. I enjoyed the route the story took, but I can't help but wonder what the story would've looked like if the author had really ratcheted up the animosity between Wolf and his teammates due to his absence.
While Wolf is off trying to save Krus from itself, his team gets sent on their first mission, and it all goes sideways in a glorious manner. The team dynamic is explored, not as thoroughly as I would've liked, but definitely well enough to establish the roles of each member and how they work together.
The story was well told and easy to follow through the two points of view of Nemo and Wolf. Personally, I found Wolf to be the more engaging of the two, though Nemo reads as the more standard protagonist. The story features many tech gadgets which play a significant part in both Wolf and Nemo's story arcs and their resolution. I'm not a huge fan of high tech, but if Batman/Spiderman-style gadgets appeal to you, this story is your jam. I also have to mention here the combat scenes. I easily followed all the action, from two-person duels to massive battles. Somehow the author maintains the tight point of view while also giving encompassing views of the fights. It's beautifully done and the book is worth reading on merit of its fight scenes alone.
I found myself putting the book down towards the end, probably because I favor interpersonal/character development over action, and the last section of the book was action-packed. A sense of imminent doom was maintained, and the conclusion was satisfying. The antagonist is terrifying and intriguing, a worthy adversary for our team of Elite in the books to come, and I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel, Order of the Spirits: Nightmares.
September 11, 2023
best book ever 10/10 would recommend
March 23, 2024
3.5*
Great ensemble piece, lots of action.
Great ensemble piece, lots of action.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews