Eleventh Cycle

Mistland #1

by Kian N. Ardalan

It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. Finally, the Morning Bell tolls. A new Seed is born, but is it too late? The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear. But there is more to this tale than just the Elders and their Seeds. Four mortals will have a part to play in Minethria's fate. A farmer girl with only love in her eyes. A warrior born to the life of a refugee. A highborn stuck between the realm of gods and men. And a woman running into front lines and away from home. Will the cycle finally be completed? Or will the mist swallow all?
A seed is born and the evil is slain, so doth another cycle commence. Yet the last Seed born hath turned traitor, and the mists which had been pushed back, returneth.
CONTENT WARNING (list may contain spoilers for some people): This book is Grimdark. There is a lot of violence, gore, heavy language. It also deals with very heavy themes like realistic representation of disability, has descriptive sexual content, self-harm, mental illness, rape and suicidal ideation.

Genres: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Horror, Adult, Epic Fantasy

804 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2023

About the author

Kian N. Ardalan was born in Germany, Dusseldorf to Persian parents and has since travelled between so many places that he sees himself as a person of the world; well, with one exception.

When he wasn’t playing video games or reading novels (mostly Darren Shan and Anthony Horowitz) or trying to convince his parents to watch that R-rated movie about vampires and werewolves, he delved into fantasy worlds of his own making.

It began with a novella about a young girl, not hoarded by a fierce dragon, but rather protected and raised by one.

On the other hand, The Fantastically Underwhelming Epic wonders why the hero of the story always has to be some all-powerful child of prophecy? Why can’t it just be about a clueless, young bard who is simply trying to make good on a promise with a wise-cracking skull as their companion?

Despite his teacher’s warnings, Kian decided to lean into that realm and now invites others to also explore these vibrant (and perhaps worrying) reflections of his own psyche.

Stay tuned for his upcoming book, inspired by the cryptic world of Dark Souls.

Reviews

[Petrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Eleventh Cycle is one of the best books I’ve read. Berserk and Dark Souls fans, this page-turning epic grimdark fantasy novel is written for us.

Eleventh Cycle is due to be published less than a month from now, but I first stumbled upon it on December 2021 when Ardalan revealed the title and cover art (illustrated by NinoIs, designed by Shawn T. King) on Twitter. Since then, I was instantly intrigued. And this book was submerged into my list of most anticipated novels with ease. Even though I haven't read anything by the author yet back then! This is indeed my first time reading a book by Kian N. Ardalan, but seeing the cover art and hearing the main inspirations for Eleventh Cycle back then was more than enough to seal the deal. And ever since I got the ARC two months ago, I have been inching to read this novel but decided to hold it off until January because my instinct says I would love this one, and I wanted to start my year with terrific books. Fortunately, despite my high expectations, Eleventh Cycle is undoubtedly an excellent character-driven grimdark fantasy novel. Before I proceed with my review, this book is not for the faint of heart. The author has included content warnings at the beginning of the book, and I will repeat that in this review. I do not think any of these content warnings mean spoilers, but if you want to be completely surprised entering this book, I will mention the content warnings at the end of this review.

Eleventh Cycle is the first out of planned four—or five—books in the Mistland series by Kian N. Ardalan. As some of you may know already, this is a novel inspired by Kentaro Miura’s Berserk and FromSoftware’s Soulsborne franchise, specifically in the case of this book, Dark Souls trilogy. It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. And finally, as the Morning Bell tolls, a new Seed to purge the Evil is born, but is it too late? The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear. But there is more to this tale than just the Elders and their Seeds. Four mortals will have a part to play in Minethria’s fate. A farmer girl with only love in her eyes. A warrior born to the life of a refugee. A highborn stuck between the realm of gods and men. And a woman running into the front lines and away from home.

Picture: Dalila and Mount Moirnar by Andreas Christanetoff



I absolutely loved Eleventh Cycle. A great Soulsborne (this includes Sekiro and Elden Ring) inspired fantasy novels, surprisingly and also understandably, are not as common as you might think. Countless stories could be created through being inspired by the video game franchise, but it is far from being an easy task to do right. The Soulsborne franchise is often known for its complex and intimidating storyline and difficulty. Non-players of Soulsborne tend to think we gamers are masochists when we constantly play, rage, and love playing these challenging games. But that is not the case. These games teach you to be careful; do not play carelessly. They teach you that repetition and learning are keys to success. They teach you to always pay attention to your surroundings. More importantly, these games teach you that you CAN overcome adversities in life with perseverance. That high-level satisfaction feeling you get when you overcome difficult bosses in these games is utterly rewarding and missing from many games lately. And my point is this. There are MANY things to love in these games (a single review won’t be enough to cover the details of it). At the same time, Eleventh Cycle managed to capture many of them, including one of the main essences of the recurring themes of Dark Souls games: perseverance in the face of injustice and a bleeding world.

Themes aside, it is hard to translate what made the Soulsborne franchise so beloved into a novel. The main story in Dark Souls is (relatively) pretty straightforward. However, understanding every character's background, lore, and details of these games that enriched the quality of the narrative and world-building of the series will require deep dedication and multiple playthroughs. Cryptic storytelling is a staple aspect of the franchise. So, is Eleventh Cycle hard to understand? No. Far from it. Rest assured, the majority of the main story in Eleventh Cycle is so much more accessible than its inspiration: Dark Souls, and I totally appreciate this. The world-building and the secrets, however, are another topic. And I will talk about this later. In a similar way to Dark Souls games, Ardalan made sure the main plot progression in Eleventh Cycle is never difficult to understand. I think this is incredibly important. Video games and novels are two different mediums. You cannot fully adapt or replicate what worked in video games to novels. And I think that is the mistake of the graphic novel adaptations of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. They made everything so cryptic, even edgy, reliant on fan services, that the adaptations became incomprehensible. If we managed to solve the riddle or their dialogues, there was no feeling of satisfaction. Ardalan successfully transported the essential elements that made the Dark Souls trilogy irresistibly engrossing and rewarding into a novel format. While also making sure the story he tells here is his own creation. The narrative never lets its hook off me, and I ended up reading this incredible 800 pages book in four days. I could've read it faster, but I also did not want to because my time with it would end too soon. I read this at an astonishing pace of 200 pages per day, and believe me, with how busy my life is now, reading at this pace seldom happens. The act of putting this book down felt wrong. Ardalan's beautiful, lyrical at times, and yet accessible prose compels me non-stop. And the accessibility does not mean the world and lore of the novel failed to match the epic scope of the world-building and lore contained in Dark Souls games.

Yes, we need to talk about world-building. More than usual, I am entering this book more critically about its world-building. Ardalan was brave enough to call this book a love letter to Berserk and Dark Souls, after all. I believe with these two franchises, a certain level of quality has to be met, and Ardalan confronted them head-on straight. It was tough for me to find issues with the in-depth lore of Eleventh Cycle. The immersive misty world of Minethria that is brimming with history and secrets felt like this could totally be the world that FromSoftware has created for their games. The all-powerful Elder King in Mount Moirnar oversees the world of Minethria with their Elder Beings. There were beings, Seeds, and races birthed from each cycle such as Xelxidon of the light, Muriya the Protector as the great giant with a hammer that conjured earthquakes, and Kaelu the Silent that brought forth the age of Dragons. Or maybe akar (a race born from the end of the 6th cycle with large charcoal-hued bodies and monstrous strength), giant flying stingray (like in Demon's Souls), and so many more. Then there is also the giant Elder Blacksmith bound to his eternal forge charged with forging weapons for the gods. I'll let Ardalan's description of the Elder Blacksmith speaks for itself regarding the vivid quality of his prose.

“The Blacksmith awaited, his presence clouded by the encompassing heat. He was known as an Elder of legend who fashioned countless artefacts. Some were said to have found their way to the hands of Seeds, while others were given to the world of Minethria, waiting to be found once more. At first glance, I would have thought this being was a product of nature, a serendipitous result of rock formations and volcanic discharge that just so happened to form some likeness to man. But then this force of nature moved and struck a veined hammer to anvil, evoking sparks like a primordial god. The giant was made entirely out of molten rock, where glowing fire flowed between the cracks of the charred, sediment flesh. We were to the being what ants were to us, as a simple press of the glowing thumb could completely crush us. The Blacksmith was suspended in air, their lower half replaced by a spherical solid boulder, hooked chains spread from its corners and were mounted into the stone dome. Their beard was made of flame, like a perpetually burning nest that birthed ember; their head was entirely encased by a mould of rock except for the eyes that pierced out like smouldering coals. The Elder had four arms, two on either side, entirely of moulded earth with crags of lava running through.”

The existence of The Blacksmith will have significance to Dark Souls fans. I do believe Soulsborne lore masters like VaatiVidya (read this book, Vaati) would have a blast dissecting and analyzing the intricacies and mysteries of the world in Eleventh Cycle. Recent player of Elden Ring might think Eleventh Cycle is inspired by Elden Ring as well. With the existence of Elder Kings, Elder Guards (the one in the cover art), and the unstoppable rot, it is understandable why readers/gamers might think that. However, Elden Ring was not in the equation when this book was written. This is all pure coincidence but also fitting to themes of decay and corruption often encountered in Soulsborne games. Eleventh Cycle is rich with history and lore, and we haven’t even dissected all the details of it yet. What we attained from the epigraphs, consider these as item descriptions in Soulsborne games, were enough to conjure a myriad of possibilities for the author and reader to explore and imagine. For example, if Ardalan ever decides to explore the past cycles and Seeds as a series, he could. And I believe it would work magnificently. That’s how rich the world in Eleventh Cycle is. At this moment, talking in detail about the world-building of Eleventh Cycle alone would require at least one dedicated video. Once more books in the series are published, I think a series of videos exploring this are in order. My mind is still trying to connect the dots and secrets in the epigraphs and narrative, and I don't think I will succeed at it until I do another read-through, which I will definitely do in the future.

Picture: Erefiel Numaya by Harkale Linai



I have given my approval to the intricate world-building, Dark Souls inspirations, and powerful themes. But I have not actually discussed THE aspect that elevated Eleventh Cycle to becoming one of my favorite books of all time: the characterizations. The character work in Eleventh Cycle is superbly-written. And whether you have played Dark Souls or not, as long that you are a fan of character-driven grimdark fantasy, Eleventh Cycle is a must-read. The four main POV characters, Dalila, Nora, Chroma (an akar), and Erefiel Numaya (a Nephilim), have their chapters told in a first-person perspective. And despite this, Ardalan nailed their voice distinction and personality for these four main characters so damn well. On top of that, we also have the POV chapters of the Eleventh Seed, Ievarus themselves, written in a third-person perspective. I feel like I have gotten to really know these characters as real people. Two main characters here are inspired by two characters from Berserk by Kentaro Miura. One is inspired by Caska, and the other is loosely inspired by Griffith. And I LOVE all these characters.

“I was like you once… I believed myself unstoppable, for if someone doesn’t fear death, then nothing can stop them. But there is more than one type of death. I know that now. I went to that place and managed to return. Shame: shame can be far worse than death.”

I know I have mentioned in my review this is a grimdark fantasy novel, and as far as graphic content and brutal themes go, it truly belongs in the subgenre. I have no doubt many readers will agree with that. But the main POV characters don’t actually fall into the morally grey or villainous characters often discovered in grimdark fantasy. They are good and virtuous characters trying to, against all odds, survive while protecting the people they love. But the injustice and carnage the main characters have to deal with? Yes. They unquestionably belong in the grimdark sub-genre, without a shadow of a doubt. The world in Eleventh Cycle is extraordinarily merciless. When I thought things would not get any worse, they did. The physical and mental damage done to one of the main characters in this novel is one of the most messed up and fatal devastation inflicted on a main character I have ever read, out of all storytelling mediums. It was crushing. Once again, if you are not sure about this, check the content warning at the front of the book or at the end of this review. I can even tell you the one chapter to avoid reading if you want to experience the story without reading the graphic scenes. These scenes were rough, uncomfortable, and disturbing to read, as they were intended to be. But whether you are okay with reading the scenes or not, they were included to eventually highlight a contrast in humanity. They showcased vice and virtue. How far humans will succumb and how much unrelenting determination a human can unleash, for better or worse. Most importantly, everything is to spotlight how bright and mighty a tiny spark of hope is in the cage of overwhelming darkness. To me, the payoff is so rewarding.

“Art impacts different people in different ways. The more sensitive an individual is, the more they may be affected. One way to overcome the resistance of such a troglodyte is to gather crowds to perform for. To see one’s neighbour be imbibed by emotion makes even the most uncultured person impressionable.—Higher teachings of the Muses, by Golanad Ricks.

At the end of the day, Eleventh Cycle is an exceptional character-focused fantasy novel about hope, fear, compassion, rage, will, and humanity. It has powerful themes and narrative, masterful characterizations, beautifully vivid yet accessible prose, meticulous world-building with a plethora of mysteries, and tension-packed explosive action sequences as if they were penned by an artist with scarlet ink. The story is dark and violent, the emotions the empathizing characters felt were palpable, and it does not shy away from revealing the light and darkness of humanity to its maximum effect. Epic grimdark fantasy, Berserk, and Soulsborne fans, the breathtaking Dark Souls inspired fantasy novel we have been waiting for is finally here. Although this year has only just begun, I am thrilled and confident saying this is an early contender for my favorite book of the year; I am sure it will, at least, be in my top 10 spots by the end of 2023. I absolutely loved it, as you can probably tell from the length of this review, and I haven't even discussed the greatness of each POV character and the battle scenes here. But this review is long enough already. I will let you read this book and find out for yourself. Eleventh Cycle has become one of my favorite books of all time. I will reread this book someday to investigate the details of the lore. Maybe when the second book, Forgotten Seed, which I needed yesterday, is ready to be published. But in the meantime, pre-order and read this book if you are a fan of grimdark or dark fantasy, whatever you want to call it, and Berserk and Dark Souls. I do not see the possibility of you not liking this book if you love these three. Experience Eleventh Cycle. Praise the sun, good hunter.

Content warning:

“Eleventh Cycle is a story about many things, and tackles subjects which many may feel uncomfortable with. It deals with disability, with mental illness, with abuse, and even descriptive sexual content. I included these matters not for the sake of it. Not to simply shock with a blunt weapon, but rather to deliver the image of a raw world. The material this book is based on is dark; it doesn’t shy away from unsettling matters. However, it is about perseverance in the face of absolute hopelessness. It is about tearing down the veil and facing whatever face evil wears. It is about people living in an indifferent world which will pull no punches, and finding your own path. However, I need to also take a moment and mention the late Kentaro Miura, author of Berserk. Without him, the Souls franchise may not be where it is today and this book may never have reached your hands.”—Kian Ardalan.

You can pre-order this book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel

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[Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out my YouTube channel where I show my instant reactions upon finishing reading fantasy books.

One of the best books I've ever read, and arguably the #1 best self published book of all time in my opinion.

This book got put onto my radar when I was told that it was a grimdark in the vein of Dark Souls - I've never read a book with that connection before which intrigued me. But while reading the book I just couldn't get the connection. It felt like a very traditional fantasy story that has been done a million times that read like a generic Wheel of Time style book.

Oh how I was wrong.

After the book establishes the characters and the basic plot gets laid out, things take a dark turn. A very, very dark turn. It's brutal, horrifying, and I couldn't get enough of it.

The characters are so well written that you really feel like you are going through these horrible events with them, and it feels so hopeless. And then when you feel like things couldn't get any worse, they do in dramatic fashion.

While this doesn't seem like a pleasant thing to read, it's so refreshingly different, adds immense suspense, and makes the successes/redemptions of the characters all the more glorious.

If you can handle a VERY dark fantasy, you need to pick up this book yesterday.

[John Mauro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out my new interview with author Kian N. Ardalan here.

My complete review of Eleventh Cycle is published at Grimdark Magazine.

With its epic worldbuilding, hauntingly beautiful aesthetic, and well-realized protagonists, Eleventh Cycle is a tour de force of grimdark fantasy and a bold statement from emerging indie author Kian N. Ardalan. The novel takes place in the mist-encircled land of Minethria as the prophesied Eleventh Seed is born. This offspring of the Elder King may, perhaps, serve as savior to the mortal beings of this war-torn land.

Eleventh Cycle achieves Brandon Sanderson-level worldbuilding, but with a murkier tone and a more nuanced execution. Although the name of Ardalan’s series, Mistland, recalls Sanderson’s Mistborn, the world of Eleventh Cycle has more in common with the Stormlight Archive, particularly with how Ardalan introduces multiple races that vilify each other without knowing why they are enemies.

Despite the similarities, Ardalan’s world is a lot darker than anything in Sanderson’s universe. This is grimdark fantasy after all, and Eleventh Cycle doesn’t shy away from the dark realities of war, reaching a level of despair and brutality on par with R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War.

What makes Eleventh Cycle so effective is that this darkness is balanced with a big heart. Ardalan shares Sanderson’s talent at creating empathetic, broken characters, bringing a deeply personal focus to a vast, complex world. At its core, Eleventh Cycle is a character-driven fantasy featuring four mortal protagonists living in a land that is indifferent to their struggles.

Ardalan builds deep connections to each of the four protagonists through their first-person narration. We first meet Dalila, a farmer girl with a mysterious ability that leads to conflict with her conservative family. Next is Nora, who escapes abusive parents to become a fierce warrior full of hatred toward the opposing akar race. Eleventh Cycle then shifts perspective to Chroma, an adolescent akar who struggles with finding his place within akar society. Finally, we are introduced to the high-ranking captain Erefiel, who is caught between worlds as a half-human and half-Zerub, a race that blends human and animal anatomies.

Ardalan is a master at developing realistic, relatable characters. As I progressed through Eleventh Cycle, each of the four protagonists took turns being my favorite character. Although they inhabit a world so different from our own, their struggles reflect universal themes of identity, acceptance, friendship, and love.

In addition to the four first-person protagonists, we also read the third-person story of the Eleventh Seed. Despite the glorious prophecies, the Eleventh Seed is just an innocent child trying to understand human emotions and make sense out of this complex, violent world.

The story itself begins as fragments told from these multiple perspectives, allowing us to build emotional connections to each of the individual characters before their plot lines eventually intersect. It’s especially rewarding to see how everything comes together in the latter part of the book, as many of the subtle connections become clear. Ardalan also keeps us guessing through a variety of unexpected plot twists.

Eleventh Cycle is a compulsively readable novel. Despite its nearly 800-page girth, the story flies by quickly. Kian N. Ardalan’s writing has tightened considerably since his previous novel, The Fantastically Underwhelming Epic of a Dead Wizard and an Average Bard, which adopted a more conversational style and walked a thin line between epic fantasy and self-parody. At its best, Eleventh Cycle repeatedly soars to a Mark Lawrence level of eloquence. There is also a tear-jerking line about fading memories that reminded me of my favorite passage from Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

The novel’s readability is paired with a keen attention to detail in worldbuilding and character development. Kian N. Ardalan has created an expansive world with a rich history and culture. Eleventh Cycle is an immediately enjoyable novel but also rewards multiple rereads, as additional details and connections become clear. I also love its soft magic system, which is the perfect accompaniment to the novel’s mysterious aesthetic.

Eleventh Cycle checks all the boxes of a grimdark masterpiece. It is a stunning achievement, establishing Kian N. Ardalan as one of the most exciting new voices in speculative fiction.

[Benjamin · Rating 1 out of 5]

"My name is Donna, but my friend's call me Don."
"Don?"
"Yeah, because I am always done with everything."
She gave me a wide and ugly grimace where her gums peeled back to reveal still growing and crooked teeth.

This small section represents most of the book's problems. An incorrect apostrophe, a misguided attempt at humour and wholly untrue description.

I do not take any pleasure from this but all I can be is honest. I had high hopes for this book. Berserk and the Souls franchise were advertised as major influences and as a huge fan of both, I was convinced this would be a surefire winner for me. Unfortunately, the finished product is...well, not a finished product.

I'll start with the positives. I think there are a lot of cool ideas present, especially in aspects of the world-building and the horror elements. Nora's storyline had me invested for a little while as well. Perhaps the potential is what makes the rest so hard to take.

As far as the actual writing goes, I found the prose to often be both overwritten and underwritten. Especially noticeable in a myriad of forced similes.

"There was the occasional sound of hesitant breathing never fully forming like a stillbirth"
"Then it came as a scream, a scream which worked its way through my belly and burst from my lips like a shredding storm evoked by the caustic mists."
"Leeching off their birthright like a breastfed parasite."

There were a startling number of redundancies and repetitions.
For example, in the space of three consecutive sentences there was:
"rather fashionable name"
"rather spiteful comfort"
"rather rat-faced girl"
and 5 sentences later "rather profitable business."
In one short scene, a character referred to another character's innocence as "endearing" three times. In another paragraph, it felt as if the word "my" was being inserted at any and all costs.
"I took my leave from my official duties, passing them to my lieutenant as I wandered most of my day in deep thought. As the hours passed, I made my way to my parent's chambers."

Errors in syntax, spelling, grammar and punctuation were prevalent on almost every page (900 of them on the kindle version I read). A lot of the time sentences were framed awkwardly or just don't make sense in their current form.

A horse's reins were referred to as "reigns."
"I had to admit my curiosity was peaked."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Victor said in that stern way when he was at the job.
"The volatility of the settlement would rise to lengths unlike before."
"The grin turned into a cryptic."
"The words, the way they were spoken felt like it made my heart blossom with white pain and pleasure"
"His words smelled rotten. Not due to any food that he had eaten, but rather how he said those words."

Sometimes words were completely missing, other times extra words were left in and completely ruined the sentence. A lot of the language felt extraneous such as "privately keep to myself" or "atop of the" where the same thing could have been communicated more smoothly with fewer words. There were better examples of this but I did not keep extensive notes.

Even some common real-world idioms were present and not only did they feel out of place, they were used incorrectly. Such as "with post-haste" and "so to say."

I felt as if the dialogue was often used as a blunt instrument of exposition and it made it difficult to connect to any of the characters.

I provide all these examples not to dunk on the book or the author but to show how this many mistakes and so many writing issues can make it impossible to fully engage with a story. It resulted in a book that feels as if a first draft was placed into Google Translate, translated to another language and then back into English. I hope that any prospective sequels get the time and editing process that they require to properly do justice to the genuinely interesting ideas and world that are in there somewhere.

[Mark Lawrence]

Out today! Lots of buzz around this one.


This big, fat book arrived today. Love the cover!

Inspired by the Dark Souls games.







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[Khalid Abdul-Mumin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ardalan's weird, GrimDark, and marvelously mesmeric debut overflows with a poetic and amazing prose, containing a plot that transports the reader into a fantastic realm of gods, heroes, demigods and humans.

The world-building and lore is spun from an imagination that seems boundless and infinite; detailed, meticulous and all-encompassing, in a word, epic. The magic depicted within I found unique and intriguing.

The characterisations and Dramatis Personae are complex, intricate and otherworldly containing the alien, the human, humanoid and the god-like. An excellent read and I highly recommend it.

2023 Read

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I'm going to write a review that fully does justice to this mammoth tome where so much occurs. It's going to be tough because there are multiple layers when it comes to the world-building/histroy and the backgrounds of these characters and how they evolve (some quite literally) throughout this story. Nevertheless I will try my best to convey how Kian N. Ardalan's fantastic dark fantasy book ELEVENTH CYCLE took me through so many different emotions as intensely powerful scene after scene left me consistently spellbound and psychologically spent.

Let me begin by saying this book is about as grim as grimdark gets. I also feel the need to caution people that there are a substantial amount of potentially triggering scenes. The author mentions right from the very start of the book that none of this is done simply for the sake of it, to make light in any way, or for any type of shock value. Rather, the violence and brutality is portrayed as a way of reinforcing just how much these characters are put through while still persevering and clinging onto hope for a better outcome. There's definitely a purpose to it all that makes the story that much more impactful in my opinion. That being said I still suggest everyone read his Foreword before deciding on whether or not to embark on this story.

ELEVENTH CYCLE is a fantasy book that doesn't pull any punches whatsoever when it comes to dealing with how certain stereotypes/prejudices can cloud and affect the way people view and treat others who they deem inferior. One particular group of characters in the book had me pretty enraged more than once with how their entrenched archaic religious beliefs and also social views with regard to family "status" overrode any speck of compassion or basic humanity that they may have had in them at one point in their lives. So no, there are no light and fluffy themes and this ain't no orcs sipping lattes cozy fantasy by any means.

"Hey Nick, why the heck should I read this book? You make it sound super gloomy and depressing!" Well I'll tell you why you should read it. You should read it because it is so much more than just the cruelty, and despair. If it were only about that I probably wouldn't have loved it so much and thought about it constantly when I wasn't reading it. Because in addition to what I mentioned earlier there are also brilliant depictions of courage and determination that are deeply inspiring given the backdrop and circumstances. My favorite character in the book goes through about as much anguish and trauma as you can possibly imagine and nevertheless maintains a single-minded focus to push ahead undeterred. These viewpoint chapters were some of the most powerful in the entire book.

With respect to the worldbuilding, Kian Ardalan's world of Minethria is truly a place of mystery and wonder. It also seemingly has experienced a tumultuous and chaotic history that is gradually hinted at in brief snippets at the beginning of each chapter. I read those snippets with as much fascination as the actual story because they were a cool glimpse into the minds of those who came before and also helped me to understand how the different cycles worked as each Seed was born to protect the land from the encroaching evil of the mists. I really enjoyed how this was employed by the author and found that it helped answer some questions while also creating an air of mystery that made me want to keep on reading through the wee hours.

Another element in this book that kept me completely glued to the story was the growing conflict between those who claimed to be the rightful "civilized" inhabitants of the continent and the Akar, who are viewed as feral creatures continually in need of being brought to heel and tamed. But it becomes increasingly clear that the Akar are no longer the unorganized rabble that everyone has always assumed they were and as events begin to play out it becomes evident that they may not exactly be content to isolate themselves in the dark recesses of the forest any longer. Will they rise up? Only time will tell.

ELEVENTH CYCLE is a book that can horrify you one minute and then touch every heartstring in your being the next. That's an incredibly tricky thing to pull off but Ardalan does it like a skilled maestro. If you're tired of getting spoon-fed the same predictable tropes in your fantasy books, you really should make this book your next read. It will challenge you in a way that not too many fantasy books dare to. And along the way you will be treated to some outstanding worldbuilding, egotistical gods, magical creatures born of nightmares, and some of the very best writing out there. Author Kian N. Ardalan has undeniably done something very special here and the entire reading world should stand up and take notice. Book two can't come fast enough for me.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has made me more angry than a book has in a while... the way sexual violence was used in this book once again proved to me why I don't trust most male authors writing fantasy, especially if they're writing grimdark. Honestly just that one thing would be enough for me to give it 1 star, but aside from that there also was a big issue with the way the oppressed race and the one pov character coming from that race was handled.
Honestly, I had high hopes for this one but it just disappointed me throughly...

So Update: I was to angry to write a proper review... but I was also angry enough to film an over one hour long video, so here's that one https://youtu.be/rWc-uJGpy_w

[Shauna Lawless · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is quite the book. Truly. I’ve never read anything like it. Grimdark and bloody, but also sensitive and with character depth that is rarely achieved. It’s a book like none other. Kian Ardalan is the new prince of grimdark – and he has arrived on the scene with a bang.

However, right at the very start of the review, I’m going to say that my first half will be about the story and worldbuilding and prose. The second half will be thoughts on the content and sensitive scenes which Kian has included.

Firstly, the book.

It’s incredible. Much recently published fantasy has veered into low-fantasy, where we have worlds that feel very like our world and with mostly human characters. When we do see fantastical characters, they are those we know well. Dwarves, elves, halflings, dragons, goblins, and trolls.

Not so here. The wonderous creatures we see and read about are truly a thing of wonder, even perhaps surpassing Malazan in terms of scope and detail. Indeed, the historical backstory and worldbuilding around the Eleventh Seed is a masterpiece. G.R.R. Martin eat your heart out.

The characters are extraordinary. Nora and Dalila were my absolute favourites, and their journeys were traumatic, though ultimately hopeful. It all felt very real and how these events impacted the characters and their decisions was delved into in such a way that the characters did not feel like they existed in ink at all, but rather real flesh and blood.

Chroma and Eferiel who are non-human characters are also incredible and they added such depth to this world. They are not human – and that shows. I do find sometimes that books containing elves and dwarves do little to differentiate them from humans, other than the fact they have pointy ears or long beards. This is not the case in Eleventh Cycle. Different types of beings act differently to the others.

And the prose is honestly incredible. I can’t even begin to praise it enough.

Kian Ardalan is an extremely talented writer. Take note everyone. He is an author to watch. It’s a long book and yet I devoured it, so keen was I to find out what happened next to my favourite characters. If you are a fan of grimdark or dark fantasy, you will enjoy this book, no doubt.

So the trigger warnings.

They are required and Kian doesn’t shy away from that. The story contains sexual assault, rape, torture, limb removal, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Some readers will be very uncomfortable reading these scenes.

They are never gratuitous and only ever written from the protagonist’s point of view – never from the view point of the criminal or aggressor. That’s important to note. The two women who experience the abuse/mental health issues are harmed by their ordeals but are not victims and don’t wait around for a saviour knight to rescue them. They have their own agency. That’s also important to note. They feel very real and the tragedy that unfolds around them are discussed in the story and are part of the characters. Never ignored.

There is one scene that might push readers too far. One scene did make me pause for a moment.

Pondering on my thoughts after reading – I wanted to really think about why this was.

In truth, the story did make me think about violence and sexual violence in literature. There isn’t a huge amount of it. It’s clear why. It’s hard to read about. It isn’t escapism and unfortunately there are many people who have experienced these issues first hand. To read about this type of suffering can be too difficult.

And yet, these issues do exist, and they don’t exist infrequently either. They occur much, much too often.

When difficult realities are not included in art, sometimes it’s because they make for hard reading/viewing. Is this a good thing or not? Are we ignoring issues that need fixing by not having these conversations? In my opinion, it’s not good to sweep things under the carpet, that only leads to more suffering.

So, where does Eleventh Seed fall in this conversation?

Well, this is an adult book. Adult themes are included. The book is about war and the realities of that. Scenes do not fade to black as they don’t in real life. I remember the first time I read Tess of the D’Urbervilles, I didn’t realise she had been raped. The language was all flowery prose and metaphor. But rape isn’t like that. In the Eleventh Cycle, these scenes are not hidden by metaphor. They are explicit. They are raw and real and difficult. The same goes for the torture scenes.

What makes these difficult themes work at all is Kian’s skill as a writer. What could be unpalatable in the hands of one writer works for Kian. His work is thought-provoking and never feels gratuitous. And as I said before, the characters are able to find hope for themselves, and ultimately this left me feeling hopeful too. In fact, I feel the sexual content is handled better here than some romantic fantasies I’ve read recently that dresses up non-consensual sex as somehow desirable, which I find incredibly dishonest.

However, I will say here and now, while this book is fantastic, and I loved it, and will be reading the sequel – do read the warnings before you embark. If you are in a dark place or have personal experience with the trigger issues noted, do pause to consider how reading this content will make you feel before reading.

So that’s my review. It’s a book that will not fail to make you think. It’s a book that will absolutely absorb you and will be in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page. No one who has read this will pick it up a few years later and think, oh, I can’t quite remember what happened. It is, in short, unforgettable.

[Arlena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is dark. I absolutely loved this book! But this book is dark. You have been warned.
I have read books before that were said to be grim-dark but mostly I just shrugged them off saying they are not that grim nor that dark. Eleventh Cycle? Well...this book made me understand why some people need content warning.

If there was ever a book that is an emotional roller coaster, this one certainly is. There were chapter that had me gasping, some that almost made me cry and some that had me put the book down and just walk away for a bit. There was of course the occasional chuckle, giggle and even laughter but those were the rarer occurrence. This is a book that definitely does not pull punches and honestly, I really liked that.

I think my favourite part of the book is the world. Kian did an amazing job creating a word that's unique and the amount of thought that was put into the world building is stunning. There are many layers to this world and I can't wait to find out more about it in the next book. A highlight for me were the different magic systems that exist in this world. They feel distinctive yet they fit so well in the world.

For most of the book I felt like the pacing was spot on. With that said, there are some slower bits where the focus turns from the plot towards the characters. I find this was necessary given what the characters are going through. Trauma is a central theme in this book and Kian made sure to devote enough time to it and really show the ups and downs. I appreciated that because doing so he managed to convey the characters inner struggles perfectly and made me understand them better.

The characters are not perfect. Each and every one of them is flawed but they are trying their best to navigate their often cruel surroundings. There are 5 PoVs in this book and four of these is in first person. This caught me off guard at the beginning and I needed some time to get used to it. Luckily the characters find their own voices pretty early on so it's easy to get into their heads as the PoVs change. One thing that I particularly loved is the fact that the paths of the PoV characters crosses often and in meaningful ways. The characters are very different from each other but this made me feel like they indeed belong to the same story.

I can say for certain that Eleventh Cycle won't be for everyone but if you like a compelling story with less than perfect character that feel real, set in a cruel and unforgiving world, where sometimes hope is hard to find, this book is definitely for you.

Eleventh Cycle is dark. It is painful. It is beautiful.

*Note: I have read/listened to an ARC copy of the book but I am leaving this review on my own accord.
P.S: The audiobook is fantastic! Both narrators (yes there are two of them!) do a phenomenal job.

[Dom · Rating 5 out of 5]

* You can find my full video review here: https://youtu.be/BAZnIyM0lZ8 *

Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan is the first book in his Mistland series, and one of the more difficult books I’ve read when it comes to putting together my thoughts for a review.

We focus on five very different characters, and it’s always pleasing to see a book like this where the characters are not all human. In fact, of those five, only two are human, so this allows us to experience some of the other races of this world in more detail than we might normally be afforded.

The POV structure is perhaps a little strange as four are told in the first person, while the fifth is in the third person, however the reason for this makes sense and works well in the context of the story.

This fifth character is the Eleventh Seed, a great and powerful being born to herald the end of one cycle and the dawning of the next. The Seed is strange, because outwardly, it’s a grown being, although it does have the ability to change its appearance. Inside though, it’s very much a child, with no real idea of the world.

The Seed sets out looking to learn about emotions, and seeking people to be the embodiment of different feelings, champions of a select handful of emotions. So part of the story deals with these emotions and how certain characters come to a place where they hit the requirements for being one of these champions, and it’s good that they are not always obvious choices, so in this there’s still the capacity for surprise.

This is a grimdark novel that includes some pretty terrible things, and the series title is Mistland, so you might get sucked into the idea of a world that is grim, and grey, and hopeless, but it’s not like that at all. There is light and love and hope here as well, even when our characters are at their lowest. All too often though, the darkness is just around the corner, and that contrast serves to make it even more brutal and unforgiving when it arrives.

In terms of content, there are some graphic sex scenes that may be hard for some to swallow, and this also includes rather descriptive violent rape. There’s the usual gore that you might expect from a dark fantasy novel, but there’s also some pretty harrowing dismemberment and some body horror as well, so this book is definitely not for the faint of heart.

I would say that there is a lot not to like about this book, especially in terms of the brutality and sexual violence, but seeing the characters go through it and come out the other side, and looking at their response, the way they change, sometimes physically as well as emotionally, was so enthralling that it added a counter-argument, as opposed to specifically a counter-balance. The good doesn’t excuse or outweigh the bad, but it addresses it in a way that doesn’t shy away from what sadly exists in this world, and indeed in our own.

Outside of that, it’s a varied and wondrous world. There are Plague Knights who take disease and inflict them upon those touched by their blades, there are owl bears and giant flying manta rays as well as races that we get to know a bit more, like the Akar and Zerubs.

There are races that are at war just because they have always been at war and across all these, there are several different and distinct types of magic on display. So there’s a lot of work that has gone into building this world, and it works very well, with everything coming together to give us a vast landscape to explore.

I was lucky enough to be able to both read and listen to Eleventh Cycle as an early review copy, and the audio was fantastic. There are two narrators who complement each other, and the story, very well. Despite the dark tone of much of the book, I found the narration to be soothing yet enthusiastic, and it just worked really well for me and definitely elevated my enjoyment of the book.

[The Fantasy Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler-Free Eleventh Cycle Book Review

Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan is a beefy book but I burned through it! This fantastic epic fantasy novel comes out on February 1st 2023, so be read for this exciting release!


Rewarding Learning-Curve

There is a steep learning curve in Eleventh Cycle but it’s well worth the time and effort you put in. You might initially feel a little confused or overwhelmed with the character names, places, lore etc, and I think that’s kind of the point!

The author does a good job of giving you all the information you need to enjoy the scenes as you get to them and learn naturally about the places, people and lore as the novel progresses. And you have over 800 pages to learn what you need to know, so you’ll be fine!


Characters & Worldbuilding

Inspired by Beserk and the Dark Souls games, you can feel the influences throughout the book - especially in the tone and atmosphere. Minethria is a rich, well developed world with a huge amount of lore that I loved learning more about.

The misty world feels claustrophobic at times which is just a sign of how good the author is at drawing you into the setting.

Dalila, Nora, Chroma, and Erefiel Numaya are the POV characters. They all feel distinct and are incredibly well written.

This is definitely a character-driven narrative, despite having such a detailed world to learn about.


Overall Thoughts

Eleventh Cycle is a gritty, grimdark fantasy novel with a huge list of trigger warnings (provided by the author), so not for the faint of heart!

This is essentially a perfect book. It’s only January and I have now read 2 of my favourite books of all time (see reviews of Illborn and Aiduel’s Sin). You should all definitely read this indie fantasy book.

Apparently there are 4 or 5 future books planned for the series. I am so excited to see more of this world!

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[Zamil Akhtar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eleventh Cycle is one of the best books I read in 2022. It’s a tale about relatable characters struggling to find a place in a downright Lovecraftian world, and clashing with institutions that were built by the elder gods themselves. Institutions that are not meant to serve humanity, but whatever the elders’ strange aims are.

The best character is the world itself. It’s drenched in layers of cosmic horror, the closest comparison being Dark Souls. And I want to emphasize how layered it truly is: unlike many stories which merely use the veneer of cosmic horror, here the world is built from the ground up with those ideas in mind. A character will often suffer an awful outcome, as if it were as commonplace as falling down the stairs, only because some indescribable entity deemed it to arise from a law in that world – for reasons we cannot understand. And though we’re given a tremendous amount of detail and background about this world, especially through epigraphs, it never feels overexplained, maintaining the shroud of mystery that makes the best cosmic horror so effective.

While there’s no lack of shocking brutality – this is a tale that involves war and the terrible things that come with it – most of the characters maintain a hopefulness that, at first, seemed out of place in a system so obviously hostile to them. Nora and Dalila stood out, as no matter how many truly terrible events transpired in their lives, they always managed to pick themselves up and maintain some basic, relatable human decencies. They aren’t typical grimdark protagonists, and instead serve as lights in a bleak and horrifying world. Chroma’s story, meanwhile, is far more despairing in tone, and his struggle with torn loyalties turned out to be my favorite part of the book. Balancing hopeful tones with despairing ones and allowing the reader to enjoy some light in an otherwise dark and eldritch world is managed with poise, such that when I turned the final page, I didn’t depart from Eleventh Cycle depressed about what had happened, but rather in awe at the mind-bending world I got to inhabit, and the incredible tale that unfolded within this book’s seven-hundred or so pages.

[Henrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eleventh Cycle


Primeiro livro da saga Mistland um livro Dark fantasy com uma história sensacional. Desde que eu entrei nesse mundo de leitura sempre procurei para ver se achava algum livro que teria temática parecida com jogos souslike da fromsoftware que são jogos conhecidos por sua dificuldade altíssima e também a maioria de seus jogos são medievais como por exemplo seu lançamento mais recente o Elden Ring que é uma obra prima então fiquei sabendo desse livro e vi uma resenha dele sem spoiler falando que lembrava muito um souslike em forma de livro e para minha surpresa isso é verdade tem muitas coisas desse livro que lembram esses jogos que eu gosto tanto é claro que por ser um livro vai ter uma narrativa mais completa já que nos jogos desse gênero você não a história completa por cenas do jogo ou em fala contra os chefes ou em conversas com npc muitas vezes nos jogos você descobre mais da história em itens como as espadas que você pega um item especial falando sobre um lugar que você tem que ir e assim por diante e assim nesse livro a história te ganha por te apresentar muitos conceitos diferentes e alguns mistérios que faz você ficar intrigado com o que está acontecendo no mundo principalmente nas epígrafes antes dos capítulos iniciarem e principalmente nos capítulos que não são de um personagem específico não direi muito rápido não dar spoiler e vale ressaltar que esse livro contém uma listinha de gatilhos antes do início pois ele aborda temas como estupro, desmembramento entre outros tópicos sensíveis que pode ser desconfortáveis para alguns leitores mas eu tenho dizer que tive uma experiência positiva com esse livro muitas coisas aconteceram ao decorrer dele e principalmente no seu final eu mal posso esperar para ler a continuação dessa história e se você assim como eu gosta dos jogos do gênero souslike, gosta de livros Dark fantasy ou grim Dark e com história mais sombrias e pesadas essa fantasia com certeza é pra você poder ser medo que você vai sair daqui bem servido assim como eu e já deixo aqui que esse virou um dos meus livros favoritos do ano.

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleventh Cycle might just be one of the most ambitious and bold stories I have ever read. The Berserk and Dark Souls comparisons had me a bit nervous to dive in, because I know virtually nothing about those franchises, but I quickly realised that this epic grimdark novel stands perfectly on its own and can be enjoyed by anyone. Well… at least anyone who likes to suffer emotional damage from the books they read.

Now, I am not going to sit here and pretend that I didn’t feel overwhelmed when I first started reading this book. The first chapter introduces us to one of the 5 main characters that we will be following in this book, which is the Eleventh Seed. I think it was a bold choice to start with this POV, because it’s by far the most puzzling, elusive, cryptic and bewildering perspective of them all. We are thrown straight into the deep end and are bombarded with a significant amount of mystifying world building, which was both intriguing and disorienting.
Luckily, I decided to just trust the author and push through, because once the four other protagonists got introduced, I was immediately sucked into the story.

I think what makes this complex and epic story feel so approachable is the fact that it’s so personal and intimate in its storytelling. The four main protagonists, all of whose POVs are written in first person, were such fascinating characters to follow. Their characterizations are incredibly strong and each of them has a very compelling personal journey, so there was never a single moment where I found myself wishing to be reading from another perspective. These characters are far from perfect, but it’s exactly their flawed, reckless and sometimes frustrating behaviour which makes them so realistic and relatable.

Now, I don’t know how much Ardalan liked his own characters, because holy crap, did he put them through the wringer. I am not the first one to say this, but there is some seriously dark and messed up content in this book. And while it was definitely very hard to read some of the harrowing scenes, especially because of the close first person narration, none of those moments felt tactless, gratuitous or done for the sake of shock value. I think this is because the author doesn’t brush over these brutal and shocking events, but instead shows how deeply those traumatic experiences impact our characters on both a physical and an emotional level.

Despite all the darkness though, I wouldn’t call this book bleak. These characters get beaten down time and time again, but in the end they always get back up again. Maybe not as easily as they, or we, would have hoped, but that thread of light and hope is always there. This is truly a story about resilience and perseverance during your darkest times, which I found very cathartic and inspiring to read.

Where this book lost me a bit is with the Seed’s perspective, because I just felt so distanced from them. Now, in hindsight I can see that they were deliberately written as a blank slate without personality and agency, which is honestly quite an impressive feat all on its own. And despite my initial frustration with this character, I started to enjoy their chapters a lot more after the 65% mark and actually found the Seed to be quite endearing, weird as that may sound.

Also, I can’t deny that the world building in the Seed’s chapters was extremely fascinating and well-realised, but I have to admit that I had a really hard time wrapping my head around some of the fantastical elements/creatures here. Maybe this is just because I am not a visual reader, so I couldn’t conjure up any of the peculiar and imaginative settings and creatures that were described, but I am not sure. I think Ardalan’s prose may also have been a factor in this, as it both did and didn’t work for me at different points in the book. For the most part, I found the prose and the descriptions to be evocative and immersive, but then sometimes it got a bit too lyrical and heavy on the similes and metaphors, which just left me feeling like I was drowning in a sea of nonsensical words.

Luckily I was so invested in the other four storylines that I still ended up being engaged the entire way through, despite some of my quibbles. The scope of this world and story is so impressive and lots of things probably went way over my head, which honestly just makes me all the more excited to re-read it in the future.

Overall, I had an absolute blast with Eleventh Cycle and I think it totally deserves all the hype it’s been getting. Ardalan took risks with this story and wasn’t afraid to go in shocking and unexpected directions, which I can only applaud him for.
If you are looking for an epic character-focused grimdark novel with inventive and imaginative world building, authentic and deep character work, emotionally engaging storytelling and tons of gut-wrenching scenes, then this is the book for you.
And now it’s time for me to try to recover from this wild ride.

[N.C. Koussis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author was kind enough to answer my questions! Check out the Q+A here: https://www.nikitaskoussis.com/post/q...

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This book blew me away.

I don't think I can state it better than that. After seeing the gorgeous cover by Nino Is and the design by Shawn T. King, it immediately captured my interest. After hearing the Dark Souls games inspired it, I knew I had to get it. Thankfully, Kian was kind enough to provide me with an ARC.

The novel opens with the perspective of a new scion of the gods, the Eleventh Seed, who is born to eliminate the 'prevailing evil' in the land (if that sounds vague, it's meant to be). I could see some people getting turned off by the "info-dumping" in this chapter. Personally, though, I think these third person Seed chapters took the form of a myth, like I was reading a passage from the Iliad about dark, secret gods. Like if Zeus looked as awful as he behaved. These third-person POV chapters are creepy and atmospheric, and they were some of my favorite chapters. They approach cosmic horror, and if you've read Thomas Ligotti or The King in Yellow, it's clear where the inspiration comes from. These chapters scaffold the story, reminding us that there are dark secrets hiding just out of sight.

The main POVs are Dalila, Erefiel, Chroma, and Nora. These are conveyed in first person, which I thought was a bold choice (you're going to see me repeat that word a few times), but the voices of each chapter are different enough that there wasn't too much confusion (which is good, since the characters do come together and interact quite early in the story). My only complaint about the world these characters interact with (and this is a fairly minor point) is that many of the side characters have modern-sounding names, like Cassidy, and Perry. In a fantasy novel with this much thought put into the world, I would've liked to have seen older-sounding names. The first time they're mentioned, they take me out of the story a little. The bard Gallivax has a son named Dale, for example. I'm just wondering what sort of culture this is that the names follow a particular simple, if modern, style, then you get names like Gallivax and Erefiel. Anyway, I won't labor that point. It's just a minor complaint.

Each of these characters is broken in some way, and has to find their own hope and redemption. I won't spoil anything, but Ardalan really puts these characters through the ringer. A few points there I forgot to breathe, and kept reading to find out what happened next, just so I could take a breath.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC, so there were a few typos, but Ardalan kept me hungry to find out what was next. There are some very difficult scenes in this book to read, but I never once felt like they were exploited or they were there just to shock. It's also a testament to Ardalan's prowess that the depths of emotions felt by the characters are never second fiddle to the events. I never tear up at media in general, but this book tugged at the heartstrings so much that I was pretty damn close. There was one moment in the book that comes fairly early that cut my heart out and stomped on it.

Not only that, but Ardalan lets us linger in the despair in a way that reminds me of Kaladin from The Way of Kings - these are problems that aren't easily resolved, and these characters fail again and again because their personalities and their fears can't let them succeed. Ardalan succeeds over Sanderson in this aspect.

Speaking of succeeding over Sanderson - I much prefer Ardalan's character-driven focus for the novel, rather than Sanderson's plot-driven focus. Through their stupidity and their recklessness and their flaws, we understand why the characters make the decisions they make and feel what they feel. I've not seen deep character studies like this in fantasy since Robin Hobb and the Fitz and the Fool series. This story reads as though Haruki Murakami wrote a dark fantasy.

But at no point does Ardalan lose sight of humanity and kindness. The book is shot through with a humor that's rarely seen in dark fantasy, and it's welcome. Ardalan's previous work, The Fantastically Underwhelming Epic, is a satirical fantasy, and it's clear that the author's comedic chops were honed through writing that book. A few laugh-out-loud moments are sprinkled to great effect throughout Eleventh Cycle.

The prose is elegantly chosen and fairly unobstructive, leading to a quick read despite its nearly 800 page length. Saying that, some lines approach Mark Lawrence or Guy Gavriel Kay-levels of eloquence. One of my favorite quotes from the book comes early:

To even get a glimpse of what I saw in that realm of unfettered wilderness would be to inscribe these words to cloth and dip it into a bucket of water and watch as the ink bled.

Sometimes simple is best.

I'm insanely excited to see where the author's career goes. This is my favorite read of the year, and should be on everyone's radar. I think it has the potential to be the best fantasy novel published in 2023, self-pub or not. If it came out this year, I would say that without equivocation. I was given the paperback edition, which screams quality unseen in trad-pub. It feels like a special edition, with the incredible interior design by Shawn T. King.

With truckloads of imagination, well-realized characters, and stellar pacing and prose, Eleventh Cycle is an astounding achievement. Kian N. Ardalan has truly established himself as one that everyone should watch.

5/5.

[QuestBoundReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Rating: 4.5/5
Full Youtube Review: https://youtu.be/gPWg1VLtNbE

Don't forget to follow the channel on Youtube! it'll really help with content creation. Thanks!!

Welcome back friends to another review! I'm glad you decided to stop by. I don't know what else to say aside from Holy **** what a refreshing book to read. With that said, let's jump right into it.

Warning: This is by no means a happy story. This book is dark and will portray some scenes that are disturbing. With this in mind I absolutely loved almost everything about it.

Character Development: 5/5
The Characters in this book are stellar. Chroma, Erefiel, Dalila, Nora and Ievarus are all characters I won't be forgetting anytime soon. The author did a fantastic job developing each character, and from the start of the book to the conclusion, several years pass which adds in the development of each character. I can almost guarantee that you will find 1 character that you can identify with or relate to, and you will find characters that you will want to punch in the face...I know I did.

World Building:5/5
The world here feels vast, with many different creatures living in different sections of the world. Not once did I think the landscape to be anything but vast and diverse.

Magic System: 4/5
The magic was present, however was not a huge part of the world. In instances including Dalila is where you most see magic, and in certain war scenes. The magic, while encompassing the entire world, takes second place to the mystical creatures that inhabit the world and really make it feel "fantastical".

Enjoyment: 5/5
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think often we read books (at least I do) that have more pleasant endings, which is why this was such a breath of fresh air. This book has traumatic things that happen in it, including rape, murder, etc. If you are sensitive to these topics, I encourage you to steer clear from it, or read it at your own discretion. I however, really enjoyed how the author moved past these topics, and showed the tenacity that humans have, which helps them to overcome even the most difficult circumstances.

Thank you all for reading this. If you haven't already, please follow the Youtube channel as that helps greatly to increase our QuestBound family. See you on the next one.

[Canned Bread · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine you looked up to a hero for many months, only to see that he's selective on who he wants to save.

That was this book.

I participated in Ardalan's giveaway and wrote hoping that this book will meet up to my expectations of being a Dark Souls book (I didn't win a copy, but not the point, I still read this on KU). His response was, "I really hope so too 😁 based on those who are fans of the series, I did get a stamp of approval. But maybe you’ll be tough to convince!"

He was at least right on the latter, but I can't understand how fans of the Souls series approved of this book. For the record, I'm a die-hard Souls/Miyazaki fan to the point I dedicated many years and hours of my life to speedrunning the games, diving into the lore, the equivalent of a whiteboard and string wrapped around pins, etc. The point is, this book *should* have been made for me.

It wasn't.

I really, *really*, wanted to like this book so hard. But, at the end of the day when I gave it a night's rest, I could not condone this book anything above one star.
Many reasons came for my decision, but I'm going to list a few and paraphrase them (yeah, this review became a dissertation in hindsight, sorry. Go to the end if you want my recommendation). However, one point has to be addressed that is important for any Dark Souls fan before I go on further.

Whether one agrees to it or not, Dark Souls does have a reprieve and even an inherent beauty in its madness. We can see this with the use of bonfires, miracles, The Greatmoonlight Butterfly, etc. The point is, if someone is expected to go down a hard path such as DkS, there needs to be a slight break in the madness. Otherwise, it's just an angst fanfic.

And "Cycle" doesn't give you *any* of what I just said.



Now let's get to my reasons for deducting stars.

The Foreward: Now, I appreciate Ardalan gives you a vague list of triggers. But, with this book, I went into a risk. I'm ok with body gore, people getting their guts dismembered, people's head bashed in etc. However... My biggest trigger is any pet-like animal dying as I had to see many of my own die from illness over the years. Now, when the trigger for the pet died, I was thrown into probably my worst night of PTSD and depression that I experienced in months.

Ardalan never mentioned anything about a dog or animal dying in his Foreward. He mentions only the following: disability, mental illness and abuse, and sexual content. What he doesn't say is there is rape, body gore, animal deaths, domestic abuse and violence, etc. Listen, if you're going to put triggers in your Forward, don't beat around the bush and just list them out right.

I put a list of triggers on doesthedogdie.com if you want to know more (it should be accurate, there might be one or two I miss, I apologize, I really don't want to go through this book again)

https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/9...

Homages: Some people don't do homages correctly. Case and point: Ardalan lists the following which currently has obvious links to other Souls-like games:

Bugs: Hollow Knight
Haar: The fog that surrounds certain areas in Souls games.
Spells: The way miracles are produced by writing text and making them come to life.
Tree theme: Elden Ring, nuff said.
Dragonkin: Dragonkin in DkS2

It's fine to pay homages, but please, don't just copy and paste what you see in other games into your own.
For instance, the way Ardalan uses Mount Morinar for the equivalent of Anor Londo in DS1 was actually cool. Yes there are parallels to both, but he at least changed it quite significantly to the point you have to think about it a bit.

The prose: The prose is...eh at best. I know a lot of people weren't a fan with Ardalan's writing style and that's ok. He does reiterate the same thought patterns some characters experience over and over. For example, when Nora was thinking about who raped her, she reiterated the same thought for 5 paragraphs. I feel like if he just went on for like one longish paragraph it would have been enough. Ardalan has a problem of not knowing when to stop which is fine, but can be fixed by good editors if he wants to do so.

Dalia: This bitch. I feel like this is the second time I had a problem with a teenage character, but this one goes further than Tane from "Priory". Tane is a goddam saint compared to Dalia. Dalia I know is supposed to be a warped-up character with how she views the world. But her logic in ratting out her mentor when Lucia had nothing but trust and love poured into Dalia made no sense and made me lose respect. I can't tell for Dalia or for the author, I'm not sure. Her logic was just so batshit insane that even as a teenager, no matter how much I knew a situation was fucked up, I wouldn't condemn my grandma to *death*. The whole entire being a witch and still condemning your own after you've been corrupted by the church system was just so weird that I don't know what else to say about it.

Too much of a good thing: I love the Elders and how every being was different from each other, the different races, etc. The little paragraphs before each chapter helped make you think this might be a DkS book. At some point though, it became just words on a screen. I still don't know who the Rashi or the Asmanians are after finishing the book. Not even the aurochs or the other yungblood equivalent (not related, but every time "yungblood" was mentioned in this book I kept thinking of how it's slang in the 20th century of being a young dude/man in African American groups and couldn't take it seriously). Yes I know there is an index, and I did go back through it (which I did find wtf Yungblood was) but not what Rashi or Asmanian meant.

Names were a hit and miss: Googan. That's all I gotta say.

Big cans of worms: There were two *huge* cans of worms that I could not condone rating this higher than 3. I'm not going to discuss what these cans were referring to.

The topic of racism: I'm not going to delve into it, but this book was really awful in presenting a certain race (actually 2). Not discussing it though.



So, what did this book present well? Well, the two things I thought were well done was Mount Morinar, as I said above, and the magic system which is based on creative outlets. I.e, painting, dancing, playing instruments, writing spells, etc.
Honestly, would have wanted the story to revolve around Museya than a church equivalent to Thorlund in DkS1. Sounded a lot more interesting than Cleria. At least, despite Nora being a total racist and the most potential in a character being killed off, was at least more interesting than any of the towns or places mentioned in this whole book. It was just all cookie cutter medieval fare cities and towns.

The way this book is going, it's not going the way of a DkS book, but a dark fantasy book, which are two entirely different factions here. I cannot persuade myself to continue reading this series but I know others will, and that's fine. But this review is mostly for DkS fans like myself. This is not it.

That said, who should read this? Read if you don't know anything about Dark Souls, and don't care about about the series, but just want a dark fantasy that Miyazaki might have touched as his rough draft for DkS1, but placed it on a shelf and forgot about it.

1/5

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eleventh Cycle disappointed me. I have been a fan of FromSoftware's games since Demon's Souls, and I'm a fan of the art in Berserk. The cover art for this book grabbed my attention when I saw it recommended to me, and the setting intrigued me. I always wanted more from the lore of Dark Souls, and here is a book that wears its inspiration on its sleeve. Sadly, any hope I had for this book was crushed within the first few chapters.

The writing in Eleventh Cycle is clunky. The imagery is elementary, and the author overindulges in contrived similes to describe things. The dialogue is exceedingly boring and predictable, and there is a lot of it. There was far too little internalization, description, or any sort of action to accompany the slew of exchanges on the page. That works in manga, and perhaps that would have been a better format except Berserk already exists. The Eleventh Cycle leans on it as inspiration far too much to be a competitor in that field.

Owing to the hollow dialogue, the characters felt flat. It was hard to empathize with any of them in their struggles which undermined the first-person POV, the grimdark-ness, and the character-driven concept. I just couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters.

NSFW time: The sex scenes were incredibly embarrassing. I think it's difficult to right something erotic at all unless you're Hemingway, and I wish authors would stop trying to write such detailed scenes. This is made worse when all of the sex our protagonists engage in is from a female first-person perspective written by a male author. Eleventh Cycle also ran into the same problem I had with Berserk and what happened to Casca. I don't need a detailed rape scene, and why is this strong woman turned into a blubbering fool by it? I get that it's supposed to be dark or whatever, but it feels cheap even if the author insists it's not.

Eleventh Cycle was too ambitious, and that is its fatal flaw. The world itself was interesting and I would've liked for there to be more worldbuilding given the length of the book. The last twenty percent of the book was significantly better than the rest, but at that point it was just far too late. I am unsure where all the hype and glowing reviews came from, but marketing works, I guess. Even if you are desperate for something like Dark Souls I still wouldn't recommend this book as it clocks in around 800 pages, which is just too much to ask for writing of this caliber. If you need good dark fantasy, go read Joe Abercrombie instead.

[Kian Ardalan]

I have a Newsletter now! Want to be updated on giveaways and news? Sign up here! https://kiannardalan.com/newsletter

Audiobook sample! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km_Fu...

CONTENT WARNING: This book is Grimdark. There is a lot of violence, gore, heavy language. It also deals with very heavy themes like realistic representation of disability, has descriptive sexual content, self-harm, mental illness, rape and suicidal ideation.

[Kyle Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eleventh Cycle combines the strange and enigmatic lore of Dark Souls with the difficult lives of mortal men, and then manages to make the mortals seem the more enigmatic part. The five point-of-view characters act; sometimes emotionally, sometimes inconsistently, sometimes with flagrant foolishness, and yet never unbelievably. This is the core of the story.

I came in expecting a dry, dead world that needed to be restored, instead I found one teeming with pain and hope. Eleventh Cycle doesn't mimic the loneliness of its videogame inspirations, but rather takes the mystery of those worlds and evolves it into something new. I was never lost as the story progressed, with every disparate chapter threaded to what had come before, and yet the way things came together in the end still felt like connecting a puzzle.

The writing is engaging, prose straddling that line between easy-to-read and well-crafted, and every chapter engaged me in the present. Early chapters struggled a bit with awkward exposition dumping, and yet the world was fascinating enough (and awkward Q&A sessions brief enough) that I did not mind. There were also a few editing errors, and some Victorian English that did not seem grammatically right, but these errors are few.

A warning: The story goes into dark and miserable places at times. The book warns of this, yet I lowered my guard during the first 2/3rds of the book. Do not read this if you can't handle grimdark readings for any reason.

It's not often I read a book that reviews itself, but Eleventh Cycle took the words out of my mouth with its epilogue. The in-world fictions, character tragedies, and overarching purpose of the plot are tied up neatly together on several levels.

Read this if you like Dark Fantasy fiction, character-focused tragedies/epics, or stories that contain well-crafted metaplotting. I can't say more without spoiling something. Read it.

I received an ARC of this book and am leaving a review of my own accord.

[Miggins (Hobbit Hole Books)]

5* 5* 5*

A beautifully haunting journey. Whilst i do think the plot could've had more momentum, the character work we got instead is some of the best of all time in fantasy

[Brad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure which book everybody read that warranted their 5 stars because it wasn't the book I just read.

After adjusting to the writing style, I found myself enjoying it for about the first 100 pages. After that it became increasingly apparent just how painfully bad this book was and it only got worse the longer it went on. Unlikable characters who make choices that don't make sense. A meandering plot lacking any overarching storyline. I can only assume English is not the author's first language given how badly words and grammar were misused.

It's fine if English isn't the author's first language, but that only accentuates how badly this book needs professional editing by someone with a firm grasp of the language. There were incomplete sentences; words that got left in or out from previous drafts; grammar and syntax errors; plot elements thrown in with no explanation of origin or meaning, etc.

The POVs were also written in first person narrative so that I had to continuously remind myself which POV I was currently reading. This book was just not very well written and nothing about the characters or story was strong enough to overcome the bad writing. Again, I'm shocked at the hype this book is getting.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the breathtakingly bad sex scenes that read like they were written by a 12-year-old boy after binging on hardcore porn for the first time.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book in the Mistland series and my first book written by Kian. Had the pleasure of meeting Kian at VIECC and he is such a nice human being.
After suffering from a bit of a fantasy burn-out, I thought it a good idea to read Eleventh Cycle to get over it and I am glad i listened to myself. I am cured.
This book was fantastic. Really enjoyed the "people" living in this world, the new magic system (which i am still a bit confused about), the conflict and the individual characters as well as their story arcs.
So much heart and soul is in this characters, eventhough there are some dark themes covered and not all is for the light-hearted to endure.
What these characters have to endure is heart-breaking and also full of hate, revenge but also hope and stamina. I cannot wait for book 2 and whats to come next for them. There are some questions I need answers to.
The reading experience was enhanced by the fantastic and brilliant audio narrators. Both gave their all and I am glad i waited for it. Absolute perfection!

[Marie Grim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alright.

I bought The Broken Binding edition of this book on the strength of some really well-known reviewers lauding it, TBB traditionally picking great books to publish, and this being a SPFBO semi-finalist.

All of these let me down.

Context: I’m a huge fan of Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie, and Christopher Buehlman, and have enjoyed grimdark fantasy when it is well-written and balanced. That being said, I don’t go in for the nonstop horror-fest of tragedy after tragedy with no relief. I’m ok with violence in its many forms, gore, psychological terrors, what have you, so long as it serves the plot. This book had many examples of when it did not serve the plot, specifically related to sex and sexual assault. The trigger warnings at the beginning include: “themes surrounding disability, mental illness, sex, abuse, animal violence, and even descriptive sexual assault.”

The story is a first-person multi-POV structure and starts out rotating through backstory POVs to set up the cast of MCs. The first FMC is Dalila, a shy, awkward teen from a controlling home with a religious fanatic for a father. She is revealed to be a witch - a magic user unconstrained by a medium in a world where magic is corralled using colored ink and music - after she and her friends are attacked by a rogue Akar. Her love interest Perry is killed, and she ends up bundled off to the church to live cloistered and magic free. She experiences intense guilt and uses the service of the church to assuage it, along with graphic self-harm (which was not listed in the TWs). The first extremely uncomfortable sexual scene comes when she isn’t feeling like cutting herself, so she masturbates instead. She catches someone watching her at the door, because of course she leaves the door open. The scene felt forced and awkward, for both the timing, presentation, and the descriptions.

”They danced, those digits of mine, made to mend wounds as they caressed my clit like a bee suckling on nectar, rubbing the pronounced and luscious lips of my warmth.” “…my pronounced labia fiddled with liberally as I used my free hand to massage my corpulent breasts with unrestrained fervour.” p. 276

I’m sorry, what? 1) the use of pronounced in reference to labia twice within four paragraphs is just bad, 2) the use of fiddling is giving the ick, and 3) corpulent. Corpulent means, per Merriam-Webster: having a large and bulky body; obese. Dalila is never described as obese, but the size of her breasts is referenced before. So the use of corpulent here is inappropriate. Who describes breasts as corpulent?

This touches on what is probably my main complaint with the writing. It is overwrought and underdone. The concepts of the story, the world-building, all fascinating. The writing itself is like someone took that beautiful wagyu word steak, covered it with ketchup, and then cooked it ‘til it was brown all the way through. This book is riddled with grammatical errors, inexplicable word choices, typos, and terrible metaphors. I don’t have the emotional energy to go into the travesty that is the dialogue.

The terrible word choices persist throughout. It really feels like the author pulled out a thesaurus and picked the most elaborate word available instead of the one that actually fit. Virile to describe the color blue? Virulent to describe a kiss between two lovers? Yes, I know, English is not his first language. However. Two editors were listed on the copyright page. Two of ‘em. Two editors, and this is the SECOND edition, with part of the foreword given over to explaining that the story was edited for readability in response to feedback.

Also, slapping a -th on the end of random words doesn’t make your writing sound fancy and olde when you don’t understand the Middle English structures that gave rise to words like doth, thine, thee, thou, shalt, etc. For instance: the archaic contraction of it is. A contraction makes use of an apostrophe to replace letters and shorten the orthography of a word to match a spoken pronunciation. The proper form of tis is ‘tis, as the apostrophe replaces the i in it. Colloquial usage drops the apostrophe, which is fine. Just be consistent.

”Tis be my work, my creation. I careth for my realm and thus I made thee.” …”Thou shalt slay the prominent evil, bringeth forth the heart so that I may eschew more land from Nif; whenst done, thou shalt rise and joineth thy siblings in our creator’s bosom.” …”Thus thy quest shall be, child born of Silver Willow. Tis’ shall be thy reason, Ievarus, the Eleventh Seed.” p. 96

Is: the third person singular of to be.
‘Tis shall be = it is shall be. It (be) shall be.
Tis be = it is be. It (be) be.

And eschew means (again Merriam-Webster): to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds; to shun. The author used eschew when an antonym is needed, as he is describing trying to GAIN more land.

Moving on. Our other female FMC is Nora. Nora is a soldier and it is her entire personality, that and hating her family. She has been endowed with all the stereotypical traits of a female soldier. As a former soldier, I find this extremely irritating on several levels, namely that those stereotypes, of female soldiers being rash, stuck up, immature, and rife with impersonation syndrome, are rooted in misogyny. He left off the slut one which is great, but comes back raring to go off on female sexuality later. She makes enemies like it’s her job, and is extremely racist towards the akar.

She has a sexual encounter (#1) that started with extremely awkward flirting and went on for about four pages, which was four pages too long. There is a typo here, singular breast used after a plural descriptor, but that’s not the real sin. The number of times he uses lips to refer to labia is the real sin. And of course, the dialogue.

””Wr-wrong hole,” I said. “Oh. Sorry.” We both chuckled at that. “Been awhile?” I asked teasingly.” p. 325.

The descriptors are all off, and the language is stilted, which honestly at this point could be listed as one of this book’s tropes.

”Rafik’s large hands scaled up my stomach and back down. I grabbed at the offered hands, my smaller and lighter digits enclosing around stout and long fingers, around calloused palms.”

What it feels like is happening here is the classic, yet still nauseating “delicate female helpless before the large powerful male” mess. Nora is a soldier. A captain. Proficient and capable, described as toned and fit. None of her previously established traits fits with that stereotype. It reduces her as a character, and is yet another scene that does no work for the plot. Honestly the plot probably would’ve improved if it had been axed.

Shortly after her sexscapade, Nora ends up extremely disabled after protecting a girl from an explosive fire, losing an arm and a leg. No longer able to live independently, she’s shipped back to her family, who follow a splinter religion. They’re very cult-y and awful and ascribe Nora’s condition to divine retribution for her leaving the flock. While she’s at her parents, suffering their culty cult nonsense and abuse, she decides one day that it’s time for a trip to pleasure town, and masturbates. With. A. Fucking. Brush. A hairbrush handle.

”I looked at the brush and rolled its handle in my palm.” “…Another form of escape presented itself, blossoming like a newly kindled forge. Heat spread in my loins, and I suddenly longed for a sensation I hadn’t considered since the accident…” “my primitive side wished for such a passionate night again, but I drowned that desire.” p. 433

As an aside, the author often uses primitive in regard to sex/sexuality, which is uncomfortable. Sex is a part of life - as it is, you know, actually required for life - and it isn’t primitive or base to have desire or engage in sexual activity.

The wording continues to be terrible.

”I was already loosely clad as I doffed just the underwear which girdled my one leg.” “I wielded the handle of my brush and guided it towards the source of the heat, stoking the flames. Banished were the phantom limbs, I felt my remaining bone and muscle in my stumps writhe out of pleasure, the stoked flames fuelling barren limbs.” p. 434

Idk what that soup sandwich was supposed to be, but erotic, it is not. I’ll spare the rest, but just know that a flicking wrist makes an appearance along with turgid emotions. The author tries to make this an independence thing, that the severely disabled woman can still do things by herself. Which is a great point to make! But making it through a strange, extremely unsexy brush-fuck? That’s a choice, I guess.

That was Nora’s sexual encounter number 2. Now for number 3.

Leaving church one evening, just her and her crutch, she is accosted by two men and violently raped.

There are a lot of things about this scene I find distasteful. It opens with one of the two perpetrators killing a dog that Nora has been slowly befriending, because the dog is alerting in response to their beating Nora. Our nemesis the mangled metaphor returns (or remains, as they never really stopped popping up):

”Tears came and there was nothing to hold them back; it was not a sudden burst of sorrow but a slow, gradual trickle.” p. 473

The first half of this sentence implies that the tears came out with force, and the second half implies that they did not come out with force.

The dialogue. Said as one man is mid-rape.
”You know, in fact, I think this a far better improvement! You don’t even need those extra limbs.” p. 474

In addition to raping Nora, the men then cut off her remaining arm and leg.

The author can say whatever he wants, that he didn’t include this scene for the shock value, but to show the evils of the world and perseverance through trials yada yada yada, but no fam. Reducing one of your two FMCs to a literal stump rape victim is entirely unnecessary. Neither of the male POVs experience ANYTHING close to this. Neither of them even have sexual encounters. Rape isn’t just a female problem, so why not have one of your male characters get raped. Dismemberment happens regardless of gender. Let’s chop a leg off a dude. The sexual attention given to the female characters is uncomfortable - be it consensual, solo, or forced - poorly written (let the women write the spice, please I beg), and just unnecessary.

Our MMCs are Chroma, an akar youth, and Erefiel, the Nephilim general who commands the force Nora serves in. As a nephilim, he is the child of a Zerub (angel like types with animal features), and a human woman on the verge of Ascension.

Both of them are written with an equivalent level of detail, with no raping, masturbation, awkward sex, or gratuitous maiming.

Chroma is an akar (a separate species that is meant to be orc-like) living in a settlement outside of the human city’s walls, and he struggles with his identity as an akar, his desire to meet his absent father, his feelings of attraction towards a young akar named Nedalya, and other character-building events. Erefiel as a character had the most potential to be interesting, and I enjoyed his segments the most. He acts as a protective patriarchal figure to the other MCs, helping/guiding/caring for them in various ways. So of course he gets fucking killed.

TLDR: the writing quality is atrocious, the prose is pompous, and this book needed serious line and copy editing. The author does not use the Oxford comma - an unforgivable sin. The treatment of the female characters is exceptionally misogynistic, with unnecessary physical and sexual violence, and are more a fetishization of female sexuality (goddess/whore dichotomy) than actual characters. The male characters are normal. The Broken Binding edition is gorgeous, clothbound with foil stamping, headbands, ribbon bookmark, map endpapers, beautiful tipped in artwork, and is a literal representation of lipstick on a pig.

More random quotes:
”Appropriately admonished for my undesirable action, Mother Vinrie took me to Mother Margaret, who began to dress me properly. Her hands worked as if she were tentatively embroidering a work of art.” p.160

”Regardless, Maxim lulled from his lute, a melody which traversed past the concordant rain and distant strikes of thunder.” p.241

”I struck forward as an akar’s grotesque face peered out from behind the line, my spear borrowing [sic] into its eye. I retrieved my weapon and searched for more skulls to go spearfishing in.” p. 245

”Her lashes were like brittle twigs brushed with powdered snow.” p. 287

”My digits clambered about his back…” p. 324

”…Dalila had become strikingly beautiful, albeit in an innocent way. She seemed timid with her deep blue eyes, curling lashes, supple lips and preposterously pronounced breasts; she would become a target for many nefarious men.” p. 412

”If I tried to discern where one worming body ended and the other began in this nightmarish knot of nightmares, I feared my mind would break. One shrieked, its cry like grating metal. “How horrifying,” I noted.” p. 558

”Its diversely dimensioned denizens strolled through dreary buildings.” p. 559

”Finally, I donned and allowed for my new legs to latch like metal leeches.” p. 558

”The next mourning [sic], I paid a man in coin and took a seat in the back of a wagon filled with barrels of salted victuals.” p. 602

””Save it.” I stormed past her, reeling with the ecstasy of lashing out at a mentor, a friend, I would worry about the fall out [sic] later.” p. 618

[Blaise · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://undertheradarsffbooks.com/202...

I recieved an ARC from the author in exchange for a honest review. Welcome to Minethria, a land shrouded in mist and inhabited my several different races across the land. Overseen by the Elder King in Mount Morinar and his cohort of lesser Elder beings. Minethria has gone through ten cycles to date which can span hundreds of years. With the Eleventh Cycle about to begin, a new month will be added to the calendar year, a new race will be revealed, and a new Seed is born to take up the mission of fighting a great evil. What that great evil is will not be known for quite some time but the world will soon know. A grimdark novel that will bring you to the darkest corners of your conscious. Over and over again I felt like screaming for what I had just read. Kian will sink his claws into your skin and not let go even after the shocking conclusion. This is my Top novel of 2022 and I’m sure it will be yours when it is released in 2023! Lets dive into this grim epic.

We have four first person POV’s and one third person POV from the Seed. Dalila is a farm girl looking to live the simple life with her family and the boy she loves. When walking in the forest with her friends, they stumble upon a feral Akar looking to kill them. Akar’s are giant like creatures that resemble trolls. After the ensuing struggle, Dalilia discovers that she can heal all the damaged parties with magic. Magic in all its forms is forbidden in Minethria and Dalila will be brought to the capital to face trial. Don’t blink at how broken she will become in this story. Next we have Nora, a warrior looking to prove her worth in the service of her captain Erefiel. Nora despises the Akar with a passion and is unwilling to engage in any discussion on the matter. Headstrong, smart, and reliable, Nora will see the full brutality that Minethria has to offer in battles on and off the field of combat. Nora’s story is the biggest rollercoaster ride I have ever read in one novel for a single character, so be warned! Finally we have Chroma, an Akar living in a settlement controlled by humans much like internment camps. Akar lives with his mother and only hearing stories of his great father out in the wilds. When Chroma is betrayed by his love interest moving into the bed of another Akar, he flees the settlement for the forest. It is in this forest that all of the story plots will connect and the plot will start a fast pace moving forward. I wish I could discuss more but that wil be for the readers to discover.

Eleventh Cycle is pure grimdark novel in every sense of the word. Each and every main POV character will suffer! You will be tested, push and pulled, and in some cases shoved into dark places you never expected to go. The writing style is a little dense and confusing in the beginning as the story is being built. Just know that not every question you have is going to be answered and read the Foreword before diving in. Trust the author to deliver on his promise to suck you into this one of a kind epic and you will be fine. The story will take its time in unfolding events but the battles will provide a powerful punch. The Elders are more involved in the lives of the creatures of this world than you may think and plenty is happening behind the scenes. This eight hundred page door stopper I consider to be a gamechanger for the grimdark subgenre and the impact it had on me will not be forgotten.

The hype surrounding this novel is 100% real! Mark it on your calendar and preorder your copy now. Kian Ardalan is an author everyone will be talking about in a few months time and this series will be one to watch moving forward.

Cheers!

[AndDown · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan is the first book of the Mistland series, which will consist of 4 to 5 books.

Rating 5 out of 5 Stars

If Dark Souls, Hollow Knight, Berserk and Joe Abercrombie had a child, they would have called it “Eleventh Cycle”. It’s a grim and dark story, and I recommend reading the content warning at the beginning to get a feel for what’s to come.

The book is set in the Mistlands, the land of Minethria, where the Eleventh Seed is born as a descendant of the Elder King to fight evil and protect all mortals, but this is just the overarching theme, there is more to discover as you follow 5 POVs. Four are written in first person and one in third person. Each of these POVs has its own tone, and I never felt lost following these characters.

Kian is merciless when it comes to his protagonists. He makes them suffer and go through agony, but he leaves the reader with the feeling that all this never-ending torment and despair is not in vain. The characters bounce back, they feel hope and purpose. Each character feels real, their actions and choices, which sometimes means that you question a beloved character, doubt them, but this makes the story all the more believable.

Each chapter begins with an epigraph containing information from historical writings and stories from that world, feeding the reader more lore and little details and painting a bigger picture of the world. It's absolutely brilliant world building, it builds a gritty world, and it's up to you to uncover as much as you want, to dig deeper and rethink everything you know so far.

The story captivates you from the beginning, and the further you get into the book, the deeper you are drawn into the world of the Mistlands. You experience unexpected, gruesome and heartbreaking events and barely have time to catch your breath. Even though the book is slow overall, you need the time to digest and process everything you've experienced, and it really helps to be immersed in the world, because on the next page you might get punched in the face again.

His prose is easy to understand and accessible, but to be fair, as a non-native speaker, the seeds chapters are a bit different. Written in Old English, it was hard to follow at times, but thank goodness for the dictionary on the Kindle.

All in all, this book is a journey of suffering, anguish and pain, but also of hope. It grabs you and stays with you long after you've finished it. You think about the world, the lore, the supernatural beings, and the main characters in all their despair.

That was a lot of words, and I feel like I can't do the book justice, and I think that's a sign. A sign that this book and this world that Kian has created has the potential to be something great, a modern classic that can compete at the very top of modern fantasy.

So, in conclusion, for those of you who like character-driven fantasy that is darker than anything you have read before, this book will make you both uncomfortable and hopeful. Get it, and you won't regret it.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan
Review by Nick Kimball

There have been a few reads in my recent reading journey that have embodied the themes and elements similar to FromSoftware games such as the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series reigns supreme, of course, but Michael R. Fletcher’s tThe Obsidian Path trilogy and the Gods of the Caravan Road series by K.V. Johansen also vie for the Souls-like moniker. I’ve searched for a proper Souls-like read for some time now and for the first 60% (roughly) of Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan, I felt as though I’d at long last found a new and worthy contender. Before I go into why this book simmered down from a new favorite series, 5 Star read to a 3 Star (really 2.5), I’d like to also be critical about the things that I enjoyed first.

Eleventh Cycle follows the story of the Eleventh Seed, a higher being born into the world as a clean slate and destined to judge mankind by descending to the mortal realm and observing them as well as anointing several individuals who possess key emotional attributes such as rage, empathy, compassion, and bravery. The story also features key characters and their separate journeys in relation to the Eleventh Seed’s quest and how they inevitably converge together by the end of the story.

Personally, I thought Iveras (the Eleventh Seed) was fucking awesome and wish the book followed them primarily over the mortals. Every single chapter of Iveras making their way through the mountain kingdom in the heavens was so very Dark Souls and sung to the dark recesses of my soul in the most delicious way. I hungered for more of it and once they left this setting I was left longing for it for the remainder of the read, even when we returned to it later with some of the other characters. There was something special about seeing that world through the Eleventh Seeds limited perspective. It made the setting feel more mysterious and unknown and alien and I just ate that up much like exploring the Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls for the first time.

The other POV that I enjoyed the most was Delilah’s. Her story and her journey was the most compelling, to me anyway. It was also an excellent representation of mental health struggles with self-harm and done with absolute respect and care. I also appreciated the sex positive content. There is a lot of sexual content in this book and it was refreshing to read the smutty scenes that did not feel limited by the male-gaze and instead felt very character-centric, especially Delilah’s scenes during her time in the monastery as a sister of the world’s holy order of healers. Her entire character saved this book for me in a lot of ways and I will admit that I expected her to be my least favorite POV in the beginning.

The world of Minethria is grim, no doubt, but is also full of color and diversity and lore. This is something that captured me in the first chapter and truly never let up throughout the 902 pages of this tome. There were also themes of xenophobia, racism, and prejudice that I felt were also done really well, albeit much simpler and safe in some ways. Nora, a human soldier, and Chroma, an Akar warrior, both bore these themes though I found both of their arcs to be the most disappointing. And then there is Erafiel. Member of a race of feathered, bird-adjacent humanoids who leads a large military faction under the laws of the Elder King. I can’t say too much about his arc, but it started off as my favorite part of the book. I enjoyed seeing the world through his eyes and how his race of people were revered for past deeds in this world's deep history of strife and triumphs.

Now I must divulge the truth as to why this book fell so high from its perch for me. I will attempt to make this brief and concise. I think Kian Ardalan is a good writer and a very kind human. I am a writer myself, it is what I went to college for, and so I will attempt to come at this from an omniscient perspective being a male reader and writer while still being aware that my own point of view is limited. There is a graphic scene of sexual assault in this book and the subsequent aftermath and “justice” for it that I have a major issue with.

In Nora’s storyline, after she loses her arm and leg in a dire situation and is sent back home to her toxic and abusive family to recover, is topped off when she is assaulted by two men in an alleyway after they take advantage of her handicap. The scene is vivid and repulsive and one of the more graphic scenes of sexual assault I’ve read in this genre. While I don’t enjoy reading about SA in the slightest and it never helps to make me feel worse for a character who's already been cut down substantially either— usually just makes me angry on and off the page… I understand that in a dark fantasy or sci-fi or even modern world, these horrible things happen and too often so I understand the having to accept that it wouldn’t be realistic of people to feel like or act like these things just don’t occur cuz that would also be an injustice to those who HAVE gone through this— but what I will absolutely be criticizing here is the fact that the author did it with explicit detail and then omitted that effort for the scene later in the book when Nora’s body is rebuilt and she is able to enact her revenge of the men who assaulted her. This was a mistake, in my opinion. A major flaw, actually. To have described Nora’s rape in such graphic, in your face, detail and later choose to fade out when she is about to kill the men who did it to her is, in my personal opinion, cowardly.

I urge you to do better. It’s not about the catharsis that comes with being able to witness Nora’s revenge in brutal detail. Although this is part of what readers want out of the grimdark genre. Victims of this type of violence and horror deserve better. We can do better. This is a grimdark read. The reader knows what they signed up for and are here because they enjoy reading graphic content. If you’re going to feature or use sexual assault as a plot device and/or for character development...(note to fellow writers, don’t do this, it’s not the way. People are very over it. Bathe your readers in the blood, tears, and viscera of the story's villains, especially after you’ve bathed them in the blood and tears of the heroes.) … then you need to match every scene of graphic violence with the same unapologetic lucidity as you give the inciting scene. To do anything less is irresponsible and does your character a huge disservice. This is also the sort of content you’d expect alpha and beta readers to catch.

Now, I don’t think Eleventh Cycle is a bad book, and I don’t think Ardalan is a bad writer. I think a lot of readers will enjoy this world he has created. I loved and even raved about the first 60% of this book to everyone and their grandmother. However, the shying away from violence in a few key points and the overall plot of this book sort of devolving into redundant story beats and an abrupt ending (I know this is the first book in a series) is ultimately what cut my rating and more importantly, my Mount Moirnar levels of enjoyment and excitement for this book down to the mortal realm of the mediocre.

Rating: 2.9/5 Stars
WGB Score: 60/100

[Chris Fudge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was informed that the Dark Souls series was an inspiration for this novel and I was actually searching for something like that after playing through Elden Ring. It did not disappoint.

One of the great things about the Souls series is the world that is built around your story. Eleventh Cycle was no different. Kian clearly has a massive world built around his cast of characters and that world, Minethria, feels alive. Every chapter starts with lore, constantly adding to and building up this world. We see it come through sometimes and sometimes you are left to interpret it for yourself. There is so much well written story here, but what might be even more brilliant, is the story left unwritten, for you to decipher on your own.

A fantastic cast of characters tell their own fantastic story in this large, dark world. I was made to care about these characters and what was happening to them. Some expert creature/monster design was on display as well.

I'm not sure this review will do the book justice, but it was exactly what I was looking for when I went out searching for something akin to the Souls series. I hope we get more.

[Stephan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has to be one of the most terribly written fantasy stories I’ve ever read.

Quick warning for other potential readers:
I got this book because it was promoted as very “Soulsgame Inspired”. Maybe theclosest thing to a Soulsgame in book form.
It is not. In Fact I’d say it’s incredibly far away from any of the souls games experiences. Sometimes it tries to be vague or write a story in that mysterious souls-like narrative but it comes across as amateurish at best. These bits of narrative really don’t add anything much to the world and are often just vague for vagueness sake. Sometimes desperately trying to copy the souls-like style of narrative but failing to understand what made that narrative so effective inthe first place.

Anyway, the review. It’s a bit chaotic because I could go on and on about the many things wrong with this book. And there are some spoilers:
This is self-published without any editor and boy does it show.
The book is supposed to be a grimdark fantasy story, the author also immediately warns of this in the foreword and how there're many triggering events within the book that don’t shy away from brutality.
But he promises that all will have a point.
Spoiler: They don’t.
This is one of those male authors that think “Female suffering and racism makesgrimdark”.
The story if you can call it that follows 4 characters and tells it from their perspective(in first person).
About 60-70% of the nearly 800 pages book talks about how miserable the female characters are. They go from one terrible thing into the next. Attempting to live their lives but always with something depressing is going on. Meanwhile one of the males has it terrible because their dick isn’t big enough (not joking, this isone of the first scenes in the book with the Akar, a black giant-like race,where the boy Chroma is getting unsure because his dick might not be big enough for the girl he likes)
This should already kind of set an idea of what the writing is like.
There’s several explicit scenes in there, including female masturbation that is just embarrassing to read,  another scene got me so fucking pissed off that it nearly made me throw the book directly in the trash.
This specific scene made me wonder if the author was actually some kind of misogynist or really believes that character development in women can only come through debased suffering. Which is disgusting in itself. If you’re going to write grimdark yourself, please read other grimdark fantasy books that DON’T rely on sexual assault as a plot device for female characters . There are PLENTY that do it well.
Trying to be Song of ice and fire/Game of Thrones especially with this level of writing comes across as incredibly amateurish and not to mention lazy.
The story itself is just all over the place. A lot of the plotlines feel like side quests as there is no real overarching plot. Supposedly a new “Seed” is born, a demigod like creature that is to bring an end to the eleventh cycle (the title of the book!) and usher in a new one. However we only get a few pages every so many chapters that talk a little bit about the Seed. Only at the very last 150 pages or so, he becomes more integral to the plot, and even then it quickly loses traction and any interest that could’ve been written into it.
Characters often just “Do things” and “Things happen”.
There is supposed to be a war going on with the Akar, but aside from a few small encounters and 2 bigger battles it feels that this war is actually more a side-thing and not very important. Especially because the soldier character Nora and her direct commander Erefiel simply leave the battlefield and proceed to do other stuff instead. This makes the whole war feel like it’s not really a big concern. Another thing that adds to this is how the moment the characters are off the battlefield the war is barely even mentioned.
Another big annoyance in this book was how characters often “forgot” things themselves, or rather how the writer forgot he wrote one thing for a character and then writes something else for this same character later.
An example: After a major attack from the Akar who use new type of weapons the human commander wonders if they somehow got a new ally.
In the war court that follows the court asks him how the enemy got these new type of weapons. He answers he has no idea. They suggest the idea that maybe the Akar have made a new alliance or have someone else pulling the strings.
He’s surprised and mentions he never even thought about this himself.
(You did just a few pages ago you big dumbo!)

And a lot of these types of instances pop up more throughout the story.
A few more things:
Characters often have their emotions going all over the place.
Sometimes sentences don’t make sense, or the words used in sentences don’t make sense, as if the author didn’t really know what he was trying to say.
There’s some word usage that doesn't fit in a fantasy novel (this really takes you out of the experience).
There’s cringy modern jokes that again don’t fit in a fantasy novel.
Characters make some really stupid decisions that sometimes go entirely against their established character.

When reading this book I honestly felt that these characters were just a bunch of screaming teenagers rather than the more grown up characters they were supposed to be. Even all the way up to the end.

As for the good parts. There’s an interesting magic system? Creating shapes out of mist and using the mist as a sort of magic is very unique and cool. I wish this got more explained and explored.
I think the book would’ve been a lot better too if about 400-500 pages were just cut out of it and we could start immediately after the introduction of the characters with the Seed landing on the human world and explore their interaction with it. This would’ve made for a much more interesting novel.

I’ve read a lot of trashy books, but never have I thrown a book straight into it.
This will be my first.