Just finished reading Peter Orullian’s epic adventure story.

The Unremembered is almost a coming of age story with a Fellowship of the Ring type feel. Which isn’t to say that it’s mimicking Tolkien or anyone else just merely it’s an adventure story in which a number of travellers unwittingly embark upon a quest, get split up along the way and all continue to travel towards a known destination.

This is a story of good vs evil although there is still room for manoeuvre in that respect, by which I mean not everything is as cut and dried as it may first appear. I don’t really want to elaborate on the plot too much as it develops quite well as you read along.

There are a number of characters and I won’t deny that these are all introduced in fairly quick succession which does slow the read down somewhat as you try to remember who everyone is, their names, the relationship they have to each other and their histories. We have Tahn, who is really the ‘chosen one’. His sister Wendra, who has some magical ability of her own and their friends Sutter and Braethen. We are then introduced to a mysterious character called Vendanj. He is a Sheason and therefore able to perform magic. Unfortunately in this world this isn’t a welcome ability. His companion is Mira of the Far race of people. The Far live their lives full and fast and die young with the promise to meet in the lands beyond. Alone the way we have a young boy who is taken under the wing of Wendra and something of a rogue character who lives in Exile, called Grant.

Now on top of these characters and all your other everyday types we have the evil which is currently being kept apart from the rest of the world by a veil. This veil is maintained by magic. Unfortunately over the course of time people have forgotten about the danger that lives so close to them. They have become complacent and in fact superstition and fear means they have now turned against those that would protect them. Magic is outlawed and the League enforce law and order. For those practising magic the penalty is death.

I thought this was a well imagined and well written book. The threat from evil escalated quickly with creatures called The Quiet Given and the Bar Dyn. The author clearly has a vision of where this is going and this story provides a strong foundation. I did however have some criticisms.

The story starts out in a complicated way with many introductions and this undoubtedly slows down the speed at which you become involved as there is a lot to take on board. On top of that I personally felt this could probably have been shortened slightly. I really enjoyed the late introductory and middle chapters but personally felt like the last third dragged a little. This definitely has an old school feel to it which I personally really enjoyed as it’s becoming fairly rare these days but in that respect there is no snarky dialogue to offset the darker elements. In fact there aren’t really any darker elements. I would have liked to see a bit more banter between the group. And of course we have the whole ‘chosen one’ element which I’m never overly fond of, particularly when in conjunction with a number of the people knowing more than the rest and sharing nods and winks but never sharing their knowledge. I really dislike this to be honest. It ranks right up there with my dislike of love triangles. I just don’t see how withholding information from people who are already in life threatening situations is a good thing. You certainly won’t be able to impart your words of wisdom to them if they die in the next fight so really this comes over as little more than a poorly concealed device to keep information from the reader. On a very small note I found the constant reference to Sutter as ‘Nails’ irritating. Okay. It’s his nickname. But it wasn’t used as such. It just changed from Nails to Sutter for no apparent reason. Only a little niggle but nonetheless something that did bug me slightly.

On the whole though I thought this was a good read. It could use a little refinement but I think if you’re looking for old school, epic fantasy this could be just what you’re after.

I received a copy from the publishers via Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

and gone off to spend a few days in London. Which means I won’t be around the blogosphere for the next few days.