In Golem, an isolated colony �booming with technology,� Lyaphend Farwalth meets up with the Prime Dictator�s daughter, Wave Haizer. She happens to possess an object Lyaphend wants�one that, with a mere touch, will open up Lyaphend�s mind to a...

In Golem, an isolated colony �booming with technology,� Lyaphend Farwalth meets up with the Prime Dictator�s daughter, Wave Haizer. She happens to possess an object Lyaphend wants�one that, with a mere touch, will open up Lyaphend�s mind to a past she�s forgotten. Evidently, more than a thousand years ago she was Enlenea, one of the �tainted� humans turned immortal by a mysterious energy. She belonged to the Elegies, a select few of the tainted that some humans worshiped as gods. While the tainted can be killed, they�re eventually �revived� in objects or living people; Lyaphend won�t truly know who or what she is until all of her memories have returned. As the story progresses and time passes, readers encounter a varied cast, including the red-eyed, sorcery-practicing Halians and other individuals often at odds with one another. The novel feels like a series of subplots; along with the story of the Elegies, there are narrative threads following the Reverentia group, determined to find the origin of the tainted�s power, and Argen, a young man from a �land far away� who travels to Golem. It makes for an unpredictable tale, as characters will suddenly resurface in later stories despite numerous years having passed. A standout among the vibrant cast is Regnal, an Elegy with no form of his own who �imitates things of his interest,� such as an avian creature. The prose shines, as when an Elegy utters, �Your flavoured animosity bitters my resolve,� or when Argen wipes �the cold sweat from his brow, cleansing his memories of a dream�s unrelenting musk.� All of this culminates in a smashing ending�one that the author can let linger or pick up at another time for a sequel.

View Entire Post