I won't say this is for everyone, but if it's for you, then it might be your favorite read of the year.
The story follows a man driven by a desire to find sunlight, something he barely glimpsed during the death knell of a previous expedition into the unforgiving and twisted dark lands to the east. That's it. Something very simple and yet complex at the same time. The story journeys through a variety of wild and imaginative set-pieces, but maintains a steady pace and a consistent throughline: continue east, always east, to find the sunlight.
Something I appreciate about the author is their willingness to leave questions unanswered. So many indie authors fall into that trap of feeling the need to explain every single detail and ounce of backstory of every person and thing that enters the scene. That merely deprives me of the motivation to keep reading once the initial glamors of the premise fade. Inadvisably Compelled keeps us moving and lets the answers come in due time. Expecting but not knowing how a character will behave in certain circumstances is what creates the tension and drama that keeps me invested in a story.
The character work in this was amazing. Our main character is Jonathan Height, a gentleman explorer of a gas-lamp fantasy setting who seems inspired by many Lovecraftian researchers. Beyond his singular drive, Jonathan seems to possess a wealth of knowledge relating to the occult and various creatures and cultures beyond the walls of civilization. Contrary to expectation, he also seems to have inhuman strength, the depths of which are ambiguous, yet he's not the only character with powers. The ruler of the city of Beacon is the Illuminated King, someone with abilities tied to the zint lights humanity uses to carve a haven from the encroaching dark. The King appoints a member of the Inquisition, Antomine, to accompany Jonathan and discover whether there is any truth to the myth of sunlight. Also along for the ride is Eleanor, a servant of the criminal underworld who uses strange powers in the shadows. The characters and their motivations are diverse, lending friction and drama every step of the way.
The setting is wildly imaginative and varies with each new location. Humanity lives in walled cities and rely on an artificial light of sorts called zint, which has achieved a holy status under the rule of the Illuminated King. It reminded me of steampunk sensibilities but I guess zint-punk would be more appropriate. The various powers had no defined magic system, but seemed to rely on an individual's strength of will relating to whatever truth they had grasped up to that moment. But not all truths are equal, and men can be shattered by the weight of insight into contrary knowledge. Ironically, exposure to occult truths lends a degree of resistance to them in the future, but one must survive the initial exposure as well as the ensuing curiosity. Cue the Nietzsche quote.
The writing was gorgeous and managed to describe things in a poetic nature while still sticking to the point. Similar to how the main character single-mindedly pursued sunlight, the prose didn't go off on tangents, which is often a pitfall that leads to the dreaded purple prose.
As of 09Mar2024, the book could use an additional line edit as there were a few dozen mistakes. Usually, they were subject-verb disagreements resulting from earlier edits as the author likely toyed with one phrase versus another while editing. An unfortunate side effect of having such fantastic prose is that the mistakes stick out like a sore thumb. It was nothing immersion-breaking, and hopefully these slight imperfections are polished away in a future edit.
If you haven't guessed, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I was on the edge of my seat all the way to the end, with a sense of foreboding as my Kindle counted down to 100%. I had the sense that the MC was an unreliable narrator and genuinely craved and feared the story's final line.
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Print List Price: $19.99 
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024
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Top reviews from other countries
- Peter BReviewed in Australia on September 11, 2024
I'd advise that this story is compelling
- GlenncccReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2024
A wonderful fantasy story
- D MACDONALDReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2024
Nothing like as good as this author's Blue Core series
