star-crossed lovers

The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood – Book Review

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The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood – Book Cover

A.K. Larkwood’s The Thousand Eyes has one big flaw: it marks the end of the story. With this second book, Larkwood wraps up the Serpent Gates series. Other authors might fall to their knees, thanking the heavens for such a unique and brilliant concept, stretching the series across at least five books, knowing this could be the magnum opus of their career. After all, who can guarantee they’ll come up with anything even close to this good again?

The Thousand Eyes Hisses Ominously

Orc girls in love, crazed death-worshipping cults, divine incarnations roaming the earth, and countless worlds you can literally sail between through the Serpent Gates. The setup is monumental. But where Larkwood really shines is in her depiction of gods. In The Unspoken Name, her debut novel, she introduced three deities, any one of which would elevate any fantasy novel.

A goddess of serpents, shattered into a thousand pieces scattered throughout the universe; a terrifying dragon, banished to the cold of space, burning with eternal murderous rage; or an all-knowing entity that kurking in the mysterious depths of a mountain, forever hungry for human sacrifice. These gods create a fantastic foundation for Larkwood’s series.

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A.K. Larkwood: The Unspoken Name – Book Review

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A.K. Larkwood: The Unspoken Name - Book Cover

There’s no denying that with the Internet, the golden age of fantasy writers has arrived. With a slight exaggeration, publishers release every piece of crap. If someone reads a lot of fantasy, they can easily find that from the three newly released books in the genre, (at least) two are mediocre junk. Especially if it’s a debut author. Fortunately, this is not the case with A.K. Larkwood’s first book, “The Unspoken Name”.

Walking Pace

At the beginning of the book, your doubts may not completely dissipate though. “The Unspoken Name” immediately grabs your imagination with its completely unique world-building, but initially it still seems rather nondescript. When the Chosen Bride, Csorwe, starts climbing the stairs towards the mysterious god’s sanctuary, presumably to be consumed as their next meal, a more experienced writer might have written this scene as far more chilling. Csorwe just casually walks up.

But the same blandness is evident in the rescuer, the wizard Belthandros Sethennai. This gentleman is a powerful mage, but it doesn’t really come across. He seems more like someone who claims to be this, but doesn’t really provide any evidence of it.

It takes some time before you realize they’re both just like that.

A. K. Larkwood, however, ensures that you don’t give up until the real adventures begin.

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Saga: Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan · Fiona Staples – Comic Book Review

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Saga: Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan · Fiona Staples - comic book cover

Everything is shit

“Am I shitting? It feels like I’m shitting!”

With these immortal words, the Saga comic series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples kicks off—in the middle of a childbirth scene, no less. If your immediate reaction is to think, “Maybe this is trying to shock me,” well, you wouldn’t be wrong… But hey, it’s the 21st century, so who doesn’t give a FUCK? who doesn’t give a GOOD GODDAMN?

That said, I wouldn’t exactly recommend the Saga comic to prudes in good conscience, as this is far from the ONLY instance like this.

For example, you’ll encounter dangling male genitalia more than once, swinging in all its glory. Then, you’ll visit a brothel planet and stumble straight into a full-blown orgy. Later, you’ll meet a character with more legs than arms and more eyes than ears. And at this point, you might start doubting yourself: could it be, purely by chance, that you’re just a tad bit twisted for thinking this bizarre creature is sexy as hell…?

But oh yes, it’s entirely possible!

(Oh, and she spends every one of her scenes rocking a monokini. So, if you didn’t already know what arachnophilia is, you’re about to find out.)

And yet, all of this is still not the point.

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