Author: Joe Cooke

ISBN: 0-9766291-0-0

The following review was contributed by: Theresa Derwin:  Click Here To Read More of Theresa's Reviews

No female child born of a ‘Lord’ should be allowed to survive. So says ‘Thorsen’s Law’. Yet, Elysen (the female daughter born to lord Vollen of the Vyr), stillborn, is revived back to life during the ritual of forebearance, an archaic ceremony akin to a baptism, in which she is initially drowned. From her birth to her revival and throughout her teenage years, she is branded “abomination”. So abhorred and repulsed is she that no man is allowed to touch her on pain of death. She remains untainted until brutally raped and impregnated by her cousin Yergen, a despot who intends to rule the Vyr following the death of Lord Vollen, and his own father (Elysen’s uncle) Lord Owen. Accused of murder, outcast from her land, Elysen has no choice at first but to run.

In modern fantasy, very few male authors have managed the task of writing truly strong and compelling female protagonists, yet Cooke does it with ease. In Elysen, he has created an eclectic mixture of warrior and woman; wilful, dominant, compassionate and forceful, Elysen is prophesised to be the legendary Shad’ya, the bringer of destruction and the creature destined to end war across the land. Like most other timeless fantasies, this book is less about Elysen’s physical journey and more about her transition from girl, to warrior, to woman, to prophetic figure of the Shad’ya, the ultimate saviour of her people. There are elements of Frank Herbert’s Dune series here (the prophecy, the saviour, the world at war) with slightly less of the grandeur and complexity inherent in that series, which is a blessing rather than a fault. Cooke does not overload us with religious symbolism or politics. He lets Elysen, her life her friends and her story speak for themselves. There are surprises aplenty in the novel, which I have no intention of spoiling by revealing them here. This is feudal fantasy at its best and no doubt, Elysen and her child will return in the next instalment to rebuild a world in need of saviours.