Click Here To Purchase Earth Cell - The Ux-Blood Trilogy Book 1

Author: Charles Brass
Publisher: Clear View Press, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1935795-85-8

Magic meets swashbuckling adventure in Charles Brass’ new trilogy.

Earth Cell is set in an unspecified time in the future, on an earth ravaged by   war,  natural disasters and an intriguingly named phenomenon called the Pheelm Chaos. Guarded by an alliance of witches and humanoid warriors called Uones,  the planet is part of an ‘overweb’ of worlds connected by portals  ( interestingly, segregated  for pedestrians and vehicles). We are never explicitly told what a ‘cell ‘ is or why Uone society is fragmented into so many, but it is clear that Earth Cell,  where the book begins, is constantly under attack from all manner of hostile races, who seek to capture Uones and humans as slaves, or for food.

Maels Raptori , last of his kind, is hard in  training  with the Uones to be a Warden of Earth Cell. He knows little about his origins (except that  the furry Raptori were raised as pets by many races), but is clearly ‘different’ . He is skilled in the use of the Ux,  a powerful form of telekinesis that can be channeled into weapons and instruments, and  that  powers the overweb itself; he also possesses the ability to rapidly heal his wounds, and  fly (or, ‘puush’ as it is called here). These powers, and his skills as a warrior are put to the test almost constantly throughout ‘Earth Cell’, as he finds in a  series of confrontations with some particularly nasty foes. On a mission with his friend, a witch called Larrika, he allows himself to be distracted, only to be defeated and kidnapped by a race of tall catlike beings called Qrill. He escapes, aided by fellow captives and a few well aimed buckets of toilet waste,  is caught again, and spends a short and humiliating time in bondage to a Qrill before one last mighty bid for freedom. 

The book hurtles along at breakneck speed, as Maels moves  from one skirmish to the next. While this does keep things lively , I would have liked the narrative to slow down a little and  offer me some back story -– why  is earth a ‘cell’, what was the Chaos about, and where are all the Muggle humans when they aren’t being enslaved by Qrills?  Then again, mystery is the privilege of a book one in a  series, and I expect things will slowly explain themselves in future Ux-blood books.