Originally posted 3.20.2025
Disillusioned Maro Prakk has decided to leave the military and the atrocities he’s witnessing, enabling, or partaking as sergeant in a military tasked to fight literal monsters, so-called hostiles, and violent outlaw gangs rampaging the world of Atar. This is a fantasy Western series with themes of religious houses and some magic. The world of Atar has several gods each with their houses, priests, and adherents. Each chapter of the novella starts with a quote from a sacred book.
While Maro is passing through the town of Tepress with his horse Bastard, a banker brings asks him to escort an orphaned ten year old girl, Maribel, through some dangerous territory to her uncle. Maro is in no mood for such task through wild, barren territory teaming with robber gangs. He refuses and gets on Bastard and rides out of town.
Outside of Tepress, Maro has time to ponder all the hurt he has helped to mete out to foes and innocents in his five years fighting in the frontiers. Maybe his skills in violence would serve some good purpose in seeing that Mirabel gets to safety. So in the night, Maro returns to Tepress. But, alas, the Banker has already sent Mirabel out of town on the wagon train. Maro sets off in chase of the Wagon, hoping to reach it before any marauding outlaws do.
This is an evenly-paced novella with nice writing that verges poetic at times. There are fights, and Maro doesn’t have just outlaws to worry about; there are various monsters living in the woods of Atar. But Maro also has his magical “boon” to control fire which helps him fight the outlaws and the monsters.
A running theme in this novella is the guilt Maro has for the violence he’s involved in. This novella reads like an exploration of the ethics of war, torture, and violence in general. In regards to this, the author does the “Show don’t Tell” very well. The author lets Maro’s POV dig into the ethical and moral issues in the nearly lawless territories, and the choices and degrees of violence facing those tasked as law-persons or self-appointed to protect the weak and enforce the law.
Library books by Shadrack Antwi 