Halorum

The Kingdom of Halorum is in trouble. A holy kingdom, it is now under siege of the Possessed. The mysterious Dragon Knight is rising in the south, and outposts are under attack are falling in the north and other parts of the kingdom. King Tarkin turns to the beautiful Paulira, expert swordswoman and Master of the Reaper Knights, for help. She sets out on a quest to save her kingdom, which brings her into contact with the Possessed and sorcery and the very Underworld. Will Paulira be able to defeat the forces of the Underworld and save her kingdom?

The story “universe,” the reality the reader enters in a fantasy novel, is portrayed well, the setting described in detail. It’s clear the author has spent time on the story universe, planning out the geographic and cultural environment of Halorum, as well as its history. This can sometimes force rereading, as the reader tries to digest the complex story world, its unfamiliar places, multiple characters, and subplots. However, this can be the case with the fantasy genre, which often has complex universes developed over the course of a series. In addition, the main plot of the quest to save the Kingdom of Halorum remains consistent throughout. There are strong women in the novel, such as Paulira and Sonira, another Reaper Knight, women who go into battle and expect to be treated as men’s equals. Paulira, formerly attracted to only women, falls in love with a man, another warrior for the forces of good, thus a “colleague,” a satisfying romance subplot. There are also some fine battle scenes, detailed, with strong suspense. The pressure on Halorum by the forces of the Underworld is such that the king himself is drawn into battle, with devastating results.

The novel’s prose is in what is meant to be an archaic form of English, but even accounting for that, there are occasional errors in grammar, punctuation, and idiom that are sometimes distracting or confusing. The novel would benefit from editing, but there is a satisfying climactic battle scene between Halorum and the Underworld, the forces of good and evil, and a resolution that sets the universe right again.