The Upstream Writer: September 2024

Synopsis from Amazon:

In a world where ancient races still dwell, the events of an age-old prophecy begin to stir.
From the pages of an antique tome, there is much the ancients themselves have yet to learn.
The time has come for the Keys of the Origin to play their part in restoring balance to Aeldynn; but how will their choices affect the outcome?

Fate leads two young men down a road they would never have dreamed of following; a road leading them into a struggle to bring the world back into a state of balance from the precipice of madness and desolation. One is a righteous law-abiding servant to the people, the other a distinguished pirate, and both are unknowingly about to play their part in a foretold bid for Aeldynn’s future. It is not only Zehn and Larkh who are fated to take on the malevolent forces of Aeldynn; there are others who must join with them as they are coaxed into the embrace of the ancient Nays and the fabled Drahknyr, who are also entangled in the masterful puppeteering of a renegade sorceress hell bent on reviving the greatest threat of all.

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My Review:

I can't remember when I picked up this one, whether a sale, a giveaway, or one of those themed posts... but I know it's been on my TBR for a while. Perhaps it's one of those that I heard about and it sounded intriguing, but then so many other books kind of pushed this one down the line quite a bit.

Now that I've finished it, I'm not entirely sure what to think.

On the one hand, it's really great for epic fantasy. The world-building is absolutely stellar. I dig books with lots of history and lore, and even the unique fictional language was something I had fun trying to decipher myself (but also, I appreciated having the translation to understand what was going on!). All of it together lent itself to a feeling of massive-scale innovation. One reviewer expressed that "the writing draws you deep within another world" and I have to agree, it's immersive and immense and, speaking as a writer myself, I can respect all the work that undoubtedly went into producing such a tome!

However, that was also the thing that made it hard to follow at times, and other times, I was just not in the mood to read it, hence the fact that it took me several months to finish. The place names and the character names were confusing to keep track of at first, and all of the information and world-building and character establishment that happened for about the first two-thirds of the book made for slow going. Although I will say that once the plot really got going and a handful of characters departed on a sea voyage, I noticed that the plot simplified greatly, and I could keep track of everyone as they crossed paths with each other, or encountered the same locations from another group's story.

The plot is complex and takes a lot of focus to track with. Undoubtedly if I'd chosen to try and read the book in as few sittings as possible, I might have been able to fully "transport" myself into the story and realize it as vividly as it deserves. But as matters stood, there was just too much going on, not just in the story, but in my life outside of reading as well, to be well and truly immersed in the story in a given block of time, and so every time I opened the app to read, it took too long to regain a sense of where I was in the story, and by the time it happened, I had to put down my device and move on, leaving me short-changed in regards to the immersion. Is that truly a flaw of the writing, or is it just me? I know I have a habit of skimming over the lore in a book unless I find something that really grabs my attention, and while I did do a lot of that while reading Keys of the Origin, it did make it hard to actually visualize the action of the book a lot of the time!

So, in essence, while Keys of the Origin gets full marks for world-building, prose, and the occasional fight scenes that were well-orchestrated, it falls short in the cumbersome plot, the plethora of characters, only a few of whom were at all interesting and even those didn't get enough page time to really feel for them, and the open ending leaves me feeling unresolved and yet not interested enough to pursue the series further. Perhaps a second reading eventually when I've got less going on in my life will change my mind (particularly if the author continues the series and releases a sequel), but for now I'd give this book a decent ****4 STAR**** rating. Author Melissa Joy really poured a lot into this book, and I'm sure that as the series develops, so will the world, and we might see something incredible from her in the future!

Further Reading: (Epic World-Building/Fantasy/Chosen Heroes)

The Untamed Series--Madeline Dyer
-Untamed
-Fragmented

The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
-Gutshot (Novellette)

-The Alcatraz Coup (Novella)
-Vulnerable (Short Story)
   -The Jacq of Spades
   -The Queen of Diamonds
   -The Ace of Clubs
   -The King of Hearts

-The Wendy--Erin Michelle Sky