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A review by esop
Lightblade by Zamil Akhtar
5.0
Rage of Dragons meets The Matrix in this thrilling, dark, surreal work of progression fantasy.
Having read Zamil Akhtar's previous novel, Gunmetal Gods, I knew that he could get pretty dark. I think it's safe to say that Lightblade is the darkest book I've read so far in the progression fantasy genre. Which isn't to say that it's hyper-violent or full of explicit sex or gore or swearing or anything like that--it's more that the world the characters inhabit is just so bleak. Jyosh is a slave, toiling away in a factory day in and day out, with his only reprieve being a dream crystal his masters give everyone so that they can enjoy the "company" of a person in the dream world, if you catch my drift.
Akhtar perfectly captures the weirdness of dream logic in these sequences, and he also perfectly captures the hopelessness of Jyosh's waking life. Jyosh's reality is brutal and relentless and seemingly hopeless, and the atmosphere is almost suffocating, even for the reader. Retreating into the dream crystal isn't just a relief for Jyosh, but for us, as well.
I loved the setup of the book: Jyosh training in his dreams (where time dilates, much like in Inception) so that he can prepare for the raja's tour of the factory in 3 days, when Jyosh plans to kill him. He still needs to figure out how to obtain a lightblade hilt in the real world, if he can even master using one at all, but that's a problem for later.
To describe more than that, though, would spoil the journey. I can confidently say that this book never went in a direction I was expecting, and yet every shocking turn of events felt like a natural progression from the previous one. There are a ton of layers to peel back in this book, in terms of characters, the story, and even the world itself.
The action is also a lot of fun, with the characters channeling different types of light (red, green, violet, etc.) to power their different types of magic. It was a cool system that I haven't seen done before, relying on sunlight for their powers. It's a fun contrast, having their magic fueled by the sun while dreams--typically a, uh, nighttime thing--are so vital to the story. It also adds a layer of complication to things if the characters have not stored up enough light and are suddenly without any, for instance if they are trapped deep underground.
Lightblade was a riveting, intriguing start to what promises to be an exciting new series. Discovering all of the book's secrets is like diving into deeper and deeper layers of dreams, and I didn't want to wake up.
Having read Zamil Akhtar's previous novel, Gunmetal Gods, I knew that he could get pretty dark. I think it's safe to say that Lightblade is the darkest book I've read so far in the progression fantasy genre. Which isn't to say that it's hyper-violent or full of explicit sex or gore or swearing or anything like that--it's more that the world the characters inhabit is just so bleak. Jyosh is a slave, toiling away in a factory day in and day out, with his only reprieve being a dream crystal his masters give everyone so that they can enjoy the "company" of a person in the dream world, if you catch my drift.
Akhtar perfectly captures the weirdness of dream logic in these sequences, and he also perfectly captures the hopelessness of Jyosh's waking life. Jyosh's reality is brutal and relentless and seemingly hopeless, and the atmosphere is almost suffocating, even for the reader. Retreating into the dream crystal isn't just a relief for Jyosh, but for us, as well.
I loved the setup of the book: Jyosh training in his dreams (where time dilates, much like in Inception) so that he can prepare for the raja's tour of the factory in 3 days, when Jyosh plans to kill him. He still needs to figure out how to obtain a lightblade hilt in the real world, if he can even master using one at all, but that's a problem for later.
To describe more than that, though, would spoil the journey. I can confidently say that this book never went in a direction I was expecting, and yet every shocking turn of events felt like a natural progression from the previous one. There are a ton of layers to peel back in this book, in terms of characters, the story, and even the world itself.
The action is also a lot of fun, with the characters channeling different types of light (red, green, violet, etc.) to power their different types of magic. It was a cool system that I haven't seen done before, relying on sunlight for their powers. It's a fun contrast, having their magic fueled by the sun while dreams--typically a, uh, nighttime thing--are so vital to the story. It also adds a layer of complication to things if the characters have not stored up enough light and are suddenly without any, for instance if they are trapped deep underground.
Lightblade was a riveting, intriguing start to what promises to be an exciting new series. Discovering all of the book's secrets is like diving into deeper and deeper layers of dreams, and I didn't want to wake up.