Review: Complex future history informing epic plot
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2011
Barok's Exodus is the second book in William L.K.'s Stritonly Chronicles. Six years have passed since the events of The Eye of the Storm. Buildings destroyed in the storm have been repaired. Prisoners have been processed. Mystical powers have been banned. But the humans still live in cruel prosperity while acidel slaves suffer abject poverty.A mystical theme runs through the book in the form of a curious pinprick, slowly growing, slowly approaching the time and place of annihilation. The mysterious Konig of The Eye of the Storm has disappeared, and faith begins to fail--was he ever really there? So Barok sets out, perhaps to find his god, perhaps in search of freedom, and finds much more than he was looking for.Transformation, of peoples or societies, may not always be a good thing, nor always accomplished without pain. But transformation comes to those who least expect it, and the mystical threat may yet become all too real.William L.K. fills his world and an imagined future history with a wealth of complex details. I'm probably not the best reviewer of his tales, my imagination being too tied to practical science and historical faith, and my tastes to characterization rather than complexity of explanation. Survivors of The Eye of the Storm have developed in interesting directions, and new characters introduce new plot-lines, threats and promises. And the story builds to a climax that begs another book. Is the world of Stritonly doomed? Are all worlds doomed? Book three perhaps will tell.Disclosure: I received an ecopy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.