Review: Adventure & Fantasy in a brave new world
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 2, 2012
There is something both cleansing and scary about fantasy, especially the kind that is woven by Matt Bone in his novel, ENDLESS, a detailed, structural wonder. The book is beautifully written and professionally presented, the first in the author's Crescent Series. And it gives the reader a brand new world experience.After an unexplained catastrophe destroys everything he knows on earth, the main character, John, finds himself in the small village of Milnadon in the country of Ireledor on another planet, Crescent. He is cared for by Wimda, a herbalist, who makes a brief but enchanting appearance, and is reprised at the end of the book in the thoughts of John who wonders about her wellbeing. He meets a fellow earthling and is introduced to a panoply of humanoids and beasts. As he regains strength, John learns about this new world he has fallen into, joins two women fleeing their subjugated city, and becomes involved in a catastrophic war when supernatural entities called the Endless return to plague the planet.From the start I was completely immersed in ENDLESS. The descriptions of Crescent are a marvel, so rich and plentiful in contrast to Earth's parched landscape and I was in awe of the the author's deft world building, the completeness of it and, at times, the whimsy of his creation. I totally loved the characters, especially John, a sensitive, intuitive thinker who suffers and ponders and at times waxes lyrical. He meets his foil in Manvedian, an interesting character indeed. I rode the joorun along with John when he "grabbed handfuls of shaggy fur as he hung on, the ropes grating against his wrists ... and saw the buildings dwindling behind them, a faint curl of blue rising into the sky above." And when the Endless first appeared, I felt like a kid gazing up at fireworks in the Magic Kingdom.Amazon estimates that the printed version of ENDLESS would contain 375 pages. Be ready for a long, but thrilling ride, one I highly recommend to all lovers of fantasy and high adventure.