The Foundry
Frank Dravis
c. Jan 2018
$3.49 ebook
$12.89 print
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About the Book
A storm of greed and lust for global
domination is rolling through the forests of Mount Mars, on the planet Dianis.
The assault crashes against the walls of an idyllic town called Wedgewood. Over
the walls Paleowright soldiers and their troglodyte allies climb and meet the
human defenders sword against teeth, and shield against claws. In a staggering
retreat, the defenders fight the first battle to save their planet from tyranny
and galactic exploitation. Outnumbered, the citizens and mercenaries of Wedgewood
stand shoulder to shoulder and send the rally call to their brethren.
For IDB Chief Inspector Achelous, if Wedgewood falls the plans to protect the
planet from Nordarken Mining fail as well. Those plans rest on the forge in
Wedgewood's foundry. Ruthless in its insatiable demand for a rare mineral,
Nordarken ignores the federation law – ULUP -- that protects the isolated,
primitive planet. Destroying whole cultures to satisfy their avarice is just
the cost of doing business, but for Achelous, a ULUP enforcer, it's his job to
protect the defenseless.
The politics authorizing ULUP are complex, and Nordarken is a master of
manipulation. Ordered to leave Dianis, Achelous and his team face an
excruciating dilemma. In a surprise, as the story of Dianis unfolds, Achelous
learns he is not alone against both the global and galactic powers. Marisa, a
trader princess, and Christina, an Ascalon Defender, respond to Wedgewood's
rally call, but as provincials, they are unaccustomed to stellar
intrigue.
The defense of liberty for Dianis starts here, in The Foundry.
My Review
Epic in length and subject, Dravis’s
sci-fi fantasy far distant future world is at heart a passionate treatise on
environmental protection.
When a valuable mineral is found on
a distant planet that also features beings with untapped powers that could
affect the tide of galactic war, the race is on to plunder Dianis’s resources
no matter the law.
The Foundry features Archelous, a
man living a mysterious double life as an embedded native on an undeveloped
world while also trying to defend that world from intergalactic turmoil. Dravis’s
world-building skills are finely developed, as are his very real complex characters.
While I love sci-fi fantasy, I occasionally found the details overblown and
admit to skipping through some parts to pick up the threads of what, at first,
was a story within a story. But unlike other lengthy books I had to put down
for a time due to other projects, I found I was able to pick up the story again
within a page of reading.
My caveat to readers is that you
will want to set aside goodly chunks of time to immerse yourself in this
complicated and challenging story. Characters from a number of different environments
and philosophies unite to protect not only one world, but ethics in general.
Told in numerous points of view throughout, readers may occasionally need to
backtrack to determine the new speaker as there is little attempt to separate
these viewpoints and introspection can be muddled. The characters are unique
and fresh, however, and quite engaging as they battle for justice against their
own kind as well as all manner of sentient beings. Archelous is heroic, but I
found myself rooting for Outish. And to learn who those folks are, you’ll just
have to read.
About the Author
Living along the Mississippi River,
Frank Dravis has leveraged his many life experiences to write The Foundry, the
first book in the Dianis, A World In Turmoil series. He was born and raised in
Detroit, Michigan where he and his father cruised the Great Lakes. His father
often chose to go out on the lake when it was empty, on the roughest days.
Frank spent six years in the US Navy chasing Soviet submarines during the Cold
War. His love of the sea is reflected in The Foundry, a love he has shared with
his wife and two girls. Frank's care for Earth and the stewardship of
their land in Wisconsin are reflected in the culture and ethos of the
Timberkeeps.
He has two degrees, a Bachelor of Computer Science and a Master of Business
Administration. Those degrees have been integral to his professional life where
he has worked in a variety of roles from software engineer, to marketing
executive, to chief information officer, at such prominent firms as SAP and
Organic Valley. The technical and scientific acumen he gained through those
endeavors is demonstrated in the series in the effort to make the Dianis brand
of science practically possible somewhere in the galaxy today. Follow the
Turmoil series on Facebook.
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