Aylun, book 2, Ever-Branching Tree series
$6.99 ebook, $30.99 paper, $39 hardcover
Epic, high fantasy romance
David Scidmore
Meerdon Publishing, Oct, 2023, 1,034 pp
buy on Amazon
About the book:
Megan was
always good at solving puzzles. For years, she used that aptitude in the
physics lab, where she worked as an assistant to her best friend, Jon, until an
accident thrust them into a terrifying alternate world. Almost at once, she is
abducted by the heartless tyrant Aylun, an ex-agent of the enigmatic home of
all oracles, the Augury. Forced to confront an impossible prophecy that
threatens her and her oldest friend, she undertakes a harrowing journey to a
city lost centuries ago.
While she
struggles to find answers, Jon and new friends Dellia, Garris, and Kayleen are
drawn into a conflict with a dark and ancient menace that could obliterate
everything and everyone they care about. As the puzzle deepens, the threats
multiply, and their situation grows more desperate, Megan’s best hope to save
them all and return her and Jon to their home world lies with the very tyrant
who abducted her.
My review:
I have to
admit, I was fascinated with the story line when I was approached for a review,
and agreed, but became daunted by the hefty story. I got into the book and kept
thinking my ebook version was wonky when it kept telling me how far along I
wasn’t getting. Anyway, there’s definitely a mystery afoot at Delas Labs.
Unfortunately, we don’t get to know more because our heroes, physicists Jon and
Megan, who are experimenting with some kind of negative energy which works? or doesn’t
work? by sucking them into an alternative world in which they’re either heroes
or villains, depending on who finds them first. There’s a dragon, too: I love a
good dragon! But it seems we get more dragon story in the first episode of the
Ever-Branching Tree series called Dellia.
The adventure
was definitely more intriguing from the time Jon and Megan find themselves on
top of a pile of shiny treasure dragon hoard. This book, Aylun, tells Megan’s
side after running from the cave and being kidnapped by a former Shou, Aylun, a
protector of prophecy, who’s bent on sacrificing himself to the dragon after he’s
failed a couple of missions. The story is also as much his as Megan’s.
These two
young people eventually come to an understanding…and more, as they try to
figure out the truth of the prophecy and what it means for their worlds.Aylun is not
as much sequel as it is companion piece, as this story unfolds during the
course of Dellia, the first book, which is told from Jon’s and Dellia’s
perspectives. It’s a daunting task to twine parallel stories like this, but Scidmore
has created an engaging, entertaining, and lengthy romantic fantasy. Readers of
stories that draw from other cultures like that of Bradley Beaulieu, would
enjoy The Ever-Branching Tree series.
About the author:
Born
and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, David Scidmore has held many jobs over the
years, from fast-food worker to musician to electrical engineer. He now lives
in Verona, Wisconsin, with his wife, Brenda. In recent times, his lifelong
passion for playing keyboards and composing music has turned into a fascination
with crafting literary works. His enthusiasm for weaving complex stories that
stir the emotions led to his first book, Dellia. With an obsession for
expanding his ability as a storyteller, he continues that tale in Aylun, the
second book in the Ever-Branching Tree series. Find out more at his website.
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