‘The X-Men Meet Die Hard! In a world where magic and magical beings exist as a normal part of life, Kailene, – Marshall and security head of Set Olan – thinks she’s well prepared for the peace conference between the warring Galan-Hai and Shawn-Ryn. But when a group of magically and technologically enhanced terrorists attack the Set, she has to put her trust in a group of old and forgotten heroes. The “Sacred Seven,” each member being a legendary “Gifted One” who possesses an extraordinary power, in turn, must put aside their combative history and personal involvements to battle an enemy from the past – the Perliox and their magical Animists. If they fail, the world will change forever.
I bought Reunion at Olan at the Bridgewater Bookfest last week, and just read it in one sitting. What a wild ride! I was turning pages with one hand, and using the other to cover the bottoms of each page so I couldn’t skip ahead too fast and miss something. It’s a complex, involving story that grabs the reader from the first page. First you root for this side. Then you root for that side. Then you wonder if you’ve gone down a wrong turning and missed an important clue.
Oh, drat, what’s happening to your favorite character? Is it the end? No, wait, whew, here he is again. Oh, but what about her? What about them? Did they –? Hmmm, is there a secret about to be revealed?
It’s like a roller coaster, fast and furious, whipping around corners and hurtling down, leaving your stomach behind as you charge back up into the action again.
I love this book, can you tell?
Larry, I’m going to be waiting impatiently for the sequel, and expecting to learn more about my favorite character, Solana.
─ CathyS
Edition #53 – October 20, 2013
REUNION AT OLAN
By Larry Ivkovich
Ayo, where are you? Ayo…? Kailene frowned. Her inner Eye could not pick up on her guard-hound. Perhaps it was nothing. Ayo may have simply not been casting his far senses. The dogs could become fatigued by too much mental activity. Still…
Rowt, she called to her second hound. Rowt’s happy voice sounded within her mind. Leave your patrol and find Ayo. She ran her fingers over the dagger-holster strapped to her left forearm, hoping nothing had happened…
“Anything amiss, honored Marshal?” asked the First Prelate. The short, elaborately coifed and robed priest stood with Kailene. Kailene wrinkled her nose at the man’s strong perfume as he added haughtily, “I realize this is your first watch but the Priest-Mage’s warding spells should be sufficient to block any intrusions.”
Kailene nodded curtly, wishing the First Prelate would go do something else. He reminded her of her first sponsor after she had finished her training, exceedingly vain and prissy. It was a wonder she had gotten anywhere under that one’s patronage.
Still, she noticed the man fidgeted, his eyes roving the rooftops of Olan City and beyond as if searching for something. “And you, noble lord,” she said, noting his anxiousness. “Anything amiss with you?”
“Ah, no, no.” The prelate’s hands fluttered like birds. “It is exciting, is it not? To host such an important gathering? I admit to being a shade nervous.”
Kailene grunted and turned back then to the business at hand. The Shawn-Ryn peace delegates and their security contingent had finally arrived. They had been escorted through the city and then stopped at the outer moat, the gate lowered in courtesy as they were questioned by the frontline guard. A member of their congregation had been picked as the ceremonial hostage, to remain at the outer gate tower with a corresponding Galan-Hei member until the conference was over.
After passing that first security check, the Shawn-Ryn now approached the inner moat and the Set’s main keep. The officials and troopers traveled easily on horseback while their slaves carried boxes and chests of supplies or bore ceremonial banners. Six specially masked, bare-chested servants pulled a large, covered wagon in the middle of the procession.
Kailene studied them from the upper rampart as the group of delegates, servanats and troopers crossed the inner moat bridge. By custom, the Shawn-Ryn officials wore ceremonial robes complete with intricately sewn facial hoods that covered their entire heads. They were an intensely private race. Their religious doctrine specifically prohibited their faces to be revealed in public outside their prefecture except under certain conditions.
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Larry Ivkovich is an IT professional and the author of several science fiction, fantasy and horror short stories and novellas, published online and in various print publications and anthologies including M-Brane SF, Afterburn SF, Penumbra, Twisted Cat Tales, Abaculus III, Raw Terror, Triangulations, Shelter of Daylight and SQ Magazine.
Winner of the Fiction Prize in 2010’s CZP/Rannu Fund Award, an annual Canadian writing contest, for the science fiction short story, Finding Sanctuary – Sponsored by Chizine Publications.
His science fiction story, Ghost Child, was published in the genre anthology, Shelter of Daylight, in December, 2011.
His fantasy adventure novella, Reunion at Olan, is published by Wolfsinger Publications in print and ebook formats.
Larry’s first professional sale to Penumbra Magazine. A dark fantasy, The Turin Effect, is the featured cover story from October, 2011.
The newest publishing credit is to the online SQ Magazine for a story set in Venice, Italy – The Raptor and the Lion.
He has also been a finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest.
His debut urban fantasy novel, THE SIXTH PRECEPT, is now available from IFWG Publishing, Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.
He lives in Coraopolis, PA with his wife Martha and cats Trixie and Milo.
Find Larry on:
Website – Facebook – Angie’s Diary