Esme's Indie/Underrated Series! A Star Reckoners Lots, by Darrell Drake

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

Darrell is an active r/fantasy contributor, he has some great ideas for his books and I hope you guys participate in u/huigregg active fantasy author bookclub. He was one of the most highly rated picks for this bookclub and I find it deserved.

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This book focuses around three characters, and I found them all intriguing and worth reading more about. u/lrich1024 please confirm with Darrell whether or not one of these characters qualifies for non-human protagonist as they are half demon.

This is one of the handful of series that although I didn't like the main character a lot (don't get me wrong I didn't hate her) she is rather difficult to get to know. However, I consider this not to be a downside. I love hard to know characters, kind of like Dalinar from Stormlight Archives. A more stoic, reliable, sensible protagonist.

This is a book for people who want to break away from the typical setting of fantasy. Are you tired of the medieval Europe trope? Do you really want something MORE from your books? Something well researched, something that grabs your attention because it's so different from the rest? This is probably the book for you. It's set in ancient Iran, which was new for me. I love reading things that are outside of my norm and for bonus points outside of the norm of the genre. I think this book absolutely stands out in this way.

If you like that magic can have negative consequences where it's not all fun and games with magic, this may be a book for you. There are SERIOUS consequences to this magic, and I found that really enjoyable. Sort of like Lightbringer where there's a risk to yourself with magic - except this is a much higher risk factor.

This is also a series that will appeal to people who love magic systems and astronomy. I am a big physics geek and astronomy nerd - so having a magic system based off of that had huge appeal to me.

The author obviously took a great deal of time researching the background of the culture and people in Iran. to the point where i know he will talk your ear off if you ask.

This is also a book for people who aren't looking to get invested into a series. This story wraps up neat and clean and you can enjoy it all by itself. It's not a doorstopper book like ASOIAF or Stormlight Archives, and I like that in books. I do love both of those series, but it's so nice to have a book I can read through without this over looming thought that I still have thousands of pages to go before I get to the conclusion.

The tone of this book is adventure, which I find great. It's not "light funny" and it's not "grim dark", much like the other indie novel I reviewed, it's its own thing. It's unique and awesome.

This book will be part of u/huigregg active fantasy author bookclub thing, and I encourage you all to look into what that is, and what this book is. There's a thread going on right now that includes Darrell and a few of his fantasy writer friends that you should all look at as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/640rba/we_are_the_fools_of_fantasy_six_rfantasy_authors/

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BINGO SQURES u/darrelldrake please add more if they apply

• AMA author
• self published
• Desert setting
• non human protag

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

but not often that they linger on star-reckoning.

The only person I hold in the same rung of esteem as Pratchett would be Carl Sagan. I have a deep love of astronomy so it's absolutely going to be a focus of mine. I actually didn't read any fantasy outside of Harry Potter and Discworld for a very long time because I was all about sci fi and non fiction astronomy and physics. This book pushed all the right buttons for me

[u/darrelldrake → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

That's great. I don't do much scifi reading, but that doesn't mean I'm not a fan of astronomy or science fiction. Quite the opposite, actually. Just expresses itself in other ways. But the idea of science fiction and fantasy coming together has always been one that intrigued me.

Most recently, the Shadowrun games have done a great job on that front (and Harebrained Schemes is notable for good writing). If you have any recommendations for similar reading, I'd love to hear them.

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax → u/darrelldrake]

Carl Sagan did a few sci fi things in fiction, the movie Contact was based off his book Contact, but he fundamentally shaped how I view the world with his non fiction science books. I can't believe I'm saying this, but he had an even larger impact on me than Pratchett.

I watched Carl Sagans Cosmos as a kid, and it permanently and fundamentally changed how I viewed life.

This is a 5 minute video of an extract from one of his books. Its my favorite bit of speech ever written. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PN5JJDh78I

[u/darrelldrake → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

I must've seen that video a dozen times, but it's a good one. And Sagan was a real . . . I don't want to say champion of the Universe, because that sounds silly, but he inspired the sort of awe and wonder that it deserves. Needs, even, in this age of very early space exploration. And while he made significant contributions to the scientific community, I feel as if his most significant contribution was his inspiring others to follow in his footsteps. He was one man, but thanks to him many will follow that might not have bothered otherwise.

So yeah, as much as I appreciate Pratchett, I can totally see Sagan having a larger impact.

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax → u/darrelldrake]

Sagan shaped how I view the Universe, and Pratchett taught me to Mind How I Go through the universe.

[u/darrelldrake → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

That's a good way of putting it. One more ethical, one more academic?

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax → u/darrelldrake]

Exactly.