Title: Outcasts of the Worlds
Author: Lucas Aubrey Paynter
Genre: SciFi Fantasy
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
Beyond the remnants of Earth lie many worlds, connected by pathways forgotten and invisible. They were left by the gods and have been found by Flynn.
A confidence man. A liar. A monster. Flynn has seen himself for what he really is and has resolved to pay for everything. Even if it means spending the rest of his days locked in Civilis, a tower prison for society’s unwanted – “half-humans” gifted by the fallout of nuclear holocaust centuries past.
Jean, a prisoner in the neighboring cell, has different ideas and despite himself, Flynn finds himself joining her daring escape. After rescuing her friend Mack, the three flee Civilis as Flynn pieces together the hours before his capture and finds himself drawn to an abandoned facility where a rift to another world opens at his nearing.
Together they will venture farther beyond the stars than humanity ever imagined, find others like them that will never belong, and tangle with forces both ancient and immortal. They stand alone, hated and scorned – and the last hope of making things right in a cosmos gone terribly wrong.
One of the Amazon reviewers compared this book to Steven Erikson’s “Malazan” books, and I couldn’t agree more. Outcasts of the Worlds holds the promise of something epic, of something extraordinary, providing a great balance between excellent plot and characters.
We followed different characters on different worlds, and based on the premise I thought this would complicate things, but actually it works rather well. Flynn was my favorite character. He’s struggling with so many things at once – coming to terms with his past, daring to face his future, his quest about his inner self to find out the man he chooses to be, all that makes him one of the most intriguing characters I’ve ever come across. The other host of characters we’re introduced to are interesting too, but they don’t reach the level of intrigue Flynn does.
The author does manage to introduce all characters in an unique way, not “seemingly at random”, but instead it all makes sense in the greater plot. The world-building is spot on as well, allowing the author to explore additional worlds in the next book in the series, and yet providing enough background setting to be believable.
The writing was enjoyable overall, and especially during the action scenes, it was top-notch.
I would recommend this book to all fans of science-fiction and fantasy. If you like solid world building and interesting characters, you’ll enjoy this one.
Giveaway
You can win a signed copy of “Outcasts of the Worlds” by filling in the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is international.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
[…] Outcasts of the Worlds by Lucas Aubrey Paynter […]