REVIEW: The Unremembered (Author's Definitive Edition) by Peter Orullian
Publishing information: paperback; 480 pages
Publisher: Tor 7 April 2015
ISBN: 978-0765379870
ASIN: B004L2LMFA
series: Vault of Heaven #1
Copy: Provided by publisher
Reviewer: Tyson
Amazon
Synopsis: "The gods, makers of worlds, seek to create balance — between matter and energy; and between mortals who strive toward the transcendent, and the natural perils they must tame or overcome. But one of the gods fashions a world filled with hellish creatures far too powerful to allow balance; he is condemned to live for eternity with his most hateful creations in that world’s distant Bourne, restrained by a magical veil kept vital by the power of song.
Millennia pass, awareness of the hidden danger fades to legend, and both song and veil weaken. And the most remote cities are laid waste by fell, nightmarish troops escaped from the Bourne. Some people dismiss the attacks as mere rumor. Instead of standing against the real threat, they persecute those with the knowledge, magic and power to fight these abominations, denying the inevitability of war and annihilation. And the evil from the Bourne swells...
The troubles of the world seem far from the Hollows where Tahn Junell struggles to remember his lost childhood and to understand words he feels compelled to utter each time he draws his bow. Trouble arrives when two strangers — an enigmatic man wearing the sigil of the feared Order of Sheason and a beautiful woman of the legendary Far — come, to take Tahn, his sister and his two best friends on a dangerous, secret journey.
Tahn knows neither why nor where they will go. He knows only that terrible forces have been unleashed upon mankind and he has been called to stand up and face that which most daunts him—his own forgotten secrets and the darkness that would destroy him and his world."
I originally bought The Unremembered when it first came out but never found the time to get to it. When Tor sent me the book a few months ago, I figured it was time to give the book a chance and see what all the hype was about.
The first thing that grabbed me is that The Unremembered is a very classic fantasy tale of a group of strangers coming together to take on a threat larger than themselves. However, to get to that point you have to read a little further into the book than normal but once you are there, the book becomes very difficult to put down. The world is completely original so you are filled in on the world and the world building as you read but Orullian does a fairly good job of never bogging you down in it and leaves you little breadcrumbs to pick up as you read. Which helps as the books introduction doesn't give you much to go on.
Our main character Tahn, is a hunter and great with a bow but must chant a mantra in order to make his shot. If the prey isn't worth shooting, his bow will not allow him to shoot. It is interesting as it has some serious repercussions immediately in the book. Because of this event (I won't spoil it) he spends some time in the book discovering just who he is.
Tahn is joined by his sister, Wendra, she and Tahn are very close and at the beginning of the book we find that she has given birth to a stillborn baby that is the result of a rape. Wendra and her brother are forced to leave their home and meet up with a group of warriors that take them on an adventure. Many of the characters are well-conceived but at times they do feel two dimensional but at other
times they seem fully-developed. overall, I enjoyed the characters and the growth many of them go through as the book comes to a close.
The Unremembered takes the classic motifs and twists them just enough to make it a book that stands on its own. It is worth taking a look at. It should also be noted that the latest book in the series, Trial of Intentions, will be released today 26 May.
Overall 8/10
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