Zarkora

As you may have notice I have been missing my goal of one book and review per month and for that I apologies but to be fair I think Zarkora has something to do with that.  I picked Zarkora up from Supanova from what I like to call “desperado ally”, a section given to local/new/beginner authors, cartoonists, artists, crafts people etc to show off their wares.  This is the section I normally try and avoid but during my last visit in 2017 I stumbled upon brother and sister Nicholas and Alison Lochel manning their table and offering the first book in the Fyrelit Tragedy, Zarkora for $5.  For that price how could I say no especially seeing as I was directly supporting Australian authors?

Well enough about how I came to possess this book and more onto why this review is late and what Zarkora has to do with it, I will do my best to keep spoilers to a minimum.  The story centres on the Fyrelit siblings who after the murder of their parents do what they can to stick together.  Eldest of the Fyrelit siblings is Neleik who is a champion stormboarder, a device powered by an engine that basically makes it a motorised surfboard in which competitors joust each other with last man stand the winner of the yearly Crystal Cup.  And this is where I found my interest in Zarkora starting to wane.  For a book that depicts a dragon on the cover (yes I did judge a book by its cover) I was not expecting this turn of events with mechanisation especially an internal combustion engine.

During this year’s Crystal Cup is where things start to go wrong for the remaining Fyrelit family members with youngest of them, Skye being kidnapped by their parents murderer.  After this kidnapping brother Neleik and Ervine set out on a quest to get their sister back as you expect from any story but here is where I believe the authors lack of experience story telling really starts to show.  From here on out the brothers regularly appear to find just the right person or thing at just the right time (in some cases it is literally the first person they meet) with no real suspense, sense of drama or other means used to draw the reader into the story.  During the entire book the adventurers are more or less handed everything they need on a golden platter whether that be companions, items or answers to riddles.

I am too old to be the target audience for this book and perhaps that is why I find fault with the story, but perhaps not.  During their travels I felt that no meaningful character development and interaction occurred between the Fyerlit’s ragtag merry little band.  At many points through the groups journey I forgot that one or more members of the team were even there at all and even when they are mentioned their role is so minor compared to Neleik that I felt that if they had not been there the outcome and story would have been exactly the same.  This could of easily have been a solo adventure and would of in my opinion of made no difference.

The biggest example and my biggest frustration is when they have a former soldier of some calibre join their group who literally trains them how to use their weapons in some kind of book equivalent of a montage as well has having undertaken difficult quests in the past and yet you hear virtually nothing from them.  No words of wisdom, no guidance and when the going gets tough and there is fighting to be done it seems that Neleik who is vastly more inexperienced and under skilled is the one to get the group through.  You may of noticed that I have not mentioned the other Fyrelit brother Ervine again and that is because he is basically invisible through this entire book, his presence is supposed to add comic relief I believe but he actually does not add or contribute to the group.  He is virtual dead weight without being dead weight, while he doesn’t hold the group back he doesn’t advance it or the story line.

Perhaps that is all part of the real Fyrelit tragedy, that there is the potential of great story with some different themes to explore, the industrial revolution that is taking part in one part of the country while in another there is a city famed for its magic so what might happen should these two worlds collide?

So what is my take on Zarkora?  Is it a worthy read?  To be honest no, it is not a worthy read.  I got my $5 worth but I had to force myself to read the book and hence the delay in this review and not meeting my goal of one book and one review per month.  Zarkora simply didn’t hook me in like some many other books have and so it took me a concerted effort and many months to finish something that should have only taken two days at most to plough through.  Yes I am older than who this story is targeted at but still that shouldn’t stop a book from grabbing the reader’s attention regardless of the age of the reader.  The failings of Zarkora I put down to missed opportunities by inexperienced authors, ones that can be learnt over time as both authors gain experience in story crafting.

I find that even thought I didn’t find it a worthy read and one that I wouldn’t recommend to others I will likely pick up the remaining three books to finish the story off.  Partly from curiosity to see the story through, partly because it will bug me to have an incomplete collection and partly because I want to see the authors improve upon their story crafting and see what they are truly capable of given the years of time between their first and last novel in the series.

Have you read Zarkora?  If some leave a comment below as I would love to hear your thoughts about it.  Also tell me how you found my review as I am still very new to this process of critiquing the works of others and explaining my opinions.