Welcome to Flashback Friday!
Reviewed by Dan
This is a Series Review of Ennek (Books 1-3)
AUTHOR: Kim Fielding
PUBLISHER: Self Published
SERIES REVIEW:
When I began seriously searching out and reading m/m fiction, this is one of the first series that I read. I loved it then, and I loved it again on this second read through. I remembered how much I originally liked the story in this series, and that is why I chose it for our first Flashback Friday review. If you are a fan of fantasy, with m/m heroes and storylines; if you are fan of magics, wizards and evil doers; and if you are fan of the underdogs getting their own; then this series is for you. There isn’t a lot of sex in this series…in fact I can’t remember any directly…but there are references to it. Mostly this series is about two men, Ennek and Miner and the development of their forbidden relationship. They will battle great battles to be together, and along the way they will meet wizards, mermaids, pirates, slavers and a few good people! I recommend you give the series a try if you haven’t read it, and if you have, go back and re-read it as I just did!
It is interesting to note that the three books in this series were all written during three consecutive year’s “National Novel Writing Month”. Each was written in 30 days, all one year apart.
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: Stasis
LENGTH: 222 Pages
BLURB:
Praesidium is the most prosperous city-state in the world, due not only to its location at the mouth of a great bay, but also to its strict laws, stringently enforced. Ordinary criminals become bond-slaves, but the Wizard places traitors in Stasis, a dreamless frozen state.
Ennek is the Chief’s younger son. He has grown up without much of a purpose, a man who cannot fulfill his true desires and who skates on the edge of the law. But he is also haunted by the plight of one man, a prisoner for whom Stasis appears to be a truly horrible fate. If Ennek is to save that prisoner, he must explore Praesidium’s deepest secrets as well as his own.
REVIEW:
In Stasis, we meet Ennek, the second son of the current Chief of Praesidium, the grandest and most prosperous city-state in the world. Ennek has nagged his father enough that his father has given in and allowed him to go “Under” with him and his brother. His brother is the heir and must learn about the traitors that lie below the keep in “stasis”. Ennek is not even a teen yet, so by all rules should not even be there, but his father the Chief takes him anyway. He and his brother learn that the traitors are kept in a state of suspended animation through magic, with no pulse, no breathing, and no motions at all.
When Ennek and his friend Gory sneak back for another view, Ennek is horrified when one of the men in stasis opens his eyes and looks at him! He and Gory end up running out of the vault and he doesn’t return for years.
Once Ennek does return, because he is having dreams about the man in stasis, he decides there is nothing he can do but to free the man and remove him from the vault. But the Wizard finds out and demands that Ennek become his apprentice in return for him not disclosing that Ennek has taken one of the traitors.
The prisoner, Miner, awakens and finds out it has been 300 years since he was convicted of being a traitor and sentenced to 1000 years in stasis. And he is collared and on a chain that will reach the bathroom, but not the door. He is resigned to his fate because he attacked Ennek’s ancestor, the man who was then Chief, 300 years previously and tried to kill him. Miner had found out that the Chief and his oldest son set the Chief’s youngest son, who was Miner’s lover, up to be caught in bed with another man, a crime punishable then (and now) by death. The Chief then sentenced his own son to death, and sliced his throat during an annual prisoner sacrifice. After the execution, when Miner overheard the Chief and his oldest son talking about how well their plan worked to get rid of the embarrassing younger son, Miner went mad and tried to kill the Chief. He was sentenced to 1,000 years in stasis and a life of bond slavery after that until his eventual death. The only problem, the Wizard at the time was the Chief’s wife and the mother of the son that was killed, so she came up with a way to make stasis feel like Miner was drowning, constantly for 300 years!
As the book proceeds, we find out along the way that the current Wizard is an extremely evil dude. He has cut open some of the men in stasis and even jammed a metal rod into one of their hearts to see what it will do! Now Ennek is under his control. What will happen when the Wizard seizes Ennek’s magical powers to boost his own powers? Is there any way for Ennek and Miner to escape before it is too late?
I really enjoyed this first book in the series. I highly recommend it.
RATING: 4.5
BUY LINKS:
TITLE: Flux
LENGTH: 208 Pages
BLURB:
Ennek, the son of Praesidium’s Chief, has rescued Miner from a terrible fate: suspension in a dreamless frozen state called Stasis, the punishment for traitors. As the two men flee Praesidium by sea, their adventures are only beginning. Although they may be free from the tyranny of their homeland, new difficulties await them as Miner faces the continuing consequences of his slavery and Ennek struggles with controlling his newfound powers as a wizard. In this sequel to Stasis, the fugitives encounter challenges both human and magical as they explore new lands and their deepening relationship with each other.
REVIEW:
Flux takes us to the next chapter in the adventures of Ennek and Miner. Now free of Praesidium and onboard a ship, whose Captain owes his life to Ennek from events in the first book of the series, life is looking like it is on the upswing. So what if they are sharing a small hold that is usually used for storing spice during shipping. So what if they only have a single mattress. They are sharing it, and life is good, even though Miner is still terrified of the water and doesn’t like to go out on deck! Who wouldn’t be, after “drowning” for 300 years! And Miner still has on that pesky slave collar. The wizard put it on, and only he can remove it, so they are stuck with it.
The good times come to a fast end though when the ship is captured by pirates! Ennek is gutted with a knife and thrown over the side of the ship to die. Miner’s slave collar draws the attention of the pirates and they claim him as spoils, along with the cargo of the ship.
The pirates’ victory is short lived though, because Ennek isn’t actually dead. Remember, he is a water wizard and water is his element. The pirates soon discover they’ve bitten off more than they can chew, and Ennek and Miner are again off on their own. No food, no money, no water and no idea where the small boat they are in is carrying them.
It is carrying them to new adventures. Along the way they’ll meet another wizard, this time an evil air wizard, they’ll be captured by guards in another city-state, there might be some violent water wizard action and Miner might be sold as a slave, but you didn’t hear it from me!
This is my second time reading this series, and I loved this book as much as I did the first time through. I recommend it as part of this series.
RATING: 4.5
BUY LINKS:
TITLE: Equipoise
LENGTH: 237 Pages
BLURB:
Ennek, the son of the Chief, and Miner, a former slave, have escaped the totalitarian city-state of Praesidium and remain fugitives. Having defeated two mighty wizards, they begin to realize that complete freedom can be as dangerous as absolute power.
In this final book in the trilogy that began with Stasis and continued with Flux, Ennek and Miner face battles, corruption, and further journeys through lands both new and familiar. As they grow more secure in their relationship with one other, they’re also learning that the greatest challenges sometimes come from very close to the heart and that everything of value has a price. With the help of a few allies, they seek equipoise—a balance for themselves and for their world.
REVIEW:
This installment begins immediately after the completion of Flux. Ennek and Miner are on their way back to the coast and Miner is still regaining his strength from the wounds he took from the air wizard. Along the way back to the coast they discover that it didn’t take long for opportunists to arrive after the air wizard was out of the picture. Unfortunately, those opportunists have already burned one village, killing many of the residents and capturing the others. Of course our heroes, being who they are, jumped in and battled for the release of the captives. What do you do though when you free captives and they are still hostile to you…because they blame you for getting rid of the air wizard in the first place and causing the whole mess? Even though things were bad, they are now worse!
Thus begins a journey back to their friends on the coast. Will they find that village also plundered? What will happen when they journey further to the neighboring land to find a ship back to Praesidium?
After some adventures along the way, they do make it back and once in Praesidium they are safely ensconced in the home of Hils, Ennek’s dearest friend, and the one who got away….since homosexuality is still considered an abomination in the land, and punishable by death. Even though they’ve always known the other was a homosexual, they’ve never acted on it for fear of reprisals. All is good, and Ennek and Miner are getting some much needed rest, but Ennek can’t wait to confront his brother Larkin who is now the Chief and demand the release of the bond slaves. Of course that doesn’t go any better for Ennek than anything else, and our heroes are soon on the run again.
This time, Ennek and Miner escape to the neighboring city-state of Nodosus. Nodosus is where Ennek’s childhood friend, Gory, is now the Chief. Gory, if you remember, is the guy who was with Ennek when he first saw Miner in the “Under”, inprisoned in stasis. He was also the first one that screamed and ran when the supposedly inanimate Miner moved! Now it is years later, Gory is Chief of the city-state and there to help Ennek and Miner.
Can Ennek and Miner hold out? Can change be brought to the world? They both dream of a world free from stasis and bond slaves. A world where anyone is free to choose to love anyone. Can they make it happen?
This was a great conclusion to the series!
RATING: 4.5
BUY LINKS: