Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Obsidian Sun
AUTHOR: Jon Keys
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 179 Pages
BLURB:
Differences must be put aside when vengeance becomes all-consuming.
Anan, a spellweaver of the Talac people, returns from a hunting trip to find his village decimated, his mate dead, and everyone else captured by Varas slavers. The sole survivor is Terja, a young man without the velvet that covers most Talac, marking him as a spellspinner. Since Talac magic requires both a weaver and a spinner, Anan and Terja must move beyond their ingrained mistrust. All that remains is revenge and a desperate plan to rescue their tribesmen before they are sold to Varas pleasure houses. A goal Anan and Terja are willing to die for.
With the blessing of the Talac gods, they discover new and surprising ways to complement each other’s power. But as they race through terrain full of enemies and dangerous creatures to reach their people before they pass into Varas lands, they must take drastic steps to face the overwhelming odds against them. Understanding their connection might be their only hope.
REVIEW:
In “Obsidian Sun”, we are introduced to the land of the Talac people. The Talac as a species are mostly covered with a layer of velvet like fur. The exceptions are the tribe’s spellspinners. The spellspinners alone are born without the velvet, instead having smooth skin. The species appears, from the world building, to be a peaceful hunter/gatherer level civilization that also has the ability to do magic. As the story begins we meet a young Talac man named Anan when his village is destroyed by slavers and his mate is killed. When he feels his bond break to his mate, he returns to find one living man in the village, a spellspinner. Anan is a spellweaver, and even though they distrust each other the two are thrown together to try to save the captives who are being dragged against their will to the neighboring land of the Varas. If they don’t free them, the Talac captives will become sex slaves, or will be skinned for their hides. No worse fate is possible for the Talac people.
There was a lot of bloodshed, some non-consensual sex, and slaver/slave brutality in the book. None of it was too intense though, and it shouldn’t cause anxiety to anyone’s trigger issues.
I have to say that the in depth world building on this book was confusing to me at first. I got bogged down with all the unfamiliar terms. Although they were listed at the front of the book, it is super hard to page back and forth in an e-book (without real page numbers) to constantly try to figure out what something is. Honestly, I almost gave up reading at one point. Then suddenly, it all made sense. I’d looked up enough terms so that I was comfortable reading straight through the rest of the book. I understand the world building, is necessary; is usually confusing in the first book of a series; and I should be used to it. So enough whining. I’ll whine loudly though if there isn’t a second book coming! And I’ll freely admit, I skipped the word definitions at first because there seemed like there were so many. I recommend reading through them quickly so that you aren’t flipping back and forth like me! 😉
After I got by my issues, I realized that I enjoyed this read. The characters were complex, the world was complex, and the storyline was entertaining. I found myself really drawn to the characters and events as they occurred and I kept flipping pages to see what happened next. I recommend the book, and look forward to another in the series (I hope..hint, hint Mr. Keys). The book would be a good purchase for anyone who, like me, loves fantasy novels! Oh, and I really liked the cover! My compliments to the cover artist!
RATING: 
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