Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: The Great North
SERIES: A Legendary Love #1
AUTHOR: J. Scott Coatsworth
PUBLISHER: Mischief Corner Books
LENGTH: 127 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2017
BLURB:
Dwyn is a young man in the small, isolated town of Manicouga, son of the Minstor, who is betrothed to marry Kessa in a few weeks’ time.
Mael is shepherding the remains of his own village from the north, chased out by a terrible storm that destroyed Land’s End.
Both are trying to find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. When the two meet, their love and attraction may change the course of history.
REVIEW:
I’m not sure where to start on this one. I really liked the premise and the characters were interesting, but the story read as kind of prelude to more stories down the road? I think that is probably true since this is labeled as A Legendary Love #1. My problem with it was that it introduced me to characters I really want to know more of, and now I have to wait until I get more.
The premise of the story, as I said, was interesting. It is set in northern Quebec somewhere, several hundred years after some sort of cataclysmic event that destroyed civilization. We never really find out what that event was in this installment.
Our focus is on a young man named Dwyn, who is the son of the Minstor of Manicouga, the small town they live in. The town is very religious, and relations between two men or two women is strictly forbidden. Very harsh punishment, or exile, is given to anyone who is found to be a ‘holer’. Dwyn is secretly a ‘holer’ and at first I really didn’t like him when he gave his father the idea to exile another ‘holer’ who was caught in the act. Dwyn is serving his own means by getting rid of the man before he can tell Dwyn’s father about him.
At the same time, a small band of refugees arrives in the town from the far north, including a really attractive blond haired, blue eyed, man that Dwyn is fascinated with. They are on the run from a huge storm that destroyed their town and most of their friends and families. They aren’t enthusiastically welcomed by the people of Dwyn’s town overall, and Dwyn spending time with them hasn’t escaped other members of the town, including his father’s, notice.
There are old Gods stirring, and life is about to change for Dwyn and the other residents of Manicouga. And there lies my issue. The author brought us up to the change, gave us a tease of what is happening thereafter, and then ended the story.
I liked it, but didn’t really love it, because it read as only part of a story. I’ll be interesting in seeing where Mr. Coatsworth goes from here with it.
RATING: 
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