Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  The Elemental Keyes

SERIES:  Circle the Square, Book 1

AUTHOR:  Sam Burns

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  275 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2023

BLURB:

Today is the day the world ends.

Fine, tomorrow is the day the world ends, but is that actually better? My name is Blaze Keyes, and I’m a seer. Since I was a kid, I’ve known that the world was going to end on my twenty-fifth birthday.

But the day before the apocalypse, the most unexpected guy falls into my lap—or maybe I’d like to fall into his. Elethen is tall, handsome, a type of mage that disappeared from earth a century ago . . . and an elf. Also, he says he fell through a portal from another world, and I sort of believe him.

If I can’t save earth, maybe I can at least get Elethen home safe. Or if we can get my infuriating brother to work with us, maybe we can save everyone on both of our worlds. Maybe the world dies tomorrow, but damn it, I’m not going out without a fight.

The Elemental Keyes is the first of two books featuring a deadly portal between two very different worlds, a confused elven Robin Hood, an unemployed mage trying to deal with the end of everything he knows, his snarky criminal brother, and a few surprises along the way. It will conclude on April 13th with book two, The Elemental Ruins.

REVIEW:

Few authors write fish-out-of-water scenarios as well as Sam Burns does.  In The Elemental Keyes, the first book in her Circle the Square duology, Burns showcases that talent, regaling us with the story of Blaze Keyes, a human water mage living on Earth, and his unlikely love match Elethen, an elf mage who falls through a portal from another world. Burns amuses us with Elethen’s attempts to understand Earth and all of its peculiarities and makes us quickly adore his selflessness and self-effacing demeanor, especially towards Blaze who he inexplicably bonds with in the blink of an eye.  She couches this within a highly entertaining, fascinating overarching story arc that spans the two books in the duology.

The Elemental Keyes is a sci-fi/fantasy mashup with elves and mage powers and some other fantasy-type things that I’m not going to reveal, within a sci-fi plot that involves portals, parallel worlds, and the potential end of everything for everyone on both worlds.  The plot will have you eagerly turning the pages, but where Burns shines is in her characters.  Blaze, Elethen, and Blaze’s snarky, powerful, slightly nefarious twin brother River are rich characters with depth and emotional complexity.  They are relatable even when we don’t understand them (ahem, River) or condone their actions (ahem, River), and puzzling out their motivations is half the fun of this story.

Burns keeps the story light with witty banter and humor throughout, even though much of what happens is quite unpleasant.  There’s some graphic violence and graphic sex – it’s generally a more aggressive tone from Burns than what she’s included in previous series like The Fantastic Fluke.  But she undeniably succeeds on all fronts with her clever storyline, engaging characters, sharply written dialogue, and expertly executed surprises that drop all along the way.

The Elemental Keyes contains many important, unexpected plot developments and reveals that can easily be spoiled, so be careful what you read before you read the book itself.  That even includes reading the blurb for book two, The Elemental Ruins. I loved the constant reveals of the unanticipated – the twists and turns and even the soft cliffhanger ending.  Burns’ creativity is amazing, and she has a preternatural ability to take things that are unusual, even outlandish at times, and make them seamlessly work within a riveting story.  

The Elemental Keyes is at heart an M/M romance and Burns positions Blaze and Elethen’s relationship as key to the storyline, not an adjunct to it.  Despite their differences, they obviously fit as two parts of a whole. Their coming together is effortless – it’s the least surprising aspect of the story, and that’s just fine with me because you will embrace their relationship just as they embrace each other.

I cannot recommend this fascinating, original story enough.  The Elemental Keyes is an infusion of new and different  – completely absorbing fare that checks all the boxes.  The Elemental Ruins is releasing in short order to answer all of our outstanding questions and, like The Elemental Keyes, take us on another unforgettable ride.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

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