Till Noever is the talented author of the five volume fantasy/science fiction series' 'Tethys' which is comprised of "Keaen" (9780615143552, $19.95); "Finister" (9780615137926, $16.95); "Tergan" (9780615139265), 15.95; "Fontaine" (9780615139258, $17.95); and "Tethys" (9780615142630, $19.95). The five volume saga story arc begins more than 300 years after humanity's original drive into interstellar space. Now humans are to be found on a number of far-flung but life-sustainable planets, as well as hundreds of lifeless moons and stellar rocks. When a professional space explorer finds, by chance, the star Caravella which features a dozen planetoids, ore bearing space rocks, and an Earth-sized world of oceans and continents making it especially attractive to human settlement, he intends to return home to sell his discovery, but dies in a mishap. It's years later when his derelict ship is found by a passing space craft manned by 'Turillians', a socio-philosophical sext. Ten years latter a space ship containing some 30,000 colonists in suspended animation and their equipment come into orbit around that discovered plant of the Caravella system and is renamed 'Tethys'. A thousand years later in an area of the planet known as 'The Valley', is the kingdom of Keaen and its capital city of the same name. Enter two young people who are in love and, like all the rest of the inhabitants of Tethys, are ignorant of the original plan behind the settlement of the planet by those long dead Turillians. These two young lovers are about to discover a deeply buried secret that could well alter humanity's future forever. This complex, engaging, and superbly crafted story is played out by a host of memorable characters in five consecutive volumes. Also very highly recommended for fantasy and science-fiction enthusiasts is Till Noever's imaginative and original novel "Seladienna" (9780615142852, $19.95), featuring the descendants of a roman legion who in Emperor Hadrian's reign disappeared into the forests now occupied by the city of London, a man and woman stranded for a brief time in a world not our own, and a world that needs saving -- even if to do so means much of it must be destroyed.
I found it really interesting, the way they've summed up the whole series. For me, and probably others out there reading this, we've read these books one by one as they've been written. We've watched the plots unfold, seen the 'big picture' slowly be revealed. In this review, they provide a background that you only find out part way through the series- and I don't think it's a bad thing, spoiling the surprise as it were, I almost kinda like it.
For me, each book has really been about the individuals and their stories and the 'big picture' was what was holding it all together. In this review, the individuals are almost an afterthought- but not in a bad way- I just found it interesting that when you look at it as a series, the original premise of this whole thing is the overriding factor. And I guess that's why the series works. Book by book, different issues of society and our preconceptions are brought up and are the focus but this is because overall, there's something bigger behind it and a reason why these social constructs are being tackled as subjects in the first place. I think. I am definitely rambling. And repeating myself. Basically, ka pai, good review. Everyone buy all these books now. ;-)
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