Crowman

by David Rae

Overview

Touch the light. Hold the light. The light burns. The light runs away. Hold the light. Lock the light away.

The great spirit Vatu keeps the Sun in a box, where no thief can steal it. Once a year, the box is opened and life springs across the dark lands. The whole world belongs to Vatu. He is darkness, he is master of all. There is no hiding from him.

But Utas must try, for his daughter's sake. She is sick from darkness, and yet she glows with a mysterious light. If Vatu can find them, he will destroy them, or worse, drag them back into his mad, dark world. Torn between duty and mercy, between justice and freedom, Utas tries to escape, but it seems inevitable that the darkness will reclaim him.

For the greatest mercy and the greatest punishment Utas can suffer is to return to his true self.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781928011293
Publisher:	Brain Lag
Publication date:	03/13/2020
Series:	The Sun Thief , #1
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

David Rae lives in Scotland and grew up in a world where hordes of workers spill out of factories, a world where fog and smoke shroud all kinds of creatures, a world where ruined castles, factories and houses are haunted by ghosts, gangs and memories. He lives in a world where witches have been burned at the cross and martyrs have been hung on the Gallowgreen.

Since a child, he has tried to capture that world in words, poems, and stories. He has read every trashy novel, every children’s book and every comic that came his way. Thank God for public libraries.

He studied Botany, Architecture, Mathematics, Computers, Geography, and Ecology. He worked in a candy factory (not as an Oompa-Loompa), as a scaffolder and ditch digger. He has worked as a draftsman and as an ecologist, as a statistician and as a policy maker. He is married and has four lovely children and now lovely grandchildren. And he continues to read and to write and marvel at the world he lives in.

Crowman is his first novel and the start of a dark fantasy trilogy.

Editorial Reviews

01/06/2020

Rae (Midnight in the Garden of Naughty and Nice) misfires on a promising premise with this sloppy dark fantasy series opener. The evil spirit Vatu keeps the sun locked in a box, causing darkness to fall across the land. Vatu’s former acolyte, Utas, flees from Vatu’s control with his daughter, Alaba, whose body has the power to create light. They encounter Zintoa, a wounded soldier, and stop to help him using Alaba’s magic. Zintoa repays them by taking them captive, determined to return them to Vatu. Their path back to “the city of the sun” is perilous and bloody, as strangers they meet along the road prove to be dangerous. One of the travelers they encounter, Erroi, appears to be more than human, giving Utas hope that he and Alaba may be able to use Erroi’s powers to save themselves from Vatu. But while the world is fully conceived, the characters are underdeveloped (other than Utas’s desire to protect his daughter, readers will struggle to understand motivations), and the short, staccato sentences tend to flatten emotional moments. Dark fantasy fans will find this one a slog. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A conceptual and intriguing fantasy novel with plenty of clever secrets to uncover... There is a cinematic and emotive quality to this coloring of the work, making it easily imagined in the reader's mind, and all the more painful and poetic when things go wrong. Overall, Crowman is a fantastic work with plenty of surprises for the diligent reader and is highly recommended for fans of intelligent and conceptual fantasy fiction. ★★★★★" - Readers' Favorite

"What can I say about Crowman? A myth I've known all my life, but only read for the first time. Symbolism that speaks to the hollows in my bones. Language that is spare and beautiful at the same time. A narrative that is both a riddle and simple.

When the darkness consumes all, does this group of strangers stand a chance?

Rae's debut novel is a triumph. I can't wait to read more of his books." - Iseult Murphy, author of Return to Hades and Other Adventures

"David Rae's Crowman is a wonderfully curious tale with allegorical and mythological elements." - Terrie Leigh Relf, author of Sisterhood of the Blood Moon

"Crowman is an ambitious introduction to a new dark fantasy series that at its best reads like a gothic revival of the mythic roots it draws from... the novel offers a fully conceived world that keeps the more whimsical aspects of fantasy on a par with its sun-deprived characters' desolate and bloody journey towards hope." - Strange Horizons Magazine

"Crowman is an ethereal dark fantasy with a striking cast of flawed characters, immaculate world-building, and a swirling miasma of a plot that left me guessing until the very last word." - Rue Sparks, author of Daylight Chasers

"I really liked the author's writing style, it was easy to read, and I found myself unable to put the book down." - OnlineBookClub.org

"Crowman is written in the best tradition of some of the world's most renowned fantasy writers; it has a classic, effortless feel to it in my opinion, that made it a joy to read! As I read this book I did not want it to end, I was enchanted by the author's incredible words from the first page, and this is all thanks to his addictive plot and extraordinary characters!" - Red Headed Book Lover

"A darkness rules the world, but there is a group full of hope who look for the light, making this a novel worthy of the time we live. David Rae has generated a mythological piece of prose that offers solutions for us all when we are faced with a deep, dark pit of life challenges brought on by personal trials, or perhaps, the valleys of politics? Must read ★★★★★" - Reedsy

From the Publisher