Review: Severance Lost

I found Severance Lost by J. Lloren Quill to be well written and intriguing. It had a bit of a Shannara Chronicles vibe to it and all the tropes expected in that sort of book were present and well done. And I appreciated some of the great descriptors (especially in the nicknames for characters, such as Stonehands) which add some immediate character depth and hint that there is much more to the story even at first glance.

Stonehands (Slate Severance) is on a mission to improve himself, locate whomever killed his parents, and make them pay. He leaves a trail of bodies in his wake doing so in a world full of magic and mystery. The prologue introduces us to an older Slate who regrets some of his dark deeds which brought him to where he is now—a renowned warrior with blood on his hands. The book tells his story of how he started. The epilogue acts as a catalyst propelling him into what must be the remainder of his life up to the prologue and promises more of the Fractal Forsaken Series.

There’s kind of a Batman/Dark Knight Rises theme as Slate tries to unmask the villain… he’s kind of “the hero Gotham needs” instead of the hero Gotham wanted, which works perfectly in a high fantasy world and has many contemporaries (for example Drizzt Do’Urden of the Forgotten Realms series). Quill also gets bonus points for being a fellow MN based author… lots of good fantasy coming out of the tundra.

I understand that book two is recently out. If you’re looking for a new fantasy series to follow with all the typical D&D style elements, I’d feel comfortable recommending this series or the Runes of Issalia series for teens.

You can get the first of the Fractal Forsaken series at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXSY6JN