INDIE ADVENT Week 1: The Fall is All There Is by C.M. Kaplan!
Hello! I’ve started too late to do an entire month of my favorite indies, but I’ve read too many AMAZING books this year not to have fun with this again! Book 1 was probably my favorite read this year:
All Petre Mercy wanted was a good old-fashioned dramatic exit from his life as a prince. But it’s been five years since he fled home on a cyborg horse. Now the King—his Dad—is dead—and Petre has to decide which heir to pledge his thyroid-powered sword to.
As the youngest in a set of quadruplets, he’s all too aware that the line of succession is murky. His siblings are on the precipice of power grabs, and each of them want him to pick their side.
If Petre has any hope of preventing civil war, he’ll have to avoid one sibling who wants to take him hostage, win back another’s trust after years of rivalry and resentment, and get an audience with a sister he’s been avoiding for five years.
Before he knows it, he’s plunged himself into a web of intrigue and a world of strange, unnatural inventions just to get to her doorstep.
Family reunions can be a special form of torture.
This book was fantastic! It has steampunk/science fantasy kind of feel, and the main character is so compelling I was immediately invested in his narrative. An autistic MC from an autistic writer, add one hell of a story, and you get The Fall is All There Is , the first book in The Four of Mercies series.
Petre Mercy, self-exiled prince, has been living quite satisfactorily away from all the intrigue and noise of court. His father the King deemed him the least “useful” of his quadruplet heirs, but he likes his life as a soldier for hire and has people he cares for. Suddenly, his father is dead, two of his siblings are battling for the throne, and everyone wants Petre on their side when he just wants to be left alone. But the stakes are rising too high for Petre to ignore.
The world building is awesome. Set after two apocalypses, it’s a blend of fiefdoms, noble houses, morally questionable organic technology, and supernatural ghost fog which can infect hapless travelers with the obsessions of the dead if they are not wearing a gas mask. For those playing representation bingo with me, it’s got plenty of lovely queer characters including Petre himself.
I can’t say enough good things about the book. Give it a chance and you won’t be disappointed. It’s a finalist in the 2023 SPFBO, and a strong contender in my opinion.
