REVIEW: Gyfted by D.W. Lewis
Gyfted is the first part in an epic fantasy trilogy from D.W. Lewis. Kal is a mistreated hollowborn, someone without the magical abilities of the gyft, powers that most of the population has. When Kal’s friend Ovet is kidnapped by the Daevan Empire for her strange powers, Kal goes on a path of revenge that turns him from aspiring plucky hero to something a lot more dark and violent.
There’s lots of familiar tropes in Gyfted, ones that are appealing in small doses, but the overall plot, characters, and worldbuilding rely too heavily on these recognizable tropes. Much of what happens in the story is not so different from Star Wars, for example. I can see why this might be appealing: the “familiar but different” approach to fantasy and science fiction can be great when used sparingly. But there’s so many interesting ideas that ultimately don’t go farther than surface-level, and I was disappointed that many of the characters and plot in Gyfted make very obvious clues as to what they’ll do next, making the novel feel predictable.
Lewis relies heavily on action scenes in Gyfted, and I’m glad that this book has them. They’re fast and exciting, with lots of flashy sequences that you can rip right through. Outside of those scenes, however, much of the writing is dry and lacks emotional depth. Kal, as a protagonist, is an orphan swordsman turned rebel fighter, and that’s about as much as the book gives you. His anger issues could be interesting to delve into, but Gyfted only conveys the message that anger only just makes Kal a better killer. I wish that Kal had a bit more depth to him other than that.
Gyfted’s worldbuilding is fascinating at first glance. The world of Eudos is ruled by an Empire that crushes anyone beneath them. They have massive, magical chains and spears that keep the populace in line. However, it doesn’t go much farther than that; there are some interesting tidbits about the origins of the Daevan’s, but again, it only goes so far and feels incomplete.
I wanted to like Gyfted. There’s so much fascinating stuff here that if the layers were peeled back a bit further, I think you could find an interesting novel here. But what exists on the page is recycled and obvious, making for a predictable, shallow book that could have been great.
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