Veil of the Dragon

Evarun

by Tom Barczak

Chaelus, Roan Lord of the House of Malius is raised from the dead by the hand of a child. His kingdom stolen by the evil dragon, Gorond, Chaelus’ only hope to reclaim his throne rests with the child knight who saved him, the heretical order to which the child belongs, and the truth about Chaelus which they alone protect.

Genres: Fantasy

284 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2012

About the author

My background is an Artist, turned Architect, who's finally getting around to finishing those stories I started writing long ago, when I sat on my front porch as a kid. I write because I can’t not. I write because I want to finish the story that I started, in my paintings, in my poetry, and even before then, when I sat around a table with my friends, slaying dragons.

Reviews

[S.E. Lindberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…all seemed like a ghost that he could scarcely remember…”

There is a lot to like in Tom Barczak’s Veil of the Dragon. Barczak is an artist/architect who delivers a splendid adventure with interesting characters, a beautiful style, and a haunting medieval setting. Veil of the Dragon is well-done, angelic warfare. Occasional sketches by the author are a nice touch, but they are not finished or abundant enough to affect the read. Barczak’s dreamy style carries the story well enough on its own (see excerpts below). Expect a poetic read, with lots of combat with demons, ghosts, and angels.

The two primary characters are neatly designed and paired: “Al-Aaron”, a young priest-warrior, serves as a teacher of sorts to the older “Chaelus,” a prince dragged into a battle for redemption. The child leads the adult in a believable, interesting way. They battle a disembodied evil (the titular Dragon), and those it has corrupted: the wraith-like Remnants. Chaelus is haunted by a former love, the loss of a mother, and a deadly relationship with his father.

Christianity is not overtly identified, but readers will detect its influence given the inclusion of:
1) Ever present themes of redemption
2) Lots of resurrection
3) A magic system based on blind faith
4) A medieval milieu with priest-warriors (Crusaders): these are the white robed, chain mailed Servian Knights, adorned with red, prostrate crosses on their chests. They are equipped with cloth covered swords and vowed to use their weapons only against intangible demons
5) Angelic warfare between a merciful Creator/Giver and a Dragon/Serpent who assumes shadowy form that can poison souls (arguably a more effective dark-force than Tolkien’s Sauron)

Keeping this nice work from a 5-star rating is its unique strength: the dreamy style was so constant and intense that I often got lost in the trips. As a reader I really felt the character’s struggle to discern reality from fantasy: “…all seemed like a ghost that he could scarcely remember…” An overabundance of the following words proved distracting: veil, shadow, azure flame, cenotaph, and happas. Veil of the Dragon offers more than it can resolve in one novel, which should motivate readers to track down the prequels (Awakening Evarun, a serial of six parts). I look forward to reading more artsy, grim Sword & Sorcery from Barczak.

EXCERPTS:

Ethereal Haunts

”Behind him, a bitter sigh resounded through the bent and broken wood. The forest was speaking. Behind him, the path he’d only just cleared had gone. From the trees, shadows bled like oil, folding down amidst the branches.”

“His breath held like a vapor. The Dragon’s whisper splintered across the frozen air.”

“The stones trembled as they changed, melting away like ice upon spring water. The passage closed in ahead of him.”

"Illuminating from beneath the water like a fallen angel, ghostlike in her glow, a girl child lay drawn in upon herself. Her head was shaven and her skin was bare. Ebony spandrels laced out from the black spots that covered her. Her lips moved faintly upon her upturned face. Her gray eyes flickered. A shadow turned in the water beside her, matching the one within.”

Demonic Creatures:

”The spirits’ breath hung like a black vapor in tendrils about them. Armored veils hid all but the abyss of their eyes. Beneath them, their acrid laughter shrilled out amidst the grinding clatter of their teeth. Yet it wasn’t laughter. No; it was a desperate sound, one of anticipation, the kind that a starving cur utters for carrion."

"The demons drew closer beyond the wall of shadow, their armored veils now torn aside. The terror of their empty eyes was bettered only by their ghoulish maws beneath, filled with beast-like teeth meant for the consumption of souls, the corpses of the Khaalish, torn and cast away beneath them. Unsated, they howled at the ones who had retreated from them."

"…a black and bloodied claw emerged, grasping at its edge. Sand clung to its wet, skinless flesh. The creature pulled its body up, pushing its way past the heavy bones that had caged it. It clambered until it stood, stooped and broken, naked in the rawness of its gray flesh.”

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

First a disclaimer--Tom is my friend and I read parts of this before it was published. That said, I thought it was terrific. Engaging, imaginative, fun. I know next to nothing about the fantasy genre, but if I did, this is the kind I would want to read.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This is a really hard book for me to review, because I'm of two very different minds about it. It is beautifully written. The use of language is almost awe-inspiring. It's just pain pretty and its slow, measured recitation gives it an eerie, heavy feeling of mystical gravitas.

However, that same atmospheric writing, no matter how beautifully the words are strung together, comes across as emotionally flat and provides only an anorexic outline of what is actually happening in the story. In the beginning, it took me a long time to figure out what the story was about and even then I never felt wholly immersed in it.

I decided at some point that it felt very Biblical. Not only because there is a very obvious Christian influence (which there is, lots and lots of similarities to the Jesus story...well, I suppose the model could have been Osiris, but as the authors American I'm guessing not) but also in the way that the book gives very little deep details and leaves a lot open to interpretation.

I gathered almost nothing of the characters histories, motivations, or personalities as well as the world's circumstances, peoples, cultures, or anything else. The scope of the telling is very narrow and as a result, a lot is left out. And again, it's lyrical and pleasant to read, but it's a style that annoys the living daylights out of me because I need that depth to sink my teeth into. I found reading this comparable to reading The Psalms. It related information to me in a pleasant matter, but that's not quite the same as providing me an engrossing story.

That isn't to say the story isn't an interesting one. It is. It's about redemption and recognising both the potential for grace and the human susceptibility the shadows that same light casts within each of us. It's an interesting idea. And while I don't like the way it's executed, as a personal preference, it accomplishes what it apparently set out to do. So, I'm happy to recommend it to fellow readers, but I'm also a bit glad to be done with it.

[J. Michael Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot do this story justice. His provocative, intense style just sucks you into his dark world; a dark world, where light shines the brightest from Chaelus, its incredible savior.

[Andrew Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our story opens with Chaelus, Roan Lord of the House of Malius. The thing is, Chaelus is dead, the latest in a long line of victims to fall foul of a blight sweeping the land: the Dragon’s Sleep, a rot that consumes both body and soul.
Yet death – it seems – is not the end, for Chaelus is resurrected by one of the land’s sacred protectors, a Servian Knight, Al-Aaron. Someone who, it transpires, is a mere boy.
Thus begins a journey that leads this unusual pair in search of their hearts desire. In Chaelus’ case, the restoration of his throne. For Al-Aaron, the fulfillment of a prophecy in which few now believe.
Along the way, both face challenges that tend to show there’s much more to their characters than is first revealed, a depth of quality that comes to the fore as peril increases.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Tom Barczak’s style. His writing possesses an ethereal flow that enchants you along as it weaves a web of wonder. This is a story mature readers will appreciate and think more about once the last page has turned.

[A.L. Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting fantasy, and to me at least I haven't read anything quite like it before. The pace starts fairly slowly but soon engages the reader well enough and the suspense continues until the end.

Revelations abound for the main character, and the reader and the Dragon of the title is both more and less than he, and the reader imagines. To me this is, in essence, a journey - a journey of faith, self belief (or the lack) and and the journey of life and death, which is not clear cut. It is also a journey of good versus evil.

I would have liked a wee bit more background and description as the history of the world is a little sparse. Over all however this is a great read.

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books i try to read it every 3 months or so.

[Jeffrey Wilhite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veil of the Dragon is a creative, passionate fantasy story of swords and dragons that dips into Christian iconography and flows like Proustian poetry. The author has found a way to tell an interesting swords and sorcery story in a new lyrical, cascading fashion. The story may seem to flow like a morality tale of old, but not one you have ever read before. This is a new way to see an old story we think we all already know. The tone is dreamy, subversive, and daunting, but the overall effect is magical. I recommend this title.

[James A. Kurtz, Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not recommend trying to read this book without reading the previous series

[bex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the whole thing, but failed to understand any of it. Kept hoping it would make sense, and didn't feel like I could write a trashing review without being sure it didn't. It jus doesn't work. I suspect it is supposed to be a treatise, a religious one, on evil. But it fails as a story and the characters fail to be anything. It is just words on a virtual page that fail to become a world, a story, or people.

[Kyra Halland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully-written fantasy about a man facing his destiny to save the world from evil, who has to overcome the evil within himself and those who are supposed to help him on his way. The main attraction of this book is the prose, highly visual (not surprising, since the author is an illustrator and architect; the book is illustrated with the author's own drawings) and impressionistic, weaving visions and reality together. There's a lot of Christian symbolism and religious themes in the book, which I (as a person of faith) found enjoyable and thought-provoking. While the plot is a little thin, I found myself drawn enough into the battle between the forces of good and evil to be genuinely interested in how it all came out.

The flip side to the highly visual, impressionistic, symbolic prose is that the character development seems thin. I felt like the characters were archetypes acting out a religious mystery play rather than fully-developed flesh and blood characters with their own agency. Still, I cared enough about what happened to them to keep reading, and there were moments when the focus of the story turned away from the main good vs. evil conflict to more personal matters, where a little more depth came into the characters.

Recommended for readers who enjoy thoughtful fantasy written in beautiful prose.