Song of Sundering

by A.R. Clinton

War advances toward Prin's backyard, old knowledge of Source magic shatters, and the precarious hierarchy that keeps Prin stable is collapsing under the weight of refugees. While the leaders of Prin's Topside play games for power, the Underground factions are ready to take as much blood as they need to win.

"Song of the Sundering is an extraordinary tale of war, discovery, treachery, and mystery. In this debut fantasy novel, packed with epic action and magic, A. R. Clinton crafts a complex puzzle with intrigue and a dash of humor." — Leslie Watts, Editor in Chief, Story Grid Publishing

Founded on the bones of a crashed generation ship, Prin is the only city that reclaimed some lost technology and built walls after the cataclysmic Sundering. Fortified by Terran knowledge and supported with Illaran magic (Source), the region thrived until the Xenai, a strange Source-wielding race, began to march from their home on the west coastlines to Prin.

Ayna Shae races to save her beloved city from a series of resource and political threats. Controlling a new Source power is the best path to win the war, bring peace to the city, and keep her only child safe. But, does duty demand that she risk her Sourcemancer daughter's life to discover the crystal's secrets?

After losing half of their forces in an ambush, General Hafi Boral faces the extinction of his army—unless he breaks his promises to Ayna. While his loyalty to the Shae family is of paramount importance, he must consider a return to his mercenary roots to secure a victory.

Born and raised in the Prin Underground, Tani Grey is a talented mechanic. She spends her days repairing the old world bots and motos, selling what she can, and searching for food dumped by the Topsiders in the miles-wide ditch. But when strange schematics appear on the SatNet, Tani must use her pattern thinking to figure them out.

Deployed with the army, Shara believes she can change the course of the war as the only Sourcemancer. She struggles to follow her orders and find her place as a future leader of Prin. The struggle between duty and her own intuition only hides the fact that Prin's survival lies in her own neglected self-preservation.

Scarred by many misfortunes, including the loss of his wife to the Xenai and his own failing health, Kingston Cross must leave the small farming community he founded to seek safety for his people in Prin. Convinced that the Xenai he created will kill his son and his people, he searches for answers. If he can make a deal with the Xenai, he can save his town.

Genres: Fantasy

479 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2021

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this book in Goodreads giveaways and from the author A.R. Clinton for a honest review. I had a hard time in the beginning of the book until I got to know the characters in the book and I enjoyed this book very much. I recommend this book

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this ebook in Goodreads giveaways and A.R.Clinton for a honest review very hard book to get into at first until you get to know the characters, enjoyed this book very much.

[ruffles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Song of Sundering is an epic sci-fi fantasy mystery, genre-blending novel with a post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

I really enjoyed the action and the action sequences are really well written. I could picture what was happening in my mind and I was on the edge of my seat to see how the fight(s) would turn out. It also reminded me of Outlander a bit not plot-wise but writing style-wise because of the incredible detail describing the actions of each MC through their eyes. I personally like these long descriptions because it leads to a lot of character building and we, as the reader can clearly hear the different tone and internal voice of each character as we get to know them. It also acts as a perfect “calm before the storm” when in between action sequences. Then, when some characters collide, the dialogue is even more rich and enjoyable because we’ve been looking through their eyes and feel we know them pretty well.

The witty dialogue and interactions, action/action sequences, and seeing each character’s worldview through their eyes kept me intrigued and turning the pages.

There were a bit of awkward world-building parts where backstory is inserted in unexpected places like introducing characters to one another but, the unique ideas in the world-building such as the ominous creatures, grim experiments, and appalling plot points overshadowed this for me and kept me interested.

Because there is such a good blend of genres and multiple writing strengths if you are a fan of any action and adventure epics, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, character-driven novels, or even Outlander (historical fiction with very detailed character action descriptions), give Song of Sundering a try. Your favorite genre will be combined with other high-profile genres and lead you into a new style of reading. That was my experience, let me know if you read it and agree!

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the author, A.R. Clinton. It was my choice to read and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kaminsod · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book and I am thankful for that, because there is a big chance I wouldn't hear about this interesting series otherwise.

Let's start with the positives. The author clearly has a very creative mind. You will find a lot of ideas, which are pretty original, fascinating and well executed. Those were the things, that kept me interested from the beginning to end.

Another of A.R. Clinton's qualities is her ability to write characters and dialogue. Even though there is a lot of them, they all feel alive, colorful and distinguishable. And as I already said, the dialogue is amazing too. It's humorous, on point, realistic and you could read just a few words and you would know who is talking.

Also, I need to mention author's brilliant work with mystery. I would say the mysterious atmosphere is an important part of this story and it's never easy to bring satysfing conclusions in those cases.. and A.R. Clinton has done that pretty well.

And one last major positive... the book is pretty dark. That is always good for me, but I know some fantasy readers have issues with violance etc... no worries. As I said, it is dark, but there is no torture porn, everything is handled sensitively and it really works.


Unfortunelly, there are some major negatives too.

At first, I will mention some minor ones like info dumbing, which really felt super forced at times. Chaotic beggining, with did not bother me that much (I am Malazan fan after all), but I can see how it can be an issue for a lot of readers. The prose is also pretty basic. I mean, it is fine, definitelly good enough for a first time author, but just be prepared, that some sentences will sound... weird, sometimes.

Now, some major problems. First of all, I find author's way of describing things to the reader to be extremely frustrating. We get a detailed description of every single action of every character (maybe even too detailed, too long), which can be boring and off putting.. but on the other hand, when it comes to bigger picture, the description is almost non-existing. I struggled to imagine where the characters actually are, what time is it, what the world looks like etc etc.

Also, the names. I almost never care about the "quality" of fantasy names, but they are crazily inconsitent in this book. You have some characters with clearly made up fantasy names and right next to them, there is... James. And that's just one example. This wasn't a big issue for me, it just made me grin few times, but fantasy fans are very harsh about this, so I decided to mention it.

And last but not least... the story just didn't grab me. Chaotic beggining, slow pace, some unnecessary parts and some other issues are propably at fault, but overall I just can't say I enjoyed the plot. Yes, I liked the characters and I was curious about the mystery, but that's about it. I don't need a lightning paced book, but when there aren't any interesting themes or character arcs to make up for the slow pace and the "boring" parts, I just can't help it and I get bored.

However, the ending was pretty good and it made me interested in the sequel, which I will definitelly read, when it comes out.


So, in the end I would say, that this book is pretty good, it can definitelly please a very wide audience, the author is clearly talented, there are some great ideas and even greater potential. Unfortunetelly it has some big issues, which made it imposiblle for me to enjoy this book more.

I would rate it 3,5 stars, but since Goodreads doesn't allow that, I'm leaning towards 3 with a caveat, that I believe I will rate the sequels higher.

[Amanda Cantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book and I enjoyed being able to read it. At first, I didn’t think I would get into it and it took a while for me to really fall into the story. Then, I got to know the characters and I became interested in the events that were unfolding. A R Clinton writes great characters. Some you love and some you love to hate and some you just don’t know about yet. So glad there will be more of this series. I can’t wait to find out what will happen to each of the characters. Just when it is getting really interesting, the book ends. I guess that is another sign of a great author and a great series.

[Anthonia]

This was an interesting science fantasy book that i enjoyed reading. This story tells about a city that recovers lost technology and thrived by using it. Others cities were hit, and now something else is coming for them. Great story, plot, sequence, pace, and time frame.

[Michelle Hogmire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally published here, at Reedsy Discovery: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/son...

A menacing army of bizarre beings provokes a city to go to war in this epic fantasy novel about family, magic, technology, and secrets.

In the epic fantasy world of A.R. Clinton's Song of Sundering, the "Sundering" of the title refers to a catastrophic event--an apocalyptic fall that changed society forever. The main surviving city, Prin, is a vestige of relief, magic, and technology among the chaos, at least for those who are living topside. But this dream of normality is shattered when a scary group of mysterious smoky beings called the Xenai start heading straight for the city. Now, Prin will have to go to war.

The main strength of Song of Sundering lies in excellent, well-developed character building, as the novel's plot is relayed through the eyes of a large, diverse cast. There's James, a young man determined to get revenge on the Xenai for the death of his mother; Shara, the daughter of Prin's ruling family--and an incredibly powerful caster of Source magic--who could change the tide of the war; Ayna, Shara's mother, who's trying to find a balance between protecting her city and protecting her daughter; Hafi, a general who might have to disobey orders and trust his instincts to save his people; Tani, a brilliant mechanic living in the Prin underground who's about to make a major discovery; and much more, including a surprisingly compassionate and caring member of the Xenai.

A.R. Clinton excels at creating fascinating situations and descriptive scene settings, including bloody encounters between rival cultist groups, experimental surgeries in makeshift underground labs, and shocking revelations of secret plots and treachery. Where Song of Sundering could use some improvement involves wider world-building. The book is so tightly focused on individuals that it's sometimes hard to get a handle on the larger space the characters are living in--especially in the beginning of the novel, when readers are trying to get their footing and grasp the rules of the world. It's all about finding a balance between revealing too much, which can make a story exposition-heavy and boring, and revealing too little, which can make a story frustrating and confusing. The book definitely stabilizes as the narrative continues, and the dramatic cliffhanger ending means there will be plenty of time to learn more about A.R. Clinton's elaborate world in the sequels.

[Dragon Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will admit that I had to DNF this book. I hate doing that, but I found the text burdensomen to make it through. This is just a sword and sorcery fantasy wrapped in a very basic scifi package. It did read like an RA Salvatore book, so fans of him will probably like this work. Personally, I found the book confusingly written. You're never sure if the perspective you are reading from is human or alien until a few paragraphs in, and I think that really needed clarifying. I found the character builds unoriginal, and the invading species was just...too humanlike to be believable. Maybe they are supposed to be humanoid-like creatures--I dunno. It wasn't explained from either than terran or alien perspectives. This just could not hold my attention.

[Shawn Beilfuss]

Unfortunately, I was not pulled in by either the characters or their circumstances to keep reading. I also feel the writing was not edited well, with quite a few clunky lines and transitions as well as info dumps external to the POVs, although this may be limited to the ARC version I received. Hopefully these things were fixed after the ARC. For example, there were sentences like the following:

Shara meandered down the streets before turning toward circular streets that made up the state home streets.

I may come back to the book someday, but for now I have to DNF this novel given my limited available reading time.