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The Burdens of Beasts #1
Scorch
Tack normally wouldn't stay in one place this long. He'll have to leave soon or risk being found. This land is full of its own turmoil anyway. The king hunting the queen, her bodyguards on such high alert she's a prisoner to her own protection. It's not exactly war, but it isn't peace either. Maybe that's what Tack likes about it here, the desert that stretches between battle and old wounds.
- GenresFantasy
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 5, 2021
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 26, 2022
Review now live at Grimdark Magazine
A fresh new series by Jesse Teller, Scorch tells a story from two distinct perspectives. While we see shadows of his great epic The Madness Wars, this story is much smaller in scale and scope, but no less entertaining.
Our story takes place after The Madness Wars, but one doesn’t need to have read that series to fully enjoy this tale. It occurs in a separate part of the continent, and the references back to the larger series are subtle enough to serve as Easter eggs for the returning reader.
Tack is a young man that hasn’t found his place in the world, though he seems to be moving constantly in its pursuit. He’s an expert with the bow, or so he thinks until he starts training with the Ramblers, a small group of mercenaries that have taken on the duty of protecting the Queen of Syphere from all dangers, including the King. The training program he’s put through by the commander of the Ramblers, Xaxamire FyFy, proves to be much more than he bargains for.
Trap is the warlord sent to the city of Scorch to reclaim the Queen by order of the King himself, Ambush. He has a personal vendetta and rivalry with Xaxamire, as the mage had come close to killing him, leaving Trap stuck with a bronze hand (the spell had been intended to transform Trap entirely).
Fast-paced and much quicker in plot movement than previous works, Scorch moves along through the trials of Tack and frustrations of Trap. Along the way we meet some interesting characters, most notably the Ramblers, each of whom has a unique animal familiar or mount bonded with them that increases their battle abilities manyfold. Kelleck rides a huge hyena, and Sarc rides a giant fire ant, and then there is Tyson and his rather unexpected mount:
Scorch is a lot of fun, and is a promising first book of a new series set in the world of Perilisc., The Burden of Beasts. Jesse Teller has done it again with his unique take on the fantasy genre, delivering one gut punch after another as the players move through the scenes.
A fresh new series by Jesse Teller, Scorch tells a story from two distinct perspectives. While we see shadows of his great epic The Madness Wars, this story is much smaller in scale and scope, but no less entertaining.
Our story takes place after The Madness Wars, but one doesn’t need to have read that series to fully enjoy this tale. It occurs in a separate part of the continent, and the references back to the larger series are subtle enough to serve as Easter eggs for the returning reader.
Tack is a young man that hasn’t found his place in the world, though he seems to be moving constantly in its pursuit. He’s an expert with the bow, or so he thinks until he starts training with the Ramblers, a small group of mercenaries that have taken on the duty of protecting the Queen of Syphere from all dangers, including the King. The training program he’s put through by the commander of the Ramblers, Xaxamire FyFy, proves to be much more than he bargains for.
“’At this point, the punishment I have thought up scares even me.’” – Xaxamire
Trap is the warlord sent to the city of Scorch to reclaim the Queen by order of the King himself, Ambush. He has a personal vendetta and rivalry with Xaxamire, as the mage had come close to killing him, leaving Trap stuck with a bronze hand (the spell had been intended to transform Trap entirely).
Fast-paced and much quicker in plot movement than previous works, Scorch moves along through the trials of Tack and frustrations of Trap. Along the way we meet some interesting characters, most notably the Ramblers, each of whom has a unique animal familiar or mount bonded with them that increases their battle abilities manyfold. Kelleck rides a huge hyena, and Sarc rides a giant fire ant, and then there is Tyson and his rather unexpected mount:
“’The most loyal of horse will carry you until the day it dies. The most well-trained horse will carry you until the moment it dies. But the greatest of the loyal, the greatest of the trained, will carry you when it has died and refuse to leave you no matter its decay, no matter its bones, and when those bones crumble to powder, the highest of loyal will serve you as a ghost.’” – Tyson
Scorch is a lot of fun, and is a promising first book of a new series set in the world of Perilisc., The Burden of Beasts. Jesse Teller has done it again with his unique take on the fantasy genre, delivering one gut punch after another as the players move through the scenes.
February 9, 2022
I'm a huge fan of Jesse Tellar and his Manhunters and Madness Wars series. He's a man who manages to pierce the dark and treacherous denzines of the human soul with his flawed but meaningful characters. He's not for everyone but those people who wish to try out his Stephen Donaldson-esque prose will find something deeply interesting.
The story revolves around Trap and Tack who are two very different sort of people. Tack is someone on the run and a man of considerable honor. So much so that when a woman practically throws himself at him, his primary concern is that he can't marry her. Trap is one of the more insidious characters that I have read and his dark side is something that practically leaps off the page with every scene. Jesse Teller has a gift for writing malevolent characters and the flawed heroes who must oppose them.
I give props to this book for its truly epic action scenes and fantastic writing throughout. If you liked the previous books in his fantasy series, you'll enjoy this and I honestly think its the best of his works so far. A warning that this book does contain sexual assault and other extremely dark content and if that's something you don't want to deal with, consider yourself warned. This is grimdark of the grimmest psychological sort.
The story revolves around Trap and Tack who are two very different sort of people. Tack is someone on the run and a man of considerable honor. So much so that when a woman practically throws himself at him, his primary concern is that he can't marry her. Trap is one of the more insidious characters that I have read and his dark side is something that practically leaps off the page with every scene. Jesse Teller has a gift for writing malevolent characters and the flawed heroes who must oppose them.
I give props to this book for its truly epic action scenes and fantastic writing throughout. If you liked the previous books in his fantasy series, you'll enjoy this and I honestly think its the best of his works so far. A warning that this book does contain sexual assault and other extremely dark content and if that's something you don't want to deal with, consider yourself warned. This is grimdark of the grimmest psychological sort.
October 10, 2021
An excellent first book in this new series. Through Tack (who, if you've read Jesse Teller's Madness Wars series you'll recognise, but as with Jesse's novels you can enter the world of Perilisic via many gateways) we see a young man trying to find his way in the world; fleeing grief, loss and his old way of life. He finds love, new companions and a strange new sense of duty but will this fulfill the ache and pain in this young man's life.
Hungry for the next book already.
(I highly recommend The Madness Wars series and Manhunters trilogy as well as all other Perilisic novels)
Hungry for the next book already.
(I highly recommend The Madness Wars series and Manhunters trilogy as well as all other Perilisic novels)
March 29, 2022
Pros:
- Good action
- Fast paced, never boring
- interesting villains, you will love hating them
- super dark, explicit violence at times (a lot of the violence is more regular, though still gory).
- interesting world
Cons:
- main character’s development. At different times it feels a little farfetched, rushed, and cliche.
- some of the dialogue doesn’t seem to match the tone of the situation
- little bit too focused on pretty women / sex
Overall I recommend this book if you like grimdark fantasy. My biggest issue with it was the main character’s development which felt a lot like a very typical fantasy arc (boy trains for few months turns into amazing hero). The training is dark in nature, but still, I was hoping for something a little less formulaic.
The other complains are minor.
It was the villains of this book and the world that kept me interested. The villains are as dark as they come and have very interesting relationships with one another, to put it mildly. Some of the ‘good guys’ are pretty villainous too and provide a good conflict of emotions when thinking about who to root for.
The world overall is very rich and a pleasure to learn about, and the author does a great job of introducing it to us without ever boring.
Would recommend.
- Good action
- Fast paced, never boring
- interesting villains, you will love hating them
- super dark, explicit violence at times (a lot of the violence is more regular, though still gory).
- interesting world
Cons:
- main character’s development. At different times it feels a little farfetched, rushed, and cliche.
- some of the dialogue doesn’t seem to match the tone of the situation
- little bit too focused on pretty women / sex
Overall I recommend this book if you like grimdark fantasy. My biggest issue with it was the main character’s development which felt a lot like a very typical fantasy arc (boy trains for few months turns into amazing hero). The training is dark in nature, but still, I was hoping for something a little less formulaic.
The other complains are minor.
It was the villains of this book and the world that kept me interested. The villains are as dark as they come and have very interesting relationships with one another, to put it mildly. Some of the ‘good guys’ are pretty villainous too and provide a good conflict of emotions when thinking about who to root for.
The world overall is very rich and a pleasure to learn about, and the author does a great job of introducing it to us without ever boring.
Would recommend.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews