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Errant Hope
It came from the heavens and brought disaster.
Callum’s life was a hard one, toiling day after day as an unskilled labourer deep in the countryside. Never looking beyond the next winter, his lot was unremarkable and one with little hope of improvement. When an opportunity to earn easy coin falls into Callum’s lap, he readily accepts without thinking of the risk.
Wolves and brigands turn out to be the least of his problems, however, for a chance encounter with an old weathered sword puts him at the centre of mysterious events, earns him the attention of a suspicious knight and gains him some unlikely allies. Their journey for answers — one Callum has little choice but to go on — leads him to learn of the terrible responsibilities that come with wielding the sword and of an enemy whose goals will change his world forever.
Pulling inspiration from the science fiction and fantasy media of his youth and the lessons learned throughout his life about overcoming adversity, Errant Hope is Damien Jennison's first novel and the first steps in an epic adventure that will sweep you away.
Callum’s life was a hard one, toiling day after day as an unskilled labourer deep in the countryside. Never looking beyond the next winter, his lot was unremarkable and one with little hope of improvement. When an opportunity to earn easy coin falls into Callum’s lap, he readily accepts without thinking of the risk.
Wolves and brigands turn out to be the least of his problems, however, for a chance encounter with an old weathered sword puts him at the centre of mysterious events, earns him the attention of a suspicious knight and gains him some unlikely allies. Their journey for answers — one Callum has little choice but to go on — leads him to learn of the terrible responsibilities that come with wielding the sword and of an enemy whose goals will change his world forever.
Pulling inspiration from the science fiction and fantasy media of his youth and the lessons learned throughout his life about overcoming adversity, Errant Hope is Damien Jennison's first novel and the first steps in an epic adventure that will sweep you away.
513 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 24, 2022
10 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Damien Jennison
1 book12 followersDamien Jennison grew up in South Yorkshire, England, and while he's better known as the online personality and content creator Kikoskia, his first and true love has always been writing.
Ever since he was first introduced to writing fiction at school, his mind has been awash with worlds that have cried out to escape from its confines. Pulling inspiration from the science fiction and fantasy media of his youth and the lessons learned throughout his life about overcoming adversity – self inflicted or otherwise – he has finally done what most people said he wouldn't and published the first book of the Sword Saga: Errant Hope.
Ever since he was first introduced to writing fiction at school, his mind has been awash with worlds that have cried out to escape from its confines. Pulling inspiration from the science fiction and fantasy media of his youth and the lessons learned throughout his life about overcoming adversity – self inflicted or otherwise – he has finally done what most people said he wouldn't and published the first book of the Sword Saga: Errant Hope.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 12, 2022
A solid debut for a new author. I felt the wit and humor really stands out in the characters, which, despite the circumstances the main cast encounters, didn't strike me as dry, humorless fantasy pastiches, even the ones who weren't predisposed to joking.
Looking forward to seeing more from this author!
Looking forward to seeing more from this author!
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March 30, 2022One can say I've read this, since I've been editing it for about half a year before publication!
Don't think it's fair for me to leave a rating, but I did enjoy the book. Hope you will too, now that it's out! But if there are any typos left, that's on me.
Don't think it's fair for me to leave a rating, but I did enjoy the book. Hope you will too, now that it's out! But if there are any typos left, that's on me.
January 22, 2023
Ever since reading a few chapters of Threnody of Dustledom, I was interested in purchasing a copy of Kiko's work. Very rarely do I buy books from today's authors, so I felt that this would be a good way to step out of my comfort zone. The short of it was that I enjoyed the book.
One thing I felt was one of the book's strongest points is my ability to connect with the characters. The dialogue and personalities of the characters were impactful enough for me to not only remember their names but also have my imagination give them voices. Jinar was easily one of my favorite characters in the book because of his coolheadedness and his amusing boastfulness in terms of his abilities. And given how some of the characters tend to die sooner than I wanted, I was thankful that he was spared.
That said, there is a bit of a double-edged sword in that area. The story has a lot of action in it, but I felt that the characters needed more screen time to cool down in between action scenes. Saresan will be my example here. He leaves a powerful impact on the main character (and by extension, me, the reader) in the beginning of the story. Unfortunately, there really isn't much about Saresan that I know beyond the fact that he was a guard with a halberd and a good measure of wit to make him an enjoyable character. I'm not looking for a complex backstory, though. I'm talking about those downtimes when the characters start to show a more casual side of themselves. Perhaps give Saresan a moment when he can share something he missed being far from home. He and Simon seem to pair up pretty well. I bet they could have a few fun banters.
So, since it seems that there will be another book in the future, I'll ask myself a question: "Would I be willing to read Book 2 when it comes out?" And the answer to that is "Absolutely!" for the reason that is the same as what I believed to be one of the book's biggest strengths: its characters. For all the adventure that Callum is getting out of this, I hope he and his friends get a chance to enjoy the scenery for a bit, even if Tyrus does have a few objections about that idea.
One thing I felt was one of the book's strongest points is my ability to connect with the characters. The dialogue and personalities of the characters were impactful enough for me to not only remember their names but also have my imagination give them voices. Jinar was easily one of my favorite characters in the book because of his coolheadedness and his amusing boastfulness in terms of his abilities. And given how some of the characters tend to die sooner than I wanted, I was thankful that he was spared.
That said, there is a bit of a double-edged sword in that area. The story has a lot of action in it, but I felt that the characters needed more screen time to cool down in between action scenes. Saresan will be my example here. He leaves a powerful impact on the main character (and by extension, me, the reader) in the beginning of the story. Unfortunately, there really isn't much about Saresan that I know beyond the fact that he was a guard with a halberd and a good measure of wit to make him an enjoyable character. I'm not looking for a complex backstory, though. I'm talking about those downtimes when the characters start to show a more casual side of themselves. Perhaps give Saresan a moment when he can share something he missed being far from home. He and Simon seem to pair up pretty well. I bet they could have a few fun banters.
So, since it seems that there will be another book in the future, I'll ask myself a question: "Would I be willing to read Book 2 when it comes out?" And the answer to that is "Absolutely!" for the reason that is the same as what I believed to be one of the book's biggest strengths: its characters. For all the adventure that Callum is getting out of this, I hope he and his friends get a chance to enjoy the scenery for a bit, even if Tyrus does have a few objections about that idea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2022
For a debut novel it's not bad. The characters are mostly believable and have their own distinct personality. The magic isn't systematic, but you get a sense of what it can or can't do and doesn't resolve the plot for the characters. It's also neat to see the world then and now not accommodating the plot; We go to see this old, wise man! Well, he is dead, actually - to bad, ey?
It does however have some flaws:
The first third of the book disguises itself as fantasy in the middle ages. It's a fun twist when it's dawns on you, that there also is a space faring human civilisation - but the thing is... I don't think it's worth it. It's "oh, neat" twist, not an "oh-my-god" twist.
So 1/3 of the books world building is spend to burn on a pyre... but it's just a plain vanilla fantasy world we know next to nothing about. Not enough to care a great deal about it being destroyed. So the book comes to a full stop and has to start anew and spend more pages on world building for the new setting.
A big problem is, that questions don't get answers. In the end - after running away again and again - the group basically is in the same state as in the first half. Some force is after them, we don't know where this sword came from, or why humans and demons work together... It's a bit unsatisfying.
And, weirdly: Who is talking to whom trips me up sometimes. It feels like line breaks are missing in a handful of spots, where actions follow direct speech, implying the character mentioned is the one speaking when they don't. That might be a me problem, but it's the only book where I noticed that.
It does however have some flaws:
The first third of the book disguises itself as fantasy in the middle ages. It's a fun twist when it's dawns on you, that there also is a space faring human civilisation - but the thing is... I don't think it's worth it. It's "oh, neat" twist, not an "oh-my-god" twist.
So 1/3 of the books world building is spend to burn on a pyre... but it's just a plain vanilla fantasy world we know next to nothing about. Not enough to care a great deal about it being destroyed. So the book comes to a full stop and has to start anew and spend more pages on world building for the new setting.
A big problem is, that questions don't get answers. In the end - after running away again and again - the group basically is in the same state as in the first half. Some force is after them, we don't know where this sword came from, or why humans and demons work together... It's a bit unsatisfying.
And, weirdly: Who is talking to whom trips me up sometimes. It feels like line breaks are missing in a handful of spots, where actions follow direct speech, implying the character mentioned is the one speaking when they don't. That might be a me problem, but it's the only book where I noticed that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2024
Errant Hope is a debut fantasy/sci-fi book by Damien Jennison and the first in a series – and a must-read, if you love good storytelling!
The story starts out like a classical fantasy-tale – and then the world is turned upside-down. The characters are all well-sculpted, flawed in their own ways and with room to grow or get destroyed by their actions and decisions.
The main-character, Callum, has a pretty normal life, but that doesn’t last long, and soon he is flung into the deep end of an almost endless ocean of the unknown along with his friends – and they are forced down a path if they want to survive and protect each other and save the universe. But to get strong and more powerful, they need time – time they do not have. Enemies are closing in as they are hunting for answers – and life is chaotic.
Errant Hope is a story filled with adventure, mystery, magic, science fiction, loveable characters, and a fascinating tale where you as a reader keep guessing at, what will happen next?
If you love good story telling – give this one a chance. You won’t regret it.
I, for one, are looking forward to the next book in this series, Sword Saga.
The story starts out like a classical fantasy-tale – and then the world is turned upside-down. The characters are all well-sculpted, flawed in their own ways and with room to grow or get destroyed by their actions and decisions.
The main-character, Callum, has a pretty normal life, but that doesn’t last long, and soon he is flung into the deep end of an almost endless ocean of the unknown along with his friends – and they are forced down a path if they want to survive and protect each other and save the universe. But to get strong and more powerful, they need time – time they do not have. Enemies are closing in as they are hunting for answers – and life is chaotic.
Errant Hope is a story filled with adventure, mystery, magic, science fiction, loveable characters, and a fascinating tale where you as a reader keep guessing at, what will happen next?
If you love good story telling – give this one a chance. You won’t regret it.
I, for one, are looking forward to the next book in this series, Sword Saga.
December 22, 2024
I've been looking forwards to the release of this novel for 10+ years. Enjoying the author's content in other types of media entertaining for years. You can tell this author is a dreamer and a storyteller. Every type of content are filled with their own ideas, stories and tidbits that enhances the experience. To see all his dreams and hopes coalesce into a novel of his own bring me so much pride. Its funny, i dont know the guy personally, but ive been with him on Youtube for over 12 years. Cant wait for the second one. If you want to support new dreamers, this is def. an author to keep an eye out for.
April 16, 2022
A good adventure.
I enjoyed this. A story about a man who is thrown into an adventure he doesn't want. It is an excellent world Damien has built with a lot of questions to be answered. I find it refreshing that it is about a hero who doesn't want to be one, and that there is loses on the road for him. A nice start and I want to know more.
I enjoyed this. A story about a man who is thrown into an adventure he doesn't want. It is an excellent world Damien has built with a lot of questions to be answered. I find it refreshing that it is about a hero who doesn't want to be one, and that there is loses on the road for him. A nice start and I want to know more.
May 7, 2022
I was really impressed. It took a bit to draw me in; however, once I was there I was committed to the world and characters. This is an auspicious start to what I hope will be an amazing series. Some characters stand out more than others and I hope we get to explore more of what makes them tic during their struggles.
July 27, 2022
Very engaging start and quite an unexpected twist away from a standard fantasy setting. Was not sure whether it works at first but it grew on me as the events unfolded. World building is detailed enough to fill the imagination without stalling the flow with details.
The characters are vibrant and come in great variety. The way the starting ones are forced to fit into the new technological era is believable, well paced and refined. A lot of care went into keeping the progression of events and relationships natural.
Roughly the second half of the book is when it got a bit slow to my taste. More world building and character introduction was expected, but I was hoping it'd pay off a little more. Expecting the protagonist to grow slightly stronger than he did, fights allow for different outcomes and personal ties between certain characters grow deeper and explored more.
The pattern of the protagonist jumping into action and fainting only to wake up after the fight is over becomes a bit frustrating, even more so in the last fight. So do the constant reminders of Tyrus trying to teleport Callum away. The Alexis-Jonathan arc has no doubt strong potential, but comes off ever so slightly annoying in the finale as Jonathan still tries to play the "it's all Callum's fault" card.
Overall it's a solid debut and I'd be curious to read the second book when it comes out.
The characters are vibrant and come in great variety. The way the starting ones are forced to fit into the new technological era is believable, well paced and refined. A lot of care went into keeping the progression of events and relationships natural.
Roughly the second half of the book is when it got a bit slow to my taste. More world building and character introduction was expected, but I was hoping it'd pay off a little more. Expecting the protagonist to grow slightly stronger than he did, fights allow for different outcomes and personal ties between certain characters grow deeper and explored more.
The pattern of the protagonist jumping into action and fainting only to wake up after the fight is over becomes a bit frustrating, even more so in the last fight. So do the constant reminders of Tyrus trying to teleport Callum away. The Alexis-Jonathan arc has no doubt strong potential, but comes off ever so slightly annoying in the finale as Jonathan still tries to play the "it's all Callum's fault" card.
Overall it's a solid debut and I'd be curious to read the second book when it comes out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews