Of Civilized, Saved and Savages: Coronam Book II

by Johnny Worthen

As Jonathan Maberry says in the NY Times, "A clever and exciting collision of space opera, high adventure, and devious politics. Insightful and highly entertaining!”

Nearly a millennium after The Unsettling of old Earth, the new civilized worlds are on the brink of war. The planet Enskari, as an affront to tradition and the Prophet on Temple, has placed Zabel, a woman upon its throne. With the backing of the church, Brandon of Hyrax readies an armada to subdue Enskari and unite the system under a single rule—his own.

Meanwhile an Enskaran group of separatists depart for the last unclaimed world of the system, Tirgwenin. There they will find something strange. Something low and connective, subtle and spreading. Something alien. Something truly threatening.

432 pages, Hardcover

Published January 10, 2023

About the author

Johnny Worthen is an award-winning, best-selling author of books and stories. A Utah Writer of the Year. Trained in modern literary criticism and cultural studies, he writes upmarket multi-genre fiction, symbolized by his love of tie-dye and good words. “I write what I like to read,” he says. “This guarantees me at least one fan.”

Johnny is best known (so far) for his award winning, nationally acclaimed, best-selling young adult novel, ELEANOR, THE UNSEEN. It is a great book and if you haven’t read it, you need to. Johnny’s debut novel, the adult occult thriller, BEATRYSEL along with its companion story DR. STUART’S HEART explores the darker sides of love and Magick.

CELESTE, THE UNSEEN BOOK 2, continues Eleanor’s story as she tries to maintain a life in Jamesford, while distant events and local suspicion conspire to threaten everything. DAVID, THE UNSEEN BOOK 3, sees the powerful transformative conclusion of this awarding series as Eleanor learns her past and builds her future.

Johnny’s entry into mystery with THE BRAND DEMAND won a Silver Quill Award from the League of Utah Writers in the best novel category, while, his genre-bending comedy noire, THE FINGER TRAP, introduces Tony Flaner, a flawed slacker every-man detective who can’t throw a punch but can slay a room with sarcasm.

Johnny's short stories appear in a number of anthologies including the Dark Fiction LITTLE VISIBLE DELIGHT (The Point), Utah Horror, OLD SCRATCH AND OWL HOOTS (Keep Sweet), IT CAME FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE (May 15th), Utah Fantasy, SECRETS & DOORS (A Thousand Secret Doors), HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT (The Lost Curse of the Witch's Nest) and the limited edition commemorate Salt Lake Comic Con anthology HEROIC: TALES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY (The Grape Whisperer).

Johnny lectures and teaches about writing and life whenever anyone will listen. He edits professionally for Omnium Gatherum, a dark fiction press. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife, sons and a cat.

Reviews

[Jessie Keith]

This was an exceptional second installment in a trilogy I'll surely be thinking about well past its conclusion. The wide range of characters we were introduced to in the first book became our anchors in the second, allowing the worldbuilding to develop and unfold with increasing complexity in a very satisfying way. What felt, initially, like many distant windows is now becoming a tapestry of interwoven threads. I am continuously fascinated by the bees, and loved that the interstitial tale in this book focused on Apis and the events there. I also found my thoughts increasingly in line with Millie's in regard to the wider picture, and I look forward to seeing how she undertakes her upcoming role as the bridge between worlds.

[Daniel Yocom]

Of Civilized, Saved, & Savages was more than expected. It was a great read that enticed me. I soon was looking into the deeper motivations, plots, and story arcs presented. I enjoyed the foreshadowing and relished the intellectual read all the way to the end.

Johnny Worthen has again created a story for those who enjoy deeper thoughts created by the work they are reading. Once I started reading Of Civilized, Saved, & Savages I was pulled back into the universe of Coronam created in book one. I found the book hard to put down, yet, the desire to set the book aside for short periods of time so I could step and think about the picture being created was also a pleasure.

The use of a logical “punking” of technology provides a vision of adaptation that is fun. Throughout there is a feel of the battle of the old versus the new, that plays well with one of the overarching themes of history repeating itself. We are also treated to the themes of man’s inhumanity to man and man versus nature. There is much pointing towards the concept that nature shall overcome.

I recommend Of Civilized, Saved, & Savages to mature science fiction readers who enjoy more complexity in their reading.

You can read the complete review at http://guildmastergaming.blogspot.com...

[Marie Sinadjan]

First things first: as a Filipino, it excited me to see Maaraw and Silangan as the names of the so-called Savage Worlds on the Coronam system map! 😉

I also loved the bees. The bees sure were A Thing.

Now, I probably should have read the first book before diving into this to have a full appreciation of the story... but I unfortunately do this to myself sometimes. (Especially since I've always loved the Flame Tree Press works I've had the privilege of reading.) I still enjoyed it, though! It's well written, but like most scifi books I've read it's easy to get a little overwhelmed by the worldbuilding. Genre-wise, this has been noted as Steampunk / Space Opera Science Fiction and you do get that, but also be prepared that it's all pretty dark.

I must now get my hands on the first book, and then reread this one 🤭

[Evan Ladouceur]

Worthen’s second Coronam novel is well written, like the first, and equally grim. There are, at least for me, no likable characters. While there are characters with whom one can sympathize, it is hard to cheer for anyone. Part of this is the setting - a transposed Elizabethan-like culture in an inhospitable solar system, with warfare, barbarism, counter-reformation, religious fanaticism, and vicious imperialism - and part is the author’s choice not to leaven the dark setting with any humor or light. The mysterious communal bees found on one colony and now spreading between worlds provide a genuine science fiction mystery and make this more than just the Spanish Armada/Francis Drake in space. I will read the next volume to see how the series concludes.