The Second Age: Part 1, Lord of Silence, by Arshad Ahsanuddin

[Ulysses]

The Second Age: Lord of Silence (part 1)
By Arshad Ahsanuddin
Published by the author
Four stars

Madrian Tanek—noble-born son of the regional Imperial governor, is nearing the end of his year-long ordeal as he trains to be a master mage. He is surprised one evening by his sometime lover, Mikal Dacrysun, a Westerner of the Woodlands, himself the son of the former Imperial Edge (assassin-bodyguard) to Madrian’s father. It appears that Mikal’s brother Jasra has been killed in an attack by strange nocturnal creatures, an attack from which their father Merran managed to escape. Mikal is traumatized and has broken curfew to seek out Rian’s help and comfort. This is the triggering moment in the story, set in a world much changed since we learned about it in the first book of this series, “Where Angels Fear to Tread.”

This is also about all the world-building we get in this first of a two-part second episode in Rian and Mikal’s story. While Dr. Ahsanuddin’s writing is still just as good as it was in the first book, he plunges right into the rather condensed plot arc, compressing a battle against blood-drinking demons and a race against time into two short novellas. The Imperials and the Westerners—more or less at odds for three millennia, now living in a long-term but tenuous stalemate—must collaborate to overcome an unheard-of evil that threatens both of their worlds equally. There are lots of nice details, articulating this peculiar world, a mix of magic and technology, of mysticism and militarism. Ahsanuddin is great with imagery and a sense of place, with good timing and an elegant control of language.

Mikal and Rian’s relationship gets rather short shrift in the first novella, although what we see of it is nicely handled and the author is careful to deepen our understanding of these two young men. There are lots of great details, but the rush to action seems, well, rushed, and the first book ends optimistically but abruptly with no sort of resolution. Fortunately, I had the second half of the second book (Avatar) on hand, so didn’t have to wait until it is actually published next month (January 2021).

I’ll be back to review that when it drops.