S. M. Beiko

I was slightly afraid, when Ash falls under Li’s spell and begins to ignore everyone and everything aside from her own obsession, that L&L might be heading toward Twilight territory, wherein the heroine sees her new love as the be-all and the end-all of everything. Happily, Bieko, beyond being an immeasurably superior writer than Stephanie Meyer, understands such fixations of youth as being potentially dangerous.

Where Meyer made her lead a passive object waiting to be rescued, Bieko show more explores through fantastical backdrops how such youthful passions can lead to peril, both emotional and physical. There are incisive parallels to addiction in Bieko’s narrative, and while reading may not appear as deadly a dependence as that of crystal meth, the powerful sway Li and the library hold over Ash’s personality holds the potential to be just as damaging to her psyche.

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Scion of the Fox is the story of Roan Harken, a high school student in Winnipeg, who lives with her uncle and aunt in her grandmother’s house after her parents died in a car accident. Suddenly all sorts of odd things begin happening. A new student joins her class and when she looks at him she sees a disturbing vision of a rabbit. She sees a talking fox who wants to train her to save the world. Is she losing touch with reality or is reality not what it seems?

This is a fantasy novel, so show more clearly the latter.

In Scion of the Fox we find an entirely new world, but one that is the one we live in today, only with the revelation of ancient magical people, the Denizens. We discover a rich mythology involving the ancient animal gods with great power who together protected society until slowly driven underground and into hiding by the spread of humans, or Mundanes as they are called.

Roan discovers she was marked from infancy as a sacrifice to another ancient, a magical monster who lives in the river and to whom a blood sacrifice is made every year to keep the monster from wreaking havoc with floods and storms. Can she find allies from the other denizens who will help her defeat this ancient power and end the practice of blood sacrifice?

Scion of the Fox is a great start to what I think will be an excellent fantasy series. I think the most important element in fantasy is world-building and Beiko gets it right. She starts where we are and takes us to a completely new and different creation myth with far different implications, but they make as much sense as the various creation mythologies of history and of today. I like the characters who have a good mix of “I can’t believe this is happening” and “I’m in to save the world” courage, the kind of courage that is natural to adolescence.
What I like best of Scion of the Fox is that it is not comparable to “Harry Potter” or “Lord of the Rings” or any other fantasy series I have read. I am eager to read more.

Scion of the Fox is the first in the fantasy series “The Realms of Ancient”

Scion of the Fox at ECW Press
S. M. Beiko author site

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The Brilliant Dark is the third and final installment in The Realm of Ancients series by S. M. Beiko. In this last chapter of the series, the story is organized around Saskia, a Mundane who has been raised by Denizens. The Mundanes are the Muggles of Beiko’s world, but they are no longer in ignorance of the powers of the Denizens. This is our world revealed to have been created by the Ancient, a god whose silence has driven the world to the brink of disaster since a black moon rose in the show more sky and a black illness plagued the planet.

The five sister goddesses whose followers have powers derived from the elements are gone and the young Saskia believes she can fix things. She is a wizard with computers and technology. She was raised by Phae and Barton, from the deer and rabbit families of Denizens. The Mundanes are led by a genocidal fanatic who is seeking the pretext and power to destroy all Denizens and Saskia goes to work for him, hoping to exploit his project to save the Denizens and the world.

I loved The Brilliant Dark and the bold courage and determination of Saskia, especially when she finds the people she admires have lost their way. She does not give up on them, though, and hopes they can remember who they really are. There are deep themes about the power of regret, forgiveness, and memory. There is the power of narrative, or the Narrative, and whether it can be changed. There are many big ideas to think about. Sometimes, the ambition to explain the big concepts of myth-making and narrative submerges the story, but then it comes back to itself again, much like our heroes.

I received an ARC of The Brilliant Dark from the publisher through ECW Insiders.

The Brilliant Dark at ECW Press
S. M. Beiko

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“The Door in Lake Mallion,” by S. M. Beiko

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars because I see how I would’ve loved this book when I was in middle school/ high school, and I think it’s perfect for those ages. I would’ve given it below a 3 if it was purely on my own taste. I did not like the play write layout to the story with interludes and such. The main character was a little annoying how he wanted to constantly be the star and outshine everyone else at all times, kind of gave me show more pick me girl vibes but I think all little kids have a very annoying side, so it fits in with the age range. I did like the M/M story and the fact that MMC is going blind in his world but not the lake world, which is why he wants to stay so bad. The audiobook narration for this book fits the age range and brings out the characters.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley. show less