Tuesday, June 11, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Afterward by E.K Johnston




The Afterward is a book with an interesting concept (albeit not a new one) - what happens to the heroes after their big quest is done?  More interestingly, The Afterward asks that question not about the big star heroes of an epic fantasy quest, but about the lesser members of the party, the ones whose obligations can't simply be cured by being heroes.  It's also a story that is at its core a fantasy romance, telling the story of two specific members of a successful heroic party, as they deal with the aftermath - or to us the title, "The Afterward" - of their adventure.

And really for the most part, it works quite well.  The two main protagonists are lovely and their romance is really well done, and the story bounces back and forth between timelines in a way that always kept it flowing at a good pace, with some excellent dialogue along the way.  And it ends in a way that put a smile on my face.  Still, certain aspects of the plot resolve themselves a bit too easily for my taste, preventing this book from really joining the ranks of my favorites.

More specifics after the jump:


--------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------------
The world was once menaced by the terror of the Old God, who could only be stopped by a magical artifact known as the Godsgem.  When the Old God was restored by mad disciple, and the King of Cadria drained as a result, a team of seven - Four Knights, a Mage, an Apprentice Knight, and a thief - went on a quest to find the lost Godsgem and stop the Old God once more.  And succeed they did, and the world was saved.  But lives don't end simply because the heroic adventure does, and even adventurers have obligations they must meet after they've become heroes.

For the Apprentice Knight, Lady Kalanthe Ironheart, and the one she came to love on her adventure, Olsa Rhetsdaughter, those obligations have caused them to be forced apart.  Kalanthe still needs to pay back the debt she incurred to begin the process to knighthood, and the only way forward in that respect is to be married to a lord with enough funds to pay off the debt....even though Kalanthe has no interest in men, or really anyone other than Olsa.  Kalanthe has always known her course in life, but following through and paying off the debt feels like its costing her her heart.

But while Olsa managed to pay off her lighter monetary debts with the proceeds from the Quest, the danger to Olsa is not only a threat to Olsa's heart, but her very life.  With no other skills besides thievery, and a reputation from the Quest that makes Olsa too high profile to get away with basically anything, Olsa finds herself repeatedly on the wrong side of the law, saved from the noose only by Kalanthe's repeated intervention.  But Olsa knows that when Kalanthe leaves the city, there will no one left to save her life....or if there's anything worth saving without Kalanthe by her side.

Two lovers, forced apart by different paths....but perhaps destiny, even after the quest is complete, is not yet done with them.
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The Afterward tells its story unsurprisingly from the perspective of its two protagonists, Kalanthe and Olsa, with the story divided into chapters labeled "After" - telling the story of the heroes in the present, after the quest has been completed - and "Before" - telling the story of how Kalanthe and Olsa's relationship began and grew during the Quest, up through the end of the Quest (There are a few chapters that play with this and don't fit into either category).  The Before chapters are told in first person with the After chapters told in third person, with the perspective of each chapter alternating between Kalante and Olsa frequently (though not every chapter - the book leaves it to eh reader to figure it out).

This works really well in developing two really great lead characters in Kalanthe and Olsa, who carry the story.  Despite the two coming from very different backgrounds, the story really wonderfully shows how the two became attracted to each other for their differences and similarities: during the Quest both women were more than a little bit naive - Olsa towards the basic consequences of her body and to the noble attitudes of the knights while Kalanthe is naive towards sex and the seedier parts of the world.  The two also each have their own forms of pride that are strong elements of their characters: Kalanthe through her nobility and refusal to stray from her lawful obligations and Olsa in her refusal to take charity or pity despite her poor station and limited skills.

But the two are attracted to each other just as much for their differences as their similarities: Kalanthe, for example, has always wanted to be a knight, to the point where she has sold herself into debt (like many others) to gain the funds to become so, and always seeks to do what is right and proper.  Olsa on the other hand has always trended towards practicality, doing what she can to make ends meet, even if it's on the wrong side of the law.  Johnston writes both characters wonderfully, making it easy both to cheer for them to finally get some form of happy ending and to really understand the attraction between them.

The rest of the characters and setting are also done rather well.  The rest of the members of the questing party are all clearly good people with their own characters to the small degree we get to know them (some get more time than others in the After chapters).  It's kind of nice to have a story where every character has good intentions and isn't bickering or backstabbing.  It's also a LGBTQ friendly world - no one beats an eye at relationships between women, or the knight that's a Trans-woman, it just is what it is.

Really this is a book without any "bad" guys of note - the real antagonists of this book are the world's system and those who are foolish within it.  And that's done rather well - in particular the world's system of knights: rather than restrict knighthood to the rich and noble, this world allows potential apprentice knights to sell themselves into debt to finance their training and equipment, which forces knights - of all genders - to often have to marry themselves off to wealthy patrons in order pay off that debt.  It's this system that has pulled Kalanthe away from Olsa, to both of their aching hearts.  And with Olsa, the thieves' guild isn't much better, having owned her from a young age, and even when she's paid them back, she can't get away from them: and they insist upon using her to Olsa's disadvantage.  And then there are the other foolish people and systems met along the way: the scholars who refuse to admit that one from a "lesser" educational background could be right or the mages who refuse to admit that an object of power might be better off left alone.  These may not be traditional antagonists, to be fought and defeated, but they feel more real for it and provide a strong background of conflict for our heroes' relationship.

The problem with this book, honestly, is that the book resolves one of these conflicts - Kalanthe's debt and marriage issue - way way too easily, with the solution essentially dropping into her lap through fortuitousness.*  It's written rather well, and isn't exactly a solution that comes without consequence, and more importantly, the emotional resolution between Kalanthe and Olsa still works wonderfully, so it doesn't ruin the book in any way, mind you.  But given how serious an issue the debt knight system is, and the questions it presents, it's kind of annoying to see it resolved so easily in Kalanthe's individual case after such a setup.

Spoiler in ROT13: Xnynagur rkcrpgf gb or zngpurq hc jvgu n aboyr ybeq jub arrqf na urve, qrfcvgr Xnynagur'f ynpx bs vagrerfg va zra.  Vafgrnq, fur svaqf urefrys zngpurq hc jvgu n aboyr ybeq, jub unf gjb tveyf nyernql naq unf ab vagrerfg va univat nal zber puvyqera: jub ernyyl jnagf Xnynagur orpnhfr ur'f qlvat naq arrqf n aboyr ubabenoyr ynql ur pna gehfg gb gnxr bire uvf rfgngr naq envfr uvf tveyf.  Naq gura ur qvrf evtug orsber gur npghny zneevntr, ohg abg orsber fvtavat gur zneevntr pbagenpg, nyybjvat Xnynagur gb onfvpnyyl raq ure qrog jvgubhg nal bs gur boyvtngvbaf bs gur zneevntr fur evtugshyyl srnef.  Vg'f n "trg bhg bs wnvy" serr pneq, naq juvyr Xnynagur npdhverf boyvtngvbaf gbjneq gur tveyf naq gur rfgngr nf n erfhyg, vg whfg frrzf yvxr fhpu n yhpxl fgebxr gb or n ovg naablvat.

Still, as a Fantasy Romance story, The Afterward is very well done and enjoyable for the most part, and is certainly worth your time.  It isn't perfect, but it is delightful when all is said and done.


*Spoiler in ROT13:
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