It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. Finally, the Morning Bell tolls. A new Seed is born, but is it too late? The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear. Nora: An warrior in Erefiel's battalion, seeking to run from her abusive past. Her family defy the Elders and are part of a religious group called the Witnesses. She has a hatred for the Akar, and a stubborn and defiant will. Her brother Jeremiah is good friends with Dalila. What makes Eleventh Cycle so effective is that this darkness is balanced with a big heart. Ardalan shares Sanderson’s talent at creating empathetic, broken characters, bringing a deeply personal focus to a vast, complex world. At its core, Eleventh Cycle is a character-driven fantasy featuring four mortal protagonists living in a land that is indifferent to their struggles.

Kian N. Ardalan (Author of Eleventh Cycle) - Goodreads Kian N. Ardalan (Author of Eleventh Cycle) - Goodreads

But this is not some kind of 'trauma porn', there is still light and hope in these books. These characters are inherently flawed but good people. They are fiercely loyal, compassionate, trying to do the right thing to survive their way in this miserable world. Inspired by Beserk and the Dark Souls games, you can feel the influences throughout the book – especially in the tone and atmosphere. Minethria is a rich, well developed world with a huge amount of lore that I loved learning more about. Upon the end of a Cycle, the sight of a Seed's ascension is a most wondrous sight. A pillar of light pierces down and pulls the Seed up into the Creator's embrace. It can be seen from the whole of Minethria."On its own it may not move you to tears as it did I, but within its context this was a heartbreaking line that gave us magnificent insight into this character's inner turmoil, this struggle with this hero complex they have thrust themselves into as a distraction from their grief and trauma. And now I shall sign off so I can go and read the remaining 42% of the book, but if Dr Mauro's review is anything to go by, this will be an unrelenting emotionally powerful journey all the way through to the gritty end. The narration is... I'm sorry. The readers worked hard and you can feel it, but not all effort gets you where you want to be sometimes. There are other issues (so much passive voice worsening the word economy, and Nora's entire narrative is too bad YA high school drama for the setting and story it's trying to be) but they all pale in comparison to this one and I suspect it will make or break this book for the audience. Eleventh Cycle achieves Brandon Sanderson-level worldbuilding, but with a murkier tone and a more nuanced execution. Although the name of Ardalan’s series, Mistland, recalls Sanderson’s Mistborn, the world of Eleventh Cycle has more in common with The Stormlight Archive, particularly with how Ardalan introduces multiple races that vilify each other without knowing why they are enemies. It began with a novella about a young girl, not hoarded by a fierce dragon, but rather protected and raised by one.

Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan First Impressions : r/Fantasy Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan First Impressions : r/Fantasy

If there's another aspect that is at the same level with worldbuilding, is how in contraposition with the darkness of the world, we are given characters we get to connect with them. Ardalan builds deep connections to these characters, which get reinforced by the use of a first-person voice for each one of them, creating a more close connection to them, and giving more impact to what will happen to them. Despite being characters with really different origins, all of them share themes in their experiences, such as friendship, love, and acceptance.You don’t like dark elements in your books (murder, death, sexual assault, etc.) [ Specific trigger warnings listed by the author in the blurb below]