Eleventh Cycle (1) (Mistland)

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Not only that, but Ardalan lets us linger in the despair in a way that reminds me of Kaladin from The Way of Kings - these are problems that aren't easily resolved, and these characters fail again and again because their personalities and their fears can't let them succeed. Ardalan succeeds over Sanderson in this aspect. And in the center of all those stories, there is the Seed, the cause of the prophecies, the perspective that will be told from a third-person standpoint. And despite all that is expected, the Seed is just a child, incapable of understanding human emotions and making sense of this chaotic violent world. Eleventh Cycle combines the strange and enigmatic lore of Dark Souls with the difficult lives of mortal men, and then manages to make the mortals seem the more enigmatic part. The five point-of-view characters act; sometimes emotionally, sometimes inconsistently, sometimes with flagrant foolishness, and yet never unbelievably. This is the core of the story.

It began with a novella about a young girl, not hoarded by a fierce dragon, but rather protected and raised by one. In truth, the story did make me think about violence and sexual violence in literature. There isn’t a huge amount of it. It’s clear why. It’s hard to read about. It isn’t escapism and unfortunately there are many people who have experienced these issues first hand. To read about this type of suffering can be too difficult. It’s incredible. Much recently published fantasy has veered into low-fantasy, where we have worlds that feel very like our world and with mostly human characters. When we do see fantastical characters, they are those we know well. Dwarves, elves, halflings, dragons, goblins, and trolls.

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The story itself begins as fragments told from these multiple perspectives, allowing us to build emotional connections to each of the individual characters before their plot lines eventually intersect. It’s especially rewarding to see how everything comes together in the latter part of the book, as many of the subtle connections become clear. Ardalan also keeps us guessing through a variety of unexpected plot twists. There is a steep learning curve in Eleventh Cycle but it’s well worth the time and effort you put in. You might initially feel a little confused or overwhelmed with the character names, places, lore etc, and I think that’s kind of the point! His prose is easy to understand and accessible, but to be fair, as a non-native speaker, the seeds chapters are a bit different. Written in Old English, it was hard to follow at times, but thank goodness for the dictionary on the Kindle. That was a lot of words, and I feel like I can't do the book justice, and I think that's a sign. A sign that this book and this world that Kian has created has the potential to be something great, a modern classic that can compete at the very top of modern fantasy.

I was like you once… I believed myself unstoppable, for if someone doesn’t fear death, then nothing can stop them. But there is more than one type of death. I know that now. I went to that place and managed to return. Shame: shame can be far worse than death.” Owing to the hollow dialogue, the characters felt flat. It was hard to empathize with any of them in their struggles which undermined the first-person POV, the grimdark-ness, and the character-driven concept. I just couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters. For most of the book I felt like the pacing was spot on. With that said, there are some slower bits where the focus turns from the plot towards the characters. I find this was necessary given what the characters are going through. Trauma is a central theme in this book and Kian made sure to devote enough time to it and really show the ups and downs. I appreciated that because doing so he managed to convey the characters inner struggles perfectly and made me understand them better. I put a list of triggers on doesthedogdie.com if you want to know more (it should be accurate, there might be one or two I miss, I apologize, I really don't want to go through this book again)It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. Finally, t It's not all this poetic, it finds a warm tonal balance between Sanderson and someone such as Wurts or Rothfuss. The prose only adds to the story, never detracts. when we have moments of wonder the poetic prose is played up, in moments of dialogue and casual scenes it's more workmanlike. But just like this world, it's never anything less than haunting. For instance, the way Ardalan uses Mount Morinar for the equivalent of Anor Londo in DS1 was actually cool. Yes there are parallels to both, but he at least changed it quite significantly to the point you have to think about it a bit.