Blog Tour

Book Tour | Vultures by Luke Tarzian

 February 12th 2020

Hello Fantasy Book Nerds

It's my turn on the Blog Tour for Vultures by Luke Tarzian. The tour has been organised by the fabulous Storytellers on Tour. So far there have been some fantastic bloggers involved in this tour and I hope you can check out their reviews too. Today, Dark Side Reads are also reviewing VULTURES as well, so if you want to have a look at theirs follow the link.

Before I get on with the Review, I would like to mention that there is also a giveaway run by Storytellers on Tour for this book. However, please be aware that this is a US only giveaway. 

There's a giveaway too!

To enter just click the Link. Two lucky winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway closes on Sunday February 14th at 11.59pm.

Now before we get to the review, I just want to mention that the cover art for the book is done by Luke Tarzian (yep, not only did he write the book, he did the cover as well. Is there no end to this blokes' talents).

So if you are not familiar with the book, here is a bit about it. 

Book Blurb

An enemy slain is not a conflict won…

After decades of war the demon Te Mirkvahíl is dead. But its progeny endure, spilling from the Heart of Mirkúr, sowing death across the land of Ariath. If the people are to finally know peace, the Heart must be destroyed. Theailys An believes he can do just that with The Keepers’ Wrath, an infamous power focus wrought in Ariath’s yesteryears–but the weapon first must be reforged.

War spares no one…

Serece never intended to get involved in Ariath’s war. But history and demons have a way of pulling strings. When she learns Theailys An, a man whom she abhors, bears striking similarity to the first creator of The Keepers’ Wrath, Serece departs her mountain world for Ariath to ascertain the truth.

From patience, hope…

For millennia Behtréal has walked the world alone. Rewriting history to resurrect his people is easier said than done. But Ariath holds the key–soon The Keepers’ Wrath will be remade.

Truth from madness…

As paths converge and a shadow falls across Ariath, one thing becomes increasingly and horrifyingly clear–these events have played out many times before.

Review

Luke Tarzian's wonderfully complex book is an ambitious and mesmerising read. 

I have read a lot of reviews about Vultures and wondered what I was getting myself into. I had read that it was difficult. That it required thought and concentration. Was I ready for this? 

Well the answer to this was yes! I think I was!

Now I had this book before I was accepted on the blog tour and was always immensley interested about Luke Tarzian's debut. The blog tour just solidified my resolve to actually get on with it. So with a deep breath, I plunged into the book.

I have to say that  I didn't know what I was expecting at first, but suffice it to say the book confounded all my expectations and pulled me along breathlessly towards the end.

One of the things that I like about Luke Tarzian's writing is that it places an incredible amount of faith in the reader, in  that you are going to go with the flow of the story. That you are willing to enter into this world and trust that, whilst at times you may not understand it all, you are willing to suspend your preconceptions and follow the tale regardless of where it goes. 

Whilst the structure of the book does not follow conventional rules, the actual plot does have sembelences of epic fantasy.  We have the dark force - Te Mirkvahil. We have the chosen hero - Theilys An and we have the hunt for the weapon that will destroy the said dark force. 

However, it is what Luke Tarzian does with these conventions that makes the book something else. The book reminds me of a dry stone wall, in that there are solid foundations, but how the hell is the rest of it going to stand up? Somehow, as if by magic, it does.  And the reason for this is because Luke Tarzian uses words like stones to create something magical.

The story takes place in a world where everything has been devastated by Te Mirkvahil, who has unleased a hoard of demons to ravage the land and the people. 

There are many different characters, but the narrative centres on three main points of view, Theilys An, a demon posessed warrior who dissacociates when the demon inside him takes over to destroy the Lokyns (the nasty evil types), and  when he wakes he usually wakes to find scenes of devastation . Serece, a plague infected phantaxian, who may or may not be posessed by a goddess, and Behtreal, a mysterious figure trying to resurrect a lost people, who again may be possessed by a demon. However, there other characters and points of view that add to the story and bring different perspectives.

With any fantasy book, you have to mention the magic systems and the world building, and again Luke Tarzian's magic systems are orignal and complex. There's Mirkur, which is a power that was used by Behtreal and Thealys An, which seems to be a power borne of darkness, and then there's Illum which grants the user the power to interpret dreams and premonitions. And then there's Yssa  which is the dreaded power of the phantaxians which when used can have a disasterous effect. 

On top of that, the world building is beguiling, it flits between the real and unreal, the corporeal and the incorporeal seamlessly. Sometimes, I wasn't entirely sure of where I was, but once I learnt that this was the structure of the book, I just went with it. 

Added to this are the characters. At times I found them likeable and understandable, other times they frustrated me. At other times, I didn't know what I thought. But one thing is for sure is that Luke Tarzian certainly writes characters with depth. 

Ultimately, I found Vultures to be a compelling read that I will need to revist at some point and get the full effect of Luke Tarzian's dreamlike writing, and knowing that there is more to this story fills me with longing for the next one.

Author Info

Luke Tarzian was born in Bucharest, Romania until his parents made the extremely poor choice of adopting him less than six months into his life. As such, he’s resided primarily in the United States and currently lives in California with his wife and their infant daughters. Fascinated by psychology and the work of Edgar Allan Poe, and inspired by his own anxieties, his character-driven fiction functions as a meditation on emotion, most commonly grief. His debut novel, Vultures, introduced a surreal, demon-ridden world where dreams are sometimes more than dreams and magic, memories, and misery are heavily entwined. Vultures is the first book in the Shadow Twins trilogy.

Website: https://www.luketarzian.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Luke_Tarzian

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LukeTarzianOfficial/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luketarzianwrites

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/luke_tarzian

So, as always, thank you for visiting the site and if you want to look at the others and what is coming next on the tour, here's the schedule