The Pagan Night

October 12, 2015
Generations clash, as well as religions, in this emotionally involving epic fantasy, in which elders embrace a new faith and their youngsters rediscover old beliefs. Lord Malcolm Blakeley struggles to maintain peace between his northern kin and the intrusive southerners and their heretic-hunting Celestial church. But within his alliance, factions loyal to the old pagan beliefs, and a heretical group of Celestial inquisitors, trigger a war imperiling both sides, as gods long imprisoned seek freedom and vengeance. Akers (The Burn Cycle), an experienced hand at steampunk noir, succeeds in capturing the essence of historical fantasy. Readers familiar with the Scottish and English clashes exemplified by Braveheart will be comfortable with his handling of northern free folk striving to remain faithful to their nature gods and witch cults, struggling against the intrusions of more ecclesiastical southern religions. The underlying connections among ecology and faith and an understanding of the unity of godhood will please the ecumenically minded.

Starred review from January 1, 2016
In the first volume in a new trilogy, Akers introduces readers to an epic fantasy world sure to please anyone waiting impatiently for the next George R. R. Martin or Brian Sanderson. In a world that suggests a combination of the time periods in which the War of the Roses and the Reformation took place, the Celestial Church has wrenched control away from the old pagan gods and is tenuously helping to keep the peace between two warring factions, the Tener and the Suhdra. The series opens ominously, setting the dark and dangerous tone as a nefarious stranger sets loose a pagan god made of smoke who possesses its victims as it begins to spread into the countryside. Meanwhile, the hero from the previous war, Malcolm Blakeley, is being recruited by the Church to help keep order in the land as hostilities increase. But this is a new kind of war, one that pits old gods, new religion, long-held secrets, political alliances, and prejudices against one another. It is up to a new breed of heroes, ones who can think for themselves, like Malcolm's son, Ian, and the young female huntress from House Adair, Gwen, to protect them all. But are their tactics too unorthodox to work? Full of strong world building, cinematic and frequent battle scenes, high adventure, great characters, suspense, and dramatic plot shifts, this is an engaging, fast-paced entry in a popular subgenre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)