My review of Steven M Nedeau’s High Fantasy, The Soul Web
https://www.stevenmnedeau.com/
While I love to write, I love to read just as much. Fantasy, horror, scifi, historical fiction and non-fiction are my favorite genres in which to read. While I have been neck-deep in self-publishing my own book, it is always a pleasure to take a break and review a book from one of my fellow authors.
This past Memorial Day Weekend I had the pleasure out at the cabin of sitting down and reading The Soul Web, by Steven Nedeau. Those of you who follow me know I love to do deep dives on my reviews, but I am going to refrain on this one (as much as I can) because I don’t see how it would be possible to discuss all the things I want to without spoilers. I will share what I enjoyed about my adventure into Nedeau’s world of Melanthios and his complex high fantasy novel.
Definition of High Fantasy
Fantasy is a broad category of fiction with multiple sub genres. The Soul Web fits squarely in the category of High Fantasy. This genre is defined as taking place in a world that is completely separate from our own, usually with magical elements, complex characters and subplots. Oftentimes, this world has a medieval setting and involve a quest. These books are often longer than typical fiction, as the world building involved takes more description than a story set in the regular world as we know it. Examples of High Fantasy are: Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings; The Dragon Lance Series, by Margret Weiss and Tracey Hickmann; A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin.
High Fantasy can also devolve into some very well-known tropes, clichés and traps. I think one of the most well known is bogging down the plot with too much description. Tolkien was infamous for this. As was Martin. This is where Nedeau does a really good job. His story is very plot and action driven. The characters move quickly from one scene to the next, filling in the gaps as they go. I would say there were a few times I could have used a little more description, but all in all a very fast paced storyline.
Revitalizing old Clichés and Tropes of Fantasy
As mentioned above, fantasy and in particular High Fantasy, tends to fall into stereotypes and clichés. Here are 5 of the most well known:
- The Chosen One
- Oversimplified Good vs. Evil Dynamic
- Setting Medieval Style Monarchy
- Contrived Romance/Insta-love/Love Triangle
- The All-Powerful Magical Object
Nedeau does a great job of turning each on its head or reinventing it in a fresh, engaging way. I will explain how in my review.
The Chosen One
After years of living and working in a library reading history, Jaron learns that he is the son of a King. All of the people around him who he thought were his friends were really assigned to be his bodyguards. Fearing that his father is dead, they are thrust into a quest with a land surging into war. Nedeau does a great job here of creating an awkward, studious teenager that doesn’t magically morph into Superman, Aragorn, or any other legendary character. Throughout the story you do question whether he really is the guy for the job.
Oversimplified Good versus Evil
As the kingdom of Melanthios plunges into war all kinds of creatures come out of the wood work. Unlike in Tolkien where:
- Goblins, orcs= bad
- Elves and dwarves = good
- Humans something in between
There’s a different dynamic here. The races of Melanthios choose sides based on their own political agendas and past histories. Centuries of grudges and bad blood come to light. Nedeau does a good job of creating empathy in the reader behind the different races and helping to understand why they are allying with either side in the battle to come. And even as the story progresses, there’s hints that even the main characters are not as virtuous as they seem at first blush.
Medieval-style Monarchy
Nedeau does use this trope, and it is considered the most forgivable of the High Fantasy trope because the magic and themes blend well into this frame work and are more believable than in a modern setting. It works well for his plot of an ancient king who has in a sense sold his soul and the souls of his knights in a pact for immortality. Now the current rulers are battling for control, and one has made a pact with this Army of the Dead thinking he can control it. This also ties back to the oversimplified good vs. evil above. There are times when you are looking at both sides (kind of like politics today) and wondering why are heroes want to fight for either side. They are being forced to choose between the lesser of evils.
Contrived Romance/Insta-love/Love Triangle
At first when I saw the set up between Joran and his protectors Keras and Ellian I wondered if Steven was going to go in the love triangle direction. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but he takes us in an entirely different direction. He builds Keras as a skilled and powerful female warrior, but also as a charming young woman. So he doesn’t devolve into what I like to call the female stereotype of the “bad-ass.” She’s worthy of admiration, but so is the other companion Ellian. His strength and strategic ability get them out of trouble on their journey more than once. Nedeau uses these characters as foils to show Joran growing and changing as he confronts his own securities as the purported future leader. There is love, but it blossoms slowly. I won’t spoil it, but I will give you a teaser from one of my favorite lines where the three have to crawl through a tight space. I think I really liked this scene because it reminded me of some of my interactions in the Navy.
Before Keras entered she pointed at Joran, “Don’t look at my butt,” and then to Ellian, “Don’t touch my butt.”
“Wait,” Ellian clarified, “So I can look then?”
She hit him and squeezed through the opening.
Scene from The Soul Web
The All-Powerful Magical Object
Instead of the One-Ring, or sword or book, they are searching for something magical. But Nedeau puts a unique spin on this one as well. Once again, I won’t go into detail here, but it involves the title of the book itself. He reveals snippets of what the group is really questing for little by little as the story goes on. The scene between Joran, Sir William and Lord Baros had a definite Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Tales from the Crypt feel to it and is one of my favorite scenes.
Nedeau’s addition to High Fantasy is a fast-paced, magical ride with unique and real feeling characters. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next and how the characters develop in the sequel to The Soul Web.
Thanks for reading. I have a great line-up of authors in the queue for this summer while I work and write out at the cabin. Hoping to dive in to Eric Lahti’s The Henchmen, next.
https://books2read.com/u/3GYRaa
I am also working hard on the sequel to The Dark Land, available on Amazon now. Sign up for sneak previews.
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