Never delve too much into a stirring fantasy-romance romp between two enigmatic characters. Because that's what I did with Thea Guanzon's novel, The Hurricane Wars, and now I know it belongs to the romantasy subgenre and could be based on Guanzon's Star Warsfan fiction that ships opposing characters Rey and Kylo Ren.
Reading parts of it again, the parallels are hard to unsee. Stormships? Star Destroyers, maybe? Lightweave and Shadowgate? The light and dark sides of the Force. The in-story Kylo has a mask too. And the female lead wields weapons made of light, like lightsabers? The beginning kicks off with a battle between an alliance and an empire in a setting reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back. Even the title is a nod to the franchise.
The poor rep fan fiction has is largely undeserved. Good works exist in traditional and digital publishing, and finding gems in the rough is part of the excitement. Publishers are exploring untapped veins of creativity in digital mines such as Wattpad and Archive of Our Own for the next hits, which already have legions of readers and fans waiting for them to roll off the presses.
Though this novel was born of Reylo fanfic, Guanzon weaves more than enough of her own magic into it to make it all her own. Credit also goes to the editors, though I doubt they had to do much. The pages kept turning, spurred by the urge to see what's next. Until I went digging further, I wasn't at all aware this was essentially a Reylo romance.
In a fantasy world far, far away...
Guanzon's Rey is the orphan Talasyn, a soldier in an alliance of territories collectively known as the Sardovian Allfold, pitted against the Night Empire of Kesath. In this world of mythical beasts and magic-run technology, where mages draw powers of various elements from dimensional rifts, the alliance is in trouble.
The Night Empire crashes a wedding Talasyn attends. In the ensuing battle, she confronts her Kylo Ren: Alaric Ossinast, son of the Snoke-like Night Emperor Gaheris. After the skirmish, she sneaks off to the Nenavar Dominion to find out a) how to improve her magic and b) why she is drawn to the place. Someone betrays her plan to Alaric, who gives chase.
The duo are captured on Nenavar, where Talasyn learns she could be the missing heir to the Nenavarene throne and that she has family. Both later escape, but not before clashing again and witnessing their light and dark magics melding into a new mysterious element.
Talasyn and her Sardovian allies flee to Nenavar after another battle with the Empire, where she finally takes up the mantle of the heir. Then Alaric, now the Night Emperor, comes a-knocking with a fleet, whereby Talasyn's grandma and current Nenavarene queen proposes a truce that involves Talasyn marrying Alaric.
Still with me? Good.
The beginning of a new saga?
A nice chunk of the novel is about Talasyn getting used to her newfound nobility and culture, she and Alaric training in the use of their combined magic to avert a looming catastrophe, explorations into her and Alaric's pasts, and hints of cracks in Nenavar's government. Plus, of course, the slow-simmering Talaric romance readers are here for.
Even if you don't care for the romance, The Hurricane Wars serves up other things you might be interested in. A clash between good versus evil? Check. A lush, beautifully populated fantasy world with splendid world-building? Check. Schemes and conflicts unfurling under the shadow of an imminent world-ending disaster? Check.
Because all the boxes are ticked, some who are jumping into this novel after exploring other similar works might find it formulaic. How many Reylo derivatives can one take (or write) before the trope wears itself out?
Still, the writing is well paced and sweeps you along without dwelling too long on a scene, rushing you towards a cliffhanger that teases more of the same on the horizon. Hopefully sooner than later because the view from the cliff Guanzon leaves us at bears huge promise despite being hazy and foreboding.
This review was based on an advance reading copy. Get The Hurricane Wars here.
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