Once upon a time, when I was a much younger, thinner and better looking Jimbo (just ask your mom, she remembers) I went to the bookstore and picked out a book named Death Quest by some Hubbard dude who later (or possibly before and I just hadn't heard of it) went on to establish a "religion" known as Scientology. It was the sixth in the series and I had sworn never to start another series in the middle again, ever, for as along as I lived, or probably longer since I didn't see my self as starting any new series after I had passed. Not that I wouldn't try, but you know...
Yeah, anwyway...
So I had kept that vow for three decades plus and I just broke it. I blame James Copley, because I saw him advertising this book all over the stinkin' place and, you know what, I'm glad I did. Fae Wars: Futures Past was worth my time and money. I'm going to read it again some day. I mean, not right now, but eventually. I just finished it.
Fae Wars: Futures Past starts out like an alien adventure story, but with a twist: The aliens aren't from Outer Space, they're from another dimension. They don't arrive in ships, they come through portals. They don't have super science, but they do have a magical force field capable of stopping bullets. That's important because they fight with medieval technology; swords, axes, bows, etc. The entire army doesn't own a single gun from what I can tell but they kick ass because our weapons don't work against them.
Oh, and they've got magic. Freezing rivers in seconds, tossing fireballs, and the aforementioned ability to open portals from an alternate reality to ours are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot going on here and my certainty that we haven't seen everything magic can do in the Fae Wars universe approaches unity. That's okay though. There's more to read already and Futures Past certainly didn't feel like it ended the Fae Wars series. This thing feels like it has as long way to go still and that's exciting.
And, having already mentioned that Futures Past is part of a series I should mention that I had absolutely no problem following what was going on whatsoever. It works just fine as a stand alone novel. Given the title I'm guessing that this was a prequel but I can't even say that much for sure. That's okay though. I'm good with not knowing, at least until I finish writing this review and have time to hie off to Amazon and pick up the first two. They're on Kindle Unlimited too, so I can actually afford it.
The main antagonists of Futures Past and, one would assume, the Fae Wars series in general are elves, but these are not your grandfather's elves. Tolkien would probably barf up a lung if he saw the elves in Fae Wars and Dungeons and Dragons fans aren't going to see what they're used to either. The elves in Fae Wars are expansionist, domineering slave holders who fight mainly for material gain. Old school players of the Palladium Fantasy RPG may remember that the elves in that setting had once enslaved the dwarves and made them manufacture rune weapons so they come closer but they're still not quite a match. In some ways, specifically to exclude dietary preferences, the elves in the book most closely represent the Posleen in John Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata series. They show up, take what they want and destroy what they don't. I like these elves. By which I mean that I love to hate them. Seriously. They're almost like Blood Elves from World of Warcraft, only at the head of the Horde instead of part of it Think Lor'themar Theron's dream of world domination. "Trust no-one" indeed.
There are other fantasy races as well. Orcs are enslaved by elves and do most of the actual fighting, serving under elven officers. Gnomes and dwarves are enslaved by elves and a few feature prominently in the book. The gnomes and dwarves are artificers and bring something to the fore that is frequently missing in other works: Magical technology. It makes sense that a magic using society could accomplish many of the same things as a non-magical one given the right mentality among some of its members. While dwarves and gnomes aren't necessarily treated with respect by their masters, they should be. They build the stuff that makes things work.
They also fix the stuff that doesn't and that's important, especially if you're a human who thinks they broke something irreparably only to find out that they magicked it back together again. Or that they found a way to bypass your fix. Of course, a fix is only good until you broke the object again and humanity seems to figure that out early on, but it's going to be an ongoing theme, I can feel it.
There is an element of real world religion that works its way into the narrative. I love that part of it. Religious leaders knew something was coming and it's more than one religion if I'm understanding what's going on correctly. As goofy as I am, I'm thinking I get this pretty well, too. They didn't know how or when an invasion would be launched, but they knew it would get here eventually. Prophecy makes a return into the world as part of the narrative and helps to move things along. It's an aspect that works and fans of everyone from Jesus to Harry Potter will recognize the way it works.
Overall, Fae Wars: Futures Past just works. It's got just enough familiarity that you can relate to it and enough twists on the old stuff to keep it interesting. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about this universe and trying to see if I can figure out where it's going. There are some interesting predictions listed so far, but it's very obvious that nothing is set in stone. Things are wide open and I can predict that it's going to be a wild ride. This is also Copley's freshman effort and I can't wait to see what else he has in store. That's assuming that he doesn't get lost along the way to his third hour French class. I know how confusing it can be.
Fae Wars: Futures Past ,Fae Wars Volume Three
James Copley and J. F. Holmes
Cannon Publishing, 2023
Fae Wars: Futures Past ,Fae Wars Volume Three is available for purchase at the following link, If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage of our purchase at no additional cost to you.
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