Crop Burner - by Gavin Black (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Despite his humble farming roots, young Fearn displays incredible powers. Blessed by Dainua to harness the strength of every soul surrounding him, he's known as an Asinta and could help the kingdom vitally. However, due to dark events that marred the name of those akin, Fearn finds himself distrusted by the superstitious villagers and even his own father, Dair . . . effecting untold sorrow.

To overcome the ancient ills of prejudice will not be easy. Luckily, there's magic, too, beyond the spatial world-in words. As taught to be a "teller of tales" by Dair, who long has honed the craft, Fearn learns with creativity to also quickly capture minds. When wicked comes to visit, however, one mentor alone will guide the boy-a mentor with a story that has yet to end with due revenge.

Fearn soon shall discover the cost of love and loyalty-of hate and betrayal-and venturing to save his land, he'll run the risk of losing himself, as deamhons play for keeps.

Review Quotes

"CROP BURNER: The Tale Of Fearn & The Deamhon, introduces a strong fantasy world rife with danger, intrigue, immense power, and shifting alliances. There's some familiar world building devices, but the book manages to grow its own mythology-sometimes literally. It's an especially nice bit of storytelling that Fearn's father is, in fact, a storyteller, so readers can learn the mythos of their world through stories passed down from generation to generation in village taverns. And the lore itself is vivid, from the creation stories of their gods to cautionary tales about greed disguised as folklore. The power of those stories themselves are just as central to the book as Fearn's emerging supernatural abilities as an Asinta. They tug the plot into new precarious directions, ones that either help or undermine Fearn's journey. Can they always be believed? Where do truth and fiction blur? And they give the world a very lived-in kind of feeling, so it's easy to believe they've existed for centuries. CROP BURNER is a fantastic coming-of-age story layered under a brilliant mythology and a lush magic system that shows the complicated duality between good and evil." Jessica Thomas for IndieReader ★★★★1/2

"A stirring coming-of-age adventure. There are hints of style and theme from countless masters - Chaucer, C.S. Lewis, Terry Brooks, and Neil Gaiman to start - but there is also a unique flair in the storytelling of this confident novel. There are plentiful flourishes of description, giving the prose an easy, vivid grace, with a careful handful of deeply drawn characters. Crop Burner is a wild and immersive ride through a world that clearly deserves more exploration." Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★