Audiobook Review: Pariah's Lament by Richie Billing

“So often it’s the forgotten who possess the power to change the world.”

When an attempt is made on the life of Ashara, Keeper of Yurr, his young, hapless advisor Edvar must uncover and stop those behind it.

With enemies in the capital city and the belligerent Tesh, Keeper of neighbouring nation Karrabar stirring trouble in the Borderlands, can Edvar hold together Ashara’s brittle reign?

The troubles ripple throughout Yurr, affecting an ancient race of people known as the Amast, who in their time of utmost need, turn to pariah Isy for salvation. Rejected by society, kith and kin, can Isy guide the Amast to safety during the greatest turmoil Yurr has known since the War of the Damned?

GENRE: Epic Fantasy

PURCHASE LINK: Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Richie Billing writes all kinds of stories, but mostly fantasy fiction. His tales often explore real-world issues, zooming in on his characters and their troubles.

His short fiction has been widely published, with one story adapted for BBC radio. And his debut novel, an epic fantasy called Pariah’s Lament, was published by Of Metal and Magic Publishing in March 2021.

Richie also hosts the podcast The Fantasy Writers’ Toolshed, a venture inspired by the requests of readers of his acclaimed craft book, A Fantasy Writers’ Handbook.

When not writing, Richie works as an editor and digital marketer and teaches creative writing both online and in his home city of Liverpool.

Most nights you can find him up into the early hours scribbling away or watching the NBA.

Review

I have both the ebook and the audiobook of this, but I stuck to the audiobook because I really enjoyed Ethan Fifield's narration! It was easy to just get lost in the world while doing the dishes and cooking. I didn't even realize how long the whole story actually was.

The elements you'd expect from an epic fantasy book are there: worldbuilding, an ensemble cast with different backstories, unusual races, magical weapons, adventure, war, and detailed fight scenes. I appreciated that the romance was subtle but still there. I also quite liked the ending even if it's a bit anticlimactic — mainly because I didn't expect it to go into that direction.

What is truly fascinating to me is how there's a bigger world this book is a part of! As stated in the Of Metal and Magic Publishing site:

The effort began many years prior when Richie, JM, and a handful of other authors came together to create a new fantasy world. Our international menagerie crafted stories which all took place in the same epic fantasy setting. We developed a unique method of storytelling that involves writing in the same shared fantasy universe, which we each populate with our characters, cultures and stories. Through hard work and heated debates, we developed a unified canon and history for our world, SORIA.

Though they are designed as stand-alone works, our stories all influence the greater narrative of our shared world, even directly referencing or overlapping with each other. We refer to these Soria stories, relating to our original fantasy world, as Of Metal and Magic CORE stories.

Pariah's Lament is listed as one of the Of Metal and Magic CORE books.

I spent my teen years reading the Star Wars Expanded Universe books, and while those have sadly been non-canonized, I've always loved the idea of there being one massive sandbox for multiple authors to play and write stories in. So, yes, I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of this universe.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️