Eleventh Cycle (1) (Mistland)

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The content warnings included in the foreword should also be noted, because while some of them were not as intense as I might have expected, others were, and this book will not be for everyone. I do believe Soulsborne lore masters like VaatiVidya (read this book, Vaati) would have a blast dissecting and analyzing the intricacies and mysteries of the world in Eleventh Cycle. Despite his teacher’s warnings, Kian decided to lean into that realm and now invites others to also explore these vibrant (and perhaps worrying) reflections of his own psyche.

It urged me on, tempted me with promises of being unchained and free if my anger could spring to the surface.There is also a tear-jerking line about fading memories that reminded me of my favorite passage from Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. While there’s no lack of shocking brutality – this is a tale that involves war and the terrible things that come with it – most of the characters maintain a hopefulness that, at first, seemed out of place in a system so obviously hostile to them.

D. in archaeology in the US, but in my freetime I absolutely love reading any kind of fantasy book (and watching way too much TV). I do not think any of these content warnings mean spoilers, but if you want to be completely surprised entering this book, I will mention the content warnings at the end of this review. Despite the dark tone of much of the book, I found the narration to be soothing yet enthusiastic, and it just worked really well for me and definitely elevated my enjoyment of the book. Berserk and the Souls franchise were advertised as major influences and as a huge fan of both, I was convinced this would be a surefire winner for me.However, I will say here and now, while this book is fantastic, and I loved it, and will be reading the sequel – do read the warnings before you embark. But, I think perhaps what didn’t work most for me, is that despite the moments when she was confronted by what she was, what she could do, that there might be more to her world and her place in it, that it didn’t feel as though she had a journey – a least not until the very end of the book when it burst out of her. While reading I could only imagine a slightly shorter version of this book (the 600 page version instead of the 800 page version), and how the book might have been better for it. That being said I still suggest everyone read his Foreword before deciding on whether or not to embark on this story. Finally, we are introduced to the high-ranking captain Erefiel, who is caught between worlds as a half-human and half-Zerub, a race that blends human and animal anatomies.

Despite being characters with really different origins, all of them share themes in their experiences, such as friendship, love, and acceptance. This is all pure coincidence but also fitting to themes of decay and corruption often encountered in Soulsborne games. There are Plague Knights who take disease and inflict them upon those touched by their blades, there are owl bears and giant flying manta rays as well as races that we get to know a bit more, like the Akar and Zerubs.

While it does take a while for all of the POV characters to meet up, they do constantly bounce off each other in various ways throughout the book. It began with a novella about a young girl, not hoarded by a fierce dragon, but rather protected and raised by one.

Eleventh Cycle then shifts perspective to Chroma, an adolescent akar who struggles with finding his place within akar society. And I really do love the worldbuilding, and I hope that the potential – and there is so much of it – will really get a chance to shine going forward. The layers sitting beneath the surface of what is actually on the page are evident as the world has history, depth, and character. But the main POV characters don’t actually fall into the morally grey or villainous characters often discovered in grimdark fantasy. I liked that the emergence of her power didn’t follow the path that I had half-expected, and instead opened up a whole other part of this world – or more than that – as she is our doorway to witches and the Church of the Faithful.I’m still not one hundred percent sure that it was for me, and yet it has had me thinking about it ever since I turned that last page, and in the moments between reading sessions. Although this year has only just begun, I am thrilled and confident saying this is an early contender for my favorite book of the year; I am sure it will, at least, be in my top 10 spots by the end of 2023.