Set in ancient Atlantis, a land that lay in the center of a world then known as Earthia, S.K.R. and Durso’s warm, morally charged fantasy series starter concerns the secretive, subterranean Imen, a people possessed of rare healing and spiritual powers. “It is said,” notes an Imperial Knight of Carron, that the Imen “can turn things to gold.” That possibility leads to danger and adventure for Roni, the only child of the emperor of Imen-Hera, when the trees above her realm report that a man lies dying in the forest above. He is Prince Eyvind of Carron, wounded in a hunting accident. Beholding the “golden-haired” Carron men and helping them with a bit of Imen healing tempts Roni into violating Imen laws designed to keep their culture pure and untroubled by want.

Perhaps worse, glimpses of Roni’s powers tempt an ogre named Bomo to strive to capture her. Soon, the “lust for gold” leads to conflict, as things asked of an Imen and not freely given come at a cost: one’s own need for more. The authors adopt a tone that draws deeply from early fantasy and fairy tales while honoring contemporary fantasy’s coherent worldbuilding. The tale opens with a clear, engaging survey of Atlantis and the waters that surround it, while the Imen people’s history, including their atonement for a greedy warrior past, establishes simple yet resonant themes.

Acts of kindness from Roni lead to unexpected consequences, such as her healing a blind man down on his luck and bestowing upon him a magical gold coin, a choice that sparks incidents of human (and ogreish) covetousness. Those moments have a familiar satirical edge, but scenes of Roni and Eyvind, who requests a way to regain his family's status, pulse with a more compelling temptation, as she fights the urge to gaze into his soul and memories. A cliffhanger ending feels somewhat abrupt, but the prose and world will delight lovers of classic fantasy.

Takeaway: Classical, morally charged fantasy of greed, healing, and magic.

Comparable Titles: Jeanette Ng, Emily Lloyd-Jones.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-