Book Blurb:
Mage Alexio Sopholus has cut his ties with both his rulers and the Brotherhood of Mages. However, conditions conspire to draw him back into the Zilar conflict. Despite an attempt on his life and the constant meddling of the Ethnarch and Brotherhood, Alexio is again forced to take part in the wider conflict. A bold move by the Zilar forces Alexio and his family to undertake a perilous journey to ask aid from an untrustworthy Ethnarch in a nearby kingdom. Once deep in enemy territory, he becomes aware of an even more insidious plot against his home, forcing him and his companions to run for their lives. With his life, kingdom, and the Brotherhood all in tatters, Alexio is forced to confront the new enemy and the Zilar to save his home and his friends from the ravishes of his enemies. Along his journey, he will also find new knowledge that will lead him to develop even greater powers Even with these new powers, he must find the courage and the will needed to act in order to protect his friends or they will all suffer the consequences.
Book Buy Links:
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Wilbur-Arron/e/B07L3SGM1L
Editorial Review:
They tried to banish me to this forest for three years. In reality, the banishment had nothing to do with me killing that traitor, but instead, they wanted to isolate me because they feared my power and my influence with many of the people of Argina. When I found out, my reply was not pleasing to any of them.
In one short explanation, this book, The Laughing Gods by Wilbur Arron is teetering on a very fine line between historical and fantasy. To be honest, the narrative leans heavily towards the fantasy side; however, in searching back to the farthest ancient days of Greece and the islands off the Mesopotamian coast, this fantasy-like story might actually reveal some history of which many do not know, particularly in relation to the belief system of many of the townships and citizens who looked to the Olympian gods for answers. For certain, the story sent me delving through Google and Wikipedia to determine if any of the places mentioned actually existed. For the most part, the author's imagination spills out onto the page, which again, reveals the book's thematic thread on the same level with books such as Percy Jackson & the Olympians, or even Jason and the Argonauts.
The main character, Mage Alexio Sopholus, has already had his share of adventure by the time we reach this book in the series, which is number two, and this reviewer suggests that a reader might do well to read the first one before this one to get a better understanding of what is going on between these feuding kingdoms. As for Alexio, having already severed ties with the Mage Brotherhood, and banished to his own little kingdom in the Forest of Allund, the reader gets a sense of the things that are important to him – his wife, his home, and the incredible creatures in the forest who are his friends. As a mage, he has the remarkable ability to speak to these animals, including giant boars, deer, eagles, and two unicorns... not to mention a regal white owl, who as expected, relays messages from the gods, even Athena herself, in true Olympian-fantasy-style. Very often the book takes the reader back to those whimsical movies of long ago, and not so long ago, such as “Clash of the Titans” or the “Odyssey”.
Yet, even with Alexio wishing to be left alone to hone his skills as a mage, time and circumstances befall him and because of his vast power, which is more than any other mage alive, he is compelled to help some of the surrounding kingdoms in their fight against the Zilar, even as other mages plot to destroy him because of jealousy and their own hunger for power.
In short, a mage is judged by those who know nothing of what he is doing and why. That is something I will not accept...
“What I have learned is that there is only the use of power to the powerful. Ideals of ethics, philosophy, morality, and freedom do not mean what I was taught at the Academy. To some, especially the powerful, they mean nothing at all. Only things like life and death, or political power, maybe the swords, spears, and shields of an army mean something. The rest is so much dirt to be swept aside when the situation demands.”
Alexio learns much on his journeys along with his wife, Melina, and some loyal friends, one of which is an Amazon, and he finds himself in the forefront of planning battles and bringing about his own strategies even though this is totally against the mage code he was taught at the Mage Academy. Along with another mage, a woman known as Zila, who is the daughter of the very King who is bent on destroying all the other kingdoms around him, Alexio, discovers a higher way of ruling... not by power but by, as Zila states: “that naked force alone is not the best way to control this world. Instead, giving good advice, helping solve the problems of state, and keeping the people happy are the best way to maintain influence over all the people.”
Throughout the narrative, there are small nuggets like this one that helps a reader connect to the storyline, which is the sign of a well-researched book and adept world-building skills, yet on occasion, the lack of sound editing and choppy sentence structure weighed down some of the less exciting passages in the storyline. In the end, the author's attempt at rounding out the main character felt very surface, very expected for a mage or a sorcerer (except for the delightful rapport between Alexio and Athena), and there seemed to be an excessive amount of attention to latrine facilities and “well-watered wine”. For the most part, the narrative vacillates between enjoyable and “not-so”, but might make a great book for a young adult with a particular affinity for the Percy Jackson books to make the leap from that to this series. Yes, this book, and this series, are good stepping stones, a transitional morsel onward to more advanced historical fantasy.
I realized at that moment that I had just accomplished what no other mage had ever done. I had split the Brotherhood of Mages. Off in the distance, once again, I could hear the gods laughing.
*****
“The Laughing Gods” by Wilbur Arron receives 3.5 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
*****
Review posted by permission of the author
Author bio:
I am Wilbur Arron, or at least the man behind Wilbur Arron. My namesake is a pseudonym that I use so I do not tick off former friends, enemies, colleagues, and other less savory people I have known during my career and who appear in my books in one form or another. Some of them in an unfavorable manner. I also use a pseudonym because I want people to judge my work on what they read, not on who I am.
Who am I really?
I am a retired Professional Engineer that has worked throughout the country over the last 40 years. I am a widower in my late 60s. One of the few good things about becoming an old fart is that I have lived through the 50s, 60, 70s, 80, and so forth. I have seen with my own eyes our progress (or lack of) in space, computers, astrophysics, medicine, engineering, and other areas that we now take for granted. I do not want this to become a 'back in the good old days' rant, but things have changed to an unbelievable extent just in my lifetime. I started out doing calculations on my Pickett slide rule, using an IBM 360 with Fortran-4, and something experimental we called the Arpanet. Now I have a supercomputer on my desk, I got no clue how to program it, and I access almost anything on the planet using the Internet. I started my life paying a dime to make a phone call in a phone booth when I went out. Now I have a smartphone through which anyone on the planet is about 15 seconds away. I hope you get where I am coming from.
Besides science and technology, another great interest of mine is history, particularly ancient history. I always wanted to know where the principles of science and engineering were discovered and utilized for the first time. This has led me mostly to Gecro-Roman history from about 1500 BCE to 500 AD. Many of the construction techniques we use today actually came from our distant ancestors. Example: Did you know the Romans built with reinforced concrete? Over my life, I have discovered if you do not know where you came from, you will have great difficulty in understanding where you are now, and you will have no idea of what is likely to come in the future. History is our anchor that holds us steady in the whirling stream of current events. One of my great joys is in giving talks on the history of science and the use of technology throughout the ages. On my web page I also have my blog about life in the ancient world.
You can find it at: https://www.wilburarron.com
I am also a life long fan of Fantasy and Science Fiction since the 1960s. I feel I have lived to see science fiction become fact. Over the years I have met many of the authors of this period both in science fiction and history. I was always interested in writing but never had the time or opportunity in a busy career to do it properly. Now in retirement, I have the time to dedicate to this new career. Writing allows me to combine my love of science, technology, and ancient history. The Forest of Allund is the first major work of my own fiction, although I have written many short stories that can be found in several of the short story and fan fiction websites. Its sequel, The Laughing Gods, is also now available. The third and final book in the series Demigod will be available in September of 2020.
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