I need to start by saying I’m not a huge fantasy fiction reader. So Ecko Rising was reading (somewhat) outside my genre. That being said, the story is not, strictly speaking, fantasy fiction. As the cover blurb says, it’s ‘genre-defying’ and I love that about the story. I also loved the world building, the cyber gadgets (see, I said it wasn’t strictly fantasy), and the…the fauna, yes, that’s the word. Monstrous fauna, but still, fauna. Critters. There’re beasties in here that’ll om-nom-nom you b

I need to start by saying I’m not a huge fantasy fiction reader. So Ecko Rising was reading (somewhat) outside my genre. That being said, the story is not, strictly speaking, fantasy fiction. As the cover blurb says, it’s ‘genre-defying’ and I love that about the story. I also loved the world building, the cyber gadgets (see, I said it wasn’t strictly fantasy), and the…the fauna, yes, that’s the word. Monstrous fauna, but still, fauna. Critters. There’re beasties in here that’ll om-nom-nom you before you can say “But, I’m not a cookie—!”



So, what’s the story about?



Meet Ecko

High level Thief-Assassin; AC: damn good, St: guessing 16, Dx: 18+, Con: gonna say 13, Int: who cares, Wis: what?, Cha: um…yeaaahh, about that. Alignment: I’m going with CN on this one, but he leans CG from time to time. Perfectly acceptable behavior for a CN character, because, I mean, who knows what those guys are thinking at any given moment? Even they can’t answer that question to their own satisfaction.



That description should give you a good idea of where this book aims to please, and who. Ecko starts his tale as a resigned sidekick to a couple of far future London coppers. They’re on the case trying to save London from a decaying ambivalence (think: what happened on Miranda from the film ‘Serenity’). Ecko goes on the hunt, aiming at the heart of the operation that’s threatening the very existence of London (and by extension the known world). In the space of a few short chapters heavy with action and suspense, Ecko ends up hanging off the edge of a building, nearly gets perforated by a gunbot, and ultimately lands himself in…The Wanderer.



That’s the name of a tavern. All good adventures begin in a tavern. If you do not know this, then Ware’s humour and much of the story will be less entertaining for you. Go join a weekly RPG club, kill your first orc, then read the book again. And have a good chuckle this time.



So, how does Ecko get from far future cyberpunk London to the swords and magic and monsters surrounding the mystical tavern called The Wanderer? A tavern that has a funny habit of growing a pair of (metaphorical) legs with seven-league boots every night, like a dimension traveling Hut of Baba Yaga. Parallel universe of course, and Ecko doesn’t waste a tic figuring this out the minute he wakes up. He meets Karine the brawny (and busty) bar wench, Sera the burly bouncer, Roderick called The Bard, Kale the werewolf cook, and a host of other characters who fit nicely into the fantasy world of The Varchinde, an island world populated by a people bereft of metal to work or the magic to control any of the elements really. Ecko’s predicament starts with figuring out just what the hell happened to him and grows to become saving the world.



This world, by the way, is fabulously conceived. A full map of the Varchinde graces the first page, showing mountain ranges, plains, oceans, outlying islands, rivers, and major cities. Inside the story, the reader visits Fhaveon, Rovinarath, and Amos, and meets with tribes like the Banned, tavern keeps (Karine and Sera), guardians of secrets, and politicians bent on doing what politicians do best. Ware has built a setting that I’d love to role-play in, and by that I mean When does the kickstarter launch?



Ware also handily employs the tropes one would expect from a story rooted deeply in the fantasy (and occasional ribaldry) of role-playing games. Yes, there’s sex. Not too much, and not badly written. If it feels a bit campy, I think that’s the intention. This is fantasy, after all. My one complaint is with the level of profanity (not during the sex). I don’t mention this for puritanical reasons (I was in the army and played in a metal band; you can’t burn my ears anymore than they’ve already been damaged). It’s that I felt Ecko’s curses became excessive. The other characters used various turns of phrase to express profanity, some idioms of Ware's invention, and a few choice 4-letter words of their own from time to time. But Ecko’s voice suffered, for me, from being overly full of f-bombs in places.



Overall, the story moves along well, even through perspective shifts after the main characters are separated. However, and this is purely a subjective call, my lack of taste for fantasy writing did make some of the political intrigue less than exciting to read. For me, the story was most compelling when Ecko was in the spotlight (even with or perhaps because of his abysmal Charisma stats, f-bombs notwithstanding) or when the characters faced off against monsters. I had a difficult time keeping interested when Ecko split from The Bard, who ended up on a discovery quest that filled in some of the plot. I was much more excited to read the scenes featuring Jayr the warrior and her scholar companion, Ress, whose discovery quest not only fleshed out the final pieces of the plot for me, but involved more action and actual threats to the characters themselves. That’s one thing about fantasy writing that I’ve always balked at. It’s difficult to put fantasy characters into positions that will feel truly life-threatening. The thrill of reading (and role-playing) their exploits can be overwhelming, and I’m tempted to criticize Ware’s characters for being a little too capable. However, they do face threats to life and limb, and there are plenty of believable scenes in the story that had my heartbeat up. The battle sequences with nasty monsters are page turners and exceptionally well written.



The story really ramped up when the final team comes together, with Ecko joined by an axe-wielding barbarian, an archer with a knack for winning at dice, and a young soldier. Ecko and Redlock’s (the axeman) interactions reminded me of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from my early RPG days playing in the Lankhmar setting, and the descent to the “big bad nasty’s lair” was both a thrill and a barrel of laughs. Ware cleverly uses Ecko’s commentary to stand in for what the reader is thinking, making it that much more compelling to identify with the character, and giving Ware plenty of opportunity to employ pop-culture references and inside jokes to hilarious effect. Titan Books also publishes two of my favourite zombie thrillers, (Plague Town and Plague Nation) which are likewise full of pop-culture in jokes and are great stories. Readers with an eye for fun writing and well written action scenes will probably enjoy a lot of what Titan has to offer (No, I’m not signed with them and have no submissions in their queue).