Zachary Jernigan

Oh yes, this is one for the ages. No Return is a dazzlingly original work of fiction, a defier of genre, and a story of deep relevance and emotion.

As I could tell by the jacket blurb, promising such things as outbound mages and a man made of metal spheres, there is nothing like No Return. The world of Jeroun abounds with before unseen innovation and spectacle, all portrayed with vibrant imagery and language. Mages craft spells from the ground up corpses of ancient aliens, the god Adrash rearranges his giant metal spheres of the Needle by hand, and the numerous distinct races and cultures each worship or villify Adrash in their own way. It is, in fact, so original that when I read the jacket blurb, I thought it was science fiction. While reading it, I thought it was fantasy, and now that I have finished it, I realize more than ever that the two terms are meaningless, and neither can encompass No Return.

The book definitely isn't for everyone, though. It has some stern words for religious fanaticism, which, as an atheist, I could not help but agree with. A major theme is overcoming things that hold us back, namely, guilt, authority, religious indoctrination, and of course, God (or Adrash, one might say).

No Return is also overtly sexual. There are some very graphic scenes of intercourse, heterosexual and homosexual both, masturbation, a rape scene or two, and several detailed descriptions of chiseled male anatomy. There were times when even I was a bit put off, and if you don't have the stomach for this sort of thing, you had best steer clear.

As for the writing itself, the only flaw I could perceive was the occasional lull in pacing. Particularly, I found the scenes with the outbound mages more interesting than those concerning Vedas, Churls, and Berun, as the latter seem concerned, for the first half, at least, with the trials of their journey to Danoor. It seemed to me that it switched from the former to the latter at rather inopportune times.

Nevertheless, No Return is easily the best book I've read this year, and I'd be hard pressed to find another one quite as good. I anticipate a return to this setting, and I eagerly await it.… (altro)

In the second book of Jeroun, the three companions from No Return (Vedas, Churls and Berun) are together, but somewhat damaged from their epic battle in the Pits. As a group, augmented by the increased presence and role for Churl's daughter Fyra, they develop closer bonds, joining forces with a mystery man, who arrives riding a dragon. His true identity is one of the major themes of the novel. Along with help from his siblings, the sons and daughters of Adrash, , they are drawn into another epic confrontation. While I liked Jernigan's descriptive writing, I found the pacing of this book too slow. More action next time!! Please?… (altro)

Glad I read this one. Thanks to Z. and Nightshade for publishing this somewhat racy novel, which is a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid. No Return is a novel about personal identity, religion, and companionship, with the story told from five mortal perspectives: the Anadrashi warrior Vedas, the mercenary Churls, the construct/robot Berun, and two outbound mages: Pol and Ebn. The first three are thrown together and become companions on the way to a death match competition, where as the mages are initially companions and then enemies. I found the first half slow and uninteresting (3 stars), but the second half quite good (4.5 stars) as I grew to like the characters. My favorite character was young Fyra; her role while seemingly secondary seemed exceptionally important to me. The sexual fantasies and masturbation was too frequent, and detracted from the story as did the prologue and epilogue. Even with these criticisms, I look forward to seeing what the three companions will do in the sequel.
… (altro)