Official Review: Vestiges Of Alchemy by Ritesh Kumar

[David Nash]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Vestiges Of Alchemy" by Ritesh Kumar.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Vestiges of Alchemy by Ritesh Kumar is the first novel in the Core Chronicle Series. At a high level, the book is a conflict between the forces of creation and balance represented by a mysterious ball of energy called the Core, and the forces of stagnation and chaos located in Mount Hellion.

In the story, alchemists are powerful wielders of magic in their elemental area. Air, Earth, Fire, and Water are the traditional alchemist groups. There are also “Impure” alchemists who hold limited sway over a mixture of two groups. For example, a lava alchemist combines the elements of fire and earth. Further researches into the nature of the Core led to the discovery of Life and Death alchemists. Followers of Hellion wield the same forces, but they are corrupted and chaotic.

Hundreds of years ago, Zorback - an Alchemist of Death, turned his back on the balance and the Core and pledged himself to Hellion. Promising immortality to his followers, Zorback recruited alchemists to his cause and a war began that resulted in the defeat of the followers of the Core. In a last desperate act, Balthier, the leader of the Earth alchemists, and the remaining followers of the Core chose to sacrifice their lives and energies to the Core itself. This created a magical barrier splitting their world and locking out Zorback and his armies of Death from the rest of the world.

However, one of Zorback’s followers was able to pierce the barrier as it was being created. This act created a small hole in the barrier.

At the start of the story, the hole has been steadily widening over a thousand years. It is now large enough that the armies of Zorback can return. With the trained alchemists and much of the wisdom of the Core gone, the protected lands have split into various warring kingdoms. There are few to stop the return of Zorback and his forces. In these perilous times, Balthier returns from death and the Core to organize the resistance to Zorback and his armies.

The story is epic in scope and very well written. There are a host of characters with very different personalities and goals. I enjoyed the interactions of the characters, their romantic entanglements, their clever use of their elemental powers. I also enjoyed the slowly growing realization of the power of Zorback and his followers - who have grown even more powerful over the course of a thousand years.

There were flaws in the editing that I found disheartening. There were places where words were missing or the wrong word was used. At one point, it looks like a whole section of the story was cut and pasted in a different place. The story stopped in mid-paragraph and the next page picked up in the middle of a different thought by a different character. Later the story seemed to jump back to the original track for a brief time and then it continued on the original line. Professional editing should have caught this mistake.

However, this is a long book. Overall, the writing, grammar, and punctuation are well done (with one or two hiccups that do not detract too badly from the story.) Readers who enjoy epic fantasy will find this opening volume in the series a wonderful read. The book is long and it takes a while for characters to develop. Readers who like shorter stories or quicker character development may find it not to their liking. The term alchemist is slightly misused as well. The characters are actually closer to elemental mages, bound to a particular elemental aspect. Readers with a traditional view of alchemists as people mixing up strange brews and searching for powerful elixirs will be disappointed.

Because of the formatting errors in the novel, I can only give it 3 out of 4 stars. However, I really enjoyed the book and I fully intend to read the series. For those who can overlook the minor flaws, I believe you will have a thoroughly enjoyable read.

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Vestiges Of Alchemy
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Like David Nash's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kandscreeley]

Epic fantasies are not my cup of tea. This sounds like an interesting book though. Nice review. Thanks.

[Joy Boudreau]

Yikes, epic tale, fights to the death, Good vs. evil - masterful writing. It's too bad about the cut/paste problems. That should be easily fixed, though. Not sure I'm in the mood for a long tale like this, but the complexity and character development sound intriguing. Thanks for the review!