Tapasya by David Gilchrist was something of a revelation for me. I have been recently dipping my toes more and more into the genre of fantasy and Tapasya really is what is described as an epic fantasy. It is a good, solid length at around 360 Kindle pages. For a first novel (although I have read the short primer Nikka, which introduces one of the characters in this story) in this genre, I would have to say Gilchrist has done an excellent job with his world creation, odd-ball characters, and creatures in Tapasya.
In many ways, the principal protagonist, Wist, didn't actually turn out to be my main (or favourite) character in this story. I was much more drawn to Nikka, as a character, "a dark dwarf", I like that, although he didn't appear until some way through the story.
Gilchrist has created this new world, which he will continue with, in the next two books in this series, Pyrite and the third, yet to be published third volume.
Tapasya is by no means perfect, at times I felt it did meander along a little and there were times where I struggled to understand the backstory and the antagonists Wist and his friends were up against, but for a first epic fantasy novel, it was very well done and Kudos to Mr. Gilchrist for that.
I also liked the way Gilchrist managed to weave some of life's big questions into the story, especially as they applied to the main character, Wist. Excellent stuff all around.
The acid test, for any first novel in a series is the question: Will I buy and read the second story, Pyrite? The answer is yes, I am very keen to see where the story now takes Wist, Nikka, and his other unlikely companions. I am especially keen to see how the love interest does or doesn't develop. I was surprised at how it went in Tapasya and want to see where it leads in Pyrite.
In many ways, the principal protagonist, Wist, didn't actually turn out to be my main (or favourite) character in this story. I was much more drawn to Nikka, as a character, "a dark dwarf", I like that, although he didn't appear until some way through the story.
Gilchrist has created this new world, which he will continue with, in the next two books in this series, Pyrite and the third, yet to be published third volume.
Tapasya is by no means perfect, at times I felt it did meander along a little and there were times where I struggled to understand the backstory and the antagonists Wist and his friends were up against, but for a first epic fantasy novel, it was very well done and Kudos to Mr. Gilchrist for that.
I also liked the way Gilchrist managed to weave some of life's big questions into the story, especially as they applied to the main character, Wist. Excellent stuff all around.
The acid test, for any first novel in a series is the question: Will I buy and read the second story, Pyrite? The answer is yes, I am very keen to see where the story now takes Wist, Nikka, and his other unlikely companions. I am especially keen to see how the love interest does or doesn't develop. I was surprised at how it went in Tapasya and want to see where it leads in Pyrite.
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