Science Fiction/Fantasy fans will love this one! Jonathan has come up with a truly unique and fascinating concept: What would it be like for two distinct spirits, one male and one female, to share one physical body? It's a complex concept, and Jonathan handles it marvelously, having obviously given his approach much thought and attention. "Children of Rhatlan" is full of action, adventure, mystery, and romance; In totality, it is a fantastic read. Enjoy!

Garum and Vayin are the children of Rhatlan, conceived by their mother after she prayed to Rhatlan, the God of duals, in desperation for a child. Garum and Vayin are dual, a strange fusion of two people, brother and sister, in one shared body. Duals are feared by most people and often hanged because they are considered to be evil.

Garum and Vayin’s parents keep their dual personality secret from the world to protect them from the world at large, but the brother and sister are becoming bored with their quiet life in the village and want to seek the excitement of the city. They take a chance and decide to spend a week in the city against their parent’s wishes. Their adventures begin when Vayin is caught stealing a ring form a local trader in the city marketplace. She is saved from arrest by a mysterious woman named Jevya who takes them to her home. As they come to befriend Jevya, they realize that she recognizes their duality and, unlike the other cityfolk, understands it. From Jevya they begin to learn dual magic spells that can help protect them.

Before long the siblings meet Jevya’s evil bother Paterun and become his target. Paterun wears evil claws that imbue him with the longevity of anyone he kills. But the souls of his victims also rage in his mind, torturing him. Paterun attempts to persuade and then force the dual sibling to fuse with him so that he can use their duality to perform powerful magic and quell the mental rantings of his victims. To thwart his plans, Jevya sacrifices her own life so that she may control Paterun’s actions from inside his mind, and protect Garum and Vayin.

The duals enlist the help of a city guard, an apprentice wizard and a healer as they run from Paterun. They make friends and enemies along their journey and find love and heartbreak. Ultimately they must use the power of an ancient magic staff to destroy Paterun and gain their freedom.

Fesmire is on of the most creative fantasy authors writing today. He has the ability to bring new and fascinating concepts that transcend the boundaries of this genre. This novel is a rare feat of imagination.


© 2004 by Corinna Underwood for Curled Up With a Good Book
http://www.curledup.com/

New concepts are a rare thing in fantasy literature. Settings are created. Characters are wrought from legend or from thin air. New mythologies are conjured up. Genuine inventions, though, are a unique treat. Fesmire's duals is definitely one of those inventions. And all of the previous short stories, and now this full-length novel are certainly a treat.

Vayin and Garum are the closest of twins. Born duals, they are a brother and sister who exist inside one body, allowing only one of them to surface at any given time. Vayin's female form can only exist when Garum "switches" and his male body vanishes. They remain in constant contact in the internal space their thoughts share. It's not the ideal situation, but it would be bearable if only so-called normal people didn't fear and hate the mysterious duals.

Does that explain the phenomenon? Probably not. But, you don't really want me to tell you about it when Fesmire is there to do it so much more eloquently. Instead, read Children Of Rhatlan and you will understand. And you too will find the duals fascinating and intriguing.

The twins want nothing more than a bit of adventure to spice up their overly protective lives on the family farm. They are aching to see the world outside the strict discipline they've grown up with. In the closest town, they find excitement and more trouble than they ever imagined. Finding and keeping love, safety, and peace are difficult to find and keep in a time when most of the citizenry is scrambling just to survive. Sadly, for duals it appears to be impossible.

Garum and Vayin have a long and dangerous journey ahead of them to find any of these comforts. Dealing with their dualism is crucial to every step of that journey. The way in which Fesmire deals with the intimate aspects of their situation is a struggle of its own to watch. (Anyone who is aware of the existence of conjoined twins has wondered about such delicate matters as twins' sexual activity. If someone tries to convince you they haven't, they are probably just too embarrassed to admit to it.) Fesmire manages his own solution with practicality and just a bit of bawdiness.

Magic, treachery, valour, prejudice--Fesmire builds a world sword-and-sorcery fans will welcome and adventure fans will want to explore fully. Something tells me Children Of Rhatlan may be just the first of a long and popular series. With an imagination as fertile as Fesmire's, a return appearance of the twins sounds like a smashing idea.

--Lisa DuMond for SFSite and MEviews

Garum and Vayin are the duals, biological twins; two minds in one body that shapeshift. Only one twin at a time can assume a dominant role. The other can only observe from within, communicating via telepathy, until their brother or sister has a turn to be dominant. They live a life of mental communications, cooperation and guardedness. As dual twins are a rarity and considered dangerous, they must be very careful about where and when to change, lest suspicions be aroused.

When Vayin steals a jewel from a crowded market in town and is caught, a mysterious woman steps up to save her. She calls herself Vayin's grandmother to the crowd that has gathered; though in truth neither of the twins have ever met her before. When she confesses in private to the duals that she knows their secret, they initially feel endangered. Duals have been killed for being who they are, so their very existence could be threatened by the slightest misstep. She explains that she has helped many duals in the past and they decide that they will accept her help and advice, whatever the cost. Their parents refuse to let them visit this new friend, causing the duals to consider going against their wishes in an attempt to learn more about who they are and how to protect themselves. This decision takes them on a journey of the mind and spirit.

Children of Rhatlan is a compelling book both in concept and in plot. I felt an immediate affinity for the twins' complex set of problems. The imagery was strong throughout and the plot solid. With varying themes and subthemes of family, love, trust, and openness surrounding a very suspenseful tale, this was a very full story. There were enough twists and turns to keep me riveted until the last lines. Children of Rhatlan is a winner!

--Jonathan Lambert for Millennium Science Fiction & Fantasy

Imagine fantasy done with the kind of deft and detailed extrapolation usually reserved for science fiction. Imagine what it would be like to share a body with another person. Imagine what it would be like if everyone hated you for it. Welcome to life as a dual.

Vayin and Garum are duals: twins with minds of their own, different body shapes, but only a single body between them. When one is overt, the other is little more than a spirit, a ghostly voice in the mind. They have kept this secret from almost everyone for most of their lives, staying on the small family farm where they grew up. But Vayin and Garum are normal young folks in one important way: they're bored silly, and they want to see the world. So they go scampering off to the city where they promptly run into all kinds of trouble - including an insane wizard who wants to steal their body. Along the way, they make friends and enemies and mistakes, and one hell of a fine story.

Jonathan Fesmire does a brilliant job of basing a novel on one peculiar yet fascinating idea. He fleshes out the rules of the dual system with great care. Much of the plot tension derives from how the characters deal with their odd nature, and how other people deal - or don't deal, as the case may be - with it in turn. This is especially complicated by the fact that Vayin is a girl while Garum is a boy! They meet another dual too, a sister/sister pair. Needless to say, dual romance can get extremely complex. I was surprised and satisfied by the ultimate conclusions to that part of the story, as the author did not go for a pat ending but showed human nature at its sweetest and most awkward.

If you liked Fesmire's collection Seeds of Vision, then you'll love Children of Rhatlan. It's a must for fantasy fans; science fiction and romance fans might want to give it a peek too. Highly recommended.

=Elizabeth Barrette, Managing Editor of PanGaia, for the "Hypatia's Hoard" review column in Spicy Green Iguana