The Timeless Legion (The Everlands Cycle #2), by J.C. Rycroft
30 Apr 2024The Book
Synopsis:
A dragon stolen.
A love betrayed.
A legion lost to time...
Des is a mess.
The sellsword has been betrayed yet again by her ex-lover, and separated from her bonded dragon, Squid. And now she’s been turfed out of her last sanctuary. Lost without her dragon, her only comfort lies at the bottom of a glass of ale. Or nine.
But as much as she might long for it, her death would only give the Emperor what he wants: the opportunity to bond with her dragon and use its power to become immortal. To mount a rescue, Des must cross a militarised border. When her oldest friend appears carrying permission to travel to Ascelin, she knows she’ll do whatever it takes to get her dragon back - even play the man she couldn't marry.
In Ascelin, though, she finds everything she's ever held dear is at risk. The Emperor’s avarice will no longer be satisfied with using the dragons’ mastery of time only to avoid death, and he's turning to conquest. Des must save Squid, confront old mistakes and unravel the threads of time to find the secret at the heart of the world before the Emperor uses the force of history to wreak his will.
My Review
The Timeless Legion is the second book in the Everlands Cycle series, the queer fantasy proposal written by J.C. Rycroft; after the treason Des experienced at the ending of book 1, separated from Squid, Des is totally broken. She is depth in the spiral of self-destruction that many times accompanies depression, but hopefully for her, some of her old friend are there to help.
But getting out of that pit of despair is not an easy task; but we get to see how she slowly recovers a bit of hope. Rycroft manages to create an accurate depiction of what a depression looks like, and one of the most dangerous aspects of it; and honestly, it helps reinforce the figure of Des as a human character, with her own flaws who has been entangled in something bigger due to the circumstances.
With the help of her friends, we will finally see how they try to sneak across the militarized frontiers of other lands in order to rescue Squid and stop the emperor from expanding his influence; but what she's not ready is to confront again with Liz. If I can say something about it, is that there are still ashes where embers were burning.
We have an expansive sequel, adding a bunch of characters that will totally steal your heart, the kind of friends that are ready to go to hell with you; but also we have more Squid, the adorable dragon. Together with him, we will visit the past of the dragons and its relationship with the Everlands; instead of expanding the world geographically, Rycroft takes us to the past, developing that rich mythology that is tied to this world.
The Timeless Legion is a sequel that is totally at the level of the excellent The Blood-Born Dragon; run and don't walk to get your own copy of this series, because if you want sassy dragons, brave mercenaries and tons of actions, you should read it!
The Author/s
J.C. Rycroft
I’ve written stories for most of my life.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve been entranced by stories and storytelling. I am vastly entertained by the unchosen heroes who can’t quite believe it, by encounters that are funny by accident, by desire that pokes its head where it’s not quite wanted (why hello queerness fancy meeting you here… again!), by fury that fills the soul and cannot be tamed. I love some meat on the bones of a story, but I want a rollicking good read. So that’s what I write.
I’ve always loved, too, imagining other places, other ways of being, other ways the world could be built, other ways of thinking of time, other ways that people deemed other might relate. So it’s no surprise I’m drawn to fantasy and sci-fi as a genre. Imagining elsewheres and who might live there are some of my favourite things to do.
My PhD trained me as a cultural theorist, which means I have some pretty complex tools for understanding the world in reach. But it also means that I know that the ways that we talk about things – from our relationships, to the natural world, to political structures – make some things imaginable, realistic, realisable, normal, real. And others unimaginable, unrealistic, impossible, weird-as-fuck dreams. We talk about ‘world-building’ in fiction all the time – but I think all of the fantastical worlds we read and write shape our own as well.
So if this sounds like a ride you’d like to join me on, stick around. The best way to stay in contact right now is via my mailing list or on Facebook. But I’d also love to hear from you directly, so please don’t be shy.