As part of Self-Published Fantasy Month and the #SPFMChallenge, I will be posting reviews all month long.
Today’s review is Balam, Spring, by Travis M. Riddle.
The blurb:
Balam is a sleepy town on the eastern coast of Atlua, surrounded by forest and sea. It’s a village where nothing happens and everybody knows each other. But now, people are dying.
School is out for the spring, and schoolteacher Theodore Saen is ready to spend the next few months relaxing with his family. But when the town’s resident white mage falls ill and several townspeople begin to show similar symptoms, they must call on a new mage. Aava has freshly graduated from the nearby mage academy when she is swiftly hired to deduce the cause of the unknown illness and craft a cure before the entire town is afflicted. Aiding her is an ex-mercenary named Ryckert who keeps to himself but has grown bored with retirement and is itching for a new investigation when a suspicious young man appears in the local pub the same night the sickness begins to spread.
On top of it all, whatever is causing the sickness seems to be attracting strange insectoid creatures from the surrounding woods, desecrating the bodies of the victims and tearing through anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. Theo, Aava, and Ryckert must come together to discover the cause of the illness and put a stop to it before there is nobody left alive in Balam.
The review:
Balam, Spring wears its Final Fantasy-inspiration on its sleeve and that’s not a bad thing. Despite its ubiquity, I think this is one of the first fantasy novels I’ve read that pays homage to the game series, particularly Final Fantasy IX, hence the picture above. Riddle does a great job subtlety weaving in those elements without hitting you over the head with them. You have magic spells and mage classes that you may be familiar with, but Riddle has built an entire world from the ground up that feels lived in and one that you will want to see more of in future books.
Here, the story centers around a mystery in the coastal town of Balam, which is gorgeously depicted on the cover. Our three main characters must discover what is killing the townspeople (and the town’s previous white mage) before everyone succumbs to a deadly illness. I appreciated that each viewpoint character brought a different perspective on both the town and why they want to help save it. The book has been called a “slice-of-life” fantasy and the pacing moves along at a slower clip than other fantasy books, but it all works together to immerse you in the town and the lives of these characters as they unravel what is transpiring.
Overall, Balam, Spring is an enjoyable read with great worldbuilding and characters that you can connect to. I’m looking forward to reading Riddle’s second book in this world, Spit and Song.
Get your copy: