Synopsis
Megan had always lived life on her own terms, but faced with an impossible prophecy that threatened everything she loved, her choices no longer seemed to be her own. Aylun's world revolved around serving oracles and protecting prophecy, so his insights could be the key to explaining the impossible. Yet how could she force herself to work with the heartless tyrant who had so brutally abducted her?
Megan was always good at solving puzzles. For years, she used that aptitude in a physics lab as an assistant to her best friend, Jon. In the midst of a chaotic day, an accident thrusts them both into a terrifying alternate world. Almost at once, Aylun tears Megan from her best friend's side. Born and raised to be Shou, Aylun had always been as an agent of the enigmatic home of all prophecy, the Augury. His life had always been dedicated to serving as the invisible hand that carried out the will of Great Oracles, past and present. Still struggling with the death of his sister and friends, a mission gone wrong results in his expulsion from the only home he has ever known.
In search of answers, Megan and Aylun are compelled to undertake a mission into a place of unthinkable peril. As they struggle to find answers, Jon and his new friends, Dellia, Garris, and Kayleen, are drawn into a conflict with a dark and ancient menace that could obliterate everything and everyone they care about.
As the puzzles deepen, the horrors multiply, and their situation grows more desperate, Megan's best hope to save them all and return her and Jon to their home world lies with the very tyrant who abducted her, Aylun. An epic high-fantasy romance about ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, Aylun blends alternate worlds, action, adventure, and dire peril, with political intrigue and a pinch of humor.
Review
Aylun is truly an epic adventure. From the moment Megan and Jon are first thrust into the world of Meerdon, the action does not stop. Scidmore weaves a story of magic and intrigue that will captivate you until the last word. The robust world-building allows readers to escape right along with the main characters and navigate the troubles in Meerdon by their sides.
I really wanted to give this book more stars, but I was worn down by the end of this story. There is a lot of over-explanation and characters second-guessing the world that pulled me out of the magic. Attributing this to Jon's being a scientist makes some of it forgivable, but it still lost my attention after a while.
If you need to escape reality and go on an epic adventure, dive into The Ever-Brannching Tree series.
And, of course, thank you, LibraryThing, for a copy of Aylun!
Dates read: Mar 31, 2024 - Apr 18, 2024