Ahmet Taşer's debut blends Stoic philosophy, old-school Ottoman-era dialogue, and morally grey characters into a genuinely fresh take on fantasy. Not perfect, the stakes rarely feel real, but the prose and worldbuilding earn it an easy 4.5 stars. A distinctly Turkish read in a genre still dominated by Western tropes.
Fantasy and sci-fi are still in their infancy in Turkey, but the genre is growing fast, and Ahmet Taşer's debut is one of the promising names to watch. This isn't just his first fantasy novel, it's the first book he has ever written. The author reached out to me directly on social media and sent me a copy to read, with no strings attached, he never asked for a review or a post, and no money changed hands on either side. I'm writing this about five to six months after finishing the book, and in that time, the second installment of what I estimate will be a 7-8 book series has already been released. Based on this first outing, I believe Taşer has real potential.
The world he has built feels grounded in a way that we, as humans, can genuinely relate to. There are no purely good characters, no purely bad ones, everything lives in a very grey, complicated moral space, which is exactly what I love in fantasy. The worldbuilding is strong, and while it isn't wholly original, it puts small, distinct twists on classic fantasy tropes that make it stand out.
There are different races and different locations throughout the book, and we follow several points of view rather than being locked into a single character's perspective, which is a huge win in my opinion. On top of that, the book includes visual aids, maps and artwork. Some of the art does look fairly obviously AI-generated, though I could be wrong, so I won't say that with full certainty. If that's something that bothers you, it might be worth knowing going in. It doesn't bother me in this case, though, since we're talking about an author on his first book with, I'd assume, very little capital behind him. Authors in general have to be extremely lucky just to get published, let alone sell well, and more often than not, most authors have a day job as their primary income and write as a side hustle or passion project, so AI can be a great help in cases like this. I can't blame someone for chasing their dream and using AI to cut costs by such a large margin along the way. But I digress, let's get back to the book itself.
The book has very heavy philosophical undertones. Personally, most of it reminded me of Stoicism and the Stoic worldview, it was very obvious to me, right down to the fact that this world has its own version of Marcus Aurelius. Because of this, the characters feel so human and relatable. They want to do the right thing, but because of their world and their circumstances, they can't always do the right thing, and they struggle with that. Over time, they come to the realization that some things are out of their control and that they should focus on what they can change, and we see that play out with the characters. It's great.
The book is also very easy to read. The author's prose is masterfully done, you never get bored while reading it. The dialogue has that old Turkish vibe to it, with characters speaking in that old-school, late Ottoman to early Republic-era Turkish. It feels like something out of a Yeşilçam movie. It's awesome, and it gives the whole book a texture that feels distinctly Turkish rather than a generic translation of Western fantasy conventions.
That said, the book isn't without its flaws. Some of it leans heavy on info-dumping, which I always criticize, but again, I can't fault the author too much since this is the first book of a 7-8 book series introducing a completely new world, so it's understandable. That said, it could have been handled better. My biggest gripe with the book, though, is that things sometimes just work out. I never really feel like important characters are in danger, and that's something I don't enjoy. Hopefully that's something the author works on in the next book. On top of that, the magic system feels a bit overly complicated, and some readers might not enjoy that. It doesn't bother me personally.
After finishing the book, you realize the story is just beginning, it's very obvious that things will get more comprehensive and rich as the series goes on. For me, that's a great thing, but generally speaking it's a double-edged sword. Why? Because doing this can hype readers up for the next book, but at the same time, you sacrifice a satisfying ending. This might alienate some readers, so the ending could have been better. Other than that, it's a great read.
If you'd like to dive into a fantasy world inspired by old-school dialogue and Turkish culture, and you're looking for something original that we don't see a lot of in the genre, I recommend this 100 percent.
I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.