Karma of the Sun

A young man stands between his people and impending doom in Boey’s whirlwind debut. Karma is the supposedly cursed son of the scoundrel Patrul Sherpa, who is rumored to have deceived their village and disappeared to search for a place that his delusions led him to believe could save his people from a prophesied apocalypse. Karma has always longed to search for his missing father, and the opportunity arises when Minister Hanumanda of the Four Rivers and Six Ranges arrives at their village and explains his very different view on Patrul. Hanumanda believed Patrul’s visions and sent his men to help Patrul find sanctuary within the Himalayan mountains before Patrul mysteriously vanished. When Hanumanda learns that Karma shares the same prophetic gifts as his father, he insists that Karma help to retrace his father’s footsteps and find the haven before it’s too late. The quest is perilous, with a path soaked in bloodshed and betrayal around every corner, and the sensational descriptions of the Himalayan landscape form the heart of this harrowing tale. Though the action occasionally gets lost beneath the abstract prose, there’s enough suspense to Karma’s journey to keep the pages flying. Fans of apocalyptic fantasy should check this out. Agent: Tamara Kawar, DeFiore & Co. (Jan.)