Shower of Stones

Jernigan returns to the science-fantasy world of Jeroun (introduced in No Return) to finish off what he began: killing a god. Adventurers Churls, Berun, and Vedas Tezul painfully extract themselves from earlier events and are soon swept up in another set of messy problems. Thanks to Vedas’s infamous tirade against Jeroun’s malevolent god, Adrash, the apocalypse is nigh, and mankind will soon be extinguished. But if a mysterious dragon-taming stranger is to be believed, the three warriors may possess enough power inside themselves to end Adrash’s millennia-long rule. Jernigan employs hard-hitting and unflinching prose that’s as concise as it is brutal. Those who enjoyed the intricate worldbuilding in No Return will appreciate an even greater panoramic view of Jeroun; those who preferred the gory battle scenes will not leave disappointed, either. The story feels too long for the skimpy page count, leading to some pacing problems, and it suffers from an occasionally maudlin romance and an unearned climax. Still, the ending is rife with possibilities for deeper analysis and future related works, and Jernigan’s prose skill is sufficient to rank him among speculative fiction’s rising stars. (July)