The Seventh Cadence

Dragons, found family and heroes aplenty abound in Jim Wilbourne???s sprawling epic, The Seventh Cadence.

The Seventh Cadence is as interesting novel that introduces a new world to readers that lies somewhere between Brandon Sanderson???s epic Stormlight series, and David Eddings??? chosen one familiarity.

Tele is a Keeper, a not altogether safe occupation and one that her family and the other Keepers have hidden in order to maintain knowledge that is passed through the generations until the Wizard Titan makes his triumphant return. However, the world has split into various races and religions that see the object of their religion in different lights, ranging from near slight observation of the religious edicts to the fundamentalist zealotry of the Dominion (the bad guys of the story).

If epic fantasy is your bag, then I would definitely point you in the direction of The Seventh Cadence. It has all the things that you would expect from the genre and it builds on these admirably. I have always had a soft spot for the found family trope, and the relationships between Tele and Navid, a seer who has the potential to be dangerous and every time that he meets others during their travels, we are aware that he is classed as a dangerous weapon and is thus shunned in fear from all that he meets, plays to that soft spot

It takes quite a while to see the sheer awesomeness that Navid is capable of, as throughout most of the book spends his time shielding those around him from the power that he holds. However, this is nicely played on and he is regularly seen as weak, especially by Tele, the prickly Keeper who has spent most of her time shielded by her family. Which whilst keeping her safe, also affects her ability to interact with others around her, and a large portion of the first act of the book shows us the steadily growing relationships between her and Navid as we learn about the two characters and the main motivations that drive them.

In amongst Tele and Navid???s story is the build up of political events in the city of Caldor, and the King of the Hzorah, Jeremiah. Besides giving the reader some political and cultural insight into the world the characters inhabit, it is also an opportunity for the book to provide some background to how the world was shaped. We learn that the world is split into a number of different cultures that were once dominated by the Dominion, and their fundamentalist religion The Creed. However, through a series of wars and skirmishes the people gained their freedom and their right to self-govern themselves. However, the Dominion, with the Prophet Tristan are always in the background, ready to reassert their dominance and bring everyone back into the fold, including the religious leaders of the other lands, The prophets.

During Jeremiah???s stay in the city of Caldor, calamity strikes and a whole city is decimated resulting in the death of King Jeremiah, and subsequently leading the way for another of the main characters to be introduced, the reluctant boy king Gabriel, who whilst being a fearsome warrior, does not really see himself as the leader that his father was.

Structurally, the book alternates between the points of view of four main characters, Gabriel, Tele and Navid, Amie and her sister Mara (who we learn are related to Navid, quite early in the book) and a member of the Dominion, General Darius Gareth. With these differing points of view, Jim Wilbourne is able to give differing world views and build the different areas and people that the characters encounter.

There is a lot of world building within The Seventh Cadence, and Jim Wilbourne is able to carefully add layer by layer, different aspects of the world. At times, the intricateness of the world building can hamper the pacing of the plot as Jim Wilbourne takes his time to layer his canvas. However, if you have patience and enjoy the carefully laid strokes you are rewarded with an ambitiously entertaining introduction to The Continua Chronicles.

The Deseran Dominion seeks to reclaim lands lost to King Jeremiah, and reunify people under their religious doctrine to the Wizard Titan. And if they are to succeed, their fanatical ways will be forced on the people they rule over. As they launch an invasion, the fates of Gabriel, Tele, Navid, Amie, and her sister Mara will become interwoven. Each has their part to play against the Dominion from succeeding, even if they don’t realize it.

Jim Wilbourne works with multiple characters' POVs and takes time to immerse the reader in each character’s story. They have such different experiences throughout the novel, yet their stories fit together extremely well. Readers will find themselves emotionally invested in the characters as they experience tragedy and revelation. Each of them will find their views of the world constantly expanding as the story progresses.

The pacing of The Seventh Cadence was so well done. Enough time is spent with each character to really understand where they are coming from, and who they are to become. Not a single POV was left without emotionally charged scenes and self-discovery. Towards the end of the novel, their POVs gradually become more clipped and intense. This builds such an enormous amount of tension as everyone’s life and future hangs in the balance. I had to make myself slow down because of the driving need to know what was going to happen.

There is also a delightful new take on dragons and mystery surrounding magic. Magic for the most part was lost with Wizard Titan’s sudden departure. Having seen how the world was using magic, Titan chose to leave it behind instead of laying witness to his creation being used for evil. There are those who keep the histories and information called Keepers, but they are being eradicated from the world. Tele is one of the characters charged with maintaining knowledge of magic and the world’s inner workings until Wizard Titan reappears. Through Tele, readers will rediscover magic and the capabilities it could have for both good and evil. Including the emergence of dragons and the unique twist seen on them.

I highly recommend The Seventh Cadence to fans of high fantasy. There is always something to keep the reader’s attention, whether it is the inner turmoil the characters are facing or an outside threat. The world building is so artfully layered into the story, accenting the experience and fully immersing readers. I cannot wait to see what else Jim Wilbourne writes, I am fully invested in this world.

 

I read this book originally as an ARC but thought this challenge was a great time to revisit this brilliant world.

This is one of those sort of slow start books that still draws you in from the first instance. 
Jim's writing is brilliant and it's normal there's no trying to dazzle the readers which word play he just goes straight in to writing an amazing story with normal pretty down to earth characters. 

The book follows 3 characters with others joining them throughout. 

Overall world building was brilliant and characters were well written and believable. 
I couldn't put this book down and it was one of those books that I kept reading when I should have probably been sleeping 😂. 

Did I mention it had flying lizards as well (who doesn't love dragons)