Set on the world of Solace centuries after a United Nations colony ship crash-landed on the planet, this debut novel offers a grand-scale narrative that mixes epic fantasy and SF.

The inhabitants of the Caustlands live within a massive, ringed veil known as the Siinlan that encircles the realm’s six states like a “grey-green penumbra” and acts as a bulwark to the wild and largely unexplored Abwaild beyond. A peculiar, sludgelike river named the Gyring Ash flows around the Siinlan, and a swampy expanse called the Ashlit Mire extends from the Gyring. The entire world—inside and outside the Siinlan—is steeped in mystery: bizarre creatures in the Abwaild; a wasteland of ruins; secret labyrinths beneath Solace’s surface; and strange artifacts from “Old Earth” or an ancient civilization that existed before Starfall, the apocalyptic crash-landing of the colony ship that killed the planet’s inhabitants. The story revolves around a cast of diverse main characters. Dayang, a 12-year-old girl who lives with her affluent family in Kualabu, has trained her entire life to protect her people from the nightmarish creatures lurking beyond the town’s fortified walls. But when she is forced to battle a massive Abwaild creature attacking the town, she uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy that could destroy the entire Caustlands. Then there are Sanyago and Laris, both novices studying at the Presilyo monastery, home to the warrior monks who follow the Triune Path religious sect. After years of relentless training—and manipulation—the two realize that everything they’ve learned may not be the truth. On the other side of the Siinlan, in the Sovereign Nations, Juliaen receives a holy vision—to purify and reclaim the Caustlands for a radical, dissident sect of the Triune Path called the Carvers. Eventually, all of the plot threads intertwine in an explosive collision filled with bombshell revelations and even deeper mysteries.

While this is obviously a character-driven tale—even secondary players are adeptly developed—it’s the meticulous worldbuilding and extensive backstory that make Magleby’s series opener so effortlessly immersive. For example, there’s a creature called a spearstalker: “The four lower legs were nothing too strange, many-jointed, with thick exoskeleton plates, ending in an array of splayed digging-claws. The upper pair, though—they rose from the top, elbow-joint pointed forward, each limb supporting one long thick tube with an unsettling crystalline eyebulb slung just under the front opening.” But the hidden narrative gem here is the deep philosophical undertone. Excerpts like this one are scattered throughout: “Consciousness is both the loftiest power and the deepest mystery of all existence. Do not lend its immense potential lightly. Do not waste its precious, fleeting moments. Never let it give shape to what it should not fathom.” The one minor criticism is the sluggish way in which the tale begins. The author introduces the various character arcs all the way back to when the central players were children. While this information is relevant, it could have easily been revealed through flashbacks, and the novel’s major hooks could have been more appropriately moved closer to the narrative’s beginning instead of hundreds of pages into the story. Still, masterful worldbuilding, a rich tapestry of character-centric threads, and nonstop action and adventure make this a must-read for those who enjoy shelf-bending and genre-blending storylines.

An absolute grand-slam first installment of an SF/fantasy series.