Saw a write up about this one a little while ago, so I was thrilled when it showed up at the store in a box of ARCs from the publisher rep. I was not disappointed.
We all know those epic fantasy stories of a noble, dangerous quest. The heroes triumph in the end and everyone goes home and lives happily every after... or do they? Those epic fantasy stories rarely ever deal with what happens after the grand and glorious quest, how the heroes move on in their lives. The Afterward by E.K. Johnston does just that.
They saved the kingdom, destroyed the old God and his fanatical followers. They returned to the kingdom as heroes, greeted by a King restored to health and rewarded handsomely. And then they had to go back to their lives. For Kalanthe Ironheart this means looking for a husband in order to pay the loan for her knight training, despite the fact that it means turning away from her heart. For Olsa it was back to the street and a thief’s life. But when everyone knows your name and your face, stealing gets to be a tad difficult. How do these two heroes move forward?
The thing I love most about this book is the way the characters are treated. Both men and women can be knights (in fact, all the knights on the great and glorious quest are women), can be mages, can be scholars, can be thieves. The knight who led the quest goes on to be Queen (and was the King’s love long before that). Women can love women, men can love men, people can love anybody or they can love nobody at all. Sometimes doctors and midwives get it wrong, but you have to wait for the child to be old enough to speak to realize it. And check out that cover... the armor makes sense! I really do appreciate how this book simply treats everybody as people, all equally worthy of love and respect. It was amazingly done without being preachy or in-your-face.
A great read, I can’t wait for it to come out so I can start handselling! Look for The Afterward in stores February 19th.