The Emerald Cave - Tales of Piecora, Jason Behnke

The Emerald Cave

• Author : Jason Behnke

• Publisher : Self Published

• Released : January 2025

• Page count : 343

• Format : ARC Digital

• Genre : Fantasy

• Content warnings : Violence

• Source : ARC

• Representation : /

• Part of a Series : Book 1 of Tales of Piecora

★★★★★ — I loved this book !

Quote from the book:

When you are away from people for that long, you begin to change a little. You either miss that fellowship and yearn to be reconnected with people, or you discover the resignation whitin yourself of being alone, and if it's the latter, you then realize how hard it was all along to be tethered by the social expectations of others.

Summary :

Serpendis Endium, Master Merchant of Kannoniah and sole survivor of a disastrous trip across the unmappable Wildlands visiting the Banwar east of Sienja, only wished to return home to his warm bed, but not until he found something – anything – valuable to at least justify this whole hell-rotten adventure besides his own soiled robes. But here in the chaotic Wildlands, his only chance of survival depended on his newly acquired Sienjan Guide, Piecora Tiorold, whom he despised despite her expertise in navigating the Wildlands better than anyone else in the world.

Things were going smoothly until the old, wealthy curmudgeon wandered into a forbidden cave and discovered the cursed emeralds, waylaying their journey into a hair-raising, reality-hopping, high-stakes adventure that neither of them asked for. But through grim determination, self-discovery, and the bonds of friendship old and new, they and others they meet along the way learn that the only way home is through a bargain with the Aeonwyrm of Kiahalla to save the Undying Lands of the Eldar from a powerful sorceress who has found the secret of intentional navigation between the planes of reality, threatening the very existence of humankind.

My Thoughts on this Book :

This book has been provided as an ARC by the author.

If you are looking for a well written  fantasy series, mixing mythic, legend and quest fantasies, you are in for a great read with Tales of Piecora series.

Slow pace, strong character development and excellent, detailed world building, The Emerald Cave is one of the rare indie fantasy reads I read in the last few years, that hooked me from the very beginning.

The style is flawless, the writing is excellent and the descriptions are well built and smooth, allowing the reader to visualize pretty easily this massive world building while still enjoying the plot.

I love how flawed and diverse the characters are. It's not the typical quest/epic hero journey but more a tale of survival and inner lessons.

I definitely recommend this book.

Links :

• Author Website

• My Storygraph Review