The

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor

The Unbanished

By T. Aaron Cisco

Science fiction has always been a vehicle for authors to create and build worlds. Sharing of legends and old knowledge, and how it impacts the present is put to the test by the skilled hands of T. Aaron Cisco’s The Unbanished. Our main character, Orianne Duchamp, is a warrior native of the Javari continent, which has been suffering internal conflicts for thousands of nights.

Barely out of Youth Tutelage classes, after incapacitating a tauren lizard, she has already had an unpleasant run-in with the legendary Iron Chieftain Mother Zemaya Bellegarde, who possesses the knowledge of wielding Magycs.

Through each chapter (Tutelage Lesson), we go into depth on the history of this world and its inhabitants (Visitants, farfadets, shellskin people, chacals, members of the respective Stratums in society, etc.) as Orianne begins her odyssey in a quest for an end to the war, greed, and avarice for power. In the process, everything she thought she knew comes into question.

Cisco’s attention to detail in creating the characters and the settings of Javari is amazing. Each country in Javari (Courbonne, Navanca, Tolerbella, Ardwood, and Ayrsulth) has a distinct terrain and culture. I appreciate the history at the beginning of each Tutelage Lesson and how he links it to the events of the present. At the same time, he plants twists in the story that has the reader, like Orianne, question how much of that history was based on propaganda and how much on truth.

I loved the complexity of Orianne’s character. Though young in age, she, according to her Mentor Alexandre, has the “hand of a hunter, heart of a healer, and the mind of a scholar.” With everything that was thrown at her, she had to grow up quickly. Expect a lot of intrigue and treachery along the way as well as a showdown, but the conclusion is satisfying. Trust and believe, this is no Wizard of Oz tale.

The Unbanished is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Thank you, T., for an exciting journey into the realm of worldbuilding. As Black authors/poets, we’ve always been in every genre. Here’s to Kuumba!