REVIEW SUMMARY: Vivid, varied, and violent. At once beautiful and terrible to behold.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS:  On the planet of Jeroun god exists, and he is far from benevolent. Adrash looks down upon the world, prepared to unleash final annihilation. Men in suits of black and white do battle in his name, some wish to submit to him and others wish to defy him. Vedas, a Blacksuit of the Thirteenth Order embarks on a journey to a great fighting tournament that may well decide the fate of Jeroun.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Stunning imagery, absorbing setting, diverse cultures, intriguing characters, cool ideas.
CONS: Not enough exploration of some of the settings and ideas. Climax was a little weak.
BOTTOM LINE: Ambitious, impressive, and bold. This is not your run of the mill fantasy.

No Return is an excellent start to the new reading year. This is the sort of novel that stands in the shadow of two super genres, for it is neither science fiction nor fantasy. It is instead a beautiful twining of both. It is epic in the in the more traditional sense of the word, though not a narrative poem. No Return features heroic deeds, strange cultures, dark violence, and consequences. It has the trappings on a new age legend, set on an extraordinary world.

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Zachary Jernigan’s debut novel, No Return, comes out on the 5th of March, 2013, from Night Shade Books. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Crossed Genres, and Escape Pod, among others. Nick Sharps got the opportunity to sit down and talk to him, while enjoying a nice cold beer. The following interview is an in depth discussion of No Return, religion, sexual deviancy, world building, sociology, He-Man, female protagonists, future novels, and ice cream.

Nick Sharps: Sell me No Return in as few words as possible.

Zachary Jernigan: Do you like men made of metal? Or fighters in skintight suits? Or alchemical astronauts? A lot of sex scenes? Buy my book.

Oh, and violence. There’s a lot of violence.

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