Warriors, magic, mystery, mayhem, and elves, oh, my!–it’s the Holy 3M Trifecta of the fantasy genre, + elves, the Big E Factor. Hey, if Simon Cowell can use a letter in a TV series, I can in a book review. And, M and E together spells: ME. Yes, it’s a book for you and ME, filled with enough fantasy elements and a great storyline that will keep you wanting to read the next two books in author Kevin Breaux’s trilogy. There’s gore, too, but who wants to read a book whose initials referring to key factors that make one enjoy reading it spell out the word “MEG”? Though, reversed, it does spell “GEM,” and Soul Born, Kevin Breaux’s debut fantasy book, is a gem of a novel.

What’s it about? Is the storyline intriguing enough to make me want to buy it? How are Kevin Breaux’s world building skills? Hmm…the Voices In My Head are working overtime, but I’ll answer both them, and hopefully you, in this review.

First, what is Soul Born definitely not like? It’s not like many fantasy novels which feature a plot involving the End of the World, and a hero’s/heroine’s attempts to save it, not that this isn’t a pretty great and tried-and-true plot for novels and series. It worked wonders for J.R.R. Tolkien, for example. But, Soul Born is not that sort of book.

The plot centers around three different characters, Opal (a healer and powerful mage), Karn (a ruthless and horny warrior with a noble heart), and Tala (an intelligent and beautiful elf). Though they each have their own goals and motives for their decisions and actions to stop the advance of a great warlord who is leading a vast army to conquer the lands of Illyia, they each know if the warlord isn’t stopped, their way of life will soon come to an end.

Opal has been commanded by her mage superior, Malek, to ensorcel Karn and implant memories in his head that she and the warrior Karn were friends, and later lovers. Karn has no memories of these things, but as he spends more time with Opal, these “memories,” seem to come back to him. Opal’s character is one of my favorite ones, because, though she is an apprentice, her magicial powers are quite impressive, and she manages to have her own agenda, despite the efforts of Malek and others to order her around. She’s also not above killing for what she believes are the right reasons, so she is a force to be reckoned with in the world of Illyia.

Tala is an elf who was banished from her tribe and hunted and nearly killed by the beasts of the deep forests of Illyia. Her survival skills proved too much for the beasts, though, and after she joins forces with an ancient elemental power, she finds herself in the center of the unfolding war.

Karn’s character is also an interesting one. There are some cliches used to describe him, but he is, after all, a warrior, and how many unique ways are there to describe warriors of fantasy tales? Still, he is also written as a three-dimensional person, with his own motives and agendas. He is perhaps too easily led, at least at first, by Opal, but who can blame him when she is beautiful and he believes she is hot for him?

Here is a description of a fight scene where Karn is wanting to learn if a bird-pecked man hanging from a noose is his father or not, and five men attack him:

The first man hurried up the stairs, rushing into combat against what he thought would be an easy-to-kill opponent. It would be the man’s last mistake. Karn swung his sword with precision, slicing the attacker’s throat so deeply that his head nearly separated from his shoulders. After shoving the body over the side of the open stairs, Karn eyed his next assailant who, seeing the fate dealt his comrade, slowed his onrush up the stairs and raised his spear in a more careful, defensive guard. Jabbing at Karn, he moved in to attack. Karn waited for the spear to strike at him, and then, lightning fast, wrapped his left arm over it.

There’s plenty in this book to appeal to everyone who loves the fantasy genre. Besides these three compelling main characters, Kevin Breaux fills Soul Born with the types of fantastical characters you’ve come to expect and love in fantasy novels: Jackalwares, dark elves, and frost giants. As in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and many other fantasy series, each group has a stake in the outcome of the war. Reading about their interactions with each other, and with Opal, Tala, and Karn, helps to enliven the book and make the world of Illyia come that much more alive. Breaux describes, through the course of the novel, Illyia in enough detail (a map of Illyia is also provided at the start of the novel) for me to say that, especially as a debut author, he displays some pretty impressive world building skills.

Soul Born is a fantastic page-turning beginning to Kevin Breaux’s fantasy trilogy. It’s got everything: warrior heroes, conflicted mages, and elves. It’s got a warrior, Karn, who is perhaps gullible, but has two beatuiful women romantically attracted to him. And it has cool creatures like the jackalwares, and enough battle scenes and a high enough body count to appeal to the inner geeks and warriors in all of us. Check Soul Born out today!