Ecko Rising

by Missy Jane:

There are usually two paths to a sequel: the Open-Ended Ending and the Cliffhanger. I’m usually okay with the former and absolutely hate the latter. So what about when the last page is read and I find something in between? Not sure if I like it or hate it, but let’s take a look at the journey.

Ecko Rising by Danie Ware is a book that defies genre classification. It’s four hundred pages (according to my Nook) of sci-fi, time-travel, universe bending, sensually erotic, thriller. The characters range from a cybernetically enhanced smart-ass to the young dirt-covered cast of Mad Max. There’s a little bit of everything in this one. It starts out in what may be the future, on London’s dirty streets and back alleyways as a man named Lugan searches for something that is at first not clear. To be honest, I didn’t like the prologue and first chapter because I was completely lost through most of it. I felt as if I’d been flung into the middle of a story of a world I didn’t understand the slightest bit, with no compass. The author took a gamble here and wrote the book with the assumption the reader would catch up on her references and descriptions quickly. Perhaps if I was British some of it would have been clearer to me, but it took a few mentions of a “dog-end” before I knew what the hell Lugan kept putting in his mouth. That wasn’t the only problem. I started the book thinking Lugan was the main character. Imagine my surprise when he disappeared from the text and Ecko took over. I know the title should have been a clue, but generally books start out with the main character taking the wheel. That didn’t happen here.

So, skipping ahead and out of London. We’re thrown into a world completely different from our modern one. Ecko finds himself in a pub called the Wanderer, a very apropos name. Not only is it a pub, the whole building is in fact a ‘wanderer’, traveling from one spot to another at dawn of every single day. No one can explain why or how, or navigate the thing. Inside its walls is a motley crew of misfits and stowaways, all led by The Bard, Roderick. Part madman, part historian, Roderick is a bard in the true sense of the word. He has seen sights no mortal could live through but there is something important he has forgotten. It eats at him as it eludes him and he has no idea just how important the lost information truly is. Unfortunately, neither did this reader. The story twists and turns, characters being added into the mix at every turn, to the point I almost didn’t know which way was up. For the first quarter of the book I was well and truly lost. Only knowing I wanted to do this review kept me going. I’m glad it did.

Initially I thought this would be at most a three star review. The beginning of the book is confusing and wrought with so many unfamiliar words it might as well have been written in a foreign language. There are a LOT of characters. Luckily Ms. Ware knew better than to info dump within a few pages all of their back-stories like too many other authors do. She fed them to us quickly but with just enough info to make me want more. By the hundredth page I was hooked and ready for the ride. And it’s a thrilling ride. If you like fantasy, sci-fi and reading about other worlds, then this book is definitely for you. Overall I think The Wanderer was my favorite character, regardless of it being a collection of stone and wood. Ecko is an enigma. He is a smart-ass thrown into a world he doesn’t understand and feels wholly unprepared for, but that doesn’t stop him. Throughout the entire story he can’t decide if he was really thrown into a space-jumping building in an alien reality, or if it’s all inside his own head. There are times when I wasn’t sure either, including the very last page.

And so now we come to my initial question. Cliffhanger or Open Ended ending? I really can’t say. Some loose ends were tied up bit not all of them. One bad guy was defeated but not all of them. A battle was won but I’m not sure we’ve made it to the war. Would I read the sequel? Also an unanswerable question. I might now know what a dog-end is, but the confusion from before has made me wary. As far as stories about good versus evil, this is a decent one. I would just say get past the first hundred pages and you’re good.

Ecko Rising can be found on Amazon.com.

DarkMedia contributing writer Ms. Missy Jane is the alter ego of a married mother of four who was born and raised in Texas. She spends most of her time lost in worlds of her own making, alternately loving and hating such creatures as vampires, shape-shifters and gargoyles (to name a few). When not writing, she spends her time reading, taking photos of her beautiful daughters and training her husband to believe she’s always right.

Excerpts from Missy’s paranormal and erotic tales can be found on her website and blog. Missy can also be found online on Twitter @msmissyjane and on Facebook.