Calling the Reaper (First Book of Purgat... Beware: Colonizer perspectives calling natives barbarians and locals.

Basically: Decent, entertaining read though I was really confused. It sets up the world slowly to keep you guessing and the ending has me very excited to continue the series.

Calling the Reaper opens with a pirate tale and I’ll admit I was initialing confused. I had no idea why I was reading about that given the blurb. Soon enough I went “ohhhhh” in realization.

After my initial confusion and the second story, I sped along enjoying the ride. Though I have my favorites like The Kiss and Sacrifice, each is a solid mini-story. Of the eight stories, two are about women and most are non-Western in setting.

There are stories from colonizers calling locals barbarians and savages though. While one story is set from inside such a society and shows how the invading forces is wrong in such assumptions, it doesn’t negate the harm of perpetuating colonial rhetoric.

Calling the Reaper follows eight separate stories of various people throughout the world and each story is split into three parts: backstory, set-up, and death. After each story is a glimpse at the larger picture, the players behind the chess pieces, with letters and excerpts from various texts. Which is very well done.

Again, at first, I was confused at how it all came together. It’s not until the very end when the pieces drop into place to reveal the big picture. Now THAT has me excited to continue. Too bad I can’t talk about it without spoiling it :/

Recommended for: fans of dark, bloody fantasy with a bunch of different POVs.

Calling the Reaper (First Book of Purgat... I have to admit I don't usually read books of short stories but I was really surprised by this one. I set down with this book and could not put it down. I read late into the night, went to bed, got back up and read some more then finished it the next morning. All of the stories were very interesting. They were quick stories. There are 8 stories in the book. Each story was about a different person in a different time and land. How they lived and what led to their deaths. In just the few pages of each story, the author truly introduced you to the character, let you understand why the people led the lives they did, why they made the choices they did, and in the end you understood why they made their choices, right or wrong . For example the Pirate as a child was saved from a disease by his sister, later on she was struck by a sleeping disease and he over the years done everything he could to find the cure for her. In his quest he pillaged and murdered from ships he knew to carry medical supplies hoping to find the cure for her. When he finally found a person who could cure her, he himself was killed. This is just one story though. The others all have different reasoning in the people making their decisions.

I love how the author did not waste time and paper getting to the point of each persons story. You were filled with just enough background to drag you into each story. The stories were not overwhelming either. Though they may be short stories you had everything you needed.

I will be looking for the next book in this series to see if at some point the author ties all of these people together int he afterlife.

 

 

@GoddessFish, #Dark, #Fantasy

Calling the Reaper (First Book of Purgat... In Calling the Reaper we have eight different tales with each character fighting battles of their own choosing. The Valkyrie and Reaper are both fighting to get their hands on each character. Each of our characters thinks they are making the right call in their decisions. They are doing what is right for them. They believe they are making the right call for themselves at that time in their life. The choices and decisions they make will determine if they will end up in paradise or purgatory.

Each character is making the right choice for them. I have always heard that everyone has a price and I use to always argue that point saying that no everyone does not have price but alas I have discovered over the years that I was totally wrong. Yes everybody has a price. Although my price at the time may not have had the outcome that we were on the time of what we both were discussing I still had a price. We set this price when making the choices we make and then we pay the price whether we are aware of it at the time or not.

Each of the characters was very strong and determined people who set out to do a very good thing but may not have been good for them in the end. They each have very big hearts and are set on doing what is right and maybe it is the right choice for them no matter what the end results are.

The message in Calling the Reaper is a very good one and I have enjoyed reading it. If you like a good story with a message attached to it then Calling the Reaper is the story for you. Get your copy today!

 

The time of the Unity has ended. Now, the realm of man is stranded between Paradise and Purgatory. The Valkyrie and Reaper battle over the fate of all who pass from the land of the living and into the afterlife.

 

Eight mortal spirits from vastly different worlds tread the same, inevitable path toward their last, crucial decision. Within them all exists the defining conflict every man must face—to look upon the end of their life with glory and honor, or to give credence to their baser longings, calling the Reaper to their own demise.

 

In this rich, harrowing tale of pride, deceit, honor, vengeance, and redemption, each individual must battle their inner turmoil, facing the sacrifices they have made before their unavoidable end in the land of the living.

 

But their last day in life is also their first day of death amidst the terrors of the underworld. Lord Master Death wants them all…and the real battle has only just begun. 

 

 

Author Bio:
Jason Pere currently resides in his home state of Connecticut with his darling wife and duo of maniacal felines. He is a renascence man having dabbled in Acting for Film and Theater, Fencing and Mixed Martial Arts, Professional Dorkary and a bevy of other passions before coming to land on writing.

 

Calling the Reaper Excerpt:

Where Dante had expected to see herbs, tonics, and medicinal powers from lands afar, all he saw was a peculiar little man sitting calmly atop a damaged gunpowder barrel. The man’s skin had a golden-yellow tone, eyes narrow slits which housed a striking and even playful dark brown gaze. He had a long, thin moustache which trailed off into two black wisps, dangling at the sides of his mouth. Robes of dark red draped from his shoulders, stitched with small copper bows, and his dark, braided hair fell from under a matching copper-colored, square-cornered hat.
“Greetings to you.” The little man’s accent was just as foreign as his appearance. He rose from his seat and bowed to Dante.
“Greetings to you. I am Dante Ramos, Captain of the Sapphire Lady. May I have the pleasure of your name?” Dante asked. The Captain kept his flintlock in hand but lowered the weapon to a less threatening position.
“I am Motokumo Tomikashu, Master of the Imperial Gardens and personal herbalist and apothecary to the Most Divine Emperor Mako Tashanoshi the Ninth,” said the man.
“Now would you kindly tell me where the ship’s cargo is stowed?” Dante graced his question with an inquisitive grin.
“Certainly, Dante Ramos Samma, Captain of the Sapphire Lady. I and my personal possessions are the only cargo aboard this ship,” Motokumo Tomikashu said with another deep bow. The man had some obvious trouble pronouncing Dante’s name, but his effort was commendable.
“Are you not afraid? Death may be very close for you. I think it best that you not lie to me,” Dante said.
“I do not fear death. I may be commanded by the Devine Emperor to end my life at any moment, and am at peace should my end draw near,” the little man stated. “And I never lie. I have no skill with false speech.” It was hard to tell from his expression whether he said this in jest or was just remarkably humble.
“I know there were medical supplies on this craft,” Dante said. “I will have them.” He searched the face of the other man as he spoke. Dante had known many liars, and only two things were clear to the Captain; this man was either telling the truth he believed, or he was the greatest liar of all time.
“You are correct, Dante Ramos Samma, Captain of the Sapphire Lady,” Motokumo Tomikashu said. “I am possessed of what you seek.”
“You are a healer?” Dante asked. His surprise warranted a raised eyebrow, and suddenly the matter took on a measure of clarity for the Captain.
“Yes. A healer is one of the many things I am,” said the foreigner.
“Do you know of an illness that causes its victim to fall into unending sleep, even for years?”
“There is no such illness,” Motokumo Tomikashu said. Dante’s eyes fell to the floor; another false lead. “There is, however, a poison that will do such a thing.”
Dante’s heart leapt back up into his throat. “What poison? How do you know?”
“I know of this because I created this kind of poison. It is a lovely blend derived from the Lotus bloom of my homeland.” Motokumo Tomikashu smiled.
“My sister suffers from this…poisoning,” Dante said coldly, and his hand dropped automatically to the hilt of his saber. If this was the man who had created such a thing, Dante couldn’t help but wonder if he had also been to the Queen’s city, if he had anything to do with his sister’s misfortune.
The man in the scarlet robes seemed to read Dante’s thoughts. “I did not poison her, Captain Dante Ramos samma. I have never poisoned anyone. But I had many dealings with your Queen’s Master Saboteur. Juan Dematiao samma has a fascination with my blends not meant to heal.”
Dante had never met Juan Demataio face to face, but the man had a reputation as chilling as the Sapphire Lady and her Cerulean Corsairs. What did Catalina do? he thought with dread. “You created the poison,” he said to the foreigner. “Is there a cure?”
“There is a treatment, and with the proper materials it would not take me long to turn the treatment into a full remedy,” Motokumo Tomikashu said.
That was exactly what he needed to hear. Finally, his years of searching had produced a way to save his sister. Dante wanted to dance and cry all at once, but as a pirate, as Captain of the Sapphire Lady, he could not yet show his relief. “You will come with me, and you will treat my sister,” he told the man. “I will provide any materials you request.” He gestured for the healer to follow him from the cargo hold.
“It would be my honor,” Motokumo Tomikashu said. “And that honor also binds me to another duty I must attend to first.”
“Your duty can wait,” Dante said. “My sister will not.”
“I cannot refuse the call to treat the sick, and I will do as you command,” the little man said with another bow. “But first I must plea to your sense of compassion.” The healer tilted his head at Dante. “What do you know of the wellbeing of your Queen’s son? Prince Raphael?”
Dante frowned. “Prince Raphael serves as a good will ambassador at King Duran’s court in the west.”
“Please forgive,” the healer said, bowing his head low, “but I fear you have been deceived. Most have. Your Prince does not serve abroad. He has been sequestered within your Queen Isabella’s castle, away from inquisitive eyes. Prince Raphael is deathly ill. In exchange for certain favors to the Most Devine Emperor Mako Tashanoshi the Ninth, I have been summoned to treat him.”
“Treat my sister first, and then on my honor I will release you unharmed and you may attend to your duty.” Dante couldn’t believe the man was trying to argue with him.
“It is sad and not a simple thing. I will need no less than a fortnight to prepare the necessary remedy for your sister’s condition,” the healer said. Dante steeled himself. “Your Prince Raphael does not have so much time. He may yet live only another four days.”
There was silence for several seconds, punctured by the creaks and groans of the Star Bell’s hull as she swayed on the waves. The choice was clear to Dante. If this strange little man was all that he said he was, Catalina could be wakened from her bonds of sleep. The debt that Dante owed could be washed clean, but it would come at the cost of young Prince Raphael’s life. Of course, he could allow Motokumo Tomikashu to treat the Prince before seeing to his sister, but even if the healer were to honor that agreement, there was no guarantee that the Queen’s agents would allow a royal healer to resume dealings with a pirate Captain. There was no guarantee that he could safely move about the Queen’s lands once Her Majesty’s court got word of Captain Dante Ramos’ return. Either choice demanded an innocent life, so why should he not choose that which profited him? The choice was clear.
The choice was so clear.
Dante looked long and hard at the healer before he spoke next. “You will come with me. I will see my sister sleep no longer.” Just as he had sworn to do one day.
For Captain Dante Ramos, today would be that day.