Hey there, I’m TJ. I used to love seeing this on shows like Star Trek and stuff. Anyone remember that epic season 3-4 cliffhanger? The Best of Both Worlds? Where it ends with Riker firing on Locutus in the Cube? Man, that was wild. But it was also nice having that recap. So I figured hey, why not here? After all, we’re 3 books deep and this shows only getting started, so it felt a little poignant to have my own Previously on at the same moment that my favorite show did it too. So, without further ado, let’s get to it. This first one will be thick, but I’ll try to limit the recaps going forward to more relevant bits where I can as the series progresses.
*in suitably epic voice* Previously on Galaxy of Gods…
Volume 1: Spell Soldier
First, we see the soul of Bahumet in the soul realm. He’s just beaten someone called Maleficus (Totally not foreshadowing for a later plot at all). And he’s the soul shard of a being called Xanofex. We meet a goddess of light who seems really friendly with him. Bahumet then heads towards the Ebon Maw so that it can recycle his magic and memories and return to the aether stream.
Next, we meet Akamori and experience his clan on their homeworld, Hoshun, a far-flung air mage colony at the edge of the sector. Akamori does a soul walk as a rite of passage and finds out their people were sent there as a contingency plan by the dragons in the sector before a dark shadow fell over it. He’s also called grandfather by the soul of the air dragon. What?!
Then we have the poop meet fan moment when Ominek, a necromancer and arch mage dragon, comes along and dick kicks Hoshun. Akamori displays some fantastic “No U” capability as Ominek goes for the finisher. Only Akamori, Amara, and Kusinagi survive the attack.
Then we meet Captain Morwen, Lt. Rayshe, Sgt. Sirsir, and the gang. Morwen is there because she was handed a prophecy that if Hidros falls, the Sector would soon follow it. And of course she’s the only one who can help. And she’d love to! But she needs well….everything. People, guns, and bullets. She’s got no supplies. But luckily, the prophecy accounts for that, even if it didn’t tell her.
That’s why she finds herself at Hoshun, just in time to rescue Akamori and friends. Unsure if they’ll help, Morwen risks nothing to chance and soul binds the refugees to fight, according to the Federation charter. It’s not illegal, but it is pretty dickish. But hey, rules are rules, amirite?
After they’ve been recruited, Morwen leaves Sgt. Sirsir in charge of their training. He’s got as long as it takes the Cadaver Crasher to get to Hidros to have them ready for a fight. This sounds like the perfect time for a training montage. It’s a montage! *queue Montage song from Team America*.
Akamori and Amara get the basics. Kusinagi is, of course, no fighter, being an artificer and healer for the Order of Aeryn. Morwen then makes it to her second top on their little adventure. The Forge, home of the dwarves, in this sector. Legend has it that many artifacts of incredible power were made at the Forge. Now it serves as a home for the wee people who spend most of their time crafting beer and potions and trading.
They summoned Morwen to Hidros asap. The dragons are laying siege and Hidros’ defenses are crumbling. But Morwen objects, knowing if she goes, it’ll mean they all die. They lack the manpower, and firepower. They need time. Time Hidros doesn’t have. Morwen stays the course for the Forge, knowing the decision will probably come back to bite her in the ass later.
Morwen trades away a finely crafted item for all the potions her ship can carry. Akamori is slowly warming up to the idea of service with the Captain. It strikes him as odd that no one else is bothering to fight the Sauridius. Almost like no one else with the magic to make a difference gives a damn.
The crew finally reaches Hidros and finds it a mess. The dragons own the skies above the planet, and there’s no telling how long they’ve been active on the surface. So the team comes up with a daring plan to retake the sky. The wounded Brotherhood of Man ships hanging out at the edge of the system are sacrificed while the Crasher takes out a large dragon.
While that’s going down, Rayshe, Amara, Akamori, Sirsir, and Sala head at the station under stealth. Once aboard, they are attacked by hordes of undead. All the station’s original inhabitants now turned into raving zombies. Progress is slow and costly. Eventually a beachhead is established so they can send in the marines.
Unfortunately for the Marines, Rayshe wants to use them as human meat shields to thin out the enemy ranks. The problem with this logic is that the enemy can just use your own fallen to boost his ranks. When Akamori tries to raise this issue with Rayshe, he’s hit with typical arrogant bluster. Rayshe doesn’t care about the Brotherhood marines. But Akamori can’t abide the orders he’s given, and the situation almost boils out of hand until Amara hits him in the back of the head with a sleep spell. It’s Treason then.
Akamori and Amara go necromancer hunting and wind up breaking the station. Akamori does a great job of pissing off the necromancer and finding out how long he can hold his breath. But they scare off the dragon and free the station up for control again. All that’s left now is to tackle the planet itself before it’s too late.
It’s time to pay the price. Was it worth it? Rayshe is out for blood and he wants a big pound of flesh from Akamori. Insubordination, assault on an officer during a time of war, and dereliction of duty. He’s throwing anything he can at the wall to see what sticks. Akamori doesn’t fight it either. He owns up to his choice. Unfortunately, Morwen faces a tough choice. Her difficult XO, or the man she was shown in a prophecy vital to seeing it succeed. Pistol in hand, she fires, her choice made. Rayshe falls to the floor, his heart cored through. I don’t think that’s covered in the Federation’s health plan…
Morwen gets the last of her supplies and a trip from her workaholic mom. Thankfully, Kusinagi is there to cut the tension and greet Akamori. He gives Akamori some fancy new armor loaded to the gills with all kinds of sick extras. He also makes sure Morwen gets everything she’s asked for at no extra markup. Morwen’s mother reluctantly agrees to his demands, recognizing Kusinagi has incredible skills at crafting and business management. She may be out to adopt since her daughter was such a disappointment!
The Crasher’s crew is ready to tussle! They got the guns, the potions and the troops. It’s time to throw down. Landing on Hidros they are greeted to a hero’s welcome. Strange, given all the panicked messages they’d been getting prior to landing. The governor wants to throw a parade.
*Record scratching to a stop* Now Morwen knows it’s a trap. Unfortunately, she can do little about it but spring it. Playing right into Ominek’s hands. He’s stalling her as hard as he can, but she doesn’t quite know why. She’s fought him on three other worlds, and each loss cost the population dearly. Why is this one different? What makes it so special? An item of power maybe?
Like a good villain, the bad guys attack while the heroes are knee deep in civilians. Shenanigans ensue as the squad goes to work, taking out all the undead thrown at the city. Once it’s all said and done, Morwen reveals the Governor has had someone puppeteering him. With that problem dealt with, she’s free to focus on what and where Ominek might be working.
Morwen finally makes a breakthrough when she figures out there’s a special water magic centric storm area focused around a mountain. Seems as good a place as any to look! The troops go marching, and the Sauridius forces, of course, make them pay for every inch gained.
Finally, the squad finds our villain with a massive ritual circle. The squad breaks out into two teams. Morwen goes with the tanks and the rest flank out with the intention of disrupting the ritual. The fighting is tense as things wobble more and more in favor of the bad guys until Amara makes a clutch observation. They don’t have to stop the spell. Just break it enough it doesn’t do what Ominek wants. With a final mission, the crew goes to work. Morwen distracts Ominek who tries to eat her. And Akamori and the squad fend off his army of goons.
After gratuitous butt kicking, the team comes out victorious when Amara finishes the Ritual…and wakes a freaking Kaiju sized Dragon. The entire mountain explodes, revealing Big Blue, Akamori’s pet name for Anorax, the son of Hidros. Ominek was trying to shackle Big Blue to win the war early. But fortune doesn’t favor cheating. At least not this time, anyway.
Anorax chases off Ominek who flies away with his tail tucked between his legs. The team then have their own unique visions as the lingering soul and mind of Hidros engulfs the crew. They each get their own unique vantage point into the past, and walk away with some new magic!
Big Blue won’t eat the crew, but he won’t join them either. He’s still a bit bummed about Hidros kicking the bucket. But now that he’s awake, he takes it on as his personal job to defend the world his family left behind.
As for the rest of the crew? They ride off back home, triumphant.
Volume 2: Void Reaper
Time for consequences, and boy, were there plenty. Morwen is placed under arrest as soon as the crew lands. She’s in for an inquiry that could lead to court martial. Akamori and Amara are untrained mages. So they have to go to school! And all of this is happening in the home of snobbery, Eryn. Which also just happens to be the heart of the Mage Federation and the home of the Elves. Ominek is up to his usual villainy, linking up with soul shackled servants and plotting his revenge on Morwen and her crew.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Amara settles into the Weaver school, and Akamori stubbornly goes to the Warrior school. They have entrance exams of sorts where they are tested. Akamori makes some impressions, having himself mortally wounded. Good thing it happened in the home of light magic in the sector! Yasiin, Sala and Sirsir take some much needed leave with family and friends.
Meanwhile Ominek is out making friends, and kissy face with a menacing air wyrm named Ashkatoph. She’s pissed the crew killed her biggest rival. Deprived of the only thing that interested her, she vows to devour the gang. Ashkatoph can’t move on them while they stay on Eryn, but if they leave? They’ll be fair game. Spoilers: They’ll have to leave, eventually.
Akamori gets his butt kicked for a few months while Amara spends her time learning more spells and thinking more like a mage. Morwen gets roasted in court to the point the only thing saving her is a shifty elf who holds a majority stake in the Order of Aeryn, the unofficial Artificers guild of the sector. So instead Morwen is demoted and reassigned. They have posthumously awarded all the awards and citations she wrote for the crew to Rayshe. And for the extra cherry on top, Morwen’s father has another prophecy for her. Destiny has come calling once again. And this time, the target is none other than home!
The crew, of course, handle it with mixed reactions. Akamori is pissed. Amara is dissapointed. The other’s half expected it. Morwen is humiliated and feels lost. How can she fight now? But of course, her father’s girlfriend comes to the rescue with a conveniently bought ship! Oh, did I mention she was soul shackled by Ominek? I might have forgotten to mention that. So Morwen now has a means to leave the planet. In theory. The ship she’s given is little more than a few plates of steel held together by spit and hope.
Morwen’s ship hurts as much to look at as it does to fly, but it’s something. And that gives her enough hope to press on. It sure beat staying on Eryn and getting drunk all the time. Time to rally the crew! Her first stop is her new XO, Akamori. He’s an easy sell. If there’s a fight against the bad guys, he’ll step up. Amara was easily counted on too. Sirsir agreed to go, but Yasiin and Sala decided to stay home. They’ve spent a lot of time away from their families and catching up is important for the Nomad and the Primal.
Morwen tries not to take the rejection to heart and pushes forward. The fate of her world is at stake. But she has to find a world that can’t be found. Or worse, doesn’t want to be found. So she tasks Amara with helping her to do that. But before they can, Ashkatoph who was lurking in orbit, pounces. The attack beats the scrappy ship up badly, and the team barely escapes into the Umbral plane. Or so they thought. Ashkatoph chases them in, and the team sets off some brilliant magical fireworks to draw the creatures of the dark to attack.
While Ashkatoph defends herself from unimaginable horrors of the deep, the crew escapes on their beat up rust bucket. Now they set a course for their destination with Destiny. However, no one said getting to your destiny would be an easy ride. As the now mangled ship, the crew are riding on needs to land. Which it does. In pieces.
The crew quickly realize they aren’t alone on the surface as a horde of fire wildlings swarm after them. After some creative applications of magic, the crew can flee to the Crystal Palace. A location that stands outside of time and space. An anchor point for all realities and possibilities.
Inside, they meet the Librarians. A race of custodial creatures who tend and manage the great library contained within the Crystal Palace. The squad gets to rest before each being taken to meet the goddess Sashlu, the goddess of Destiny and Fate herself. Each member of the squad gets a brief conversation with her and receives a portion of her power. Necessary keys for the trials to come. Like Hidros, Sashlu is remaking them and forging them into tools to be used in the grand game.
And just in time too, because Ominek is up to a lot of really bad things on Eryn while our heros are gone. With all the pieces in place, he launches his attack. Eryn is defenseless, with Morwen and the others gone. But all hope isn’t lost completely. Sala and Yasiin are still on Eryn to hold the line until backup comes. It’s definitely a Code Brown situation.
Hatchlings and undead attacking everywhere as a distraction from the main thrust, a surgical attack against the Arch Priest. Morwen’s old man is no slouch, but he’s fighting a losing fight, and one that he saw coming the instant he gave Morwen her prophecy. This was a fated moment he couldn’t escape. All that was left was to make it hurt, and he does exactly that.
Morwen and the gang are on their way back and they get jumped by Ashkatoph again. But this time, they’re ready with a sick new ride, the Indra, a corvette sized spell ship with 4 main spell cannons that can be fired from any spell console. It bangs as the kids say.
The crew beats Ashkatoph and makes best speed to Eryn. They show up to an absolute warzone and Morwen is almost shaken. But training kicks in and everyone gets to work. The team focuses on containing the fighting in the capital and Morwen and Akamori make their way to the Arch Priest. The good guys kick names and take butt forcing Ominek to retreat. At the end of the day both sides win a little and lose a little.
Ominek kills Morwen’s old man, and leaves a vicsious scar on Eryn that won’t heal anytime soon. And the gang prevented Ominek from completely destroying Eryn’s capital city. However the city is reeling and affraid. Not to mention the socioeconomic climate is dramatically different now that the dwarves and humans have access to expensive magic materials.
Volume 3: Kinslayer
Book 3 begins shortly after where we left off in two. Eryn is still reeling from the attack by Ominek. The gang spend some time celebrating the lives lost and also take the opportunity to earn a little extra coin. They head to the Adventurer’s Guild after a quick bar fight, and head out to fight an Icon, a false god conjured forth by the wild tribe in the forest. Ominek’s attack caused unrest within the tribe, making them feel desperate enough to create a false god of aether and crystal.
After the team puts down the false god, they get word that the new Arch Priest, Erlaut, has decreed an Inquisition against the Sauridius shacklers. This goes over with mixed results among the populace. And the progress is about 1 step forward, two steps back. During their missions, the crew encounters a nasty pair of hatchlings that really give Akamori a challenge. To think in the first book our crimson maned hero struggled against one of them. Our little boy is all grown up now.
So after enough of this search and destroy missions, the crew feels like they’re just banging their heads against the wall. Trapped in another losing quagmire. They need to take the initiative. Luckily, the Arch Priest wants Morwen to go to Anazi and try to woo the last of the dragons to Eryn’s side before the Sauridius bind them all. So they all head to Eryn aboard the Crasher with Morwen back in command.
When they land, they’re greeted by a massive serpentine dragon that guides them down to the surface. Introductions are rough, so Morwen brings out her trump card, her secret in with the dragons–Akamori. It extremely pissed only the dragons off with him for going around and slaughtering their kin. Dragon slaying is very taboo between both the dragons and their riders.
Soooo yeah. They threaten to just eat him on the spot, which wouldn’t go over well with anyone. Eventually, it’s suggested he do some kind of ritual death march. That buys him time, but one way or another, he’s going to die. Either by combat, or by Anazi’s judgement. The dragons as a result decline Morwen’s invitation, instead offering to invite her to a party so they can swap cultural stories and rub elbows. Get to know each other, y’know?
Except, Morwen doesn’t have time or patience for games. She’s on a mission. She’s after a weapon to win the war. She’s after the legendary spell ship, rumored to be somewhere near Anazi. So she asks Amara to find it. Amara heads to the library, and eventually makes her way below the surface with an archeologist from the Brotherhood to help her, Dr. Nathan Ford.
Amara, Yasiin, and Ford venture into the depths of Anazi searching for the lost spell ship. Akamori traverses the wilds of Anazi seeking judgement. Morwen wrestles with Anazi’s political landscape. None of them are having fun. Except maybe Amara.
Akamori finds another Icon on Anazi. This one is an Air magic based Icon. He defeats it and moves on. Then faces off against a cadre of warrior’s hand selected to defeat him by the current leader of the dragons. Amara, Ford, and Yasiin stumble upon a special command center staffed by the shade of Fahnes, a Light Goddess. She helps coach Amara through using the Time Controls so they can find the spell ship.
Morwen gets tired of Keimut’s preening and soundly hands him his ass in a game they all pride themselves in. This naturally sets him off, making him determined to ruin Morwen. He allows the Sauridius hatchlings the gang encountered on Eryn to attack Morwen. They want Rozien so they can gain access to the weapon she’s after. The attack overwhelms Morwen is exposed without Akamori, Amara, and Yasiin. Ominek’s daughters steal Rozien.
In the distant future, in a parallel reality where everything sucks and nothing matters, Amara, Yasiin and Dr. Ford find the legendary spell ship! Hooray. One problem. They aren’t in Kansas anymore. Another problem. Ominek’s daughters have found it too.
Akamori wins his deathmarch and then gets incinerated by lightning. He chats with the goddess Anazi who is really just Hravesvalgyr going by a pseudonym. Like a Draconic god with a pen name. Her memories are disjointed, but she shows Akamori more snippets of the past. Then she takes his weird black armor and locks it up. She really didn’t like it. Everyone’s a critic. When she’s done with him, she offers some parting advice cryptically before dismissing him into the aether.
…Where he reappears inside a dark, mucky chamber. He fumbles around before eventually finding a woman sobbing. She’s almost covered in black goo. He finds out her name is Cerene, and she’s supposed to take him to a door. When they finally get there, it opens up to reveal one of Ominek’s daughters holding Rozien. They both do a cartoon double take for a moment before Akamori casually removes the hatchlings hand and takes Rozien back. Then he kills her sister by electrocuting her from the inside out. Lesson learned here? Always wear a helmet with your armor. Or not suck at spell shielding. Or maybe both? Ok, multiple lessons here. Good luck in your next life, moving on.
Akamori, Amara, Yasiin and Dr. Ford manage to translocate the Theferis to the correct time and reality. Morwen, now armed with a series warship, goes on a rampage, and stomps a planet sized mudhole in the Sauridius forces. Before she’s done, though, reinforcements arrive in the system at the edge, and everyone goes to work. In the bowls of the ship, Akamori finds a spell mech. The rest of the crew man the bridge.
Lots of pew pew pew, and bang bang bang ensues. It’s a real action move set piece. It all ends with Akamori kicking Keimut’s ass. With him defeated, he cedes his position as de facto leader of the last flight.
The story ends with Akamori realizing he’s becoming more than just a spell warrior and finally acknowledges he’s not entirely mortal anymore and needs to start buckling down and facing what he’s become.
As that’s happening, Amara is confronted by a powerful demi god who enigmatically goes by the name The Remover of Obstacles. He offers Amara power and the opportunity to ascend to godhood herself. He also threatens to kill everyone if she tells them what’s going on. Planting seeds of doubt and division in the crew. Then he departs. We close with a scene of the Remover meeting one of the strange black-robed men in masks meeting him. It would seem the Remover of Obstacles has a benefactor guiding his actions.
So! Now that you’re up to speed, let’s get on with the show.