Novella Review: The Broken Road by Teresa Frohock
The Broken Road by Teresa Frohock
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction
Series: Frayed Empire #1
Publisher: The Story Vault (September 2014)
Author Info: www.tfrohock.com
Wendy’s Rating ~ 5 of 5 stars.
Kill it. With fire.
One of my biggest complaints in fantasy and science fiction is the way far too many authors can’t seem to let go of the sexism that plagues our reality. What I love about Frohock’s writing is that she gives me a world I want to see: a world of diverse characters who aren’t judged by the things that I have to deal with on a day to day basis.
Not that the characters in The Broken Road don’t deal with prejudice and hate. The aristocracy have little love for the “groties,” the physically challenged lowborn that they lord over. Our protagonist, Prince Travys, suffers his own challenges, being born mute–which makes life difficult for him as a Chanteuse, the magic users who hold the threads of their world together.
Unique forms of magic always appeal to me. The Chanteuse use their voices to weave their magic, ranging from a few words, to beautiful, haunting melodies that I can almost hear as I read. The magic is unique, as is the way Travys’ overcomes his disability by drawing sound from his environment.
As the story unfolds, we learn that Travys’ mother, the Queen, intends him to marry his twin brother’s lover and rule as king. But there is more to this than politics and sibling rivalry. The lowborn have resurrected the dead god, and a strange, corrupted magic is seeping into cracks between the world of Lehbet and Heled on the other side, which Travys is forced to travel to when his brother betrays him.
This is where the story gets *really* interesting, as Frohock smoothly blends her worlds of fantasy, horror and…. flamethrowers.
Everything’s better with fire…
The BiblioSanctum 
Oh it’s rare to have a novella that good! I’m impessed!
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I didn’t realize this stood alone, just assumed it tired to her full length book. Good to know.
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This does look like a little slice of fried gold, cant wait to read it.
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Slice of fried gold. Best quote.
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I have to say although I use it a lot I cant take all the credit for it.
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I’ll take aristocracy prejudice over sexism any day; I’m relieved to learn that Frohock breaks out of the standard Sci Fi mold in this novella, especially given that she’s a female author to boot. It would appear as though we both have a fire theme going with our reviews today, but flamethrowers definitely trump romance!
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What could possibly ever go wrong when playing with fire?
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First I was all eh, but dang this does sound good
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Definitely some interesting concepts at play.
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yeah I like some good dark magic – but the eyeeee if freaks me out
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The Broken Road has been getting a lot of love lately, and I’m pretty excited about it myself. A stand alone that’s (significantly) shorter than the standard 500 page length of most fantasy? Yes please! I get the sense that the world building was top notch too, given how awesome the Chanteuse sound!
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A lot of story can be told in just a few pages. I think authors are getting carried away these days.
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