The Book of the Created by Robert Boyczuk

The Book of the Created by Robert Boyczuk is the amazing third novel in the Created Series. If you have not read my recent reviews of the first two novels perhaps take a moment to bounce back on this site and check them out. Unlike many trilogies I have devoured in the past, I read these novels back-to-back. This only becomes stranger because the first was published in 2012 the second was published and 2015 and even though the first book sat on my shelves for almost 10 years, Boyczuk released the third book in just February of this year. So in an odd twist of fate, I’m glad I waited so long to read them because they were such fantastic novels that having to wait five years for the next one would have been difficult.

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror

Publisher: Choleric Press

Released: 2021

Stars: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Michael D. Griffiths

The novel continues the quest David has been given by the angels of lower heaven to stop the leaking of water into Hell. Soon however, the biblical landscape is replaced by one slowly drifting into science fiction. In fact the author has done something in this series few others can claim. He not only made a bizarre biblical quest come to life, but Boyczuk has written a novel which could claim to be fantasy, science fiction, and even horror all at once. The original setting is fantasy; a medieval land of clerics and Angels who battle for their own goals. However, unlike many fantasy novels, this novel dips into pure horror. Problems are not solved by some warrior leaping in the room and cutting things down with swords or flame throwing mages. No, David is only a young boy. He cannot solve his problems physically and most often, particularly in this novel, must watch atrocities and evil of the highest magnitude while helpless to do anything to prevent it. The guilt installed into his psyche through years of religious torment never cease to plague David as he witnesses horror after horror. Yet as the novel progresses, what we thought of as magic turns out to have its roots in science and high technology.

Another strong point of these novels is the holistic nature in which old characters, alliances, and even enemies are reintroduced while maintaining a constant feeling of mystery and uncertainty. The only thing more prevalent in this novel than the uncertainty is the danger David, and anyone associated with him is plunged into.

I see little I could throw a stick at within these pages. As an atheist none of the religious overtone bothered me and frankly, I found them fascinating. These are biblical tales, like any other, written from an author’s imagination. However, if somehow, I have a reader who is still devoted to the Christian doctrine. they might find this trilogy disturbing. Good Catholics might not want to let their kids read this one, but they probably should.

It is hard to overstate how pleased I was to find these novels. They took me on a wild ride. Inventive does not even scratch the surface of what is presented here. Everything about this series took risks and plowed new paths rarely seen. Like Dickens writing a biblical tale, David is a weak child with only his mind, wits, and his ability to convince others of his path to see him through dangers which would make Conan worry. I have already mentioned how the author mixes all the speculative fiction genres into one bundle but to say more would risk diminishing the pleasure you should get when you pick these up because you should.

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