The Wanderer

Chronicles of the Riftlands, Book 1

By: Rowan McAllister

Narrated by: Finn Sterling

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

After centuries of traveling the continent of Kita, and fighting the extra-dimensional monsters known as Riftspawn, mage Lyuc is tired and ready to back away from the concerns of humanity. 

But the world isn't done with him yet. 

While traveling with a merchant caravan, Lyuc encounters Yan, an Unnamed, the lowest caste in society. Though Yan has nothing but his determination and spirit, he reminds Lyuc what passion and desire feel like. While wild magic, a snarky, shape-shifting, gender-fluid companion, and the plots of men and monsters seem determined to keep Lyuc from laying down his burden, only Yan's inimitable spirit tempts him to hang on for another lifetime or so.

All Yan wants is to earn the sponsorship of a guild so he can rise above his station, claim a place in society, and build the family he never had. 

After hundreds of years of self-imposed penance, all Lyuc wants is Yan. 

If they can survive prejudice, bandits, mercenaries, monsters, and nature itself, they might both get their wish...and maybe even live happily ever after.

©2018 Rowan McAllister (P)2019 Dreamspinner Press

Seems iffy

While the fantasy of the story is great so far, I really cannot get behind the romance between the two pov characters. Yan is regularly described as almost a child/a child, switching between being called a young man and a boy, while Lyuc is an old man/wizard. You can probably guess my issue from that. Lyuc lusting after Yan makes me really dislike Lyuc’s character. It’s not helped by the voice acting that gives Yan a really whiny and high voice, childlike. Yan is probably just meant to be a twink, but it comes of as really peadophillic.

While I would love to read more non-hetro non-binary fantasy books, this is not what I want to see becoming normal in the genre.

Magic, monsters, and the human connection

Traveling far from his home after his protector dies, young Unnamed Yan is rescued from certain tortuous pain and death by fellow traveler, Lyuc. Lyuc is a powerful mage who has lived 1000 years on the continent of Kita, fighting to rectify mistakes from the past so that humans can live without threat from a form of life called Spawn who were released from the Rift, after a catastrophic event created a tear in space and time. Rowan McAllister creates a believable world where magic, wizards, Rift spawn and humans co-exist. McAllister's world scenarios depict depressingly typical human prejudice, selfishness, greed, and hypocrisy. But in the context of this society and man's disregard for the lives of other men, true love evolves between an abused young man and a powerful mage considering whether to continue living. There is nothing "pedophilic" about the relationship that grows between the two men, as one Audible/Amazon reviewer wrote. That review almost made me pass up the first book in what I believe will be a really good series. There's depth to Yan's personality, a sense that given the opportunity he'll grow into a good human in full possession of his own power. Yan is not being taken advantage of by an older man. Indeed, Lyuc initially resists any physical relationship, saying he's too old for Yan. Lyuc's actions offer Yan an escape from depravation, misery, and abuse when he pays for Yan's travel in the caravan, feeds and shelters him, and more importantly shows him respect despite the social caste system where an Unnamed is almost an untouchable slave. Yan's resilience , positive spirit, and admiration for the man himself help Lyuc find renewed happiness and purpose in life. There's much more to this world and story than I've written about, including other character's who bring depth and engaging interactions to a novel I thoroughly enjoyed. I sincerely hope the rest of the Chronicles of the Riftlands series will become narrated and show up in the Audible catalog!