Unholy

A Gothic Fantasy

By: Austin Valenzuela

Narrated by: Wayne Farrell

Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Unholy gives the complete epic fantasy experience in novella form, following the story of a young boy who realizes his church's corrupt ways. Lord Jericho, the leader of the church of St. Damascus, trains students in the art of killing dragons and harnessing their magic. Isaac, a student of the church, is called to perform his final test of the year.

For the last five years, Isaac has gone against the ways of the Lord and refused to sacrifice the sacred creatures his father had always taught him to love. He doesn't belong. But when test day comes around, Isaac finally gives in to the pressure and sacrifices an innocent peach-colored dragon in front of the class. Appalled with himself and bullied by the others for caring, Isaac seeks redemption by breaking Lord Jericho's most important rule - never leave church grounds - and he stumbles into an adventure that will change his view of dragons forever.

©2020 Austin Valenzuela (P)2021 Austin Valenzuela

A feel good fantasy

I want to first mention that the narrator was perfect for this story, the accent and different voices really captured and enhanced the setting throughout the book.

This is a short story about a boy trying to uncover more about his fathers past through his research on dragons. While doing this the boy faces moral and societal dilemmas that exist regarding the use of dragons and their magic in the church. Facing these issues head on is the ultimate right thing to do even though the consequences could be life threatening.

Right off the bat I really enjoyed the fact that the dragons came in all shapes, sizes and colors. You typically think of them as these large dangerous beasts, but they are described as almost playful and cute creatures that make you want to side with the main character even more.

Speaking of characters, the 3 main characters have almost this Harry Potter dynamic with the main character on a quest, the clumsy best friend that tags along, then the intelligent female to help strategize and plan. It’s a nice dynamic that really works well for suspenseful situations.

**Slight spoilers ahead**

The first few chapters were actually my favorite, I enjoyed the school ranking and magic system, and with the vivid descriptions of slaughtering it was dark at the same time. Learning more about the background of the dragons and getting a better glimpse into Isaacs fathers adventures brought up a lot of questions and could easily be a whole story in itself.

The ending was also great with the weather and scenery playing an interesting role in the last scene. I also thought the irony of the ending with the dragons speaking through Jericho was humiliating, satisfying and the perfect way to communicate the dragons thoughts to the world.

Critiques (I’m no writer so take this with a grain of salt lol):

The middle part of the story seemed a bit drawn out compared to the beginning and ending. The start and finish filled my mind with questions and ideas of what could happen whereas the middle felt more like a description of what the characters were going to do and them doing it.

I found that some of the dialogue perhaps wasn’t needed. There were a couple times where the situation was clear and I knew what was at stake, and a character would say something obvious that was already inferred by the storytelling in itself. There were also some of those action movie one liners that made some scenes a bit more playful or less serious, which can be a rose and a thorn.

It was also a fairly linear timeline throughout the story until chapter 11 or so when the void was introduced. Seeing different perspectives of the world I think is an excellent way to add another layer to the existing story. This was well done with the void and through the past explanations of his fathers work, and it really got me thinking about all the moving parts in this world.

Overall though I really enjoyed the way the world and characters were built and uncovered throughout the story, and the way the plot was incorporated into that. At the end I felt for Isaac and took a lesson from him. The way he was humble with the situation at hand, never gave in to the societal pressures of his peers and at the end of the day stuck with his gut to do the right thing was awesome to see pay off. I look forward to learning more about him and this universe in the future, well done!

You’ll love this if you love Harry Potter

I absolutely love this dark fantasy YA novel! I cannot wait to read more from this new author. I definitely think that the choice of a British voice actor really helped to immerse in this world that’s full of dragons, wizardry, and magic.

What a story!

Unholy a Gothic Fantasy was a really wonderful read. I don't usually read this type of genre but I was hooked from the very first chapter. It was filled with so much imagery and the description of the characters and the surroundings that I felt as if as if was were there with the characters. I felt for the main character and his dragon. I will recommend this book to my sons, who love these type of stories. I hope the author comes out with a sequel.

Good Job Austin

Kept me intrigued though the whole story
Liked the way you used clues into your story to keep the listener engaged and focus.
Great little story for car rides and for relaxing
Keep up the work!!!