Black Stone Heart (The Obsidian Path 1), Michael R. Fletcher, 2020 (392 pg)
This is the opening volume to a scorchingly intense trilogy exploring the nature of free will, evil, and what it means to try to be a “better man” when the previous version of you was beyond despicable. It opens with a feral, desperate creature coming slowly back to life in a tomb meant to be a prison. Fueled by blood, the wraith claws desperately free of the earth in which it has slept imprisoned, only to find a menagerie of death above where he has slept--and a lone, gaunt looking wolf, watching patiently.
In a key moment a short bit later, he discovers a version of himself, seemingly drawn to him.
“Who are you,” I asked the corpse. “And what do you remember?”
Naturally, the awakened one kills the newcomer -- how better to get your questions answered?
These turn out to be key questions, and foreshadows a long and uncertain struggle fraught with doubt, powerful enemies, manipulation and layers of self-deception. This murder sets off a chain of events which sees him gain a tenuous connection to life and love, only to find that old evils die very, very hard.
Our narrator’s past is veiled behind secrets and misdirection, but still pulses with a malevolent urgency. The protagonist slowly wakes to the knowledge that he harbors vast potential within him. But what eludes him, at least at first, is knowledge of the ends to which that potential may be harnessed. Good, or evil?
I was, I realized, at war with myself. Every time I did something righteous...some part of me sabotaged the act. I didn’t even see it happening.
Fletcher is a talented writer, and the story he unwinds here is exquisitely-crafted. This is grimdark at its finest, a journey whose refinement makes it no less excruciating and mysterious. There is a fantasy element here which is carefully and expertly crafted. But it’s a vehicle for exploring some very deep, very dark questions about who we are at a fundamental level.
I had to be a better person than the man I had been. Why was it so difficult to stay focused on that? Why did I so easily slip into behavior most would call evil?
Most? I stifled a laugh.
What if that was me. What if I was evil? Could someone want to be better and still be evil? Did the attempt matter for anything?
There’s obsidian in them ‘thar hills…
We are not--presumably--afflicted with the exact dilemmas which befall our awakening “hero”. But the question of who and what we are is one everyone faces. And just as critical is the one of how wide is the distance between the light and good of our intentions and the dark and flawed execution of our actual acts? Timeless questions. Fletcher explores them unsparingly, lovingly flaying away layer after layer of obfuscation until we--and the narrator--both have to confront an increasingly clear vision of what he was. What he will be is, perhaps, open to discussion.
Fletcher writes with a keen eye for human foibles, but leavens his observations with flashes of dry humor. This is an excellently-crafted exploration of a being for whom “morally gray” doesn’t even start to do justice. (And comes with a theme song!)
Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (1 smirk in 392 pages.)
Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5 pts
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: High: 2 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 8.5/10 (rounded to five stars)