Having really enjoyed this series, I gladly accepted a review copy of this volume of short stories that that take place around the main story.
So thanks to the author for the review copy!
Ioth was gone. Kingshold had fallen.
But we could not give up.
I am Mareth, once Lord Protector of Kingshold, and these are the stories of what happened after the fall, when everyone was at their lowest ebb. These are the stories of how the battle against Llewdon moved from the Jeweled Continent to Alfaria – the Wild Continent.
The next installment in the exciting Wildfire Cycle. Tales of Ioth, Book 2.5 of the Wildfire Cycle is essential reading, including a novella in five parts and four other short stories.
Dudenas (Novella) – Picking up immediately from the end of Ioth, City of Lights. The heroes of Kingshold have failed and Llewdon has seemingly won.
But Neenahwi rallies the group that is traumatized by the loss of their friends and sets a new destination for their fight back – the Wild Continent. Allied with the dwarfs and travelling by giant purple worm, they set out on a harrowing journey under the ocean and through the dark of the Dudenas to the birth place of Neenahwi and Motega.
The Beginning of Things – The Wild Continent has it’s own creation story, and it all began with a tree. This is the story of the mother-tree, the animals that sprang from her fruit, and the people they created.
Profit and Plain Sailing – Vin Kolsen has a ship, a loyal(ish) crew and success raiding Pyrfew ships off the coast of the Wild Continent. But why should that be enough when there is greater opportunity out there. If only there was a pirate king to bring together the North Sea Corsairs.
The Wanderer – What will the visitors in green and gold to Yamaagh’s clan shortly after they discover the destruction of their hated enemies, the wolfclaw, mean for his destiny of becoming the “the strongest living warrior of the tigereye”? And who is the man without a name setting traps for those who have invaded his home?
The Further Adventures of Old Man and His Pyxie – Jyuth is retired. He is done with magic and just wants to spend his remaining days indulging in those ‘hobbes’ he has been neglecting for the past few centuries. An old man just wants to have fun, but can he really walk away from everything?
Tales of Ioth starts out with a short story called The Beginning of Things, which details the creation myth of the Wild Continent. The story starts with a tree, who then spawns all kinds of creatures and how they interact. It reads like a lot of actual creation myths from our own world read, so I thought that was really neat.
The next story is called Profit and Plain Sailing, wherein Vin Kolsen gets a crew of pirates together and starts raiding Pyrfew ships out by the Wild Continent. They build a small port town and the shenanigans ensue there too!
The Further Adventures of Old Man and His Pyxie follows the wizard Jyuth as he attempts (for reals this time) to retire. I thought I was going to love this one but sort of bounced off it in the end. There was ah… a lot happening here, and a lot of it was a little TMI, Jyuth. >.>
The Wanderer is the story of Yamaagh of the Tigereye clan. He has just found his spirit animal when his clan fights with the Pyrfew invaders, and we see how that goes for him. I liked Yamaagh, and it will be interesting to see if he makes an appearance in the next book.
Lastly (though not lastly in the reading order) there is a novella in this collection called Dundenas. This is the story of what happens between Ioth and the next book in the series, and I can already tell that it is going to be helpful for me going into book 3. Dundenas tells the story of Mareth and co.’s travels to the Wild Continent. It’s too risky to go by sea, since there are Pyrfew ships and pirates everywhere, and so they go through Dundenas: a system of tunnels through the earth. They travel by giant purple worm (like ya do) and many adventures happen along the way. We see the story from several points of view as it goes. I quite enjoyed it, and found myself getting jostled in the feels a few times unexpectedly to boot. I’m really glad that I read it before I started book 3.
So, all told, I liked Tales of Ioth, and I think it’s a great collection of stories to read if you’re a fan of the series. ^_^ 4/5 stars!~
superstardrifter 
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