SUMMARY: The Realms have split apart, the Stones of Elation have been hidden, and warnings of dokojin drift among the tribes.
The land and its people are corrupted. The Sachem, chief of the Unified Tribes, is to blame.
The BookViral Review: Genre – Dark Fantasy Fiction
With slick original plotting and high octane action, there’s much to keep the most ardent of fantasy fans on tenterhooks with Bailey’s The Jealousy Of Jalice.
Imaginative world building is the backbone of great fantasy and here he proves himself quite adept at delivering the goods. Slipping between realms with an amorphous logic, where things that are both familiar and strange, connect the physical and intangible realms. It’s an inventive approach as the age-old conflict between the forces of light and dark come in to focus and Bailey does well to avoid the cumbersome descriptions that have become all too common in fantasy fiction.
He certainly has an impressive eye for detail, but he never shares information with the reader without purpose – instead, he gives us just enough of his settings to reassure us that he has considered every facet of them. And it’s the same with his characters. Jalice, Annilasia and Delilee are particularly well rendered with compelling backstories whilst Hydrim and the demonic Dokojins, Dardajah and Inzerious are up there with the darkest of fantasy characters.
With hawkish prose, there isn’t a page that doesn’t enthrall whilst a shocking twist in the final chapters will leave readers eager for the next release in Bailey’s series. Highly recommended to discerning fans of fantasy fiction with a darker edge, The Jealousy Of Jalice proves a genuine page-turner and must-read.