Genre: Sci-Fantasy, Romance Sub-Arc
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay, Bisexual, Intersex
Reviewer: Estora
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About The Book
A guard and a thief. What could go wrong?
Aik has fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend. But Raven’s a thief, which makes things … complicated. Oh, and Raven has just been kidnapped by a dragon.
Now Aik is off on a quest of his own, to hunt down the foul beast and make them give back his … friend? Lover? Soulmate? The whole not-knowing thing just makes everything harder.
Meanwhile, the world of Tharassas is falling apart, besieged by earthquakes, floods, and strange creatures no one has ever seen before. Aik’s ex, Silya has gone back to Gullton to do try to save her people as the Hencha Queen, and Aik’s stuck in a caravan with her mother and a damnable magical gauntlet that won’t let him be. He has to find Raven, before it’s too late.
Things were messy before … but now they’re much, much worse.
The Review
This review contains spoilers for the first book of the Tharassas Cycle, The Dragon Eater, so if you haven’t read that book first – what are you waiting for?!
The Dragon Eater left us on a cliffhanger, with our three main protagonists – Raven the thief who is now part-dragon, the guard Aik who is in love with Raven, and Silya the new Hencha Queen – scattered across the land. Raven was kidnapped by beasts that brought him to a small community of others like him. Aik is on a mission with Tri’aya (Silya’s mother) to find the man he loves and bring him home at great risk to himself, but he is also under the dangerous influence the gauntlet fused to his arm that whispers cruel temptations in his mind. Silya is returning to her home city to prepare it for a dangerous cataclysm to come and has found herself drawn to the guard Kerrick while the elements turn hostile around them, somehow linked to the lurking threat of the spore mother.
There is a lot going on, needless to say. The Gauntlet Runner is a welcome expansion to Coatsworth’s intriguing world of Tharassas. In particular, I enjoyed the larger cast of intriguing new characters, such as Jai and Astrid who are fellow dragon-eaters like Raven, as well as the chance to see more of the world from different areas than the city of Gullton through the eyes of Raven, Aik and Silya. All three of our main characters are learning more about their new abilities and powers, while forging bonds with new characters – and in some instances the chemistry is absolutely sizzling, even if the unions aren’t meant to be. After all, Raven and Aik deserve their happy ending, though I imagine it’ll be quite a trial for them!
What fascinated me the most were the revelations about human presence on Tharassas and how they came to be there, and the true history of this dangerous world that pre-dates human civilisation. There is a running theme of sentience and symbiosis that ties in to some revelations about the world and history, which I won’t spoil here! The AI “Spin” who was Raven’s companion in the first book, and becomes Aik’s companion in this book, is a treasure trove of history – and although he is separated from his beloved friend, I was glad for the opportunities to learn more from him and about him in the hands of other characters who know the right questions to ask. (Tri’aya for president!)
The unique terminology of the novels can feel a little intimidating at times, just like the strange world in which it is set, but I was so grateful that Coatsworth included a the glossary at the end of the book. I also enjoyed making a game of things, where I would try to guess what each new word meant, then I would check the glossary to see if I was right.
Where the first book was mostly set-up, The Gauntlet Runner is packed with adventure and moments of danger for our beloved heroes on their perilous journeys. The worldbuilding continues to be truly fascinating, and things have only just gotten started. Thankfully, I have the next book in the series, The Hencha Queen, loaded up on my ereader ready to go. Catch you at the next stage of this thrilling journey.
The Reviewer
Estora is a long-time reader and writer of LGBT+ speculative fiction
