Black Gate Online, September 15, 2013

“Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey

Reviewed by Louis West

Ryan Harvey’s “Stand at Duben-Geb” tells of a fantasy world with ancient Shaper magic, domesticated hadrosaurs and a clan of Mongol-like nomadic peoples desperately trying to survive the genocidal attacks of a rival clan. Holed up in a cleft in the steep Duben-Geb mountains in the middle of drenching rains, what’s left of Clan Molghiz squabbles among themselves as their talahn leader lies dying. Alagh, war party leader, wants to move on, which would kill their talahn. Khasar, hadro-herder, advises otherwise, earning Alagh’s continued hatred. Khasar is convinced Alagh wants the leadership for himself, regardless of the cost. And Alagh has hated Khasar ever since Khasar escaped his magic-wielding slave master to rejoin the clan.

A landslide uncovers an ancient colossus, a forty-foot soulless, dead metal giant. But Khasar’s years with a magic-wielder have given him a sensitivity to the Arts and the craft that could perhaps reawaken this creature. Their enemies attack, mass waves intended to overwhelm and destroy. In the midst of this chaos, Khasar must figure out how to use the colossus to save them while avoiding being killed by the blood-thirsty Alagh.

A fun story that reminded me a bit of the old Conan tales, but all too predictable. Sadly, the first sentence required multiple reads to sort through, and the ending sounded way too much like “and they lived happily ever after.”