Lion's Soul

Look for a highly-revised and expanded version of Lion's Soul (and Lion's Heart) to appear serialized online, along with the third Chevenga book, 'asa kraiya.' (Google "Chevenga.") If you wonder how there can be a third Chevenga book... it's all explained. Why am I returning to it? I found that I hadn't yet said everything I wanted to using Chevenga as a character, and visiting his world again with the greater knowledge and maturity I had acquired in the intervening years I find I really enjoy. As well, there are some Fifth Millennium stories that Shirley Meier and I conceived that have never got into print as of yet.

This is one of seven books in the Fifth Millenium series by Wehrstein, SM Stirling, and Shirley Meier. It falls concurrent with The Cage (Meier/Stirling) and Shadow's Son (Meier/Stirling/ Wehrstein) in the timeline of a post-Apocalyptic world filled with moral dilemmas, sweeping destinies, magic, politics, and swordplay. Every book in this series is wonderful, but the two books about Chevenga are extra-special.Indulge in "chiravesa" (a yeoli philosophy of "being the other") for a moment, and be Chevenga: by the time he was six years old, he knew he had a choice between early death (before the age of thirty) and everlasting glory, or an obscure life and the end of his people. What would you choose? What would any hero choose? But glory doesn't come without a price for Chevenga, beyond the guarantee of early death, and his sufferings and challenges in the two books (Lion's Heart and Lion's Soul) are enough to make one weep. His time as a captive arena fighter and slave to the Imperator of Arko should give plenty of satisfaction to those who enjoy good descriptions of swordplay and the struggle between a slave and master; the romance he has with a beautiful gladiatrix should please the love-addicts among readers; the politics and intrigue are worthy of George R.R. Martin (if rather more condensed).An added bonus from this series: it teaches responbility and caring in a way that many parents no longer do. It shows that being a hero doesn't necessarily mean flash and daring, but rather courage to do what's right even when it hurts, as well as considering all sides of an issue before making a decision. It encourages people to grow and change for the better. In other words, it's normal fantasy literature! Yet there will be those out there who complain that it's not a Christian book, or that it teaches Devil-worship (like the much-maligned Harry Potter books, just because they mention magic), or that it will cause people to do drugs or enjoy same-sex love... All I can say to those folks is, when you shut wonder and beauty away from yourself because you're afraid it might teach you something different from your world view, you also shut yourself IN, and miss the things that make so many book wonder-ful!I actually didn't mean to go on a rant, there, I'll just end by saying this: The only bad thing about these two wonderful books (the entire wonderful series, for that matter) is that they are out of print.

I agree wholeheartedly with the reader who reviewed the other book by Wehrstein in the Fifth Millenium series! I don't think any other fantasy-series (my personal collection of SF and fantasy has reached some 500+ titles by now) has ever affected me like this series, and as amazingly good as the rest of it is ("Shadow's Daughter" by Shirley Meyer, "Snowbrother" by SM Stirling, "Sword and Shadow" and "The Cage" by Meyer and Stirling, and "Shadow's Son" by all three) these two ("Lion's Heart", "Lion's Soul") by Wehrstein are without a doubt the very best of the lot. The first book describes the hero, knowing from an early age that he will die young at the hands of an assassin and that there is so much he must do before then, growing up in a most fascinating fantasy (actually it's post-nuclear holocaust) society, dealing with some of the other beautifully desribed fascinating cultures and ending up as a gladiator when taken prisoner by the... need I say it?.. equally fascinating baddie empire. The second book describes his escape and the war he leads against this empire, his attempts to reform the society of that conquered people, and finally his death (you'll feel the tears well up when you read that part!). The agonies and trials he suffers during these two books makes one wonder if Ms Wehrstein really enjoys torturing her hero but it only touches the reader even deeper. Why, oh why are these two books so unknown among lovers of SF and fantasy?! Reprint them NOW! Reprint the whole Fifth Millenium series! Find these books, no matter how many used-book shops you have to turn upside down, and read them!