[Fantastic worlds] The demon of Arbennios: revenge as a leimotiv

Nowadays, being an influencer, YouTuber or part of the “famous” is a guarantee in terms of book sales. This may be bad news for the world of literature, but when the influencer in question is dedicated to the world of books, things change. Such is the case of the youtuber Kai47, alias ofBernard Tordelló, which carriesa channelwhere he explains the Tolkien universe in detail, and through which I metThe demon of Arbennios, his first novel, which I am about to review.

The story revolves arounda warrior named Kai. This is a young man who has been through different armed forces. At a very young age he joined the Infernal Order, the elite corps of the kingdom of Lénoda, followed by the guard of Arbennios, its capital. At the beginning of the novel, it is asimple personal escort of Nárenwal, a nobleman of the city, in which he works in rotating shifts. It is a monotonous job, but it provides you with the stability you need.

Outside of work, Kaispends time with his group of friends, with whom he usually meets at El Escudo Heserio, his trusted tavern run by Shana and her fiancé Iwo. In addition to these two, the group is made up of her cousin Landia, Arden, her husband, and Dan, the latter two also men at arms.He also secretly saw Rálenna, his beautiful lover.the one he loved madly but about whom he had not spoken to any of them.

His life was, therefore, simple but satisfying. Unfortunately,everything would blow upcertain fateful day that seemed like any other. Kai escorted his lord to the house of Gálorei, another nobleman of whom Nárenwal was a friend. Everything was going on normally until Vala, his companion in arms, treacherously murdered the two nobles and Iago, the other guard, tried to kill Kai himself. Although he was able to get out of the situation successfully,He was accused of crimes he had not committed.

The demon of Arbenniosis ashort novel with a simple plot. It does not reach three hundred pages and there are no forks in the plot, focusing the action at all times on Kai. The fact thatfighting takes precedence over almost everything else, with a long description of each maneuver, pose, blow, dodge and feint, reminds me a lot ofThe dark elf, especially his second book. This means that I say the same thing as in that one:sometimes I got upset with so much fighting.

His narrative deserves special mention. Isdirect, concise and with repetition resourceswhich can be, pardon the redundancy, somewhat repetitive, but which allow the author to emphasize the most tragic, emotional or exciting moments. What's more,He has done a great job in reflecting the protagonist's inner anxiety, his doubts, fears and suffering., demonstrating how immersive prose can be without having to resort to the first person of the present tense.

His style is raw, violent and heartbreaking, as much or even more than Salvatore's work.. It shares with The Dark Elf the figure of a protagonist who is disproportionately skilled with the sword, but who is forced to fight alone in a cruel and merciless society. I would even say thatThe demon of Arbennios It has an even more bitter aftertaste and a more pessimistic tone.

Unlike Drizzt, Kai is not so much driven by principles asthe crudest desire for revenge against those who destroyed his life. The personality and objectives of the protagonist are forged by blows throughout the story. There are those who see this as something to criticize. I, on the contrary, highlight it as one of the strong points of this novel.We see someone real, made of flesh and blood. Strong on the outside, but broken on the inside. Some pieces that must be put together to create something new.

The main drawback I find with this book is theThe way in which the protagonist emerges from some situations, seriously injured and deprived of the basic needs of a human being, is hardly believable.. This is what gets me the most from the story.

The demon of ArbenniosIt belongs to fantastic literature, yes, butIt's a pretty "earthly" fantasy.. At no time do they appear, nor is there any mention, of fictitious races of any kind, nor are there any allusions to magic or wizards, or to any supernatural creature. Only ten protective gods of the ten kingdoms of the continent of Dreinlar are mentioned, but there is nothing that lets us know that it goes beyond the mere religiosity of its people.

It is evident that Bernard Tordelló has been influenced by Tolkien, since there is aappendix at the end on the pronunciation of namesy una lista de cómo llaman a los reinos sus habitantes y los extranjeros. También es de loar su honestidad; según menciona, trató de dar coherencia y profundad a su universo dando reglas a dichos nombres, pero que no está seguro de haberlo logrado. En todo caso,es un universo que tiene potencialy, de hecho, ya ha dejado alguna otra obra que reseñaré en el futuro.

Por lo que respecta a otros recursos, llama la atención el modo en el que presenta los capítulos. Éstos tienen como nombre una única palabra (por ejemplo, “amistad”, “amor” o “venganza”), seguida de unsencillo dibujode un objeto que condensa en sí mismo el acontecimiento o concepto central del mismo.

Para teterminar, y a modo de curiosidad, mencionaré que Kai es, en realidad es un seudónimo, como el del propio autor. El hecho de que llegue a usar otro cuando se hizo pasar como incógnito sea el de Zen, me hace pensar que se inspiró en el poder de los saiyans de Dragon Ball (zenkai). Sí, aquel que les hace aumentar su poder de forma exponencial cuando combaten y salen heridos de una batalla.

The demon of Arbennioses una obra breve y de argumento no demasiado elaborado, pero crudo, descarnado, de tono pesimista y bastante trepidante, con un protagonista que se aparte por completo del típico cliché del héroe. Si eres de los que gustan de este tipo de fantasía o quieres iniciarte con una obra que no te sature de nombres de lugares, reyes, dinastías, seres fantásticos y demás, esta novela es para ti.

Al haber sido publicada en 2021, no hay problema alguno a la hora de encontrarla en librerías. Está disponible enformato de bolsillo en Booket.