Why stick with one timeline when you can tell a story from the past, present, and future? In this ambitious fantasy, author Kane Williams upends genre expectations and crafts a story that is both refreshing and exciting.

The book encompasses multiple points of view. There is Antarna, who could be considered overpowered but for one slight difficulty: like many a superhero, she refuses to kill. She doesn’t shy away from physical threats, but she also doesn’t want to be the one to take a life. While I found her interesting, I wondered about whether she could grow at all, what with already being so strong.

I shouldn’t have wondered. Her relationship with Cal (one of the other main characters) allowed both of them to experience excellent development. The way they interacted with each other was great. Cal felt the most like a classic epic fantasy character to me, and I really loved that. He had his flaws and obstacles to overcome, yet he clearly had good intentions.

Danger of all kinds (human, monstrous, even emotional) wraps the main characters in a less-than-loving embrace, keeping the stakes high throughout the course of the story. The way magic works is flipping awesome, and the world is chock-full of the sort of creativity that I love to see in a fantasy novel.

If you like your fantasy epic, your storylines complex, and your villains truly villainous, Perils of the Past is the book for you.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book. Perils of the Past is available for purchase now.

Straight up FANTASY.

We are thrust immediately into the world created by Kane Williams. Our main character Antarna is in the process of figuring out her past life. If she can access this ‘power’ she has to help with her present self. This story is told in three different times; Antarna’s past, present and future. She accesses her past through a portal on a stone and she has to essentially ‘leave her body’ to see it. Think projection of sorts.

There is action, adventure, death, lies and deception and mystery that lay within the pages of this book. Nothing short of amazing. If you’re looking for a mind bending interactive fast paced let’s figure out which past life power I had then pick this novel up because you’re in for a treat!

I am extremely happy that this book graced NetGalley for everyone to read. I was in a book slump, needed a pick me up, and this book stayed in my hands. I loved every page. The magic, the world building, the character development were all top notch. Antarna was a very well fleshed out character with an awesome companion. Cal's progression through the book was amazing but I have to say that the world was my favorite aspect of this book. The vibe that Kane starts with page one just sets the tone for how this book unfolds. The magic system, no spoilers, was very unique. All trying to progress through your own time while being haunted by your past life is an amazing idea that I believe Kane absolutely did an amazing job with. The world was just very well written again with details that you have to appreciate. I would put this as one of my top 5 books I have read this year. The use of gods in this fantasy were very impressive. I think that this author has so much potential and I hope this book gets the praise it deserves.

Thank you to NetGalley & Kane Williams for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5 stars.
Genre(s): high fantasy.

Overall impression: a high stakes, epic fantasy standalone novel with complex characters, a multi-layered plot and detailed world-building. The story took lots of twists and turns, allowing us to go on an adventure with Antarna through multiple landscapes where she faced killer plants, monsters and villains. I was hooked right from the start and couldn't predict where the story was going to end. I had a really good time reading this novel and can't wait to see what other books Kane releases.

Tropes:
➵ Stabby FMC
➵ Animal companion
➵ Found family
➵ An epic quest
➵ Reincarnation & past lives
➵ Magic
➵ Flawed characters
➵ Gods & Goddesses
➵ Royalty
➵ Arranged marriage
➵ Sword fights
➵ Beasts & monsters
➵ Botanical horror
➵ Betrayal
➵ Hidden identities
➵ Fantasy war
➵ She saves the world

⤷ Plot:
A plot-driven epic fantasy adventure with complex layers and plenty of mystery. It was highly immersive with multiple character POV's - each completely different from the other, including that of a struggling seer, rebel and survivor turned warrior. Each character tried to lead the world down a different path based on their desires, motivations and beliefs. It was impossible to predict which way the story would turn and I was surprised by a few of the plot twists towards the end.

⤷ Characters:
Antarna was one of the core characters. She was young but toughened from her past, having survived an assassination attempt and subsequent training in the mountains to learn how to better protect herself and her family. She was really likeable and self-sacrificing, which encouraged some of the other characters to undergo development and become less self-centred. Antarna was really relatable and had realistic responses to the trials that she faced.

The rest of the characters were equally as well-developed and complex. Most of them were flawed which made them more realistic and helped add depth to the story.

⤷ World-building:
Though high fantasy books are often long and part of extended series, Perils of the Past lives up to the genre through detailed world-building. Kane crafted a unique snowy world with deadly mountains, impossibly deep ice caves with frozen waterfalls, dense jungles with man-eating plants, mirror-like lakes with millions of species of plants and animals in the coral reef beneath the surface, and a medieval castle and surrounding villages. I could vividly picture all of the scenes and felt like I was exploring the world with the characters - which is the best feeling ever! There were a lot of really cool species in the novel too, some of which we got to see beautiful artwork of. It really reminded me why I love the fantasy genre so much and it felt really refreshing.

⤷ Writing:
Although the novel was complex and made up of multiple layers, I found that it was easy to follow what was going on and learn the lore of the world. The pacing was steady and information was trickled throughout the chapters, so it never felt like you were being dumped with too much at once. This would be a great book for beginners in the genre, whilst also appealing strongly to high fantasy fans (like myself). I'm excited to see what other stories Kane creates - he's an auto-buy author for me now.

⤷ Everything else:
I loved the artwork in the standard edition. The scenes chosen were all pivotal moments in the story and the drawings helped understand the strong emotions associated with them.

I could easily see this book getting picked up as a special edition one day. The Broken Binding SE or Page & Wick would do an amazing job designing endpaper art and sprayed edges that would bring the story even more to life.

Williams pulls you along swiftly into the ride, and keeps the pace going steady throughout. This is a world in some ways like ours but in many not. The exploration of the world is done by experience rather than exposition, and the author does good here. We follow 3 characters, Antarna, Cal, and Zanth. While each have their unique pasts, they come together. While the story moved along swiftly, something was missing for me. I did not connect with the characters and didn’t care so much for their cares as the story progressed.

Review: This novel jumps right through your front door, grabs a chicken leg from your plate, and steals your booze. Antarna (lol, I really don't know where they come up with these names), trained as an elite vegetarian sword fighter with past life regression issues, refuses to kill. She slaps men around with ease and climbs dangerous mountains on a whim so as to release her anger. She spies on mages with her cling serpent and discovers a calamity in the making. Ho-hum, all in a days work. See Antarna is not a believable character as the development is scant. She just suddenly sits in your lap, spits in your face and you are expected to like it.

Despite the lack of Antarna's development, Cal is a pretty good dood to follow. He is complex and simple at the same time. You follow his thinking process in logical progression, and it is comfortable. His responses to life, although somewhat predictable, are unique to his predicament. He is a character you root for, and that my friends, is hard writing to execute. Also, the quest into the deep dark forest has some great beasts and crazy wildlife / flora coupled with a magic system that is unique and varied.

I am glad I gave this booky a chance although I have a feeling that in successive novels Antarna will have almost super human ability while man-crushing on Cal and saving bugs. It is going to suck.

Perils of the Past by Kane Williams is such a good story. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic and the storyline is immaculate.