Publication Date: June 12th, 2025
Ebook. 536 pages.
But their voyage has taken an unexpected detour, crashing in the Unclaimed Lands—an uninhabited forest teeming with deadly monsters and unknown magic. There won't be much-needed bonding time for the strained Harteus family, runaway Drea is farther from home than she ever planned, and reluctantly-retired filmmaker Raymond isn't sipping cocktails poolside any time soon.
Stranded in a place where even the plants want to kill you, there's no time to kick back and relax.
It's more than most of the wealthy guests can handle, and it's way above the waiters' pay grade, but they'll have to learn to work together if they want to survive.
'No one does a better job of putting everyday, ordinary, blue-collar folks into wild, insane fantasy situations than Travis Riddle. And getting to see him do that in one of my favorite fantasy worlds from another brilliant author, Tobias Begley? An absolute, unexpected pleasure.' - John Bierce, author of Mage Errant & More Gods Than Stars"
The Loss of the Star's Tranquility is the result of a collaboration between Travis M. Riddle--and if you're not new to my blog then you are most likely very familiar with that name--and Tobias Begley, which actually is a new name to me. Tobias Begley is the author of stories set in the Mana Mirror world, which is brand new to me, and Travis M. Riddle is the author of a whole slew of books that I've read and loved (and reviewed on this blog--if you're interested, just search his name!) including the most recently completed Jekua series. The result of both authors working together is this book, in which I've been told that Riddle created the characters, story, and wrote it, and Begley acted as an adviser to provide information on the world and magic system so that there is cohesion and continuity with the rest of the world. I think this sounds like a fantastic way to collaborate, and I'm thrilled to say that the result is awesome.
And just as a quick note before I dive into this review--I started reading this while on a plane flying over the ocean, so I think it definitely added a little to the experience of reading about a hotel and vacationers falling out of the sky onto an unknown land. Definitely gave me some ideas to consider about what could be in store for my trip.
We follow quite a cast of characters in this book, and we really dive deep into their respective backstories. We learn a lot about each one, and that depth gives us insight into how their pasts influence their personalities, actions, and motivations in the present, which made this book feel that much richer and alive. Our main cast includes a mix of employees of the hotel, such as Elsie, a porter; Seb, part of the cleaning crew; Lennela, a masseuse; and Poppalaj, a chef; as well as a number of the hotel's guests, including Felix and his sister Tori, Kikras, Noto, Drea, and Raymond.
Felix reminded me ever so slightly of Balt from Riddle’s Jekua series, mostly because he’s a young man right at the beginning of adulthood who is excited to get started on his next steps in life. Felix is caught up in all the thoughts that come with that--one of the biggest being his hope of developing his magical abilities. ...And then he's suddenly thrown into a survival scenario that gives him far more responsibilities than he could have ever bargained for--and far more deadly consequences. Felix was probably one of my favorite characters to follow because I liked how different his perspective felt from everyone else's. He's just a relatively "normal" guy who was vacationing with his family one moment and is suddenly thrust into this high-stakes experience without much in the way of hard skills to bring to the table.
We also meet characters like Kikras and Seb, who clearly seem to be far more than they appear on the surface and both maintain an air of mystery that leaves some other characters--and the reader--wondering what's really going on with them. Fortunately, as readers we get to learn a bit more about them than some of the other characters do (at least yet), and every bit of it is intriguing.
It’s no small feat for authors to successfully develop a large cast. It can be difficult to spend enough time with each character to make them feel like meaningful players in the story, let alone make them memorable and emotionally compelling enough for readers to remember and care about them. This is something that I think this book did really well--I not only remembered who everyone was (which I really should get an award for given the state of my brain lately, just saying), but I also actively cared about them and felt invested in each character's storyline. What I think is the coolest part is how distinct each character feels and how each one has such a unique background. Every one has a unique background and voice, and all of it is done in a that feels genuine and not as if the author was simply trying too hard to create variety, which I feel sometimes happens.
Each character also brings their own skills to the table: Lennela is a masseuse who knows minor healing spells that can help the injured; Poppolaj is a chef, so naturally he can be in charge of the cooking and meals; Noto is a mental mage who can use his skills to maybe figure out what's going on--and help with unexpected attacks, and so on.
There are some similarities between characters, such as Raymond and Drea's general shared interests and their subsequent bond that is created naturally, and I liked how we saw that natural gravitation occur between different characters for different reasons. Felix finds comfort in Elsie, for example, and the two quickly form a friendship out of general companionship, and he also gravitates toward Noto because of Noto's mental magic, which is the type of magic that Felix has and is hoping to learn more of. Kikras and Seb also seem to end up getting paired together because of previously mentioned sense of mystery that surrounds them and makes them feel slightly more comfortable around one another (in that way of people who sometimes have secrets tend to be). But for every similarity that connects characters, there are just as many, if not more, that set them apart. That comes through most strongly in their reactions to the events that keep happening around them, as well as in their individual backstories.
I’m fascinated as hell with this world. From my understanding, this book takes place in a part of the world that's entirely different and new from Begley's previous work, and I have to say that this part that we explore--the Unclaimed Lands, in particular--is so intriguing and fills me with so much curiosity and so many questions. This is land that is generally unexplored by the rest of the world, so its new reluctant inhabitants have no idea what to expect, which really makes for the best type of story. I also am not sure how Riddle manages to make a floating island that carries a hotel and hundreds of guests and employees and travels to other locations feel realistic, let alone the additional idea that it crashes onto unexplored and unknown lands below it, but it absolutely is something that I was immediately on board with and loved every second of. There's also a whole slew of unknown variables at play with whatever may already inhabit the land they've ended up one, and as more is discovered about this land, it gets more and more terrifying.
I definitely am curious about the rest of the Mana Mirror world now, but as someone brand new to this setting, I think Riddle did an amazing job making it accessible and easy to get into. There's a strong sense of mystery and uncertainty that lingers in places, but it's all done in a way that works perfectly for the story and I never felt lost at any point. The magic system is just as fascinating, and I had a great time learning how it functions within the world. I think there is far, far more to learn about this magic, and I can't wait to do just that.
I really liked how Riddle handled the pacing and structure of the plot. We start off with a bang (or, perhaps with a crash, if you'd like to be literal), and from there, the story takes off. We follow the characters as they grapple with the aftermath: the shock, the loss, the grief, and eventually the struggle for survival. Then, partway through, there’s a break in the present timeline and we’re taken back to the time just before the crash. We get to see the characters during a period of normalcy, enjoying their trip and time at the hotel. I actually loved this shift in the narrative because it allowed the story to cut into the heaviness of the current situation after the crash, and it was fascinating and satisfying to see all these same characters we've met interacting normally in everyday (well, everyday on vacation or at work) scenarios. There's a fantastic mix of some adventure, some tension and fear at what lies in wait for our characters, lore of the world itself, and some great character work.
It also added some fantastic depth and insight, since by this point we already knew how each person was going to respond once everything crashed and fell apart, so seeing who they were before provided much more of a look into who each character is. It made me think more about how much had changed and how they may have changed... and even what might have led to the crash in the first place. And, of course, it raised some compelling questions—like whether some of the seemingly “good” people may have been keeping secrets all along.
Lastly, I just love how Riddle really seems takes his time in his writing. His writing never feels rushed. I can see how that might sound like I’m calling it slow-paced, but it doesn’t necessarily feel that way. It's what I describe as thoughtful rather than slow-paced, where scenes feel thought-out and thoroughly explored rather than dragging along or rushed through, and it really lets the story and its characters breathe. It's evenly paced and has a wonderful balance of action, description, character exploration, and more. I actually don't know if I've mentioned that in this review yet, but there is indeed plenty of action in this book to balance out all of the character development and world-building/magic system exploration, so don't worry about getting bored with this plot, because I promise you won't.
I'm going to leave this review here because I feel like they always end up being far too long, but I'm sure once this is published I'm still going to end up kicking myself for forgetting to say something about it that I wanted to, so just know that I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Travis M. Riddle somehow magically consistently writes things that just work so well for my brain and I'm not sure what type of black magic it is, but I'm here for it. I cannot wait for more (which, based on the ending, hopefully happens soon)! This is a brand new book and you don't need to have read any previous book to enjoy it, and it's out today, so be sure to go pick up a copy!
