Looking for a fantasy novel to start strong on your 2025 reading goal? Look no further. A Cry Before the Council features a grieving farmer’s unexpected journey, rich and full Tolkien-inspired worldbuilding, and an incredible ending. This is my spoiler-free book review.
A Cry Before the Council by Joelle Duran follows a grieving farmer who flees his painful past to find a journey full of twists and turns that he never expected. Through this journey, he finds a friend he can depend on, a new family of sorts, and gradually, he discovers hope and purpose.
This novel is the first of five in the Geren’s Passage series. A Cry Before the Council serves as an excellent introduction to a rich and full world of magic, intelligent creatures, adventures, history, and layers of stories within a story. This world is entirely different from ours, but it is layered with details that make it believable and beautiful like Middle Earth or Narnia.
The ending of the novel is incredible. I highly recommend reading it to the end for that reason alone. The story of A Cry Before the Council holds some hints at what will happen in the next book, but there are no cliffhangers at the end, so it is safe to read as a standalone before you commit to the series. For me, now that I have read this book and gotten to know the characters, I can’t wait to get my hands on book two: The Abdication of Harai, which will be coming in the near future.
| For Geren, life centers around his wheat fields, home, and family. His grandfather, a former soldier with a penchant for tall tales, taught Geren to wield a sword and made him dream of brave deeds. Yet Geren’s favorite tales involve hyarmi and the Defender of Life, an avarii shapechanger giving aid to those in need. In his small town on the fringes of the Dominion, the far-off conquests of the Emperor’s army, or even the human and hyarmi sacrifices perpetrated by the Goddess’s fanatical servants, mean little. Crops need tending, while bandits must be defeated and tax collectors paid. Blight in the fields or the threat of untimely frost are greater menaces than the dark mages and monsters Geren has never seen. Then disaster strikes. Bereft, Geren heads west. With few skills beyond farming and sword fighting, his future appears aimless and lonely. A strange nightmare of a murder, a rock that might be a valuable magestone, and a stranger’s life in peril sweep Geren into the world of those childhood tales. What will he do when he learns that the plague that took his family was no accident? |
About the Author of A Cry Before the Council:
Joelle Duran spent her childhood avidly reading and drawing. She chose a practical BA in biology and wound up working for an insurance company. Whenever time permits, she grabs a keyboard and map to pursue her true passion as biographer of the Defender of Life. This decades-spanning quest has resulted in nine novels and four novellas, along with dozens of short stories and illustrations. A lifelong Minnesota resident and devoted Christian, Joelle Duran also enjoys hiking, gardening, snowshoeing, and winters that match their reputation. As a committed single, she still wrestles with a persistent ambition to become a hermit. Explore her illustrations, some short stories, and other artifacts at defenderandhyarmi.com.
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