'Scarred is an epic fantasy story set in a mist-shrouded and desolate world. The denizens of the Enclave are trapped inside their crumbling city, tormented by the terrible plague that swirls within the fog beyond its walls, utterly reliant upon the kindness of their inscrutable god for survival. But when their deity's mysterious, food-bearing emissaries cease to appear, the Enclave threatens to descend into chaos and starvation.
'Now Freya, a brave but lowly servant, must journey across the barren landscape in search of salvation for her people. Her adventure will bring her face to face with courageous knights, terrifying dragons, monstrous giants and enigmatic wizards, and ultimately with her god himself. But nothing will prepare Freya for the truth about her scarred world - or for the shocking revelations unearthed from her own past. Evoking classic quest sagas such as The Wizard of Oz and Stephen King's Dark Tower series, with a dash of Kazuo Ichiguro's The Buried Giant and Hugh Howey's Wool, Scarred balances stirring prose with a fast pace and gripping narrative.'
Jon Richter is an author I kind of found by chance, having been invited to take part in a blog tour for one of his horror anthologies, John Richter's Disturbing Works Volume Two, back in 2020. Since then I've read several of his books, and have been impressed with his ability to turn to any genre he sets his hand to with great skill. I've read horror, science fiction, and murder mystery written by him, but Scarred presented the first time that I'd be reading a fantasy book he'd written; and I was very much looking forward to seeing what he did with the genre. And of course, as with his other works, it wasn't at all what I expected.
Scarred begins within the walls of the Enclave, a small settlement hidden behind thick walls, hiding away from the horrors and the monsters that exist out in the ever present fog that surrounds their home. Killing any who approach for fear that they might contain the deadly plague that sees those infected wither away, weakened and aged, they rely on the help of the Angels to stay alive; huge, armour clad figures who bring regular deliveries of food to the citizens. The best of these supplies goes to the highest in society, the lords, knights, and priests who keep the Enclave together. Freya is a servant to these powerful lords, living within the castle, feeding those who squander the precious supplies, forced to eat scraps to survive.
When a murder is committed, Freya's life is forever changed as she's implicated in a wider conspiracy by those who wish to keep a tight hold on their power. As this happened at the same time that their deliveries of food stopped, it's decided that Freya can choose her punishment, tortured to death within the castle, or venture out into the disease filled fog to find answers. Choosing to leave the only home that she's ever known, Freya sets out into the deadly and dangerous wastelands beyond the walls of the enclave, hoping to survive against all odds.
To call Scarred a fantasy story would be simple, because the book contains a number of surprising other genres, the foremost of which being horror. Richter is great at evoking disgust and disquiet in his writing, and both are very present here, especially in the early parts of the book. The description of the waste pit deep within the castle are stomach turning, and the torture that happens to those that step out of line is genuinely horrifying. Despite having been told that there are numerous horrors out in the fog it's clear that horror is everywhere in this world, that the cruel and sadistic are the ones who ultimately thrive here, and that Freya will find little escape from this in her journey.
However, Freya doesn't have to face the horror and wonder of the world beyond the Enclave walls alone, because as with any good fantasy adventure, she finds companions along the way. Whilst Freya is something of a blank slate in a lot of ways, thanks to the mysterious element of memory loss that seems to hang over many, the others that she meets along the way are all vibrant and unique. Errick, the ageing and infected knight who puts honour and duty first is a wonderful addition of kindness in Freya's world of cruelty and despair that goes on to change her heart in a lot of ways and helps her to become a better person, and is one of the best characters in the book. Victor, a character that I can't really talk about too much without spoiling a huge surprise element of the book, is a wonderful character, one who makes the core trio of characters complete.
There are other people that Freya meets along the way, some kind, some cruel, who fill this at first empty world with character and history in ways that you don't expect. The world that Richter has crafted here is an interesting one, one that you come away from the book wanting to learn more about and wish that you could spend more time in. There are wonders and horrors everywhere, and each location we visit feels like it has a ton of stories that it could tell. I really hope that this is a world that Richter returns to one day, perhaps with another anthology, this time focusing on all of the stories that shaped this world into what we find here.
As I said, I've come to really enjoy Jon Richter's work over the last couple of years, and am delighted whenever I'm offered the chance to read another of his books. And every time I read one of his book I think to myself 'well, this is definitely the best one so far'. At the moment, Scarred is sitting on the top, but I expect that whatever Richter creates next will take over, as this is an author whose work I find hard to do anything less than love.
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