I received this book via the author, K.J. Draeghan. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
Futureless by K.J. Draeghan Series: Beyond Oblivion Trilogy #1
Published by Self Publish on 2014-07-28
Length: 496 pages
Reviewing eARC Rating:
In a world far, far away, there exists a giant mass of land that five unique races call their home – Ilreya.
Long ago, Ilreya was torn asunder by the gnashing jaws of a vicious war: The Blood War. The five nations of this land had never known true peace, their racism and distrust creating great rifts between them. With this war, the rifts grew wider still. When all the continent seemed about to perish at the hands of its inhabitants, a treaty was struck. This treaty, despite ending the bloodshed, did not mend the hate the races felt for each other and soon all contact ceased between them.
Now, many centuries later, war threatens to rear its hideous head yet again. The barbarous William Blaise, current ruler of the weredragon nation, has grown mad with his desire for power. With his awesome might he plans to bring the other races of Ilreya to their knees and claim the entire continent as his own.
There is only one way he can be stopped: A group of youths from the Ilreyan nation of Coruka must band together and bring an end to the monster's rule before war begins anew. Though they will face incredulous peril and devastating trials, success is their only option. If they fail, if they cannot find it within themselves to defeat such a formidable foe, the only world they've ever known will languish under the weight of the chains Blaise will bind it in.
July 2018 Update: A Facebook post from the author explained that this book is currently pulled off the market until she completes books 2 and 3 of the trilogy. If/When the book returns, buy links will be added.
Futureless by K.J. Draeghan is an epic fantasy dystopian set on the world of Ilreya and follows a band of unlikely heroes as they attempt to stop a world war before it begins. The story really puts me in the mind of Lord of the Rings and Narnia as the author describes the characters and detail of the world they live in. At roughly 175k words, this epic tale held my attention from the very first word!
The Characters
So this book has a multitude of characters, but really only six main ones or is it seven? Maybe eight? Anyways you get the picture 🙂
Kalilatorix is the first character introduced and to me probably the most interesting. If I had to pick a main character for this book, it would be her as the plot revolves around her. Kalilatorix is a Corukan, a human basically, and she has a very interesting, almost split personality. You see, her and her twin live in the same body. 
That’s right! They share a body. So when Kalila, the healer and more passive aggressive twin, goes to sleep at night, Torix wakes up. Torix is a fighter, has a sense of humor and tends to say whatever is on her mind. The two balance each other out very well. Also they have a pet, Fang who happens to be a zykanine meaning he is huge and could eat me in one bite.
Rhysin is the second introduced and possibly the quietest character. He is very introspective. Having escaped an abusive father, he is trained by a mystery man to take over mystery business. Like I said very quiet character and I can’t say much without spoilers! Possibly he is my favorite character as he is the most human of the group.
After Rhysin, we meet Tarakiva Wulfrin who was sold by her parents at a young age to a dance club. She is described as beautiful with the voice of an angel. She is also Corukan (in fact all the characters I mention are originally introduced as Corukan so I won’t say it again 🙂 ) She learns to fight and eventually escapes her master only to join the band of unlikely heroes. She is outwardly aggressive but only because she’s scared to go back to her life as a slave.
Xoran is a large man, a blacksmith and someone who never fit in. He was beaten up a lot as a child for his red hair and glasses. Now he wants to prove himself. He comes off as the jock of the group, you know big and dumb, but I think it’s more that he doesn’t know how to express himself.
Rhana is the princess of Coruka and after the king attempts to force himself on her, she runs away. She’s the smart one of the group and hides who she really is from them. She’s fascinated with the world around her and it’s from this character that I learned the most about Ilreya.
The World
Ilreya is unlike anything I’ve ever read. If I had to compare it, I would say that it’s layout and the way that it’s described is similar to Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings however it is entirely unique. For a majority of the book, the characters are only in two lands from this world, Coruka which is their home and Payne. Coruka as described puts me in mind of the rolling hills of Ireland or the country of England, a lot of green and very human. Payne is a jungle and it’s also the home of the werecats. A large wall is erected between the two as they do not trust each other. There are also werewolves, weredragons, and Kuljians. Kuljians are unique to this author and scary as hell!!!! Skin the color of cobalt and strong as granite, pointy teeth, they are the dead, a mix between vampires and zombies. Like I said scary as hell but probably one of my favorite characters in the book!
The Plot
As I already mentioned the story follows our six characters as they try to prevent another Blood War before it starts. A mystery man sends each of them a letter promising something they want to lure them to a warehouse. Once they all arrive and realize they’ve been duped by this man, they aren’t happy. Then he tells them why they are there. He believes they can save Ilreya from Blaise, a weredragon and the new ruler of them. Blaise is ruthless and wants to rule all of Ilreya, but he has ulterior motives. As a villain this dude tops them all in my opinion. Anyways after a lot of convincing, the six decide to help, knowing the mystery man will deliver on his promises after they’ve defeated Blaise.
My Conclusions
The plot moves quickly and before I knew it I had read all ~500 pages. It’s suspenseful, has a lot of action, some great plot twists and is what a fantasy epic should be. The author does a wonderful job of world-building. It’s believable and things are repeated so subtlety that despite the vast world I was able to remember what I needed to. This book ends neatly answering a majority of the questions that are brought up during their journey across Ilreya, and though it ends leaving you wanting more, it’s not a cliffhanger. Overall, if you enjoy fantasy, especially epic fantasies, than I highly recommend you check this one out. You will not be disappointed! My only regret, I have to wait for book two!!!
[…] Futureless by K.J. Draeghan – DEBUT AUTHOR ALERT!!!!! You like fantasy? You like sci-fi? GO GET THIS BOOK!!! It really is the most unique book I’ve read all year. The author pulls in characters of all kinds into this book (werewolves, shapeshifters, dragons, humans…just to name a few) and makes up a few of her own. The book is worth reading for the world-building alone! Thankfully though the author gives us a phenomenal cast of characters with various viewpoints so we get the whole story. Do you like epic fantasy? Do you like dystopians? I’m only going to say it one more time….GO GET THIS BOOK!!!!!! […]
[…] Futureless by KJ Draeghan – EPIC fantasy on a grand scale, written for the New Adult genre. However it is clean enough that I’d say the older young adult crowd would enjoy it too (16+). […]