E. L. Haven. Combatant. Second ed., Estate P, 2017.

Readers knew this was going to be a little different right from the title page because Combatant listed the publisher’s location as Evallia and its web site as estate-press.evallia. There is no internet suffix dot-evallia. Indeed, Evallia is where the initial action in Combatant takes place. It is a land of young adult fantasy.

In that land there are people—or anthropoids—with lilac hair, various unusual eye colors and distinctive abilities. Combatant is fantasy set some time in the future where sentient beings can travel between universes through portals or wormholes called rips and where certain people are singled out because of special powers.

Over half the novel takes our main protagonist Tess and some friends to a kind of interplanetary military academy for people with unusual powers or abilities. Depending on one’s background, a reader might think of Hogwart’s or Divergent, but I could not help think of Starship Troopers. Readers learn about the worlds of Evallia and its neighbors (there are some fleeting allusions to earth) as Tess and others learn about the big picture from their training at Evergrove Academy.

Like Starship Troopers, there is a battle towards the end, but most of the story focuses on the exotic military training. Tess, for example, can read minds to an extent and can communicate with other telepaths. She also is unusually quick and strong. Her friend Flynn is also telepathic and can see briefly into the future. Other friends include a shape-shifter, a werewolf, and a boy who can become invisible. Some students at the school can fly. You get the idea. Perhaps the best analogy for the school would be the X-Men’s Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

Evallia itself is described as “a realm, located somewhere left of the North Star’s cousin.” (4). Uh, anything like Neverland? “Second star to the right and straight on to morning…”

The author does an effective job of creating a fantasy realm with secret symbols, unusual powers, intense military training, and worlds like Evallia that can best be described as dystopian. It is fun and clever. A bit derivative, but with plenty of original notes. The book is first in what is promised to be a series (book 2 has come out), but the novel does tell a complete story. In other words, think The Eye of the World, not The Fellowship of the Ring.

I also note that at the time the book was written the author was a teenager. Perhaps, then, we should think of Eragon and its sequels. While the overall plot is quite serious, there are many humorous touches (notably the chapter titles) that should keep readers engaged.