When the Six Mages waged war with one another, not only did their power destroy each other, but it left the land around their territories a magical mess of destruction and terror. At the end of the Mage Wars, the Five Thousand fled and established a city on the far side of the Mage Road. As a symbol for their defiance of magic and ability to survive, the city of Marsanport lit a black flame. Unfortunately, the mysterious fuel that keeps the flame burning isn't infinite and when it flickers, the Heir of Marsan is sent to travel down the Mage Road, to the town of Gateway and into The Broken Lands to find a bit of the fuel that keeps the hope of Marsanport burning.
Into the Broken Lands actually follows two such expeditions: one, the current mission, is headed by Ryan, the newly selected heir (thanks to his three older brothers recently passing away), and one when his uncle, Garrett, the current Lord Protector of Marsanport was heir and had to get the fuel. As Ryan, his scholar cousin Lyelee, and the rest of their party trek through the haunted landscape, the reader is treated with the parallel story of Garrett's own dangerous adventures. As Ryan and team encounter their various trials, they often comment on reading about a similar obstacle in Garrett's journal or notice that specific hazards were left out for some reason.
Of course, a major reason for the differences between the two journeys is because The Broken Lands themselves are shifting, and there are only a few fixed points that can be used as guideposts as you cross the dangerous land. Thankfully, the Heirs of Marsan have one major trick up their sleeve, a humanoid appearing magical construct that was created by one of the mages. This creature knows how to get to the mage tower she once called home, and is strong enough to act as a bodyguard to the Heir in order to increase the chances of success.
In Garrett's time, he and his party brought The Weapon with them from Marsenport, where she was kept imprisoned and only brought out as a show of strength by The Lord Protector. By the time Ryan makes the journey, The Weapon has been living in Gateway for decades, has developed a full personality under the tutelage of Gateway's healer, Arianna, and even has a name, Nonee.
As Garrett's party makes their way to their eventual goal, you start to see The Weapon's transformation into Nonee, though even by the end when it is decided that she should stay in Gateway, she is a long way from the very human acting character seen during Ryan's time. And by the time Ryan and his team start off on their own journey, they must struggle with the realization that The Weapon is far from the living tool they all expected to find.
While Garrett's adventures aren't easy, they are more straightforward than Ryan's. For one thing, besides the small group of fighters that are there to help protect him, Ryan also has his cousin, Lyelee and her teacher, Gearing, both bent on studying The Broken Lands at any cost. It seems that the Five Thousand's fear of magecraft has caused the population to swing in the complete opposite direction. The most prestigious position a person can have is to be a Scholar. These learned individuals are the first and last word in their particular expertise. As The Lord Protector's health fails, Lyelee approaches her uncle and convinces him that when Ryan goes to The Broken Lands to get the fuel, he should send scholars on the expedition to help expand their knowledge of the area. This is a very controversial decision as seeking knowledge of magecraft, even for scholarly reasons, could easily lead to delving into magic, but in the end, Lyelee's influence over her uncle wins and Ryan's expedition has an additional kink thrown into the mix.
Into the Broken Lands is a great pair of stories interwoven to become something better than the sum of its parts. While the two stories aren't in lock-step, they are similar, and through both stories, the reader gets a broader view of The Broken Lands than either character sees on their own. I'm very interested to see how Huff continues to build this world. I was happy to consider it to be a one-off adventure, but seeing as the book's description lists this as a new fantasy saga, I can't wait to see where the story goes from here.
