Hexult

By Perry Aylen

Shipwrecked on the frozen seas of an ice world, in a future so distant that the only traces left of our time are shards of glass, fifteen year old twins, Jacob and Elya, are rescued by Aulf, the young mail man, who earns a precarious living sailing his small boat between the treacherous arms of the Vajra Crevasse, to deliver mail to the troubled islands of Hexult.

When the seas rose and the world froze, much technology was lost, and Jacob and Elya's superior knowledge of science leads the superstitious islanders to believe they are magicians. An ancient prophecy, predicting their arrival, spells trouble for the twins, and before long threatens their relationship with each other and puts and Elya's life in danger.

With the islands at each other's throats, Jacob and Elya come up with a revolutionary plan to help improve relations across Hexult, an idea instantly snapped up by Hexult's resident magician, Gabriel, who sees it as the perfect way to redeem his own fading glory, and immediately plots to undermine the twins' credibility and snatch the credit for himself.

With the help of Aulf, and his fiery crewmate, Ingar the Orphan, Jacob and Elya must overcome personal tragedy, the islanders' prejudice, marauding ice raiders, and Gabriel's vengeful scheming, in order to save their reputations and their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Perry Aylen
• Release date: May 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9780956902313

Perry Aylen

Perry lives in the New Forest in southern England (a small country on the edge of Europe that used to be famous.) He says he couldn’t live without trees, which makes him a hypocrite as he also wants to chop them down to make his books. He has two sheds, a wife, three children and a dog. Perry likes all food and dislikes adverts that tell you they care.

Book preview

Chapter 1

‘Keep going!’ shouted Aulf, above the icy rush of the wind.

Ingar had never been on the narrow of the boat’s outrigger before, but she was determined to reach the end. Her eyes were streaming, the tears turning to ice, but still she edged further out. Glancing at Aulf, she saw him leaning out, only his legs from the knees hooked under the rigger. The sheet was wound round one hand, the other beckoning her on, and, behind his goggles, she was sure he was laughing. She reached the end, turned, tucked her legs in, and let her weight fall back. She pulled in the jib sheet, and the craft bucked as Aulf pulled in the main and turned closer to the wind. They rose ever higher on one keel as the boat surged on, faster than the wind. She could hardly breathe as the frozen air hit her face, but suddenly she was laughing too.

Looking back at Aulf, Ingar could see the Dragon’s Teeth passing the stern of the boat, massive wooden posts, remnants of some bygone battle, set in a long curve, marching back to the white horizon, the only interruption in all that empty expance of frozen whiteness. Suddenly a mass of jumbled timbers and torn sail broke the symmetry of the teeth. It took a moment for Ingar to register what she was seeing. She waved frantically at Aulf to slow down, but he only laughed. She pointed down with both hands. Something in her look cut short his laughter. He dropped the sheet and they both swung in as the Aurora dropped to a level keel. Ingar pointed back down the teeth and shouted, ‘A wreck!’

Aulf looked back. There was something in the teeth, but not a wreck, surely. Everyone knew about the teeth and they were massive. You couldn’t miss them unless you were blind! Aulf brought the skiff round and headed back up the line of stakes. Ingar was right. It looked like a fair-sized boat had hit the wooden stakes at some speed. The boat and two of the stakes had been shattered.

Approaching the wreck, Aulf loosed the sails and threw off the anchor to slow the craft. As the Aurora came to a sliding halt, he slid the goggles from his eyes, jumped over the side and hurried across the slippery ice towards the wreck, Ingar close behind. Aulf was always amazed at the speed she could cross the ice without skates. As they approached the wreckage, Ingar gave a gasp of horror and darted forward swiftly. Behind the broken boat, partially obscured from their view by the wreckage, a man was lying on the ice.

The man was cold. Most likely, the gaping wound to his head had killed him, but he was laid out carefully, his arms crossed on his chest and his eyes closed. So there were survivors. Or raiders. Aulf pulled his knife from its sheath and turned towards Ingar, motioning for her to do the same, but she was ahead of him, already crouched and wary, knife in hand. Beneath her huge woolly hat, her amber eyes darted in all directions. They skirted the wreck, looking for skate or runner tracks, but found none, other than the obvious ones made by the wrecked boat in front of them. Feeling more confident, they climbed through the tangle of broken spars onto the deck. It was a style of boat Aulf had not seen before. His skiff was a light craft on two runners, with outriggers, built for speed. Most boats were much larger, barges designed for carrying cargo, but this boat was neither. It was the size of a barge, but built like a racing skiff. It had a roomy cabin, still partially intact, but the rest was a crumpled mess. The mast had come down, taking out one side of the cabin, and there appeared to have been a fire. The cabin door was charred and blackened.

Aulf gingerly pulled open the scorched door and peered cautiously inside. A tumble of junk and broken wood lay scattered across the floor, but under piles of blankets he could clearly discern two bodies. It was difficult to make out much beneath the heaped coverings, but they looked as if they might be children, and they were either asleep or dead. Aulf and Ingar clambered in. They could see now that the fire had not been a result of the crash, but a deliberate attempt to keep warm. The iron stove designed to heat the cabin had been smashed by the mast as it crashed through, but the area had been cleared and the blackened remains of a camp fire were strewn on the hearth.

Ingar was bending over the two shapeless humps, buried beneath piles of blankets. ‘They’re breathing!’ she exclaimed, relieved. ‘They’re cold but still alive. They don’t look very old. What shall we do?’

‘Get back to the Aurora, get the stove as hot as you can!’

Wasting no more precious time, Aulf got his arms around the closest body and lifted it carefully. The child’s body, if indeed it was a child, was longer than he had thought, but not very heavy, just awkward to lift in the bundled wrappings. A blanket fell back, and he saw a girl’s pale oval face, framed by waves of dark hair tumbling out of a large woollen hat, long black lashes contrasting starkly with the waxen pallor of her cheekbones.

Ingar had already gone ahead of him as he hefted his burden with some difficulty over the side of the wrecked craft and picked a careful route across the ice to his own boat. With a grunt of relief, he laid the girl’s prone body on his own bunk in the cabin of the Aurora. Leaving Ingar to pile extra furs and blankets around her, he set off back to the broken boat.

By the time he laid his second charge on Ingar’s bunk, in the welcome circle of heat radiating from the small iron stove, he was out of breath from his exertions. Beads of perspiration that had broken out on his face and then frozen in the icy air, now melted again in the warmth of the cabin. Drawing the blankets back, Aulf saw that this was a boy, his face ghost-like in its deathly whiteness. Like the girl, the youth was lightly built, though taller, and while he was young, he was older than the child Aulf had first imagined him to be, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old.

Leaning his face close to the boy’s, Aulf caught the faint breeze on his cheek. At least he was still alive! Beneath the blankets, he was sensibly dressed in a long coat of creamy fur, and pale trousers of soft brushed leather, pushed into long fur-lined boots. He had a thick knitted hat covering his head and ears, the like of which Aulf had not seen before, decorated with rows of bright geometric patterns and several plaited woollen tassels. Aware that Ingar had crossed the cabin to get a closer look at this second survivor, Aulf wrapped the covers carefully around the boy again, and raised his eyes to Ingar’s face. She had pulled off her hat, and her wiry red hair stuck out wildly around her head. Her strange golden eyes looked very large in her narrow, freckled face. The two of them regarded each other in troubled silence for several moments, each of them aware of the echo of their own doubts in the other’s mind.

‘They’re not from round here, that’s for sure,’ remarked Ingar, her gaze returning to the bloodless mask of the boy’s face. ‘What are we going to do with them?’

Aulf pursed his lips. ‘Well, we can’t leave them here. They’re just kids.’

‘What about the mail? We’ll be late.’

Aulf pulled off his hat and ran his fingers through his untidy fair hair. ‘It can’t be helped. We’ll just have to do the best we can.’ He glanced at the kettle on the stove. ‘Let’s try and get something hot inside them.’

Chapter 2

Jacob surfaced slowly into consciousness. Welcome heat enveloped him, and the unexpected aroma of chicken stew. Despite the warmth, there was still a deep chill in the marrow of his bones, and a memory of coldness, gnawing deep, numbing his body until all he wanted to do was sleep. It crossed his mind that maybe he was dead, but then, gradually registering the blood forcing its way into his fingers and toes, making them throb, he knew that he was still alive. Pain was good. Better the pain of live toes than the numbness of frostbite.

Someone was speaking to him. A man’s voice. With an effort, Jacob forced his eyes properly open, and focused his gaze. He was lying on a strange bunk in a strange cabin. A tall man with fair, tousled hair and a white knitted sweater was leaning over him, watching him anxiously out of eyes the blue of the clear deep ice.

‘You had us worried!’ he said.

Jacob blinked and frowned. ‘Elya,’ he muttered, twisting his head.

The fair-headed young man stepped to one side so that Jacob could see the heap of blankets on the other bunk. A girl in a drab brown fur coat, with a mane of frizzy red curls, was leaning over the shapeless mound, with a steaming mug in her hand.

‘Is that Elya?’ said the man. ‘She’s all right. She’s doing fine.’ He had an odd way of speaking. It took Jacob’s numbed brain several moments to work out what he had just said. 'My name’s Aulf. We found you out on the ice. Your boat was wrecked. Can you sit up? You need to drink this and get warm.’

Aulf helped him raise his head from the pillow and held a steaming cup to his lips. Jacob sipped gratefully at the hot tea and felt the welcome heat warming him from the inside.

‘Thanks,’ he muttered.

His gaze followed Aulf as he crossed the small space to a neat little iron stove, to stir the contents of a pot, simmering on the top, then flicked back to the other bunk. Anxiety made him restless. He struggled to sit up, hindered by the copious layers of wool and fur enveloping him, feeling inexplicably exhausted by the smallest effort.

‘Take it easy,’ urged Aulf, returning to his side, this time with a bowl of thick stew in his hand. ‘Let me help you.’

As Jacob scraped the last remnants of food from his bowl, the heat from the stove and the warmth of the food in his stomach combined to dispel the lethargy that had threatened to overwhelm him before. He pulled off his hat. Short-cropped blond hair stood up brush-like all over his head. Movements on the other side of the cabin distracted his attention. The freckled girl was helping Elya into a sitting position and offering her a bowl of stew. His sister looked as white and fragile as the mist that crept over the ice. Even her lips were pale. Feeling stronger, Jacob swung his legs carefully over the side of the bunk, wincing as he put his weight on his thawing toes. Aulf hovered solicitously at his elbow as he hobbled the short distance across the cabin to sit beside his sister and put his arm around her shoulder so she could lean against him as she ate.

For the first time, Jacob looked properly at his rescuer. Aulf had a clear, pleasant face, browned by sun and wind, with a wide mouth made for smiling, and eyes so intensely blue they might have been cold were it not for the lines that laughter had etched around them. Over his sweater of creamy wool, he wore straps of leather, crossing his body, and more leather around his neck, a wide band, set with something polished, reflecting the light of the oil lamps.

‘I’m the mail man,’ said Aulf. ‘This is my skiff, the Aurora. And this is Ingar, my crew.’

Ingar turned her head away from the lamplight, almost shyly, but Jacob thought he noticed her strange yellow eyes shining before the shadow obscured them.

‘I’m Jacob,’ he replied. ‘This is my sister, Elya.’ Elya lifted her gaze and Aulf was startled to find himself regarded steadily from two pairs of the same intensely green eyes, set in faces so similar they might have been the male and female incarnation of the same person.

‘What happened to your boat? How did you crash?’

Brother and sister looked at each other. Neither spoke yet Aulf had the distinct impression they were communicating. Jacob took a deep breath.

‘We’ve been sailing for twenty days across the Skymirror. We had to leave home in a hurry, and when our food and fuel ran out, our father decided to keep sailing through the night in the hope we’d reach land before we all froze to death. Elya and I were asleep when we hit the posts.’ Jacob paused. A small spasm contorted his thin pale face. Elya lowered her gaze and turned her face into her brother’s shoulder.

‘Skymirror?’ queried Aulf. ‘Do you mean the Ice Plain?’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘Twenty days on the open ice! You can’t have done. Nobody goes that far out onto the Ice Plain. How did you find your way? The glare from the low mists blinds you, and the sun could be in any direction.’

Jacob looked at him in surprise. Aulf gave every impression of being a seasoned sailor.

‘We used our lodestones, of course.’

Aulf gave him a blank stare. ‘Your what?’

Jacob reached inside the collar of his coat and tugged at a leather cord around his neck, dragging out a small, dark, pitted stone hanging from a metal spinner. The top had been polished flat to allow the engraving of an arrow that passed across the small hole at its centre. He drew it over his head and handed it to Aulf. Aulf took it and inspected it carefully, still at a loss.

‘Surely you’ve seen a lodestone before,’ said Jacob, surprised that a sailor did not recognise it. ‘Look at that arrow engraved on the top. Now turn round slowly. The arrow keeps pointing in the same direction, see?’

Aulf turned slowly, his eyes widening. ‘A magic hand!’ he exclaimed. ‘How do you tell it where you want to go?’

‘It’s not magic,’ replied Jacob. ‘It doesn’t point to places, just to the sun. Or to where the sun would be at midday,’ he corrected himself.

‘So it knows where the sun will be at midday, every day?’ Aulf was still turning round slowly, his eyes fastened on the small stone in his hand. Ingar, drawn by his fascination, had also got up to take a closer look at the magic stone.

‘Can I try it tomorrow?’ asked Aulf, as eager as a child with a new toy.

A shadow crossed Jacob’s face. ‘It was a present from my father.’

‘Oh!’ Aulf passed the lodestone back hastily. ‘I’m sorry.’

There was an awkward pause. Jacob thought how much they owed Aulf. His face brightened. ‘We have a bigger one on our boat. You’re welcome to try that. It’s the least we can do after all you’ve done for us. I mean, you saved our lives, for certain.’

Aulf regarded them both curiously. They were an odd looking pair; Jacob with his blond hair, so pale it was almost white, standing in little spikes, all over his head, and Elya with a thick sheen of ebony waves spilling over her shoulders from under her enormous woollen hat. Yet, beneath their hair, their features and appearance were strikingly similar. Their clothes were almost identical. They had the same wide set, green eyes, the same finely carved cheekbones, clearly visible beneath the delicate, pale skin, the same long, slight frames, and there was the way they each seemed to understand what the other was thinking without the need for speech. Realisation dawned.

‘You’re twins, aren’t you?’

Jacob and Elya nodded. ‘Yes,’ they said together, as if to confirm their unity.

After a moment, Jacob asked, ‘Do you think Gem can be mended?’

‘Gem? Your boat?’ Aulf shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. There’s too much damage.’

Jacob’s arm tightened once more around his sister.

‘Our father...’ he began, but the words caught in his throat. He stopped, took a deep breath and tried again.

‘Our father’s dead,’ he told Aulf.

‘I know.’ Aulf’s mouth tightened. ‘We saw.’

‘We didn’t know what to do,’ Jacob went on, an edge of despair to his voice. ‘Elya and I were asleep, and then there was a terrible groaning and splintering, and the mast came crashing through the cabin roof. Everything came down around us. We managed to scramble out, but it was pitch black, and there was debris everywhere. We were shouting for him, but we couldn’t find him in the dark. We called and called, but he didn’t answer.’

Shuffling his feet, Aulf looked down, avoiding Jacob’s eyes. Elya started to cry silently, her waxen face crumpling as though her tears were melting it.

Jacob’s voice trembled as he recalled. ‘Eventually we found him, almost under the boat, but he wasn’t breathing. We tried everything we could, really we did! In the end, we had to leave him there on the ice. We didn’t know what else to do.’ He scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms, but the tears he was trying to prevent spilled over in spite of his efforts.

Aulf bit his lip awkwardly. It was Ingar who came to the rescue.

‘You did the right thing,’ she said. ‘It was a terrible thing to happen, but you did everything you could.’

‘But what are we going to do now?’ Elya whispered, through her tears.

‘We’ll work something out,’ Ingar assured her, fixing Aulf with a hard stare. Pulling himself together, Aulf nodded. In truth, he had thought no further than the immediate challenge of saving two half dead children from frozen oblivion. For most of his twenty-two years, there had been only himself to look after, but now others needed his guidance. He thought about the twins’ father, helpless in death out on the ice, and was determined not to let them down.

‘Ingar’s right,’ he said. ‘We’ll work something out. But not now. Right now, the two of you are exhausted, and nobody thinks straight when they’re that tired. Tomorrow is soon enough to be making plans. What you both need is a good night’s sleep, here in the warm, and we’ll talk tomorrow.’

With Jacob settled back in his bunk, Aulf and Ingar left the twins to sleep and went out on the deck of the Aurora. Night was falling fast, the stars already piercing the deepening blue of the evening sky. As the sun slid away below the flat horizon, so the temperature on the open ice plummeted. Aulf and Ingar tugged sheepskin mittens over their knitted gloves and pulled their woollen mufflers closer around their faces against the sharp bite of the freezing air. Together, they looked out over the wreck of the twins’ boat in subdued silence. Finally Aulf spoke.

‘Do you believe them?’

Ingar looked at Aulf’s face to gauge what he was thinking. ‘Their clothes, the way they speak - their boat even - I’ve not met anyone like them before. But you’re the sailor,’ she reminded him. ‘You know more about what it would take to cross the great Ice Plain. I didn’t think it was possible.’

Aulf stared out into the dusk as though he could see the endless blankness of the Ice Plain stretching away into oblivion, cold and unyielding. Skymirror, Jacob had called it.

‘I didn’t think so either. Out there, there’s nothing but featureless, blinding whiteness, and treacherous mists. Keeping a straight course is impossible, and the ice just goes on and on, forever. But with an enchanted stone to help you, who knows?’

‘So, it could be true then?’

In the failing light, Ingar caught an unmistakable glint of excitement in Aulf’s eyes.

‘I hope it is! Just imagine how incredible it would be to take the Aurora across the Ice Plain, and find out what lies beyond it!’

Ingar heard the thrill of longing in Aulf’s voice. He was more at home on his boat then he ever was on land.

‘As long as you took me with you.’

‘That goes without saying.’ Aulf gave her a broad grin. ‘You are my crew, after all.’

Chapter 3

‘Perhaps Elya and I could bring our things over here onto your skiff,’ suggested Jacob, as they ate breakfast together the next morning. ‘And... well, if there’s anything you might find useful, we could bring that back too.’

‘Good plan,’ Aulf agreed. ‘But we need to work fast. If raiders spot us, we’re a sitting target.’

‘What about Father?’ asked Elya, and she and Jacob exchanged another silent look. There was no mistaking the dread in both pairs of green eyes.

Aulf cleared his throat. ‘There’s plenty of firewood. I’m not sure what you… how you…’ He tailed off, uncertainly. Their customs might be different, after all.

Jacob dragged his gaze back to Aulf.

‘You’re right,’ he said, steadying his voice with an effort. ‘We need to build a pyre.’

Aulf sailed the Aurora in a long arc, bringing it up next to the stricken craft. The Aurora was fast because she was light and strong, but there was plenty of room on board. The side lockers were mainly empty except for vast coils of rope acquired at various times from raiders’ trip lines. Ingar swiftly began to fill these with salvaged blocks and cleats from the wreck while Aulf lashed down a deck locker he had dragged across from the stranded vessel. Jacob appeared, staggering across the ice under the weight of an intricately carved wooden frame fixed to a round base. Aulf jumped down eagerly to help him lift it aboard the Aurora and lower it carefully onto the deck.

‘This won’t work properly if there’s metal nearby,’ Jacob warned Aulf as he hung another lodestone from the frame, a larger version of the one he had shown Aulf the evening before. The disc on the base of the frame was marked with numbered lines around the edge and could be rotated to point the same way as the stone. Aulf walked around the device several times, admiring every little detail of its design and thinking it was one of the most fascinating and beautiful things he had ever seen.

Back on the ice, Aulf examined the broken runners of the wrecked ship, curious about the strips of metal fixed to each runner. They had buckled and twisted when the wood splintered, but not cracked. The metal seemed as hard as iron but as malleable as copper. Carefully, Aulf peeled the strips from both runners and stowed them carefully in a locker.

When finally the wreck was stripped of everything salvageable, Aulf moved the Aurora away, and they faced the toughest task of all. Using the charred door of the cabin as a bier, they hoisted the dead man between them onto the deck of his ruined boat and laid him on a bed of sails. Not sure what else to do, Aulf and Ingar retired to the Aurora, leaving Jacob and Elya to say goodbye to their father.

Brother and sister stood close, not moving, hands joined and heads lowered. Aulf looked round to speak to Ingar, and was surprised to see her cheeks streaked with tears. He had not seen her cry before. He looked away again, pulling his goggles over his eyes.

‘Because of the glare,’ he told himself.

The sun climbed higher in the flawless blue sky. On the deck of the wrecked boat, the twins stood unmoving. Only the ever present wind stirred in the rigging of the Aurora, tugging at their hair and clothes. Aulf and Ingar, watching from the Aurora, saw the twins turn as one and lower themselves carefully onto the ice. The time had come. Swiftly, Ingar slipped into the cabin to light the torch they had already prepared - a piece of shattered planking, wrapped at one end with a strip of oil-soaked sailcloth. Jacob was waiting for her beside the Aurora as she came out of the cabin and she handed the flaming stick into his uplifted hand. Solemnly, he walked back across the ice to where his sister stood close to the broken Gem, and thrust the torch into the jagged spars and splinters of timber piled beneath the stricken boat. Fanned by the wind, the flames caught instantly. The twins headed back to the Aurora. As the blaze licked higher, the deck of the Gem became less distinct, the air above shimmering in the unaccustomed heat. With a ferocious roar, the whole boat was suddenly engulfed in flame. Smoke billowed against the clear blue sky, pushed over by the constant breeze. Aulf, worrying that the great column of smoke might attract unwanted attention, had to fight a restless desire to be on the move, but he didn’t want to be the one to break the silence.

‘We should leave,’ Jacob said at last.

Aulf breathed a secret sigh of relief. Swiftly, he pulled in the main.

‘Boats!’ yelled Ingar, pointing at the shimmering horizon.

Aulf’s mouth tightened as he squinted through his goggles in the direction of Ingar’s pointing finger. Five boats were

Reviews for Hexult

[linie_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was over 40 chapters into the book before I actually realized it was a young adult book. No matter to me, Loved this story! Although I would suppose that Authors would prefer not to be compared, for me, not since reading Anne Mccaffery "Pern" books have I been so thrilled with Sci-Fi again. Reading it throughly, enjoying it like eating a fabulous dessert, I was sad when it was over. Perhaps there will be another adventure by Perry Aylen.. Until then, it seems that I must read it again!

[lritte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hexult is more of a sci-fi novel that takes place in a ice world setting. There are a bunch of islands in this world and some of the islands fighting for superiority.Two 15 year old twin children turn up and create quite a stir by showing people their new "magic" which is really science.I think this would be a good book for younger male readers.The ending of the book left things quite open for more to be written about this world, and questions myself, as a reader, would enjoy finding out the answers to those questions.

[pclr-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hexult is a story for young adults, but will be enjoyed by adults who like fantasy books. In the distant future, Hexult is an ice-covered land of islands surrounded by frozen seas. Aulf is the young mailman who sails his boat with his helper Ingar delivering the mail to the islands. Aulf and Ingar find twins Jacob and Elya shipwrecked on the ice, rescue them, and become friends. Jacob and Elya are from a land across the sea that no one from Hexult has ever visited or even knew existed. Their land is one of science and the four young people join together to bring that science to Hexult. Unfortunately, the islanders of Hexult are filled with suspicion and mistrust and view the science as magic. The book is an enjoyable read--danger, science, wizards, prophecies, conflicts between the islands, raiders--everything needed for a good adventure story. The story is somewhat simplistic and I kept wondering why we didn't learn more about the land that Jacob and Elya came from earlier in the book. No one seemed to be interested in asking them, which seems unlikely. It was a quick read and by the middle of the book my interest was caught enough so that I am looking forward to reading the next book.

[psundby-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hexult, by Perry Aylen, is a quick read, enjoyable enough, by a promising author. The world he has created is intriguing and the story has the potential to be engrossing if the characters could just be developed more fully and the darker themes explored and allowed to have more of an effect. This book would be an ideal fit for young readers, perhaps in the 10 to 13-year-old range. However, teenagers and older will crave characters and themes with more complexity than those offered here. The fast-paced story only skims the surface of prejudice, superstition, political instability and war. The frenetic pace did not allow any kind of rapport to develop between the reader and protagonists. Key points in their back-stories, such as the questions of how and why the twins ended up so far from home, were not addressed early enough in the story and led to a sense of incredulous disbelief that none of the other characters thought to ask a single leading question for 28 chapters. Yet we are to believe that they invited them into their homes to live with them? A mature reader will be bothered by this lack of character development and bemoan the fact that no one grows or changes at all through the course of the story. However, the adventure and imaginatively envisioned world are a safe choice for children who are still cocooned in a world where good guys always win and nothing really bad ever happens. The author has potential - I will be interested to check in on future work to see if he can take the germ of a good story to the next level.

[tamarack29 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lovely book with a great story and characters that you want to believe in and root for. I was sad when it ended because I wanted more and am hoping a sequel comes soon.

[yahalomi65 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good book fold inside a new idea, so much as a Sci Fi book. It will consider brilliant if if it will include other kind of meanings. It will consider out standing this idea will keep your thoughts in every other moment.Well you all can imagine to yourselves how the vast white plans of ice capture my mind. With this amazing idea of heat from the depth of the planet creating islands which people can live on. So it is really not important if because some kind of future catastrophe, or on other planet or universe. Another thing that capture my mind is something with the color of Medieval- prejudices, superstitions, mistrusts and a lot of lot of hate. I know, sadly it is not exclude only to this time, but then the mixture was so very strong. Poor Elya.... how it happened at all? How dark and evil connected together? I can't imagine if Perry would try to insert some one really dark to this environment.Sometimes it just made sheath with frustration, why Jacob wouldn't stop everything and demand that everybody will treat her properly.But Jacob and Elya like the true scientists they are didn't let the ignorance to stop them from sharing their knowledge. this remind another scientist which i came to know just now and fell in love with:"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." George Washington Carver , also born when the times were dark and thick with hate - times when people enslave others and still he out shine and contribute to those who treat him as such.

[maegull · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. I think a sequel is in order, and I would definitely recommend this book to others. I was reading it to my 5 year old and he enjoyed it as well.

[raelee58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good YA coming of age story, although that part of it doesn't come across until the end. There are enough interesting characters and hints at possible relationships that this could easily be continued with a sequel. I would read that as well if there were...

[carmenmaranda · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

as you can see i really loved this book. will be looking for the sequel. So original and exciting. I was racing to turn the next page to see what was next..even had a feel good ending.thank you

[dolly1325 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable story. At first, I wasnt sure what to think because of the weird names - Aulf and Ingar. But, the story was quite captivating. Jacob and Elya are found by Aulf and Ingar amidst their ruined ice craft. From faraway across the Ice Plain, Elya and Jacob have "magic" that has never been seen before. A compass and flint/steel. They try to fit into their new world, despite a crank "magician", a prophecy and other troubles.

[laurelh_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hexult is a story of adventure in a world of ice, where much of science and technology has been forgotten. This perhaps looms in our future. The characterization reflects many all-too-human foibles as the four main characters Ingar and Aulf and the twins Jacob and Elya take on the always formidable task of overcoming evil with good intentions, youthful enthusiasm and creativity. Jacob and Elya's arrival in the islands brings change and challenge. There is underlying curiousity to be satisfied as we are prompted to think about geothermal activity, the making of steel, how flint and steel works, how compasses work and how Morse Code and other symbolic systems form the basis of communication. This is a good read for young readers and adults can be well entertained. The world Aylen has created is interesting and engaging. The society that inhabits it is simple with room for more development as the different islands of Hexult navigate the rocky waters of a new treaty and try to track down proof of evil doing. I, for one, look forward to further books in this series. It does us no harm to be reminded of a world where it is hard to start fires and where there is excitement in the creation of a small case for our flint and steel. There is room for further character development and a number of dramatic tensions to be resolved. While I don't this this will turn into an epic we must remember the initial shallowness of Robert Jordan's Conan and the ultimate complexity of the Wheel of Time.The story may well be post-apocalyptic if you choose to view it that way but I certainly didn't find it dystopian nor did I think it should be categorized as fantasy, at least to this point. There is no evidence of magic, just superstition. It is quite well written and I found no internal inconsistecies and very few editorial errors. Suitable to its target audience.

[kristincedar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hexult, a very good story, fantasy to the nth degree, is set in a frozen world where family and work roles are very important. In the book, these characters of Aulf, Ingar, Jacob, and Elya are extremely likable. The one concern is that the book is a part of a series, or set, and didn't end with the story completely wrapped up. Otherwise this is a super-good read. I recommend it.

[madamediotte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An original premise, good character development, and lots of action make this a truly enjoyable read! You will love getting to know Aulf, Ingar, Jacob, and Elya in this unusual adventure! Great for teens and adults alike!

[cottongirl7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful surprise! I thoroughly enjoyed venturing into this new, exciting, and dangerous world. The characters are well thought out and just downright likeable. You can’t help but be swept away by the action and the emotion of this story. I will admit I am a bit above the target age range of 12-15, but found the book both held my attention and made me wish the sequel was ready to read. I will be eagerly awaiting Hexult 2 and praise the author for creating a world that is fun to get lost in. Give it a try, you’ll be glad you did.

[spiceca_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an enjoyable read. The genre is only very loosely science fiction (I would hesitate to even call it as loosely). I would describe this as a YA fantasy adventure with suggestions of post apocalyptic and dystopian tones. Even though it wasn't the genre I was expecting, I enjoyed the story very much. I think this would be a great read for children as it should keep their attention but would also provide some very important lessons. I was happy about the message but also pleased that the author created believable characters that were fairly well developed. It was also nice that the ending wasn't wrapped up in a nice tidy bow- yes the story took care of the bulk of loose ends but not specifically with an unrealistic "happy ever after". How was this relatively short book able to encompass tones of dealing with politics, superstition, irrationality, science and prejudice all wrapped up in an adventure story? Well- to find out that I would recommend reading it.