Sharing an email from friend and author Hal Friesen that charged my rel-batteries yesterday.
"I just recently finished the Okal Rel series -- books 8, 9, and 10 had been on my to-read list for too long and I just hadn't gotten around to them.
It was a joy to get back into the universe, and spend time with characters who, at this point, have become somewhat beloved for me. I loved the political, religious, military, scientific twists and turns, all grounded in character-drama I was totally invested in. I loved the way Amel's marriage to Sam played out. So many threads came together so well especially in the last two books -- and I even learned to love Eler. Horth remains one of my favourite characters ever, and his relationship with Ilse made me laugh out loud too many times. It was so satisfying to see the characters come into their own and to see an optimistic ending to the entire series.
I'm honoured and grateful that Nestor got to make a cameo in the final book -- for some reason I'd completely forgotten that you'd told me that was happening. It was touching, and I'm very flattered that my small piece could contribute to the incredible web of characters, cultures and politics that you've created.
The whole series remains near and dear to my heart. It's also the series that got my foot in the door for publishing in general, for which I'll always be grateful. So thank you, Lynda, for letting me be a part of the ORU as well as giving such a wonderful series to the world. It's one of very few book series that I want to re-read to more fully appreciate all the moving pieces, and to just soak in the characters' challenges and triumphs again. I'm so glad it's on my shelf."
Hal Friesen, from an email sent to Lynda Williams Feb 10, 2025 shared with permission
You can find Shepherds of Sparrows by Hal J. Friesen on Amazon at https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/shepherds-of-sparrows-an-okal-rel-universe-legacy-novella-okal-rel-legacies-volume-17-9780992140229 and a list of Hal's publications at https://isfdb.stoecker.eu/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?238002
Comments