One Carmine Sun Glows for Today
Begin an End for a World Series
A community pursues profound environmental and social change in the complex fantasy novel One Carmine Sun Glows for Today.
In M. G. Brown’s epic fantasy novel One Carmine Sun Glows for Today, people witness massive environmental degeneration while navigating complex relationships.
On the continent of Unodosterras, people in Willowburb face growing concerns of air pollution, diseased animals, and the necessity of harvesting solar energy. They have no control over how distant cities are contributing to the deterioration of their landscape. Restrictive, violent authoritarian agencies are a further source of complication.
In this setting, Mimnyza and Jymkenzo are siblings navigating friendships and family relationships. They and others work their way into the battle to save the community’s future after Jymkenzo gives hope to the rebel cause. Together, they pursue profound environmental and social change.
Despite these stakes, much of the novel is internal in focus. Mimnyza struggles to feel compassion toward her brother, whom the rest of her circle has all but written off. As their relationship builds, Jymkenzo’s own story begins: He wrestles with the tension between feelings of obligation toward his family and staying true to his drive to help his community. His crusade is picked up by others who see his revolutionary tactics.
As the novel progresses, the heavy attention placed on people’s thoughts and conversations weighs it down, though. The story stagnates, and people don’t change much. Despite all he’s juggling, Jymkenzo remains a troublemaker and explorer; his departure from his rebel group to work with suspicious law enforcement is jarring. By the end, the movement created by Jymkenzo and Mimnyza to evoke environmental awakening in Willowburb has stalled; the community’s plight remains much the same as it was at the novel’s start.
The landscape and Unodosterras’s fauna are explained in depth to flesh out the siblings’ world. Suide hogs and aven populations are threatened when an electric fence is built around Willowburb, which is central to the movement of the plot. The wilderness is described as wild, lush, and full of secrets. The community’s continued struggle to preserve their environment is passed from character to character, weaving in mystical elements like mind reading and magical gems that could save humanity.
Still, the prose beyond these rich allusions is evasive. Homophonic terms such as “afterlun” for afternoon and “scareform” for scarecrow slow its progression. Further, the syntax is muddy and disorienting throughout, impeding the book’s flow. Near the end of the story, as new characters arrive to continue Willowburb’s fight for environmental protections, the disheveled prose dulls the climax and prevents immersion.
One Carmine Sun Glows for Today is an intricate fantasy novel in which a mystical community battles against environmental degradation.
Reviewed by
Jennifer Maveety
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
