Caput Mundi the Head of the World
Book 1: Enarii
People’s ultimate loyalties are tested against a backdrop of alchemistic magic and political machinations in the exciting series-opening fantasy novel Caput Mundi: The Head of the World.
A boy contends with family alienation and a mysterious metal in B. R. Kang’s alluring fantasy novel Caput Mundi: The Head of the World.
In Caput Mundi, enarii is a prized liquid metal that experienced users can form into anything imaginable. But the island of Umbra, whose mine supplied the enarii, was devastated by toxins, causing many people to decry the use of enarii. When Niil is kidnapped by his absent father’s debt collectors, Marcus and Mira, he comes to live with them on Umbra. There, he learns that he inherited his estranged mother’s talent for working with the black substance that inspires conflict.
Honed, textured descriptions cover the mechanics of enarii, which must be absorbed through human skin to be used. Under Marcus’s and Mira’s expert tutelage, Niil grows to understand the metal as a tool. Later, through their daughter, Ada, he learns that it is also Caput Mundi’s currency.
Umbra and Caput Mundi are rich, contrasting locales. One is rife with environmental damage; the other is packed with alchemic gifts, and its elaborate government and aqueducts recall the Roman Empire. Their differences gesture at brewing power clashes that promise repercussions. Arresting imagery, as of rain lilies and wooden insignia rings, further vivify the setting.
Niil is also driven to search for his parents. The question of why they abandoned him fuels him. Still, he is a practical hero who sometimes has to put his personal concerns aside, as during an energetic sequence at a mining camp.
The book moves at a measured pace. It moves between worldbuilding information and thrilling battles that test Niil’s skills. Meanwhile, Ada craves knowledge about her own parents, and outlaw Doubleyes create additional challenges.
As the main characters help each other with their goals, their personalities mature. Ada’s insights guide Niil; though she maintains doubts about him, his selfless determination causes her to soften toward him. Ada’s cousin joins the story as a perceptive sidekick whose failed baking experiments add levity. Other characters exhibit anime-inspired, exaggerated qualities, as with adversaries who use explosive fireseeds and a burly cook whose weapon of choice is a frying pan. A key villain, though, is described in clichéd shorthand as a “lunatic.”
Intrigue swirls on multiple levels, from the grandeur of an empire whose hunger for enarii inspires seditious resentment to the immediacy of the adolescents yearning for honest answers. There are hints that Niil is exceptional, too: The enarii’s behavior around him defies its usual laws. Still, he possesses enough foibles to be more than merely heroic. The storylines converge in thoughtful ways, making this series opener a provocative one.
In the gripping fantasy novel Caput Mundi: The Head of the World, newfound friends band together to uncover a treacherous plot.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
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.
