KIRKUS REVEWS

SAMUIL AND THE LEGENDARY SNOW OWL Randall Stephens

This debut historical fantasy sees a Russian family battle dark forces in the wilds near the Black Sea.
In 1840s Russia, 17-year-old P’etro Fedorchak fights in the Allied Shadow War. He joins comrades Samuil “The Fox” Wolowitz and Dimitri “The Bear” Popovitch against human soldiers and demons coming from a forest by the Black Sea. Samuil perishes in the war but P’etro returns to Moscow a hero. During the
celebratory parade, he saves a young woman named Ilia from being trampled byrunaway horses. Later, he works on her family farm where the two fall in love. They marry and move to Bakota, Ukraine, to start a family of their own. When Ilia becomes pregnant, she’s sure it will be a boy, and they plan to name him
Samuil. One evening, P’etro notices an otherworldly fog rolling in from the forest. This is the night Ilia gives birth, but not without complications.
P’etro crosses the countryside to fetch aid from Galina, the wife of their friend Ivan “The Boar.” P’etro ends up in a magic cave that leads to a cabin in the “Borderlands.” He encounters a “dark presence” that says, “I am he who will destroy everything and everyone you love.” Luckily, P’etro’s family doesn’t face this evil alone. Nikolai of the Caves and his hound, Wolf Killer, will help. For his series opener, Stephens offers a fantasy focusing on primal good and evil that should entrance fans of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The heroes embody natural icons, and readers see P’etro “the Rock” earn his name during the war for being “strong, unmovable, and true.” The narrative hops forward in stages, checking in on P’etro’s son, Samuil, as a 3-month-old baby, then at ages 8 and 12.
Fabulously realized ambiance, utilizing mist and wild cat screams, portrays the eerie Southern Forest as a place of deepening weirdness. Grounded human elements, like P’etro’s traumatic flashbacks to the war, allow the supernatural motifs to ramp up evenly. This first volume’s magical crescendo should create loyal readers who will return for more fairy tale-style grandeur. A captivating start to an Eastern-flavored and methodically built fantasy epic.

Blueink Review
Samuil and the Legendary Snow Owl Randall Stephens 

Randall Stephens fuses an unlikely duo of literary genres in Samuil and theLegendary Snow Owl, the first entry in a planned trilogy. With plenty of epic battles, a varied cast of otherworldly creatures and a central narrative pitting the forces of good against evil, Stephens’ novel can
safely be categorized as a fantasy. However, it also boasts a dynamic reminiscent of Dostoyevsky or Chekov, offering an eye for in-­ depth psychological character development and intense interpersonal drama straight out of a Russian novel. Indeed, the story takes place in 19th-­century Russia, during an imagined war between human soldiers and an army of darkness. As Stephens examines the vagaries of the fictional Allied Shadow War, he introduces a young P’etro Fedorchak, who fights alongside fellow members of the “Brotherhood,” soldiers who face the enemy armed with 1840s gun  and swords, even as they ride a winged Pegasus over the battlefield. Fedorchak survives harrowing battles, weds a princess and moves to a picturesque cabin near the shores of the Black Sea, where his son Samuil is born. The threat from the forces of evil doesn’t stop with the end of Fedorchak’s battlefield service, however. His life and new son are targets of malevolent monsters bent on destruction. As Samuil grows up, the son must do battle against an evil first encountered by his father. The author offers a unique hybrid of real-­world environments and historical elements, while simultaneously spinning a tale full of imaginative creatures
and mythical conflicts…Stephens creates a book full of compelling characters…Stephens offers plenty of clear and concise action, and his skill for creating
strong characters makes the first entry in the series engaging and memorable.      

CLARION REVIEW
Samuil and the Legendary Snow Owl Randall Stephens
Samuil and the Legendary Snow Owl is an ambitious fantasy novel that pits the mightof tough people against demonic anger. Randall Stephens’s ranging fantasy novel Samuil and the Legendary Snow Owl blends fairy tale and historical elements.

Beginning with a big, bloody battle between the Russian army and demons during the 1840s Allied Shadow War, the story focuses on P’etro and his friends as
they try and survive in a hellish landscape. P’etro lives to become the hero of the Dawn battle, winning him both fame and the land he needs to start a family. He marries Ilia, who gives birth to Samuil—fated to help turn the tide in the longstanding war. The plot hinges on keeping Samuil alive and well so that he can fulfill his destiny. P’etro and his family are helped in their efforts by enigmatic Nikolai and his dog, Wolf Killer. The story moves from Samuil’s birth through his childhood years and to the ultimate confrontation with the shadow—the embodiment of all evil and darkness, which lives only to destroy. Russian folklore and history angles are an interesting twist… Set in the historical past, the story also includes magical elements that make its setting more like that of a fairy tale. Magic and mysteries are real and dangerous; any trip into the forest is a life-threatening affair…. The story’s main characters—P’etro, Ilia, and Samuil—are plays upon tropes, functioning as a brave father, loving mother, and troublesome child. P’etro is strong, but not wise; Ilia is adoring, but willing to pick up a sword. Wonderful, interesting secondary characters include a talking teddy bear, a sea witch who turns from a seahorse to a crone, and a ghost regiment still fighting the shadow. All embrace magic and fight against evil, resulting in an appealing, fable-like quality… Samuil talks to animals and tries to understand them, and connected scenes are charming.