Book Tour: The Fall Is All There Is: Four of Mercies Book 1

The Fall Is All There Is by C.M. Caplan

This is C.M. Caplan’s second book, and it’s the second of his books that I’ve read and reviewed. (See my review of The Sword In The Street here). 

Caplan has a gift for creating and portraying characters with realistic traits and flaws that, at least to this reader, are instantly relatable and who pull you into the story. And this story was a lot of fun to read.

Here in The Fall Is All There Is we meet Petre Mercy, one of a set of quadruplets born into the royal household of a post apocalyptic world. Five years ago he separated himself from the intense politics and toxic relationships of Mercy House and ran off to find a life of his own. Now his father, the king, has died and he is suddenly being called back home by his siblings, a journey he is reluctant to take. As events unfold he finds himself once again swept up into royal affairs and must take sides in what promises to be an all out civil war.

Petre is a manic ball of energy and full of humor.  The book deals in a lot of what could be considered serious topics, including graphic violence, drug use, bisexuality (with a briefly explicit scene midway through the book), and discussion of masochistic kink. But it never takes itself too seriously, with Petre’s humor brightening even the darkest parts of the book. Caplan also has a lot of fun with the family dynamics among the four siblings. 

The world where all the action takes place is full of old, half understood technology from multiple iterations of civilizations that have advanced and then fallen in on themselves. Caplan refers to two “annihilations” that have happened in the past, where technology altered the world tragically and fundamentally. So it’s a crazy mix of “modern” conveniences, steampunk style cyborg horses, battery powered vibrating swords and rotating knives,  ghostfogs and forests filled with trees of granite and concrete. Not to mention mastodon bone houses and [SPOILER] helmets that allow the wearer to control the possessed humans called Gaunts. 

Just like his previous book, I liked this one a lot, and the realistic characters and character dynamics are a big reason why. I faulted Caplan’s previous book on its world building, saying that it was a world only partly revealed and just sufficient to carry the story. That is certainly not the case here, as this book is filled with intriguing technologies and ideas. As this is the first of a series of books I look forward to seeing how the various pieces of half understood ancient tech being studied by the “labcoats” play into future stories.

RATING: Four Stars

NOTE: It’s been several months since I last participated in a book tour, but I was very happy to be invited by Escapist Tours to participate in this one. And I’d also like to thank the author for reaching out to me and providing an ARC of this book even before that. 

For more on the book tour, visit the Escapist Tours official tour page.

Purchase  The Fall Is All There Is on Amazon 

Title: The Fall Is All There Is

Series: Four of Mercies Book 1

Author: C. M. Caplan

Publisher: Razor Sharp Books (Self Published)

Publish Date: November 7, 2022

ISBN-13: 9781737209539

Amazon Price: $16.50 Paperback (as of 11/2022)