The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #1:

The Missing Hill by Titos Pavlou

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy review: 4 STARS                           14 November 2013

As always, I’m doing a buddy read with MariaReadsALot because she talked me into it, and boy, was she right!

What a strange world and what powerful characters Titos Pavlou has created! I can’t stop thinking about this book even though this might be for younger readers. But! It’s only the first in the series and I’ve read online that the second installment gets more grown-up, so I’ll stick it out for the battle scenes.

The Missing Hill tells the story of Alavira, a girl abandoned by her parents to a goatherd called Ianos who lives on a mountain called Missing Hill. This guy is her guardian but barely talks to her for the entirety of her childhood. So what does she do? She finds solace in the company of mountain bears. That’s right! She becomes the Alpha bear or something (although I don’t think bears really work like that?), but anyway she is their leader and at some point, she saves an injured bear cub from a pack of hungry wolves. Pretty badass if you ask me.

We don’t know why her parents abandoned her until much, much later in the book.

#SPOILER#
They’re actually the King and Queen of Serenopol and they have four other children-heirs who they have also left in the hands of similar guardians because of a messed-up tradition.
#SPOILER#

Alavira has a fight with her guardian and runs away to a thick woodland where she meets another child named Melitini and we learn that it’s called The Hidden Forest. Melitini is a couple of years older than Alavira and raised by another guardian who’s a beekeeper, hence the kid’s name. The beekeeper is a little bit better than the goatherd but where the goatherd leaves Alavira to her own devices, the beekeeper makes Melitini work all day. The two children decide to figure out what’s going on with their guardians and why their parents left them there. The rest of the book is them looking for clues independently and sometimes together when they meet half-way, trying to piece the puzzle of their lives. The book ends on a cliffhanger:

#SPOILER#
They eventually confront Ianos who confirms they are sisters!!! (well, okay that one I suspected from the moment I saw Melitini on the page but still!!!) and they get sent to the palace because now they know who they are and they have come of age. There they meet their real parents, the King and Queen, who announce that they must fight each other to the death for the throne or be banished forever!!!
#SPOILER#

Like what the hell? I need to know what’s going to happen next. But I can’t yet. I have to wait for Maria to finish and write her review so we can get started on the second book. Don’t buddy read with someone who reads slower than you. This is my advice to you, dear reader. The third installment is set to be released in a few months so maybe we should pace ourselves.

BUT I NEED TO KNOW!!!

102 likes and 15 comments

CryWolfe 5 August 2014

You guys are hilarious! I am so glad you picked up this series. I will be following the reviews closely.

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #1:

The Missing Hill by Titos Pavlou

MariaReadsALot review: 5 STARS                                         5 December 2013

She could lie here forever. Where the flowers were soft and the air humid and full of comforting smells. This is what death must be like. To be eternally hugged by someone who loves you. Only she didn’t know anyone who loved her. But perhaps the earth, the soil, did hold a modicum of love for her, like it did for all creatures. And that’s what she was: a lonely, feral creature.

After being publicly called out by Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy for my slow reading, I am finally posting my review. Yes, I did start this book first and got Lefteris into it later but I just wanted to savor the experience. Do you ever get that feeling when you read the first few pages of a book and you just know it is going to be super important for you? That’s me and The Missing Hill. I am seventeen but I know I will be talking about this book well into my seventies. To be honest I am a little afraid to pick up the second installment because I don’t want this feeling to go away. What if something terrible happens to Alavira or Melitini? I don’t want to know…Okay, I lie. I do want to know what happens to them but I am still scared.

Lefteris did a very good job summarizing the plot so I am going to skip the macro stuff and focus on the things I loved.

First of all, I think the whole setting feels like a Byzantine Empire in decline? Even the legend of the Dog King echoes the Romulus and Remus myth. Or it just might be that we’re studying them in school right now.

There’s a moment in the book where

#SPOILER#
an old bear dies. And Alavira has seen goats and other animals die sometimes because she is being raised by the goatherd. But this is the first creature she has really bonded with that dies. And she is so stricken by it and shocked that it hurts so much inside. So, she runs to Ianos in full rage mode and tells him how much of a bad father he is because he never really explained the concept of death to her. That it feels like being sick or stabbed and she can’t make it go away. And that this old bear explained it better to her by dying than he ever could. Then this man turns around and tells her that he is not her father and never wanted to be. That’s the fight Lefteris was referring to.
#SPOILER#

Cue me weeping into my pillow. It took me a week to pick up the book (and my pieces) again. Hence the late review.

By the way, I didn’t feel like she was the leader of the bears like Lefteris writes. Sometimes the bears and Alavira coexist and sometimes she is sort of observing them from afar and learning from them. She has learned more social skills from the bears than from her guardian. Which says a lot. There are some people who come to the goatherd for goats, milk, etc., even a couple of children around her age or older visit with their parents, but they mostly ignore her like some sort of weird creature or pet. It’s all so sad.

Alavira spends so much of the book obsessed with the concept of death afterwards. She likes lying on the undergrowth or on the big flat rocks and “playing dead” to try and understand it more. She stops only after she meets Melitini. Which is partly why what’s being asked of her at the end of the book hits so hard.

I’ve read one of the author’s interviews and it looks like this is autobiographical in a way. As a child I was obsessed with the concept of death. Ever since my grandmother died in front of my eyes when I was five or six years old. I needed time and space to process everything. Especially this new idea of death. Children are powerless for most of their young lives but they do have powerful imagination. That’s how they survive. That’s how I survived my childhood.

As a weird kid who also used to obsess over the concept of death, I am very intrigued by the author and the series. After I get over the first one, I’ll dive into The Nowhere Man. In a month the The Dog Queen will be coming out. I’ll try to avoid spoilers by any means necessary.

125 likes and 35 comments

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 5 August 2014

Took you long enough! I might have cheated and read the first couple of chapters already. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

MariaReadsALot 6 August 2014

Traitor! As long as you can keep it to yourself, I am fine with it 😊

CryWolfe 8 August 2014

Maria always writes such thoughtful reviews. I love reading all her research and thoughts that’s why they take longer to write. Lefteris you’re awesome too! You just complement each other so well.

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #2:

The Nowhere Man by Titos Pavlou

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy review: 2 STARS                           2 September 2014

600 freaking pages?! (And yet, I’m the first to finish it? Yes, I am! Maria is not even halfway through.)

Man, this was a bit of a drag. It feels like very little progress was made. The book starts with a flashback where we left off. Alavira and Melitini find out they are not only sisters but also royals! They have to fight each other to the death for the Kingdom of Serenopol somehow? Their parents, the King and the Queen, follow the VERY ancient tradition of the land which says that the only worthy heir to the throne is the one who survives its siblings. It goes all the way back to the creation of Serenopol by a Dog King who survived his other siblings and ascended to the throne. Overall, pretty awesome world-stuff. (Also Dog King? Like an actual dog? I hope we get the lore eventually!)

Melitini accepts the challenge and is sent to a training camp to prepare for the battle royale (literally a battle among royals). Like hello! I could have told you that Alavira! That girl was too perfect not to turn out to be evil. You know that sibling that rats you out all the time so they look better? Kinda like that but they also want to be Queen which amps the stakes. Alavira declares she will never hurt anyone (my beautiful cinnamon roll—too good for this world, too pure) and is banished from the land. But not before the King warns her that while she might not want to fight her siblings, this doesn’t mean she won’t have to. Which makes sense because she’s still one of the heirs and another aspiring successor might want her eliminated. I love Alavira but she doesn’t think too far ahead.

Sadly, it all goes downhill from there. The book follows her around as she makes her way to the neighboring land of Talveris where she finds work as a tailor’s apprentice. There, she befriends a disgraced old knight and just when you think there’s going to be a training montage or something badass the book just sags? Instead of grabbing a sword Alavira wallows in misery about her birth parents, her guardian, but most of all about Melitini’s betrayal. She feels abandoned by everyone, which sure, but she doesn’t DO anything about it. She keeps going in circles about her only father figure, Ianos, who we left behind in the previous book, and does a lot of soul searching with the help of the knight, Engelico. Soul searching instead of sword fighting. Man, this is the wrong series for me.

Then it turns horror somehow? A menacing figure that looks like an overstretched, mishappen Ianos starts following her around. In the book she calls it a shadow-creature. When it comes too close she starts feeling weak and worthless and shuts everyone out.

Anyway! I was about to fall asleep over my cup of coffee.

#SPOILERS#
In the very last chapter of the book one of her brothers appears. Or that’s who he claims he is. And challenges her to a duel. When she refuses, he reveals that the battle royale has come to pass and he is the sole survivor. He has killed Melitini (That got dark so fast. How much more can my girl take?) to provoke Alavira to fight but instead of fighting she runs away!
#SPOILER#

Tell me, does this sound heroic to you?

Getting a bit mad at Maria who got me into the series—and of course that nerd will love the second book, I am sure. Alavira is a good character but we could have been reading The Lightdragon’s Ascent series, instead. People say those books slap!

Feeling demotivated to keep up with the series. I got accepted to the Engineering program at the Technical University of Athens last month and just moved to a new city. The courses are hard. I might take a break from this series because it was such a drag for me and I really have no time for boring books.

96 likes and 13 comments

MariaReadsALot 3 September 2014

Plz don’t make me read the Ascent. Everyone talks about this book like it’s the second coming of Christ. I tried reading the first couple of chapters and every character is so over the top and forgettable.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 3 September 2014

You’re no fun :/

Biblioforger 28 November 2014

Congratulations on getting into college! I agree with you, this series is a bit slow for me. Nothing wrong with a coming-of-age story but I also hungered for more…battles? I’ll follow your reviews in case you read the third installment that just released to make up my mind about the series.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 28 November 2014

Wow, is this a fan letter? Sweet! Thank you Biblioforger! You just made my day. Might go for the third book for my fandom’s sake. XD

KnightInDistress 1 December 2014

Hey, I just can’t let it go this time. I find it very annoying how you explain every plot point in the book. You kind of spoiled the first book for me because I accidentally read your review. I see you haven’t changed. PLEASE USE THE SPOILERS TOOL BETTER.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 3 December 2014

Hey, Knight in Distress!

#SPOILER#
Don’t di-stress, man. Just don’t read my reviews!
#SPOILER#

KnightInDistress: 5 December 2014

#SPOILER#
ha…ha…
#SPOILER#

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #2:

The Nowhere Man by Titos Pavlou

MariaReadsALot review: 4 STARS                                        15 September 2014

“You don’t fear them? The creatures, I mean,” Alavira asked Engelico.

The knight shook his head in his signature resigned manner. “When you’re as old as me the creatures are a kind of company. It’s the people you hurt and the ones who hurt you. But it’s also about love and caring. If you didn’t care enough, he wouldn’t be following you. He would have faded in the hallways of your memory.”

Alavira prodded that thought with her mind. “But I shouldn’t care about him.”

“Life is not simple and easy like that. You shouldn’t but you do. Maybe it’s time to do something about it. Maybe not.”

I hear you, Engelico. I hear you.

First of all, let’s get this out of the way

#SPOILER#
MELITINI IS DEAD! *melts into a puddle of tears* I know she betrayed Alavira guys but think where she was coming from. She had just as hard a childhood as Alavira herself. She didn’t deserve this. Nor did the other siblings.
#SPOILERS#

This was a solid four stars for me. I would have given it five stars if it delved into Engelico’s past more because he seems like such a cool and tortured character, you know? He has so many wise words to offer to Alavira who is feeling lost and dejected. He is the friend and semi-father figure Ianos never got to be. It would be so nice to see her help him through some of his own issues. But maybe she is too young for this? She is only nineteen when the second book starts and already working for a couple of years with a tailor who took her in without knowing who she truly is.

Personally, I think Alavira and Engelico are very similar, if you ignore their different starting points and age difference. They both prefer thinking to fighting. They enjoy living quiet lives and avoid becoming leaders. I think both of them are modeled after the author of the books. This is a quote from that the interview that I mentioned also in my review of Book 1:

And this was the first time I realized that I wanted to be a writer! I was about ten years old and I thought I had made the biggest discovery about myself (oh, how naïve I was!). I walked around with what I thought was this huge secret and I was feeling about to explode. So entranced I was by my own imagination about the person I would get to be, that I could ignore the troubles at home. And there were many.

One afternoon, when my father finally came home before my bedtime, I couldn’t keep it inside me anymore. I ran up to him and screamed, “Dad, I want to be a writer! I will write the best book ever!”

He barely looked at me then. He said, “That’s nice, Titako.”

The next morning, he was gone. He had packed his things and had left me, my siblings, and my mother, and there was nothing you could do to convince me it wasn’t because of what I had said.

Heart-wrenching. Then he mentions something about being able to see his father as a creature going through walls and just generally hovering over him.

But it wasn’t really my father. It was my regret. I believe all my regrets take some sort of semi-solid form and become visible to me. It might be because of my imagination. I truly believe in its power, as I said before. And sometimes, it gets out of control. I was never able to contain that aspect of my imagination. So, I just learned to live with it.

To be honest I have my own personal issues with my Dad, and Alavira’s struggles really resonated with me. I swear the shadows stretch longer in my room, ever since I started the series. I know it sounds wild but there’s something deeper that connects me to these books. Lefteris doesn’t get it. I just wish he stuck with it. He is the only person I’ve ever done these challenges with. Uni classes are hard and all but this is a nice respite from real-life stuff. At least my real-life stuff. I will say one last thing. JUSTICE FOR MELITINI!

105 likes and 11 comments

ValerieWithAV 16 December 2014

I’m sorry this book was so painful to you. Speaking of shadows… does the picture of the author freak you out? Maybe it’s just me. I dunno. It’s like he is really haunted by shadows. Something is wrong with every photo of his I’ve seen. The light doesn’t sit right around him.

MariaReadsALot 16 December 2014

I am sure it’s just some kind of artistic lighting setup or the type of lens. I like his picture; his eyes are always smiling. Besides, being haunted isn’t something to be afraid of. That’s what Engelico would say. Or that’s what I hope at least, haha.

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #3:

The Dog Queen by Titos Pavlou

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy review: 3 STARS                      12 February 2015

I’m back with a new review for my fan club! (Joking, but only a little.) This one was a 2.5 stars rounded up. Mostly because if I gave it another 2 stars it would upset Maria and I fear for my safety. (Joking, but only a little.)

First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room: the book series is getting dropped by the publisher? Apparently, they are not getting enough traction? No surprise there since they are unbelievably slow and they are getting more depressing as they go. Will the rest of the books see the light of day? I for sure don’t know but this is probably a sign for me to stop reading series in general and maybe study more. I’m not waiting around to find out. Maybe it’s time for standalones for a while. Maria doesn’t seem up for it, but times change.

This book had some of the things I love, like death (ha!), some political intrigue, and a battle for the throne. The three-star rating is because most of the action happens off screen. We only learn about it afterwards. Where is the action? Where are the epic battles? Where are the quips and the lighthearted moments? Not a single tavern brawl in sight. That’s what I seek in an epic fantasy book. A fantasy. Not all the feelings all the time. No wonder the readership is so low.

Anyway, to the point. Alavira finally gets to become Queen of Serenopol. And plz don’t complain about spoilers. It’s right there on the title! But what also happens is that Engelico betrays her. In a way.

#SPOILER#
Engelico fights with Alavira’s bloodthirsty brother. His name is Ramaro by the way, not that it matters. The guy is dead meat before we reach 1/3 of the book. So Engelico lies to Ramaro that Alavira chose him as her champion. Naturally the old guy gets slaughtered pretty fast. Engelico was going for an honorable death if you ask me. Rest in peace, old timer. When Alavira hears the news, she decides to finally grow a backbone and face her brother. How does she know something is wrong? An Engelico-shaped shadow creature joins the company of the Ianos and Melitini shadow-creatures (Oh yeah, Melitini comes back to haunt her too). Alavira doesn’t really know how to fight though (thanks for nothing Engelico!) and she pays a visit to the local witch, who asks for her soul in exchange for power. Classic stuff. The witch tells her the shadows are her strength and she has to become one with them. With the help of a spell she merges her soul with them. That’s how she slashes Ramaro in half. The only cool scene in the entire book.
#SPOILER#

After this, Alavira claims her right as the only heir. What happens in the rest of the book? Oh, just Alavira spiraling out of control and becoming a sort of tyrant when she ascends to the throne after the King’s death. But in an emo way. All of this is told to us through conversations and flashbacks. What we really get is a new main character, Doris. She is a healer who gets hired by the Queen’s mother to tend to her as she is getting older and frail. But Doris’s secret mission is to heal Alavira from her plague of shadows. Yeah, Alavira’s mother saw the light near the end of her life and wants to make things right. Well, guess what? Hunger-Gaming your children to find the future ruler was always going to end badly for everyone. Doris is using the good ol’ let’s-talk-about-your-feelings technique with Alavira which doesn’t seem to be working so well at first. But then they come closer and fall for each other? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a good romance in my fantasy but…again, no epic stuff.

I won’t spoil the very ending of the book (see? I’m learning) because if the series doesn’t get picked up by another publisher or the author doesn’t go the indie way, I think this will be the major finale.

I really wanted to like this series (mostly for Maria’s sake) but overall, it was honestly disappointing. Boring story, slow moving plot or no plot at all, and an anticlimactic, abrupt ending. I don’t know if Maria will end up posting her review of The Dog Queen but for me this is the end. Anyway, I bought a copy of Echoes of a Warlord’s Dream and plan on reading it soon. With or without Maria.

UPDATE: I have considered taking down/changing my reviews but I think that it’s okay to keep them up. If anything, to show how people grow and change. It can happen to anyone (even you, dear reader).

73 likes and 29 comments

MariaReadsALot 12 February 2015

Geez, I didn’t think you’d hate it so much that you’d quit on me like that. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to contact the publisher asking them to rethink their decision? I know you don’t get it but maybe just do me one last favor.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 12 February 2015

How can I stand behind a series I don’t even like? Wouldn’t that be dishonest? I really hope they rethink but I just don’t know what I could possibly say about the books that would help change anything. ☹

MariaReadsALot 13 February 2015

Even if it didn’t change anything at least it would show you care about…something that I care about? Never mind. Have a good life.

MommaBearBooks 15 February 2022

I just can’t see myself reading this book to my kids. I can very much understand why this book might be banned in some schools. It was plain unwholesome and disturbing. Reading it as an adult, I can see, but a child? This is what people let their children read? Then society wonders why kids grow up the way they do. This man has serious issues and it’s beyond me that children read his books. I cannot overstate how much NOT for children these books are. YUCK

MainCharacterSyndrome 17 February 2022

This should be a banned book? Seriously? This is a profound book for young people who are figuring out who they are and have all these feelings and maybe not the most supportive parents. The themes in these books are timeless: love, death, queerness, friendship, betrayal, war, self-identification. If anything, Mr. Pavlou is doing an amazing job at letting his characters feel their feelings and be imperfect. It’s not just an adventure. It’s a journey. I am shaking my head right now.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 20 February 2023

I say this with all the good will I have: I wish that your kids find their own way into the world. Maybe a book will help them along or maybe a friend, but I trust that they will. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for.

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #3:

The Dog Queen by Titos Pavlou

MariaReadsALot review: 5 STARS                                     3 March 2015

“How can you keep going when all the lights have gone out?” Alavira asked. “How can you still face me when I am the one who has destroyed the light? Do you hope you’ll change my mind? I promise you the darkness will always feed me.”

Doris held her stare. Her face as bright as her cell was dim, her fists clenched into balls.

“You are not special. Everyone has their darkness. You just don’t know how not to fear it yet. I will help you.”

Guys the series is getting cancelled. If you felt these books touched you perhaps you could email the publisher, asking them to reconsider? Pretty please?

This book broke my heart in many ways. First the way Engelico dies. I know he meant to help Alavira and maybe relive his glory days. But dying without her by his side is so, so sad. I choose to believe he felt some kind of peace at the end. Then Alavira’s self-destructive path. I knew it was coming. Especially after Melitini’s and Engelico’s shadow-creatures start haunting Alavira. But seeing her crack so easily and give into evil crushed my spirit a little, I won’t lie. She kills her own brother like it’s nothing. She hunts him like a wolf. That flashback to when the wolf attacked that bear cub as she cuts her brother down made me weep.

Then the book sort of mellows out and I began having hope, guys. Doris is the perfect person to pull Alavira out of this hole. I knew where this was going with those two. I think that was why I felt so connected to Alavira in the first place. She just wants to live her life. A life! And Doris is her most solid chance. She has power now. Nobody can make her do anything anymore. And she has a good woman who really sees who she is under the shadows. When they had their first kiss near the great fountain by the dahlias, I gasped.

And yet, when Alavira finds out about her mother’s plan on her deathbed, instead of feeling free to love Doris, she becomes even more paranoid and throws poor Doris in a dungeon? And now the series will stop? The books don’t sell as much they say. There isn’t an audience. I think that’s bs. This is why we can’t have nice things. I just need somebody I can root for, y’all. Will we ever get some kind of closure? I just really want to see these two happy, but I am afraid this will never happen.

#SPOILER#
In the end Doris finds her cell door unlocked and escapes into the night. We don’t know who left it open but we might never find out. I just hope it was Alavira. That’s what my fanfics will be all about from now on.
#SPOILER#

The author’s preface is my life right now.

When I was younger the world was a very unwelcoming place. I guess I was just afraid for myself, my partner, and my career. Afraid of being authentically me. And it never left me. That sense that I should have been bolder. I barely ever saw my father again after he left us but now, at my age, I wish I could have told him things. Especially since I stopped caring about what he thought of me a long time ago. I am now fifty-five years old and the older I get, I find myself craving to write more stories with, and for, young people. Perhaps it’s my way of reclaiming my early years but I’ll leave that analysis to someone more self-reflective.

I guess the lesson I would like the kids to take away from this series is that it’s alright to live your life and be your true self. And your parents are not always right. They are fallible people and sometimes they might even hurt you. That it’s alright to be angry, and sad. It’s rough being a kid and learning what’s best for you. Bad feelings won’t consume you if you accept them as a part of you. But only as a part. You’re made of other things as well. Alavira hasn’t learned that lesson yet. But one day she will.

Oh, I really hope she will. We might never get to see what happens to Alavira and Doris. But I will never forget them. Lefteris has left the reading challenge even if the series makes a comeback and everything feels pointless right now. College is taking up a lot of my time too (I am doing a BA in Applied Math) so I better focus on calculus and algebra if I want to get away from this house. The shadows are everywhere and they look like people I would like to forget. Perhaps I will revisit the series when my emotions don’t run so high. I wrote a letter to the publisher to protest the cancellation but maybe I should have written a fan letter to Titos instead. Maybe one day I will.

80 likes and 7 comments

CryWolfe 22 May 2017

It’s a shame you guys aren’t doing this anymore. I was such a fan of all your buddy reads. I went back and re-read most of the reviews you did over the years in a non-stalkerish way, and you’re such a fun duo. 😟

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #4:

The Quiet Return by Titos Pavlou

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy review: 5 STARS                           3 September 2024

Damn, it’s embarrassing to read my old silly reviews. I wasn’t myself yet. Took me around 9 years but I have matured like fine wine.

First off, I want to say I hope Maria reads this review at some point. I miss her. We lost touch after our falling-out. Which was kind of my fault. And no, it wasn’t just about this series or our reviews. I wasn’t supportive enough. I didn’t get some things back then. I lived in my own little bubble. But I do now. And I finally have my share of shadows to follow me around, but I can handle it, I think. I have seen her add books to her account recently and this is one of them. So, Maria, if you see this and you’re up for it let’s pick this up again. For old times’ sake.

Also, I am really sorry.

I’m at a new chapter of my life. Moved back to Greece at the start of 2022 and felt nostalgic and a little lost. So what’s the first book my fingers pick from the carton box in the back of my parents’ storage room? The Missing Hill, of course. And guys it’s so much better than I remembered? You know how you can’t read some books as an adult because they feel too…I don’t know, naïve? But this one had the opposite effect on me. It still holds so much emotion and gets so philosophical on the nature of life and death in the way a child would question these sorts of things. But also, in the way an adult would because let’s face it: we are still the same at the core of us. Frightened children.

Long story short, I ended up reading all three of the books and then…I wanted more? I didn’t know where to start so I became a member of a few reading forums and lo and behold, found other people my age asking similar questions.

But the community there, guys. Oh my god. So many young minds, much younger than myself, who were already thinking light years into the future. They were informed about so many things and social causes that I had no idea about when I was their age. I was such a dumb-ass kid. There were also people my age of course with a similar nostalgia about Titos’s books. We talked about it everywhere. On social media. To our family and friends. We ordered old copies left to gather dust in bookstores and secondhand bookstores. I gave my copies to my nephews and they loved them! We were coming out of the deep end of the pandemic then and I feel we might have created a sort of resurgence? I might be talking this up too much honestly.

A few months later I was doomscrolling on my phone reading the news and laughing at cat memes while still in bed (as one does) when I stumbled on a small article about an indie press collaborating with Titos Pavlou to bring the last installment of The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #4: The Quiet Return. Suffice to say it was the earliest anybody ever saw me up in the morning.

I let everyone in our forum and pretty much everyone in close vicinity know. I just couldn’t shut up about it. I was so freaking excited to learn that it’s now on its 6th print run and they are about to reprint the old books as well. It’s going to be a classic. Just a small spark of hope in this bleak world, I guess.

So, I’m supposed to review the book here, right? This is Alavira’s story, not mine.

Excuse me while I scream but

#SPOILERS#
MELITINI IS ALIVE AND KICKING? HOW?
#SPOILERS#

Saying this was the perfect ending feels cliché so I’ll say instead that this book had an unexpected ending for a book where there’s a Chosen One. But that’s probably because Alavira was never meant to be the chosen one. None of them were. But it’s still brilliant.

You can read about my feelings in the spoiler tag underneath.

It turns out I was reading these books very superficially back then. I guess wanting adventure is not a bad thing and if these books aren’t for you that’s cool too. But I also say give them a chance because you never know at what stage of your life you might find you need their wisdom and come back to them.

340 likes and 55 messages

KnightInDistress 5 September 2024

You’re still bad at using the spoilers tool, but just popping here to say I’m glad to see you back on the site. And loved this update.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 5 September 2024

I…kind of…missed your scolding too? It feels good to be back.

MariaReadsALot 8 September 2024

That’s…not what I expected to see in my BookNook notifications today. I need time to gather my thoughts. Talk about a trip down memory lane.

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy 8 September 2024

Thank you for this reply. I’m just happy to know you’re around. Take all the time you need.

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The Life and Times of Alavira the Great, #4:

The Quiet Return by Titos Pavlou

MariaReadsALot review: 5 STARS                                   15 October 2024

…I am here-ish? And well? Wow, Lefteris, this was unexpected to say the least. I needed some time after I read this review to process everything. It’s the first time in years I have seen you post anything on this site, and when I saw which book you reviewed and what your review was about, it was a kind of shock.

For the people wondering what happened to me, (okay, this sounded arrogant but whatever, an update was due). Finally left that house that wasn’t a home. I got my degree and now I teach in another city where I live with my partner. She is a wonderful nerd and has read these books with me multiple times. She even encouraged me to finally write that letter to the author and that’s how I found out he was planning a small comeback. We all know that it wasn’t that small after all but I guess Lefteris, the forum, and everyone who talked about these books really cemented his comeback.

I read this book before most of you out there and I am low-key proud of that. Titos is such a sweetheart and so private. His partner is also a teacher and he brews the best coffee. We have very sparse communication and he is trying to finish a new thing. That’s all the information I can give about him without feeling like I am breaking his trust. Most of these things are already in that comeback article (except for the coffee thing).

Lefteris, I appreciate you owning up to some things. It’s true that you hurt me but I already knew you were young and stupid back then (and still chatted with you!) but meant well (not that this justifies everything). I’ll DM you because we don’t need to air all our grievances in a book review. But I’ll say here that I am happy you’re doing well and you’re still passionate about books, especially the way you choose to use that passion.

And when they came back to the mountain and found the old cabin with the old wooden door broken and left to rot in the undergrowth, Alavira didn’t cry. Doris held her hand anyway and they both lifted the door and placed it against the stone wall. They went inside and examined all the things that needed fixing, and scrubbing, and mending, and all the things that didn’t.

Winter was coming to an end. Somewhere deeper in the mountain the bears were leaving their dens and the mountain goats scaled the steepest summits, bellies heavy with their young. Every creature prepared for a quiet return.

I keep wondering why Titos named his last installment The Quiet Return. For me this title holds multiple meanings. Allow me to elaborate.

The first and obvious one would be the return of Titos himself into the public eye. And what a public eye it is this time. Social media has progressed so much and Titos himself has become a sort of a cult-icon during his retirement from publishing. Maybe to him it was meant as a quiet return and that’s what he signals with the title. The publisher of his last book is a fairly small press after all (even though the book has now become their first best-selling title). Perhaps his wish would be to shed light on more diverse books, books that don’t follow the mainstream trends but will find their readers who need them so badly.

Then of course we have Doris’s return to Serenopol in disguise. Quiet, because that’s how changes happen sometimes. They can definitely be loud and seem sudden and like a storm you can’t escape from. But the loud part is the last part of the change. There was a lot of groundwork done in secret. Doris meets with Alavira in the gardens every evening and bit by bit Alavira sheds her shadows until one day she wakes up shadow-free. The shadows still exist but they are a thing outside of her, something she can now clearly see and examine and maybe even control.

Melitini also has a quiet return. After becoming an unofficial community leader for the province of the beekeepers, she gains the trust of the people and has matured far beyond that girl who accepted the challenge to kill her own siblings.

And finally, we have Alavira and Doris leaving Serenopol to Melitini and the other local leaders and making their way to the Missing Hill. Back to the little cabin Alavira and Ianos had lived in. Making new memories in a place weighted by the shadows of the past.

I don’t know if I have it right tbh. I don’t know if any of these guesses are true and frankly it doesn’t matter. I choose to believe all of them are true. Like Titos believes the shadow creatures are real and not just a metaphor he made up in his books. I used to think of them as real too but now I don’t see them anymore. Perhaps I have managed to tame them. Everyone can make something else out of it.

This is it guys. This is the end of this story. And it’s perfect.

1002 likes and 71 messages

CryWolfe 16 October 2024

OMG!!!! When I read my BookNook update and saw that you guys came back, a big smile came to my face!!!!!! Also, I’m a parent now?? Where does time fly? She’s only a baby but I can’t wait to read these books to her. 😊

MariaReadsALot 17 October 2024

I often wonder what it would be like to grow up reading queer books regularly. What kind of person would I be? The kid is so lucky to have you. <3

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The Lake so Blue, the Trees so Tall by Alex Psara

Lefteris_Loves_Fantasy review: 4 STARS                  4 November 2024

Hey, all! So, Maria discovered this little queer self-published book. It’s a sci-fi horror novella, loosely based on The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I guess this is our official comeback for our buddy reads. I can’t promise we’ll do it as often as before (life gets in the way, the world is on fire, etc.) but we are really back at it.

This book really blew my mind. But first let me say that

#SPOILERS#
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(Editors’ Note: Eugenia Triantafyllou is interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim in this issue.)

© 2025 Eugenia Triantafyllou

Award Honors: BSFA Awards Finalist- Best Short Fiction, Nebula Award Finalist- Best Novelette