Aleksandra Layland is a retired civil engineer and federal civil servant who worked primarily for the United States Air Force as a senior installation engineering manager responsible for buildings, airfields, infrastructure, fire protection, and emergency preparedness. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Western Caroline Islands where she helped build school classrooms and cafeterias, low income housing, and simple village water distribution systems.
Reviewed by Neil A White for Readers' Favorite
Far Endeavor by Aleksandra Layland is the third novella in the Windflower Saga series. It can be read as a standalone novel and, in fact, recounts the familial history of the series’ main protagonist, Lord Branimir Rongo. Ms. Layland’s fantastical adventure begins with Rongo’s descendants sailing in search of new lands and falling prey to pirates. While the majority of the men folk are captured and sold as slaves, the women and youngest son escape and eventually wash ashore in a far off northern land. What follows is a story much akin to Homer’s Odyssey, yet is encapsulated in a novella of fewer than 130 pages. The amount of detail enclosed, the plethora of characters introduced, and years covered over the course of the book can be daunting.
That being said, I found it a wonderful read. In total, Far Endeavor is a stirring sea-borne adventure tale with the main protagonist exploring and uniting new lands. And, in the process, discovering a family history he thought lost, undertaking a spiritual awakening, and ultimately finding his true love. Ms. Layland has conjured up a wonderful and descriptive new world, and her imagination is certainly something to behold. Far Endeavor, for fans of The Windflower Saga, will be seen as a welcome addition to the series. And for fantasy novel fans in general, this will have them searching out the earlier two books in the series.
