Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

Quiichaar: The Adduco Ventum by Reed Sturm follows the survival, concealment, and eventual pursuit of a single forbidden weapon that was meant to be erased. During the final years of the Great Wars, the world devastator Priagrandis is secretly disabled by Djudg Clemmoth to prevent its destruction jump, leaving the ship intact but lost to official records. Centuries later, fragments of knowledge surface through Jijesca Ogishec’s final psychic signal and the actions of Liman Hegwather, whose discovery draws attention to what is called 'the wanderer’s dream.' Quiichaar Ohem Evastis, Watcher Tuyet Nguyen, and criminal forces led by Normid Vrii converge on the same objective: locating and controlling the surviving vessel. As clues lead to Temrekoon and beyond, political power, religious authority, and organized crime race to reach the weapon first, knowing that whoever claims it can reshape the imperial order.

Reed Sturm’s Quiichaar is a really well-written epic novel, its title reflecting the Quiichaar order and the Adduco Ventum texts, doctrines governing foresight and continuity. I love the concept of psychic transmission and inherited responsibility across the centuries, especially when linked to futurist technology. Here, Sturm gives us a defining device that is a world devastator engineered to erase itself by stellar immersion, and it is absolutely brilliant. The world-building is top-notch, with civilizations wherein the church, empire, and syndicates coexist uneasily. It feels tangible and immediately lived-in. Ohem Evastis, as a character, is the perfect blend of principled action and decisive protection, and is fully fleshed out as someone who places human obligation above institutional safety. With visually described settings, like the cinematic volcanic caldera on Temrekoon, and intelligent and accessible writing, the Quiichaar series is worth the time investment. Recommended.