"Author S.P. Joseph Lyons’ latest entry in his Drux series introduces Orion the warrior, whose life is as mysterious as his sword-arm is strong. Escaping life as a child-slave on the warlord Ridran’s planet, Orion slowly comes to realize that his fate is inseparable from that of the universe’s. His fighting skills take him far, but it’s only under the mentorship of his adoptive parent, Malek, and the boundless love of the mage, Odeal, that Orion grows into his own extraordinary potential.
 
Orion is a genre-bending novel that brings together the better qualities of fantasy and science fiction in one spectacular adventure. Amid sword-fighting action and magical deeds, space ships and strange peoples on far-off planets, the characters remain compelling and relatable. The genre experiment here, nonetheless, never gets in the way of great storytelling or character development.
 
Themes relating to personal growth give the novel an introspective quality unusual to either fantasy or science fiction. Such themes are never far from the scenes of triumph and tragedy, war and spell-casting, that define the expansive scope of Orion’s multiple worlds and its elaborate magical system. The reader identifies easily with Orion, feeling the depths of his joy and pain, as he progresses both as a hero and a human being. The novel will appeal to anyone interested in seeing the outer limits of these genres explored, even as the characters continue to be morally realistic and emotionally rich.
 
The writing shows genuine craft, and is a showcase for Lyons’ talent for dialogue. But what holds together Orion, almost as if it were the novel’s own gravitational force, is the author’s splendid imagination. It’s one that is as is literate in the intrigues of wizards or the acrobatics of space battles as it is observant of that far more otherworldly phenomenon that is the human condition. It’s this mixing of the conventions of genre with the theme of personal growth that makes Orion a little allegorical, and a book that not only entertains, but also quietly educates the reader." - David Black, Ph.D.
Associate professor, School of Communication and Culture, Royal Roads University