Authors Book Reviews by Ronel Janse van Vuuren

New Book Release: Jewels of Darterra by J Lenni Dorner

I’m so excited to announce the newest release by author friend J Lenni Dorner.

About the Book

Jewels of Darterra by J Lenni Dorner

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Darterra is a moon world where people are born with a lit jewel at their suprasternal, or jugular, notch. The jewel determines the specialty of the person. People are generally segregated into a region based on their jewel color.

There are exceptions, such as the Purple jewels, which became the specialty known as Order. Long ago, Purples formed societies and created a code of morals and a set of laws. Another exception is the Red jewels, which are connected to the spiritual world.

The Silvers claim to be masters of portals. They believe they are meant to find portals that allow travel between their moon world of Darterra to Xeata-Lidoffad, the planet it orbits. It is alleged that the first Silver accomplished this but chose not to return.

New jewels have emerged in multiple colors. What will this mean for the population?

The Golds, masters of travel and discovery,  are adamant that multi-colored jewels are bad and that the people must be destroyed. Jaildarn, the current Gold leader, is determined to see the population diminish before following the Silvers to Xeata-Lidoffad.

How did Jaildarn get this way? That’s the real story.

Told from the perspective of Belp, a Brown, who was once Jaildarn’s friend.

What led Jaildarn to become the cause of such annihilation? Could Belp have prevented all this death, and if so, why didn’t he? Do some people having more options impair the existence of others who were born with a distinct path and purpose? Jewels of Darterra is a fantasy about a world as it collapses into change.

Check it out on Goodreads.

Publication Date: 9 September 2025

Buy links: Smashwords | Universal Book Link

About the Author

J Lenni Dorner (he/him or they/them) is a Speculative Fiction & Writer’s Reference Author, former OperationAwesome6 member, and the Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge. Happily married and living in Pennsylvania, the USA’s Keystone State, on the original lands of the Lenni-Lenape people. Sharing wisdom and knowledge passed on through stories is the goal of my soul.

Website | BookBub | Goodreads | Facebook | Pinterest | Bluesky | Instagram

My Review

The cover is a gorgeous interpretation of the world. I liked the various jewel designations and thought it an interesting worldbuilding motif for classism, ableism, segregation, colonialism and more.

Personally, I would’ve enjoyed this story as a sprawling epic fantasy… Yes, I want to explore the “jewels” and their world (and the destruction thereof) more.

*I received an ARC from the author and this is my honest opinion.

4 unicorn star rating

Have you read anything by this author? Do you have questions for J?

3 thoughts on “New Book Release: Jewels of Darterra by J Lenni Dorner”

  2. A billion thanks for this post! It was so fun to write this novelette. To try to capture the feelings when someone who felt like a childhood friend grows up to become someone so different and dark. However, to also make the actual world itself a character, that really moved me to publish it as an e-book, rather than just a few blog posts.

    I’m glad you liked it. Thank you for the unicorn rankings!

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