Blurb:
The old world is dead. Worse, it was a lie.
Haskell yearns to be a warrior like his grandfather who broke the orcish hordes, not the unwanted son of a ruthless High City merchant. With nothing but a bag of stolen coin and his grandfather’s sword, he chases glory to the borderlands. There, he hopes to prove himself worthy of his legacy against creatures more fearsome than orcs.
After assembling a band of misfits, including a jaded, street-urchin grifter, orphaned, half-orc child, and a brace of hardened mercenaries, Haskell must face a labyrinthine dungeon, an exploitative, monster-hunting guild, and his own failings as a leader. If traitors and fierce woodland monsters don’t murder him first.
Review:
This was a fun quest filled fantasy book. It really reminded me of a quest for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, making me think of a group surrounded around a table. The quests are real and interesting, constantly upping the ante with each subsequent visit to the dungeons and other locales throughout the novel. It starts with a bang and keeps it going, right up until the end of the novel. The artwork in the physical edition was a great addition, giving another sense to the pacing and sense of time through the novel.
The strength of the novel were the action scenes throughout the novel. They are heart pounding and against foes that would be terrifying to face in reality. There were several times I found myself flying through the pages as each scene would be intense and not knowing who would survive onto the next. The characters that we are introduced to were all different, but I personally had a hard time connecting with any of them. They were real in a way that they all had flaws and had to learn from mistakes. The problem is that they did not have very many likeable characteristics for me.
The novel is a fast simple read that makes for a great palette cleanser. It is straightforward and filled with plenty of action. There are a few twists that make it fun to read and will keep a reader even more entertained up to the very end. It is a solid debut for an author that shows a lot of promise and that has some very clever and new ideas.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!
Disclaimer: I received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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