This is an old-fashioned sword and sorcery novel, in some ways quite reminiscent of the great swashbuckling novels of Fritz Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series. That is refreshing in itself! Nothing has more escape value than a tale of flawed heroes and heroines dukeing it out, both with each other and the minions of evil!
The Blurb
When a dangerous artifact goes missing from the Temple of
the sun-god, the high priest charged with its protection must come to grips
with the fact that he cannot retrieve the stolen relic alone. Calling upon a
man who was once his own apprentice, Tiyarnon the High Priest enlists the aid
of Garius Forge, who is now an Inquisitor among the Order of the Faceless
Knights. Garius, a man of power and
reputation, gathers a handful of allies to help complete his quest--but who
among them is worthy of his trust? Aided by the mischievous Rose Thorne, a
rogue among rogues, the stoic and bloodthirsty Saeunn, and a promising but
naïve elf named Elec, the Inquisitor hopes his training as one among the
Faceless Knights has prepared him to keep his companions focused and prepared
to survive the trials to come. Garius
must lead his band of allies into dark regions to recover the tainted artifact
before it falls into the hands of the evil being that once held or it could
spell doom for the inhabitants of Wothlondia and the entire Realm of Ashenclaw.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this book. It’s Dungeons and Dragons on
steroids, and indie author Gary Vanucci is the Dungeon Master.
Noble Garius is in way over his head with the group of
allies he has gathered. But he’s got no choice, he has to use them. It was a
toss up between him and Elec the Elf as to who my favorite male character was. Elec
is awesome, so young and naïve.
Rose Thorne is aptly named. She is one tough lady, sharp,
sweet and dangerous to know. She is bold and unashamed to use every one of her
many weapons to make her point.
Saeunn is the heavy on the good-guys side. Filled with anguish
and darkness, she, too, is dangerous to know. I wanted to see more of her in
this tale, and that means she is an awesomely written character. Every one of
these people is exactly what a true fan of epic fantasy expects to find in a
book.
Even the side characters have great stories. So much angst!
At times this tale is quite entertaining as Rose’s colorful past poses
difficulties for certain respectable men with whom she has a history. That is
one of the better threads in this tale!
The plot is great, and the twists and turns are engrossing
and at time hilarious. I LOVED the villain! Big, bad, horrifyingly evil
villains are what make a tale, from my point of view. The fight scenes are
really well thought out and kept me on the edge of my seat. Vanucci’s magic
system is logical. Things don’t just happen randomly, which can be a problem in
today’s tidal wave of wannabe epic fantasy on the indie front.
Gary Vanucci’s great strength as an author is the ability to
create a real, tangible world filled with the right sounds and scents that make
the reader forget they are reading. He fills that world with real people, fully
drawn and fleshed out, behaving the way they should, and never losing that
momentum. As events unfold, things don’t always go the way they want them to,
and their reactions to those moments are spot on.
If I had any complaint, it is that there are a few places
where the author seems to repeat himself, but that is by no means a detraction. All in all, the book has
a great flow. It is written with passion and I highly recommend it to anyone who
loves truly epic fantasy.
1 comment:
This sounds great - thanks for sharing Connie :)
Off to Amazon now to find it...
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