REVIEW: Progeny: Children of the White Lions by R.T. Kaelin

Progeny: Children of the White Lions by R.T. Kaelin

Publishing Information: 2010 (first publishing) 2010 (current edition)

Publisher: Terrene Press, Trade Paperback, 662 pgs

ISBN-13: 987-0-6154210-3-2

Series: Volume 1

Reviewer: Andy

Copy: Provided by Author



Synopsis: (from from back of book): Nikalys and his sister Kenders grew up living in a peaceful life in the quiet farming village of Yellow Mud…until one blistering hot summer day when they go to the nearby lake for a swim. When they reach the lake, they see an unknown mage conjure a massive water creature hundreds of feet tall. They watch in horror as the monstrous creation plunges toward their home, apparently drowning all in its path, including their parents and older brother Jack. As the only survivors, brother and sister strike out on their own, hoping to discover the reason their home and family was destroyed. They must make their way through a countryside where magic is outlawed, punishable by imprisonment or even death, while struggling with the revelation that Kenders has magical abilities herself. Ancient, powerful forces still seek them on their travels -- some intending to eliminate the threat they pose and some hoping the help them fulfill a destiny of which they are unaware. Myths and legends come to life, whacking the pair along a journey they never could have imagined possible.



Since I was a child, I've been regaled by authors with tales of seemingly ordinary village youths who find they have a secret destiny to battle the forces of evil. These stories are devoured by pubescent teenagers everywhere because the heroes in the story are so relatable to the readers - they, like the protagonists, wish to escape their mundane and menial everyday tasks in order to find that their lives actually hold some deeper significance. Perhaps they have been bestowed with the title of "the Chosen One" or passed down some magic sword through a hereditary line, an inheritance that charges the bearer with some sacred duty and power. These themes occur in everything from Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain to Goodkind's Sword of Truth, following a archetypical blueprint identified and diagrammed by Joseph Campbell in the Hero With a Thousand Faces inspiring films like the original Star Wars trilogy.



Progeny, by R.T. Kaelin, is another one of these stories. Early in the book, two village youths named Nikalys and Kender, soon after watching their entire village decimated by a giant water elemental, find that they are actually adopted, have hidden powers instinctively available to them, and must hide from an evil Wizard who wishes that they didn't exist. Kenders (not to be confused with the Dragonlance race), is the female of the pair and can see and manipulate color-coded ribbons in the air known as "strands" producing magical effects. Nikalys, her brother realizes that he has catlike reflexes and innate martial abilities. They are both coached by a shapeshifting wild man named Broedi - a caretaker with the task of watching over these especially gifted children by the genetic parents.



The book is massive - its a large trade paperback with 662 margin-less pages. Disappointingly though, the action moves at a snail's pace. The book is sorely in need of an editor as pointless anecdotes and lackluster world-building take up many of the pages here. There is nothing quite original about this world - the races are Tolkien inspired, gods are at war, magic is outlawed, etc, etc - all things we've come across a hundred times before. I am not a victim of modern culture's pull toward instant gratification, and I enjoy a bit of travel and world-building in my fantasy, but there is barely anything original or captivating about the world Progeny inhabits - the book was reminiscent of a long and tiresome family road trip where you can predict the bickering of your relatives before it even occurs.



Much of the exposition is force fed to us in an unnatural way leading to clumsy dialogue. Additionally, magic is too often used as a substitute for more clever plot devices as the characters seem to find much more difficult and indirect lengths to magically solve their problems than was necessary. Did the evil Wizard really need to recruit his whole class of student Wizards and destroy an entire village and cross his fingers hoping he'd disposed of his targets? It came off as not quite discreet and bit of overkill. Did the the merchant-wizard-gnome actually need to use mind-control on the University's magistrate in order to use him for a teleport spell and then banish him to a permanent vacation? Much of this simply comes off silly and childish, taking away from the more serious elements of the story. If this is your first foray into fantasy you might find something new and interesting here - but really there are better books out there that tell vastly similar stories. Part of the problem with telling a story that has been told so many times before, is that you aren't likely to eclipse the great names that pioneered the genre.





Plot……….2.0/10



Characters………3.0/10



Style……….1.5/10



Overall……….2.0/10

REVIEW: The Hunter by Theresa Meyers

The Hunter by Theresa Meyers
Publishing Information: 2011 (first publishing) 2011 (current edition)
Publisher: Zebra/Kensington, Mass-Market Paperback, 335 pgs
ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-2124-7
Series: Book One of the Legend Chronicles
Reviewer: Andy
Copy: Provided by Publicist

Synopsis: (from from back of book): They're the Chosen-- Winchester, Remington and Colt -- brothers trained to hunt down supernatural beings using the latest steam-powered gadgetry. Its a hard legacy to shoulder and it's about to get a lot more dangerous… Colt Jackson has gotten his name on many a wanted poster with success in the family business: hunting supernaturals across the frontier. Lately, though, there's a sulfur stink in the wind and the Darkin population is exploding. A rift in the worlds is appearing. To close it, Cold will have to do the unthinkable and work with a sexy irresistible demon to pass arcane boundaries no human alone can cross.

When I received Teresa Meyer's The Hunter in the mail I was genuinely excited to read it. I am a sucker for a western/steam punk hybrid, and though the cowboy on the cover looked like the Marlboro Man shooting a laser beam, my first grade teacher always warned me not to judge a book by its cover. Maybe I should have taken a closer look at the cover of this one.

Little did I know, The Hunter, for all intents and purposes, is a romance novel. One of the two central lovebirds is actually a succubus that looks more like a supermodel. Lilly, is the quintessential damsel in distress or rather demon in distress. Her counterpart Colt, cleverly named after the firearm, is always nearby to catch her when she's falling or prop her up on his mechanical horse. The fact that there are still women out there that go for this sort of thing in this day and age baffles me to no end. Not to mention, Lilly, obviously embodying the deepest fantasies of every young lady, can instantly and magically change her outfit on command, making her some sort of demon fashion designer from the abyss.

And Colt always notices Lily's outfit. In fact, Lily's outfits are so appealing to Colt he often stops the action so the two can make out. And Lilly's kisses should not be underestimated. Lilly's kisses can open doors that have been magically locked in abandoned mines. In one scene, Lilly even pouts when Colt does not pay attention to her long enough (she's an excellent role model for young women everywhere) While all this occurs, the male hero Colt is perpetually excited (we know this because of the constant references to the bulge in his pants). Colt must not have read the warning on his package of Cialis, because when you get a priapism you are supposed to call a doctor immediately.

Of course, I joke because I'm clearly not the intended audience for this book. Even excluding all the romantic elements, the book is full of cliches. The plot involves finding pieces of a magic book stashed away that contains instructions on how to stop the impending bad guy apocalypse. Yes - dire circumstances, indeed. But not so dire that the characters can't stop to make out. Yet. for all the tedious superficiality here, Meyers is not an altogether untalented writer. She has the ability to craft a sentence - if she could only tell a more worthwhile story.


Plot……….2.0/10

Characters………0.5/10

Style……….3.5/10

Overall……….2.5/10

Battleship Trailer

If you love the board game, will you love the movie?

NPR's Best Science Fiction Fantasy Ever Written

NPR has decided to compile a list of the greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy novels of all time. So far, they've whittled it down to 100 nominees and are asking listeners to cast votes on 10 for the title of the Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy of all time. Finally, the Speculative genre gets some recognition from America's public news source.

You can cast your vote here.

REVIEW: Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley

Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley
Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Bantam Press (21 July 2011)
ISBN-10: 0593067045
ISBN-13: 978-0593067048
Copy: Bought in bookshop
Reviewer: Cara

From the back of the book:
Once there was a queen of Egypt... a queen who became through magic something else...
In 30BC, as Octavian Caesar and his legions marched into Alexandria, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, learned that her beloved Mark Anthony had taken his own life. Desperate to save her kingdom, her husband and all she held dear, Cleopatra turned to the gods for help. She summoned Sekhmet, goddess of death and destruction, and struck a mortal bargain. And not even the wisest scholar could have foretold what would follow...
For saving Anthony's soul, Sekhmet demands something in return: Cleopatra herself. Transformed into a shape-shifting, not-quite-human manifestation of a deity who seeks to destroy the world, Cleopatra follows Octavian back to Rome. She desires revenge, she yearns for her children... and she craves human blood.
In Queen of Kings, meticulously researched historical fiction and the darkest of fantasy collide in this spectacular reimagining of a story we thought we knew so well.

I have always been fascinated by the legend of Cleopatra, so when I read about Maria Dahvana Headley's novel, I knew it would find it's way to my reading pile soon after publication. It is clear from the blurb that this is an alternative history to the one we are familiar with. Cleopatra does not disappear into the pages of history after the death of Mark Anthony and Egypt's defeat by Rome, but instead does a deal with the goddess Sekhmet, exchanging her soul for revenge. The love story of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony continues on after both their deaths and is a central feature of the narrative; indeed theirs is not a romance, more of an obsession. And like all obsessions, it is ultimately destructive. Much of the book is written from Cleopatra's point of view and through this we see how she justifies her actions to herself while she deteriorates into a kind of madness.

There is a lot of destruction, for vengeance Cleopatra-style is on a very large scale, incorporating both the Egyptian and Greco-Roman pantheons alongside some very dark magic. It is this aspect I particularly enjoyed as the various gods and goddesses involved ultimately had their own agendas, with Cleopatra and others being mere pawns in their power plays. To counter Cleopatra's magic, Octavian recruits his own magicians from the corners of the empire. This adds to the fantastical nature of the story as each witch or sorcerer has their own back story, and all three are intriguing characters in their own right. I found the different points of view gave a variety of perspectives along with insights into the motives of the magicians.

Much has been made of the vampire nature of Queen of Kings, possibly to catch the post-Twilight generation. Personally I didn't see this book as being part of the current vampire trend, mainly because the only similarity was that the goddess Sekhmet needed blood (and a lot of it!) to sustain her within Cleopatra's body. This was secondary to the magical elements. A major feature was the political situation within the Roman Empire. Octavian was strengthening his power base after the assassination of Julius Caesar and the conquest of Egypt was central to this, hence his desire to destroy Cleopatra.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Queen of Kings and found it a gripping and exciting read. While possibly aimed at the older end of the young adult market (or a predominantly female readership), the horror element was certainly present but without the overly-gory, visceral descriptions that I personally find off-putting. The characters were well drawn, with their respective motivations made clear through the various points of view. The magic took a variety of forms; from the wind magic of Usem to the weaving of fates by Audr and the blood magic of Chrysate, Maria Dahvana Headley showed a lot of imagination in her writing. The final denouement, when all the strands finally came together was, in parts, breathtaking. It was worth the wait, as I found the middle of the book dragged a little. Despite this, the characters shone through. Octavian's paranoia and Cleopatra's obsession were balanced by Agrippa's sceptical stoicism and Nicolaus' cowardice.

The blend of historical fiction with dark fantasy was very well done in my view, and made the reading experience a worthwhile one - I felt I had actually learned something of how Rome moved from a republic to an empire.

Plot: 7.5
Characters: 8
Style: 7.5

Overall rating 7.5/10

INTERVIEW: Mark Lawrence

Speculative Book Review is proud and fortunate to have the opportunity to interview one of this year's up and coming debut authors. Mark Lawrence is the author to one of this week's latest fantasy novels releases and one of this year's most anticipated books, Prince of Thorns.

Speculative Book Review- Since this is your debut novel, I would like you to take a moment and let everyone know a little more about you, can you give our readers a quick introduction?

Mark Lawrence- Sure, I’m a research scientist in my 40’s. My mother read me Lord of the Rings when I was seven, and I’ve been hooked ever since. About ten years ago I moved to the States and creative outlets (mainly RPGs) dried up due to lack of time and opportunity, so I started writing short stories and sharing them on online groups. I got a taste for it and wrote ‘Prince of Thorns’ in many little pieces in the dead of night.


SBR- Why should The Prince of Thorns be the next book everyone reads?

ML- Will my publisher kill me if I say I don’t have a good reason? Nine times out of ten the reason I read a book is because a friend said it was good. The remainder usually fall to snap decisions in airports, or classics that I feel I should read and normally end up enjoying despite the fact that technically it’s education. Maybe they should read ‘Prince of Thorns’ because you like it and they trust your judgment?


SB- Your novel has a lot of death and combat, what research, if any, did you do in order to write those events?

ML-I watched a lot of fantasy films (most of them terrible, truth be told) and read a lot of fantasy books. Does that count as research? I also have a talent for collecting random bits of knowledge and find it comes in handy when writing.


SBR- Who did you base the character Jorg on? He seems to be a cross between Machiavelli and Alexander the Great.

ML- The original and broad inspiration was ‘Alex’ from Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’. I wanted to write about someone violent and destructive who appeared to have no redeeming features save a charisma sufficiently compelling to keep the reader turning pages until the story took hold.


SBR- Which character in the Prince of Thorns was the most difficult/easiest to write?

ML- I don’t recall agonizing over any of it. I guess I just started typing and let it happen. When you have an intriguing character and set them loose on the page, I find they gather story to them and it’s a case of following where they lead. At the time I was writing Prince of Thorns real life was the difficult side of things, and writing an escape.


SBR- Which character from the Prince of Thorns do you identify with the most?

ML- Different parts of me identify with different characters, none of them are close to being a copy of me. Maybe Lundist and Makin. I may occasionally imagine acting like Jorg, but I’ve an overactive imagination. I’m the sort to freeze in the headlights in a real crisis rather than slice my way to the most efficient solution without care for the cost.


SBR- What is the most satisfying aspect to writing?

ML- For me it’s knowing I nailed a scene, knowing it will matter to somebody. If I read it back and it affects me, then I generally know that sooner or later somebody is going to tell me that it really got to them. And I love that. Knowing I captured something timeless on the page. That sounds too grandiose. I’m not writing the stuff of ages here, it’s just a fun tale of swords and sorcery, but I like treading on the edge of what great writers must feel and getting my tiny thrill of it.


SBR- Prince of Thorns is your debut novel and the first in the Broken Empire trilogy, can you give a peek at what to expect in the sequels?

ML- I wrote Prince of Thorns as a stand-alone novel and I hope it can be enjoyed that way. What you won’t get in the sequels is more of the same. Prince of Thorns is a discovery, Jorg turns fourteen and catches up with his past. What comes next is about the future, about Jorg the man rather than Jorg the boy.

SBR- In your novel, Prince of Thorns, it seems as none of your characters are safe, a lot of my favorites came to a violent end, how do you decide who lives and dies in your series?

ML- I’m not a planner – I start each chapter with no real idea where it’s heading and just start typing. Characters who wander too near to the edge of cliffs … fall off.


SBR- What authors/works have most influenced you and what type of influence (e.g. good/awful) were they?

ML- I had a long break from fantasy and only really got back into it when I picked up ‘A Game of Thrones’ by George RR Martin. He opened my eyes to how good fantasy could be, how well it could be written. Recently I’ve been reading more fantasy but my time is very limited, I have a job, writing, and a disabled little girl to look after. The books I’ve enjoyed recently have been by Martin, Hobbs, and Peter Brett. I expect I’m more influenced by modern classics though.


SBR- What are you currently reading and what is in your to-read pile?

ML- Currently I’m reading ‘The Bad Mother’s Handbook’ by Kate Long. I knew her at University. My to-read pile is huge and contains all manner of fantasy authors whose works I should try, not least because people keep saying I write like one or other of them. Top of the pile are Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, and Brent Weeks.


SBR- Aside from your own novel, Prince of Thorns, what series/standalone should people be reading?

ML- Well George Martin and Robin Hobbs hardly need my support, so I’ll say ‘The Emperor’s Knife’ by Mazarkis Williams, coming out this autumn, the first of a trilogy but entirely satisfying as a stand-alone.

imeSBR- Anything you would like to add or perhaps shamelessly plug?

ML- I’m certainly shameless, but I have nothing else to plug.

I guess I’d like to add that the fact ‘Prince of Thorns’ has been so well received thus far and going to be published has come as a great surprise to me, exceeding all my expectations. If it were all to go away tomorrow, I would still count myself immensely lucky to have put a book on the shelves and to have been part of the story.

Speculative Book Review would like to thank Mark Lawrence for taking the time out of his busy schedule to sit down and answer our questions. Prince of Thorns comes out today in the US and 4 August in the UK.

REVIEW: Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Publishing Information: Hardback; 336 pages (373 pages in ARC)
Publisher: Voyager; 4 August 2011
ISBN 10: 0441020321
ISBN 13: 978-0007423293
Series: Book one of The Broken Empire
Copy Provided by publisher
Reviewers Tyson and Yagiz

Synopsis: "The thorns taught him a lesson in blood...

Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse."

Once a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg's bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him."

TYSON

Prince of Thorns first grabbed my attention when I saw the cover. A hooded warrior amid a battlefield strewn with the recent dead. While we have seen a lot of our mysteriously hooded figures, this one really drew me in. Then I read what the book was about and I had a really good feeling that I was going to enjoy whatever was contained within the pages of the novel.

Prince of Thorns does its best to tell two stories. One that progresses the story and the other tells us how our hero came to be. Jorg, our protagonist has not had an easy life. It starts out with all the pleasantries of one noble born, but quickly veers to a life of death and mayhem. Jorg's most formative years should have been spent under the expert tutelage of the king but instead he has gone seeking revenge and has learned from the worst of mankind. He is ruthless and will use anyone to further his personal goals. He is not a warrior, but a killer. He is not above sacrificing his own men if it means a quick means to his aspirations. I found myself really liking Jorg even when he was at his most terrifying. The way his mind works was both entertaining and impressive. I could imagine how his own men, who towered over him, would stay on their toes lest they became the next corpse. The fact that some of his men stood at seven feet tall and never turned their back on him, for fear he would take their head spoke volumes.

A few other characters were also very interesting. Rike and Makin. Rike was is described as a massive killing machine with little or no morals. I saw him as a juggernaut and it was interesting to see how he interacted with Jorg throughout the book. Makin was another character that I liked. He was the white knight that had screwed up and was doing his best to guide Jorg and make up for his past errors. To a certain degree they exemplified the two sides of Jorg's personality and they also complimented him very well. There is a large cast of characters that are apart of Jorg's group known as the Brotherhood and many of them stand out. Since it starts out as a large group many of them go unnamed and it was one of my minor complaints. Lawrence has a lot of death in the pages of Prince of Thorns and they take place on both sides of the battles. Many of the brotherhood die and it doesn't really impact the story simply because they are a name or empty suit and nothing else. We only learn their names when they fall in battle. Of course Lawrence does manage to kill off a many of the secondary characters as well. No one is truly safe in Prince of Thorns but many of the early deaths do not mean much as they were never introduced in the first place, which loses its dramatic impact.

The world building is interesting. We never understand just where in time the story takes place. Many famous books and authors are mentioned (IE: Shakespeare, Plato, etc.) and we are told the roads were built by the Romans long ago. We are also told of a great battle that wiped out the mighty nations that once were. While I do not want to spoil the big surprise that comes along the towards the end of the book we do learn more about when the book takes place, but we are still not told specifics, which I thought was a major plus. The majority of the novel has little to no magic. However, towards the second half of the novel it becomes more prevalent and it was a nice change of pace. While I was perfectly fine with there being very little magic in the beginning; however, when the magic does comes out, it is done very well and only adds to the story as it unfolds.

Prince of Thorns really flows. The chapters are rather short and there is not much time for the action to take a breather. There is plenty of hack and slash within its pages, but at the heart of it is Jorg's personal quest to reunite the empire to its former glory and he does not care how he does it or who he must crush under his heels to attain it.

Prince of Thorns is not what I consider a very gritty book, but it certainly is bloody. While there is a lot of death contained within its pages that is just the surface there is a lot going on behind the scenes which is what really drove the story. Jorg has a plan and it is great fun to see how it unfolds. The problem that I have with the novel is that its sequels are not available. The Prince of Thorns is a bloody good time and I plan to stay with it as the series continues. It is sure to be one, if not the, best fantasy debuts I read all year. Lawrence's Prince of Thorns reminds me of Joe Abercrombie, the character'smorals are ambiguous and never safe from their demise. Highly recommended.

Plot: 8
Characters:  10
Style 9

Overall 9.5/10

YAGIZ

Just like Tyson, I came across Prince of Thorns when I first saw its cover on one of the SFFWorld.com forums. I cannot remember where I read it but a study has shown that hooded figures are the most commonly used design elements in fantasy cover arts and Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns is no exception. However, this doesn't mean that its cover didn't have a good first impression on me. I clearly remember that I really liked the way that the young warrior stood in the middle of a battle field. In his stance, I felt an air of owning the battle field or being responsible for the atrocities. Maybe, with the help of the book's name, I thought he had the coldness of Damien Thorn of The Omen (Richard Donner's 1976 horror film).

The author, Mark Lawrence, uses first person narrative in his debut novel Prince of Thorns. His story unfolds through the eyes of Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath, son of King Olidan of the House of Ancrath. Given his status, Jorg probably never knew childish innocence but what he experienced during his childhood changed him forever and made of him a ruthless and remorseless teenager. As the protagonist, the author paints an interesting picture of Jorg's character that easily captivates the reader. Lawrence's style is easy to read and he balances the darkness of the story well with the special humour of some of the characters.

"Tell me, tutor, is revenge a science, or an art?"

Jorg's is not the only interesting character in the book. The Prince is surrounded by the members of his brotherhood and the involvement of some of them in the story is important enough to let the reader appreciate their diverse personalities. I especially liked the beginning of each chapter that starts with a brief explanation of who one of the brothers is.

The setting was the first thing that I wasn't completely satisfied with. It felt like medieval Europe and the main religion felt like Christianity however the author hinted at slight differences. Even though its name isn't mentioned explicitly, mentions of "Jesu", "Lord", "Almighty", "Forgive me father" and various Christian concepts such as the confession and the pope leave no doubt that the religion in question is Christianity. All these nameless hints and implicit assumptions left a bitter taste for me. I love historical fantasy that borrows its setting from real history, I love parallel settings à la G. G. Kay but I don't like these settings that the author never fully reveals and the reader can't really grasp. Hearing the names of Aristotle and Plato wasn't much of a surprise. Nor the names of places such as Persia, Indus and Roma. However mentioning the 19th century German philosopher Nietzsche totally confused me. And were there hints of modern science? Even more confusing!

The second thing that kept me off balance was the age of Prince Jorg. In most of the book, he acts much more mature than his 13-14 years. So I decided to forget about it and consider him as "just a teenager" without really thinking how young he really is. Then he became a memorable character displaying great humour and sarcasm.

"A knife is a scary thing right enough, held to your throat, sharp and cool. The fire too, and the rack. And an old ghost on the Lichway. All of the might give you pause. Until you realize what they are. They're just ways to lose the game."

The author synchronizes well the chapters dealing with flashbacks and the chapters telling the story at present time. Flashbacks give enough background information to fill in some gaps and to answer some of the questions in the readers mind, finally to arouse more curiosity.

"There's a door to death, a veil between the worlds, and we push through when we die. But on the Day of a Thousands Suns so many people had to push through at once, they broke the door. The veils are thin now. It just takes a whisper and the right promise, and you can call the dead back"

Despite a few things that kept my mind preoccupied, I really enjoyed Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns, especially after the point when Prince Jorg travels to Mount Honas. That's when the story becomes more interesting with stronger fantasy elements, which are almost too subtle until then. Throughout the book, there are some nagging questions on the reader's mind: "Who is he really? Who's behind this boy? What is the true source of evil, the source of the poison in Jorg's heart?" Lawrence's Prince of Thorns tells an unusual story because it is black, it is desperate, it is tortured, twisted and hopeless. This is a very strong debut novel, which will leave you looking forward to the next installment.

Plot: 8
Characters: 9
Style: 8

Overall 8.5/10

Memorable Quotes

"Hold a thing long enough, a secret, a desire, maybe a lie and it will shape you" - Jorg

"I could go with you Lady. I could take what you offer. But who would I be then? Who would I be if I let go the wrong that have shaped me?" - Jorg

"War my friends, is a thing of beauty. Those who says otherwise are losing" - Jorg

"You got responsibilities when you're a leader. You got a responsibility not to kill too many of your men. Or who're you going to lead?" - Jorg

***Stay tuned tomorrow for an interview with Mark Lawrence the author of Prince of Thorns.