Adrian Collins's Blog, page 139

REVIEW: Valour by John Gwynne

Valour is the second of four novels in John Gwynne’s The Faithful and The Fallen series. Valour was preceded in the series by Malice and is followed by Ruin and Wrath.  It was first published in 2014 and the great thing about reading a completed series is that I do not have to wait years in between each novel. Which is amazing because The Faithful and the Fallen is turning out to be one of the best series I have ever read.

The series continues in the same style, Gwynne is writing an epic grimdark fantasy with numerous perspectives. Around half of the points of view are continuations from Malice, some of the new ones used to be minor characters which we get to learn more about, and others are brand new to Valour. One of the really handy additions to the novel is the ‘cast of characters’ list at the beginning which lists everyone and sorts them under their allegiances. So, if like me, all of the names starting with C can get a little muddled or you forget whether someone is from Tarbesh or Tenebral you can refer back to it. I think this would be very useful if there has been a long gap between finishing the first novel and starting the second.

Gwynne kicks off Valour almost immediately after the ending of Malice. The characters with uncertain fates are quickly resolved for good or ill and the journey continues. There is less world or character building required here and so the plot moves more quickly than it did before. I found Valour to be a significantly more dark and gritty novel than Malice. If Malice was the calm before the storm with light, happy moments such as weddings, feasts, and training in the Rowan Field, then Valour is the dark sky and growling thunder right before a storm hits. There are more perspectives in this novel that belong to the dark forces of Asroth so more time spent in the company of malicious characters and as such it is significantly more violent and bloody. There are grizzly battles, wolven fights, torture scenes, and sexual violence. Though that was hauntingly implicit rather than a graphically detailed scene.

However Valour is not completely and unrelentingly bleak. The camaraderie of Corban’s band of outcasts, who love and support each other through all the challenges they face, is one of the loveliest parts of the novel. There are some laughter inducing moments from the haphazard flirting of the now late teenaged men and the animals in their cohort often induced a smile. I also find myself hopeful for the futures of some the characters who seem to be undecided on where their allegiance lies in the God War, and hope is a powerful tool in a grimdark novel.

I am in awe of Gwynne’s skill as an author. In this series he is successfully weaving more key perspectives than I have ever seen before, whilst traveling across the continent of the Banish Land, in and out of different countries, trailing different factions, simultaneously moving the plot forward in a relentlessly entertaining and entirely unpredictable way. I genuinely care about the fate of the characters and there is one death in particular that made me cry, which is something a book rarely makes me do. Even with twelve points of view to manage, Gwynne’s characters are three dimensional and equally interesting. I did not sigh or skim read when it changed to certain viewpoints because all of the narratives are engaging. It is consistently well written and the ending has left me satisfied with the conclusion of Valour but also desperate to find out what happens next with Ruin.

I know the themes of Valour are tried and tested fantasy favourites but this feels fresh and new. Gwynne has taken the things I love from authors like George R R Martin and David Gemmell and made something utterly fantastic. I highly recommend it and the only reason I am not giving Valour five stars is because I think Ruin will be even better. 4.5/5.

Read Valour by John Gwynne

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An Interview with Scott Drakeford

Scott Drakeford’s highly anticipated release of Rise of the Mages has many fantasy lovers buzzing about the intricate storytelling, revenge plot, and gripping fight scenes. Scott was kind enough to sit down with us and tell us a bit about Rise of the Mages and the path he took to get the story released.

[GdM] First, thank you so much for taking some time and answering these questions for us! Rise of the Mages is a fantastic book, and I am happy we get a chance to talk a bit about it with you. 

Thank you! I’m honored by your interest in my work. Thank you for giving me and Rise of the Mages a shot.

[GdM] You have a degree in mechanical engineering, which uses a different kind of logic and creativity than writing and story creation. Do you feel like your experiences in mechanical engineering complement your ability to write and put scenes together?

Honestly, engineering was extremely boring for me. I thought I’d get to solve problems and build awesome machines, but it was so much more mundane than that. Like, imagine studying advanced math and science for years and years just to end up on a team of people designing screws or fancy zip-ties as wiring harnesses. And that’s your life. You spend years calculating the best material, size, thread count and pitch. Then you pray to whatever god you believe in that when the rocket/car/plane/whatever blows up, it was something else that failed, not your screws. God, I hated it.

I did, however, learn to pay great attention to detail. I learned to value extreme consistency, continuity, and logic. Engineers have great use for creativity in solving problems or applying technology but have no use for the implausible. I think that heavily influenced my brand of writing, and certainly it affected how I write. With everything from my fictional magic system and characters to my plot and prose, logic and details matter. Maybe a little too much.

[GdM] What is a significant way Rise of the Mages changed since the first draft? Did the story organically evolve as you worked on it?

This book changed a lot over the years. I learned to write with the first ten or so drafts of this story that only I ever saw. I learned to edit and rewrite when I let my wife, dad, and brothers read it to tell me what worked and didn’t. That probably resulted in another draft or five. I then did another three or four drafts with my awesome agent Matt Bialer and his talented assistants (one of whom is now a bestselling author). Then I did another two or three drafts with my editor Jen and her awesome team (thanks Molly!). It has been a long journey, a ton of work, and I’ve had a lot of help.

Another big factor in the evolution of the story was my own evolution as a person. I changed a ton over those ten years. I completely switched careers, had a child, left a religion, and changed my entire worldview. We moved across the country, and I quit my job two years ago to be my child’s primary caretaker during the pandemic (poor kid) so my wife could take her dream job.

So… yeah. Rise of the Mages evolved A TON as I evolved both as a writer and as a person. I would guess that every single word in the book has been rewritten at least two or three times. I even threw away the middle 50% or so and completely replaced it with a new story at one point. Just about the only constants from beginning to end of the process were Emrael, Ban, and Jaina’s roles as core characters.

[Gdm] Did you have to do any research for the story? If so, did you go down any interesting rabbit holes?

I did some research on earth’s magnetic field, what we think causes it, and why ours is far too weak to use as an energy source. I learned how radios in particular work on a theoretical level, which is neat. Human discovery of electromagnetic energy and subsequently using it to create technology like radios, televisions, the internet, etc, is just crazy when you take time to consider all the different discoveries that had to happen. For all the current reasons to doubt the merits of humanity in general, our history of progress is amazing. I hope to see many more breakthroughs in my lifetime. I just hope we can continue to stay ahead of our mistakes.

[GdM] What was your writing schedule like when writing Rise of the Mages?  

Well, it has changed a lot depending on my life circumstances. I started writing in the early evenings when I didn’t have a child. In the thick of raising a child and working long hours at a corporate job, I wrote a lot at lunch when I had time to take lunch off-site. Basically, anytime a normal person would be relaxing or socializing, I tend to be writing, editing, or similar.

[GdM] Scott Drakeford is a nom de plume and an ode to your father. How did he influence you and turn you into a reader?

 Well, my dad reads more than just about anybody I know, and certainly faster than anyone I know. A 400-page book probably takes him a few hours at most. When I was about eleven years old, he convinced me to read The Belgariad. Ever since, we’ve shared a love of reading, fantasy in particular. We still share books and recommendations often.

[GdM] The Rise of the Mages reads like the classic fantasy I read and was excited about growing up. Books like The Belgariad and the Wheel of Time had a significant impact on me as a reader. What classic book influenced you as a writer?

I have to tell you, I’m ecstatic to hear that Rise of the Mages evoked some of the same feelings as The Belgariad and The Wheel of Time. Those two series were really key in my formative adolescent years. I’m pretty open about this, but the Wheel of Time in particular became my happy place. I was very, very into that series and I still love it.

L.E. Modesitt’s Recluce series is another that I consider “classic” that I’ve been reading for decades. He’s very, very good at crafting an entire life for his characters, and at showing the everyday details that go into even figures who end up changing their world. One of the best authors out there.

[GdM] I read that Rise of the Mages took a total of ten years from start to finish. Can you tell me about the beginning? What was the impetus of the series?

 There are many catalysts that resulted in different characters, storylines, and themes in Rise of the Mages. But the thing that got me to put pen to paper in the first place was simply feeling stuck in a career I didn’t love (see: engineering discussion above). I needed an outlet for creative expression. I needed to feel like I was creating something that mattered. And few things have mattered more to me than the wonderful stories that have inspired and influenced me throughout my life. So shortly after I graduated from college in 2012, I started writing the story that would become Rise of the Mages.

[GdM] What did you do to celebrate finishing the final draft of Rise of the Mages after a decade of hard work? 

Well, in publishing it’s really difficult to ever really feel like anything is truly done, I think. When my editor told me I couldn’t change things anymore, it was honestly kind of painful. I did buy a bottle of Glenlivet 18 that I opened that night, but it didn’t feel as celebratory as I would have liked. I’m hoping launch day will be more fun.

[GdM] Can you tell us a bit about the plot of Rise of the Mages?

Two brothers attend a school for engineers and military leaders. A powerful political leader from a neighboring province seizes the school in order to use their technology to bolster his own international war efforts against a technologically advanced nation, Ordena. One brother, an engineer, is captured and enslaved. The other brother, a student of military arts, sets out to rescue him.

It’s a story about relatively powerless individuals banding together to fight against the injustices of the current power structure. Of course, there are political, social, and personal complexities involved, but that’s the primary purpose of the plot. Rage against the machine, as it were.

[GdM] Rise of the mages  has an elaborate magic system. Can you talk a bit about its creation and how it works?

The magic system in Rise of the Mages is very closely related to the primary energy source, called infusori, that powers most of the world’s technology. I’m far from being an expert on biology, chemistry, or physics, but the roles of chemical energy and electromagnetic energy (and even the processes that convert one into the other) were something I wanted to explore.

In Rise of the Mages, the core idea is: what if humans evolved to be able to metabolize electromechanical energy in a similar fashion to our chemical metabolism? And further, electromagnetism being inherently less contained in nature, what if humans could use said energy to affect the world around them?

I think the basic laws of physics as we currently understand them in our world play very well here with what makes an interesting magic system in second-world fantasy, and that just felt right to me. I had to take some further liberties, of course, but I like that the tech and magic are at least somewhat close to obeying the natural laws that govern our current reality.

[GdM] Along with an intricate magic system, you also have political machinations and upheaval of warring factions and cultures. I found the Ordenan culture fascinating. Did you model it after any known cultures or histories? 

The Ordenans are probably my favorite culture as well, and they feature more and more heavily as the series goes into books two and three. I’ll try not to spoil too much for you, but where this first book is very solidly an action/adventure quest, the following books expand to incorporate more political intrigue and larger-scale conflicts.

The inspiration for Ordena wasn’t so much any single culture in our own world as much as it is a symbol of imperialism and the cultures throughout our world’s history that have propagated such philosophies and policies. You could point at Britain, ‘Merica, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Rome, the Crusaders, Japan, China, the Soviet Union, France, the Ottomans, the Egyptians, even ancient American societies; really any civilization that reached a point where they had the power to take advantage of another population, or eradicate them to take what they had, or even those who engaged in such conquest for religious reasons. Ordena is a little bit of all of those: their religion is centered on preserving and furthering ancient knowledge that they believe to be from their two Deities, the Silent Sisters. A big part of that is a holy war against another civilization they believe to be evil, and to some extent they are right. But I hope to explore how such stark beliefs and “justified” conflicts often turn out to be not so purely motivated after all, and why much of such conflict is due to a willful misconstruction of “the enemy” – optics, as it were – to hide the true motives.

Or are their gods really behind all of this mess? Read and find out, I guess.

[GdM] Have you worked out how many books will be in Age of Ire?

 For now, it will be three books. Book two has been written and is in revisions – it doesn’t have a firm pub date just yet, but will likely be out sometime in 2023. Book three should close this phase of the story, and in a relatively timely manner.

[GdM] One of the most compelling characters in the story for me was Jaina. She was both a master of fighting and war and a teacher and a devout believer; she had a significant depth of character. Was she modeled after anyone specifically? How did her character come about?

I try very hard not to project myself too much on any one character, and I similarly try not to model any given character after a particular person in my life.

That said: I can’t speak for other authors, but I believe that each of my primary characters logically must come from somewhere inside me, or at least from somewhere inside my conscious (or unconscious) experienced reality. At the very least, it’s easier for me to write convincingly when I understand motivations and personalities on some level.

As for Jaina’s character? I can be a very stupid person on occasion, and particularly in my younger years, I was prone to strong (often incorrect) opinions and brash actions. Intelligent, strong, amazing women in my life have always been there to show me a better way, to provide an example of leadership, accomplishment, and relationships done right. My mother and my wife, in particular, are just unreasonably good at life and I am so lucky to have both of them in mine. But I’ve had incredible grandmothers, aunts, female cousins, bosses, mentors, just so many women that have been anchors at various stages of my life. Jaina is all of them, and none in particular.

She is my hero, and so are the women in my life.

[GdM] Finally, what exciting things are you currently working on? 

Book two revisions! I really love how the second book turned out, but now it’s time to make sure that my editor, agent, and all of my beta readers can connect with it as well. I find it best to edit myself to at least the point that grammar is correct, the prose flows well at all levels, and at least the core elements of character and plot are in place and work for me. Then Kailey (my wife), Matt (my agent), Jen (my editor), my dad, my three brothers, and a small group of other superb beta readers all get their turns tearing my soul to shreds. Then I rebuild myself and my book, and hopefully, neither process takes too long.

Read Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford

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Lose yourself in the new TTRPG Red Giant from Rookie Jet Studio

If there are two things I truly (madly, deeply) love it’s anime and roleplaying games. Particularly when either or both of them happen to have a dark, fantastic edge to them. When they view a world or a story through a grim, benighted patina. As far as anime goes, one of my all time favorites is Vampire Hunter D, so when I heard about a new TTRPG that directly stated it as one of its primary influences, I knew I had to check it out. And I’m damn glad I did. Red Giant, written by Cory Burns and released by Rookie Jet Studio is a grim, dark, fantastical game that takes for its inspiration anime classics like the aforementioned Vampire Hunter D, as well as others including Berserk and Claymore. But even more than that you can see shades of H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror lurking around the edges, and Robert E. Howard’s brutal swords and sorcery flavoring the world, but it has a lot of other influences that become readily apparent as you read through the core.

Red Giant is a game that puts its players into a harsh, unforgiving world—a cursed world. One that, perhaps, isn’t just dying but dead. The characters inhabit the corpse of a world, crawl upon it like flies as they fight and scrape out a living beneath the glaring eye of a bloated red sun. You’re told right out that a game of Red Giant is meant to test you and your character, meant to be grueling. Every confrontation is a battle to the death, and you are at almost every turn outclassed and outmatched. Your wits and your party are the only thing keeping you from certain death, and insanity as well. For not only is it a world consumed by death, Red Giant presents a world overrun by unspeakable horrors from the depths of man’s darkest nightmares. Creatures that have no right existing, yet they stalk humanity and slaughter them like cattle. There’s an incredible breadth of terrible horrors awaiting the players brave enough to roll up a character and adventure through Red Giant, and while much of the game is highly reminiscent of the anime and stories mentioned above I also can’t shake the feeling that some inspiration was also pulled from popular video games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Not just in the aesthetics, but in the way the game itself is presented and how the characters traverse it.

Red Giant is very mission based, with the GM (game master) putting together a story that leads the characters around a desolate landscape undertaking one quest after another, fighting for their lives and their sanity every step of the way. The game focuses strongly on the storytelling over the mechanics, and that’s something I truly appreciate. Too many TTRPGs these days are simply combat simulators, where you slap together a character, hack’n’slash your way through encounters, collect experience and loot then rinse and repeat. Red Giant offers more than that, by stripping away all of the dross and presenting you with an incredibly streamlined character creation process and system of conflict resolution mechanics. It leaves you with a lot of breathing room, and options to reward the player for actually playing. Red Giant wants you to immerse yourself in its world, to tell a story, and ultimately to lose yourself in it and have fun—or a harrowing nightmare experience. But sometimes that can be fun, too.

As far as world building itself goes, the Red Giant core goes pretty light on any kind of specifics, leaving it up to the GM and the players to define things which can certainly be a double-edged sword. By providing and citing a list of influences for the game itself, you do get a pretty good idea of what kind of environment you’re playing in, and there is a decent amount of “set dressing” that’s front-loaded into it. We know Red Giant takes place on a cursed, blighted planet where humanity fights against the landscape itself as well as the nightmares that haunt it. We know magic is real, and that the setting is steeped in the dark fantastic. I cannot emphasize enough that you should do yourself a favor and check out the Vampire Hunter D animated features if you’re going to jump into a session or two of Red Giant. Most of the world building, though, the bulk of it, is given to us in the chapters dealing with monsters and magic. While character creation and conflict resolution are refreshingly light, there is a robust and highly adaptive magic system revolving around three types, or styles, of magic that give players tons of options. The kinds of monsters loaded into the book also give us a solid idea about the world of Red Giant, as many of them are hideous monsters pulled from folklore and mythology, or sanity-bending Lovecraftian abominations that warp the minds of those who encounter them.

Some of the best examples of world building, though, come at the tail end of the Red Giant core in the pre-made scenarios which are quite interesting and give players and GMs a great start as well as good ideas as to what kinds of games they can run and develop on their own. All in all, if you’re a roleplayer who’s interested in checking out something a little bit off the beaten path and have more interest in telling a story than just rolling some dice, and you’ve got an itch only bloody, dark fantasy can itch I cannot recommend Red Giant enough. As a new core for a new setting, I’m giving Red Giant from Rookie Jet Studio a solid four stars and can’t wait to craft my own game and start my own misadventure in the grim red light of its cursed world.

Red Giant is available now in both print and digital formats on DriveThruRPG.

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REVIEW: Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

Age of Ash is the latest novel from author Daniel Abraham. Abraham has been nominated for both World Fantasy and Nebula awards and is a Hugo Award winner. He has an impressive backlist of science fiction and fantasy writing including as one half of the writing team behind the bestselling The Expanse series. He also writes as M. L. N. Hanover. I would like to thank Orbit for sending me a copy of Age of Ash to review, it has been a brilliant introduction to Abraham’s writing.

This is the first novel in Abraham’s new Kithamar Trilogy and is described as ‘a monumental epic fantasy’. Which is accurate, but as the action of Age of Ash takes place entirely within the city walls of the titular Kithamar it is not epic in a traditional traveling across a continent sort of way. Having said that, the city is vast with many districts described in vivid detail, each with their own particularities. Abraham’s prose is beautiful and the early chapters where he is building the city for the reader were a joy to read, almost like a printed version of the exploration phase of a vast computer game.

The protagonist of Age of Ash is Alys, a small time thief who lives in the slum area of the city, Longhill. After the murder of her brother Darro, Alys sets out to find out who killed him and why, and this journey of discovery is the main thread that we follow in the novel. There are other characters who play a part in this, the one of most note is Sammish. Originally a part of the same pick pocket crew as Alys, Sammish’s unrequited love for the main character is what draws her in to the conspiracies surrounding Darro’s death. Abraham’s characterisation of Alys and Sammish were probably my favourite parts of the novel. I may not always have liked their choices, but I understood the characters and really felt for them and what they went through. I also think that his portrayal of Alys’ grief and her mourning process was exceptionally well written, helping me to sympathise with her, especially when it is shown to impact her other relationships with characters like Sammish or Alys’ mother.

This is a great read if you enjoy a “slow burn” style of writing, and luxuriating in a delightfully written story that is character driven and utterly immersive. I liked it a lot, but I struggle to describe the plot and any events that I think are key action moments happen largely towards the end of the novel. As the first in a trilogy I think this will pay off in instalments two and three, but unfortunately I did find it a little too slow at times. Age of Ash is also not as gritty or dark as I expected it to be. Considering it takes place amongst the slums of a city, surrounded by crime, poverty, and violence, and one of the key plotlines is to uncover the cause of a brutal murder, I thought it would have a much darker feel. The power conspiracies and delicate magic of Kithamar are woven through the narrative but become more obvious in the last third of the novel with more time being spent with the antagonistic characters. However even they did not seem as villainous as I was expecting.

This is my first experience of reading Abraham’s work but I have been told that this methodical and steady style is typical. So if you are approaching Age of Ash armed with this knowledge and do not need a large cast of characters or numerous stand out moments of action in your fantasy fiction, I think you will thoroughly enjoy this first foray in to Kithamar. If you are looking for a more typical grimdark novel then this probably will not be one for you. For me, I am invested enough to want to return to the city and read the next part of the trilogy but I am hoping it moves at a slightly quicker pace in part two.

3.5/5

Read Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

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REVIEW: The Rush 2 by Simon Spurrier

The second issue of The Rush, by Simon Spurrier, picks up hot on the heels right where the first left off. Our protagonist, Nettie, the haunted and beleaguered mother of a missing child, finds herself out in the frozen, white wastes of the far north in the ramshackle boomtown of Brokehoof, surrounded by violent, greedy madmen. While the first issue of The Rush gave us a fantastic opening tableau and introduced us to the world of its story and let us know right away what sinister flavor of supernatural was involved, the second issue focuses much more closely on the insidious nature of man himself. It’s other people you can’t trust. It’s other people that are truly dangerous. Within the pages of The Rush 2, it’s other people that will leave you broken and bleeding out in the snow over a wrong look—they’ll pull out shooting irons over gold. And here in The Rush 2 we find out that there is something else going on in the boomtown, something affecting those who have gone to the far north to find their fortunes. Something is twisting their minds and their perceptions, sending them off the deep end and setting the hook of paranoia under their skin.

That’s not to say all the threats are purely terrestrial, as the supernatural always lurks around the corner, seen most prevalently in the way the inhabitants of the boomtown are unable to leave. Once they’ve staked a claim on the land, it’s as if something curls around their heart, settles in the whorls of their brains, drags them down to become a part of the blinding white landscape as they search desperately for any sign of something that glitters. Only those who don’t hunt for gold are free of this seduction, as evidenced by the local lawman, who is compelled by his oaths to stake no claims. And from the moment our protagonist awakens and arrives in the boomtown, she is plagued by seemingly prophetic dreams and visions. Visions that come unbidden, alarming and horrifying, but that leave her with the insistent feeling that her missing child is still alive…somewhere. Out in the snow. Out in the wastes. It puts Nettie, our protagonist, in a precarious situation and leaves the other inhabitants of Brokehoof more than a little wary of her and her mission.

The art in The Rush 2 is just as brutal and lovely as it was in the first, with Nathan Gooden delivering the same kind of quality along with stellar colors and textures provided by Addison Duke. The art is especially fantastic in the shocking, explosive moments of violence the pop up during the issue as well as the absolutely gorgeous and horrifying moments when the supernatural does decide to rear its monstrous, hideous head. There is something truly, deeply wrong with Brokehoof and we are left with a stunning, gut-wrenching tableau on the final page that delivers a hell of a cliffhanger. All in all, The Rush 2 is just as engrossing and hair raising as the first, if anything setting the stage for an even bigger and more twisted story than I dared hope to imagine. I cannot wait to crack the cover on the third issue, and see what bloody madness the next installment of The Rush has in store. Like the first, I’m giving the second issue a strong four stars. This is not a series to be missed.

Read The Rush 2 by Simon Spurrier

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REVIEW: Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore

In Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore, the lead protagonist Eric is truly a dark son-of-a-bitch. 

If Dead Things is anything to go on, I would have to guess the whole series has a noir urban fantasy vibe reminiscent of Felix Castor or John Constantine. There will be obvious comparisons to Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files, but Eric is cold and ruthless, whereas Dresden is snarky. Either way, Dead Things was a gritty urban fantasy done well. 

We start the story by being introduced to Eric after he is called home. His sister has been murdered, and Eric is home visiting old haunts. He is also looking for information, and the only way he can get it is by talking to the dead. Through ritual and blood, Eric speaks to the deceased. They are a swarming mass of life-sucking souls held at bay by Eric’s will and attitude alone. This story does not make the paranormal world look charming. There are no hugable and misunderstood souls here. Dead Things’ creatures want to tear you limb from limb and feast on the bloody bits that are left. 

“Magic’s like Fight Club that way. You don’t talk about it. Can’t have the regular folk knowing this shit’s real. We might have to share.”

With the bits and pieces of information that Eric gets from the ghosts and the old friends and new enemies he meets up with along the way, Eric begins to pick apart why his sister got killed. 

There is a ton of positives about this story. Firstly, Eric doesn’t have a swagger. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good quip and a well-placed swagger, but it has gotten formulaic across urban fantasy. It seems like every new series I read is a clone of Harry Dresden. Not every series needs to be cheeky. Secondly, how necromancy is described hits home how dangerous and otherworldly it can be. This kind of power shouldn’t be taken lightly and isn’t in Dead Things. And while this is a fantasy novel, it does add a gritty realness to the story. I think fans who like their fantasy with a side of grimdark will appreciate this series. 

“There’s a difference. Like I’m complex, you’re complicated.”

Eric is a violent person; he has no qualms about throwing down with humans or with the undead. There is a lot of violence and action scenes in the story, and they are done well. Blackmoore writes with a gritty scalpel, and he does not mince words. 

Dead Things is a solid start to what looks like a dark and entertaining series for my grimdark-loving heart. I plowed through this book and can’t wait to get to the second book in the series, Broken Souls. 

Read Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore

 

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REVIEW: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Think back on popular, post-apocalyptic horror novels. The viral outbreak of Captain Trips in Stephen King’s, The Stand. The environmental and human destruction left after nuclear warfare in Swan Song by Robert McCammon. The ambiguous but devastating world event causes humanity to unravel in Cormac McCarty’s The Road.

Very important markers of the genre; identifiably unique and remarkably special but very much told by the same voice.

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin is a post-apocalyptic horror novel telling a new tale, from a new voice, in a familiar setting, for a spot on the shelf next to the classics.

Felker-Martin devises a plague that attacks humans with high levels of testosterone leaving the host in a ravaged physical state; reduced down to basic, primal instincts: Sex, Eat, Kill, Repeat. Humans not infected with the plague have splintered into various groups based on differing philosophies of survival. Adhering to post-apocalyptic blueprints, the reading experience is enjoyed through multiple POVs. The reader navigates a twisted new reality through varying perspectives following different main characters and their trusted allies.

Because of the nature of the plague, this story imagines new gender roles and sexual dynamics. All stereotypes based on sexuality and gender are smashed into oblivion and reformed in order to smash them again. Everything about this universe is fresh and exciting because the lens of the narrators through which we view the world is so new.

Felker-Martin gives everyone a voice and an experience. This does make the scope of Manhunt feel a bit daunting in size with its huge cast of characters to keep track of, but that’s something many readers come prepared to do for this genre given all the door-stopper, epic novels that have come before.

The most difficult thing about investing in the characters of Manhunt is all the fucking emotional wreckage. These are not two-dimensional, cardboard cutouts of fictional people running around playing apocalyptic warfare, these are complex, flesh and blood individuals with strong, dynamic character traits, big personalities, and raw emotions. They run full-on into one another with all their psychological trauma and form these complicated relationships based on attraction, survival, and need. It is unabashedly queer, explicit, greasy, violent, and sensual. *flailing hands and gesturing* all of these things, all at the same time.

It’s tough to go through some of the things these characters end up doing to one another but there are some shining moments of feel-good hope and humanity, softened by humor; sprinkled with sarcasm. It’s a lot of fun and it’s also very dark.

Gretchen Felker-Martin clearly has a lot to say. There seems to be a countless cast of colorful characters just waiting to make their mark on our horror-fiction-loving hearts with more strange and wonderful stories to tell.

This is a debut that literally throws open the door and announces its arrival by making sure the room knows its intentions to stay. Manhunt is what the future of this genre looks like. Take note.

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REVIEW: And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin

Malcolm Devlin’s novella, And Then I Woke Up, explores the concept of the truth and the way its many versions influence choice and action. The story’s narrator speaks directly to the reader, helping them adjust to prior events and the new world order. At every turn, you will be left wondering: how much of this is real?

And Then I Woke Up takes place in a not-so-distant future where an atypical illness leaves monsters in its wake. Survivors arm themselves and seek refuge in groups. Fearing for their lives, boundaries are crossed, and lines begin to blur. Spence is one such individual. “Cured” and living at the Ironside rehabilitation facility, all he wants now is redemption, and he might just find it through a new inmate’s search for her own truth. However, not all may be what it seems. When a disease compromises your ability to define reality, differentiating fact from fiction becomes infinitely harder and trust, almost impossible.

Some books are better experienced going in blind; And Then I Woke Up is one of them. Part of the allure of Devlin’s narrative is the way he twists the perception of reality through Spence’s explanation to the reader. The timeline is not always linear and explores other versions of what happened, complicating and simplifying the story elements all at once. Just when you think you understand the sequence of events, Devlin challenges that idea, introducing new variables for you to consider. This unique narrative structure and direct reference to the reader pairs with Spence’s strong voice to completely immerse you in what’s happening, clearly painting vivid imagery of a world attempting to recover itself.

Grimdark fans will appreciate And Then I Woke Up for the internal struggles the characters experience, the unreliability of the narrative, and the way Devlin constructs a hazy maze where the truth lays hidden. The novella also explores the trauma associated with the consequences of one’s actions and how powerful the framing of the narrative can be both from an individual perspective as well as a societal one: “Macey once told me the problem with the truth was that it was so poorly written. Given the choice, the pleasantly told lie is always more seductive.” Devlin leaves you to draw your own conclusions, especially in regards to what is true.

Thank you to Tordotcom for sending me an ARC of And Then I Woke Up to review.

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REVIEW: Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau

Dreams of the Dying is the first novel from Nicolas Lietzau and it is a whirlwind of nightmares, death and desperation. The book tackles some difficult themes, bring us the grey morality that is a hallmark of grimdark, and offers the tiniest sliver of hope at redemption. This is a fantasy that delves into the dark recesses of your mind and takes root.

It is set in the world of Enderal, which some of you may recognise as being the same title of the award-winning indie videogame, built initially as a mod for Skyrim. Don’t worry if you haven’t played the game though, as it’s not required to enjoy Dreams of the Dying. If you have, Lietzau has included a helpful note at the start of the book to help you situate the novel within the wider world. Regardless of Enderal’s history before the start of the novel, this is a story that takes an interesting journey to explore the darkness inside and around us. The effects of classism, racism and colonialism on people are all examined from the very early pages of the book and form the foundation for future events. In Dreams of the Dying, we follow Jespar Dal’Varek as he responds to an invitation for a job that promises a big payout from a mysterious patron. Jespar is a drifting sellsword who has been living a nomadic life for the last three years and who is plagued by nightmares. Lucky (or unluckily) for him, nightmares play a large part in this next job.

Meeting his benefactor, Jespar is tasked with saving the richest man in the world, Jarroa Oonai, from an unexplained and sudden coma before the entire country tears itself apart. Partnering up with Lysia Varroy, the two seek out a dreamwalker to venture into the dreams of their patient to look for clues to his predicament. As they travel, they see firsthand the living tragedy many of the countries’ “have-nots” are forced to endure at the hands of their rich rulers. The majority of those suffering are the islands’ native people, the Makehu, who seem to be modelled on both Māori and Pacific Islanders. The societal tensions spill into the central story as violence is being encouraged and escalated by a paramilitary group called the Scythes, intent on stirring up a bloody revolution.

Once Jespar and Lysia have found their dreamwalker, Kawu, the story really begins to take off. Diving into the dreams of Oonai, Jespar finds the man trapped in a nightmare hellscape of his own fears and darkness. The journey into Oonai’s mind sets Jespar’s own nightmares into overdrive and adds a few haunting images for good measure. As they continue their quest to save a man who is rapidly becoming public enemy number one, Dream of the Dying also explores feelings of companionship, love and belonging alongside the darker themes of isolation, mental illness, and suicide with which both Oonai and Jespar struggle. As our trio struggle to complete their task, the building tension between the classes spills over into violence that engulfs everything. Without delving too much further into the plot, there is a lot here for fans of darker tales to appreciate and this is well worth the effort for a pretty chunky tome. The cover art really sets the mood with many of the characters decomposing as they reach out towards Jespar who remains, seemingly, whole, and the hardback edition comes with a lot of extras in the back if you need any more encouragement.

Where Dreams of the Dying can fall down is in the language: some phrasing feels anachronistic and syntax occasionally feels a little awkward. I attribute this Lietzau’s prose not being written in his first language and the unexpected text can be forgiven. The cast of characters is diverse and their personalities complex: you’re not necessarily going to fall in love with Jespar but you’ll be rooting for him nonetheless. There are a couple of times where conversations resembled something of an info-dump when bringing the reader up to speed on the magic system, though this wasn’t extensive and served its purpose.

Overall, Dreams of the Dying is an excellent exploration into the horrors the mind can conjure up when faced with desperate circumstances in the waking world. Lietzau has tackled some tough topics in a compelling and balanced way with a story that has damaged characters front and foremost. Although the politics and philosophising may not be to everyone’s tastes, I found this to be an excellent and thought-provoking read while ticking all the boxes for a great dark fantasy. Dreams of the Dying is a superb journey into the darkness within.

4 Stars

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REVIEW: The Weeping Sigil by Jordan Loyal Short

The Weeping Sigil by Jordan Loyal Short is the sequel to The Skald’s Black Verse. We here at Grimdark Magazine reviewed the first book in the series and thought it was one of the more enjoyable grimdark books of the past five years. I made a comparison to Warhammer 40K but with more adult politics as well as relationships.

The premise is in the distant future, mankind has managed to explore the stars but degraded socially. The Federation rules over all of mankind but most worlds are barely above Medieval technology with an oppressive Inquisition enforcing an ancestor-worshiping cult. The planet Norn was a Viking-themed place, caught between the locals and occupying legions, when it was destroyed by the sudden destruction of their moon via comet.

With their home planet destroyed, the survivors are trapped on a Federation ship they hijacked and soon fall prey to pirates who intend to sell the entire crew into slavery. One or two of them might be recruited as members of the crew but that would require them leaving the others to be sold as chattle. Henrik, the binder, escaped on his own but ends up in the exact same situation as he’s sold to a powerful family that promptly brands him as a well-cared for house slave. He’s treated as a useful advisor but his life depends entirely on their political fortunes as well as favor.

Jordan Loyal Short has created an evocative and fascinating dark space opera universe that is familiar enough to readers that it doesn’t come off as wholly alien but is repellent in many of its familarities. Tyria is a planet that resembles Ancient Rome with all of its slavery, politicking, hypocritical performative religion, and backstabbing. It is a terrible place for Henrik to find himself and yet a place that he can thrive due to the fact he has no allegiances as well as a cunning savage mind.

Part of what I like about the depiction is the sheer horror of slavery as an institution. Rather than handled generically, we get a full exposure to how it breaks you down mentally as well as physically. The sheer constant paranoia you need to possess about offending the people with power of life and death over you is one of the book’s most effective features. It manages to properly earn the title grimdark without ever having to get into the specifics of assault or torture.

The twists and turns in the book are exceptionally well-written and I had a blast reading the book from beginning to end. It is dark, terrifying, and yet intriguing. This is a world you would never want to live in but perhaps would enjoy visiting for a time with our antiheroes. No one is good and quite a few are evil but everyone has been shaped by Federation society. I’m anxious to read the next book in the series.

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