Adrian Collins's Blog, page 144

REVIEW: The Witcher Season 2 Episode 5: Turn Your Back

This is a bit of an odd episode, in that it’s mostly focused on team-ups between characters who haven’t shared a ton of screen-time: Istredd and Geralt, Yennefer and Jaskier, Ciri and Vesemir.

We start with Rience, a mage who has been trapped in a deuterium prison for a decade, who is allowed out if he can capture Ciri, though who he’s supposed to capture her for remains unclear. Rience is a torture-happy fire mage, and he seems able to control it even though that same kind of magic burned out Yennefer’s entire ability to do magic.

Ciri seems barely interested in Triss’s magic lessons, but becomes fascinated when she finds out that she may carry the key to making more Witchers. She clearly idolizes Geralt, and there’s an obvious subtext regarding her fear of not being capable of defending herself.

As to why Vesemir is willing to possibly try out the formula on Ciri, it’s true that she asks for it and it’s true that he’s done it to other children to make more Witchers. You can understand his desperation for more of the only family he’s known, especially as he ages. But it still seems reckless to likely kill the one with the bloodline necessary for more, given that few of the children ever survive to become Witchers. This plotline could have been improved by making it Ciri trying to sneak in to get the formula, rather than an old man who should know better trying to use it on her.

Istredd, Yennefer’s non-Geralt romantic interest from Season 1, spends some time with Geralt, who wants to know about the destruction of the stellacite monolith. They investigate and find a massive chasm heading into the earth. Their discussions tend to lead towards more lore questions relating to how the Witcher universe was created, and what the Conjunction really was. I’ve always appreciated the use of science in this setting, and Geralt and Istredd seem like scholars of different scientific branches.

Even when Istredd mentions Yennefer and that he loved her, Geralt doesn’t show much jealousy. The turning point is when Istredd mentions that Yennefer is still alive after the Battle of Sodden. Cavill plays Geralt close to the chest, even more so this season than in S1, but that moment he seems to really come alive without losing Geralt’s closed-off nature.

Yennefer and Jaskier have, again, the best dynamic of the episode. Despite not truly liking each other, Jaskier helped her out in the last episode, and Yennefer got off the boat to Cintra once she thought he was in trouble. Jaskier is captured by Rience and tortured with fire magic. Yennefer should not be a match for a mage without her own magic, but she’s clever, and he’s arrogant, and she knows exactly how his magic works and how to play him. It’s a short action scene, but it’s very much in-character.

Her rescue of him ends up getting her captured, which gives the Deathless Mother she met back in episode 2 the opportunity to re-open her offer. While she still has no magic, she is allowed back into the Deathless Mother’s hut, an easy escape from the guards who had captured her. The Deathless Mother can’t give her magic back directly, and Yennefer outright states she doesn’t want to be indebted, but there is a trade, which we’ll get into in the next recap.

The post REVIEW: The Witcher Season 2 Episode 5: Turn Your Back appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey

Leviathan Falls is the ninth book and conclusion of The Expanse series that has successfully gone on to become a roleplaying game, television show, and the basis of numerous spin off novellas. It is the story of a complicated future where Earth, Mars, and the miners in the Asteroid Belt are all struggling for dwindling resources when a mysterious alien artifact changes the course of human history forever. From there, wars and upheaval are primarily determined by the plucky crew of the Rocinante.

Things are not good for the crew after the events of the previous book. Despite delivering what they hoped would be a knock-out blow to the Laconian Empire, they instead have found the latter able to project its power throughout the galaxy by terrifying humans with threats or orbital bombardment. Unfortunately, Laconia has become the least of humanity’s problems due to the fact the Gotha (extra-dimensional aliens with godlike power) are really ticked off at humanity for their continued use of the protomolecule gates.

Duarte may actually prove to be the solution given he’s returned from his coma as someone almost completely merged with the protomolecule. Can he utilize the protomolecule as a weapon against the beings who wiped out the protomolecule’s creators? Should he? Holden and company become, once more, at the center of things due to the fact they have both Duarte’s daughter Theresa as well as one of the few protomolecule infected human beings who remains alive as well as sane.

Hunting our party of space heroes is Colonel Tanaka, the beautiful but fascist chief soldier of Laconia. After a brief encounter with Holden in Egypt, she loses the beautiful part and becomes obsessed with avenging her failure to kill him. As a source of tension, Colonel Tanaka works well and actually has an interesting story arc. She’s still an awful-awful person but is understandable and even charming in her own way.

The conflict against enemies who are completely inscrutable and cannot be opposed by anything humans have technological capacity to produce is something that is a hard story to tell but James S.A. Corey manages to succeed. Part of this is due to the fact they focus on the human element. The protagonists are desperate for a solution but are aware that Laconia and Duarte’s plans are outright insane. As the kind of physics-defying events keep piling up, the climax is suitably set up in a way that is both tragic as well as satisfying.

I would have appreciated more insight into how the Betlers, Earthers, Martians, and colonies were getting along in their struggle against the Laconians but that just isn’t what the book is all about. Still, I overall think this book successfully stuck to the landing. While they won’t be adapting it or the Laconian plot to the TV series, it is a satisfying finale to all of the previous books and what they set up.

Read Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey

The post REVIEW: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Book of Night by Holly Black

Featuring one of the most delightfully messed-up main characters I’ve read in a while, Book of Night is both wickedly clever and dangerously entertaining.

[image error]In a world where “quickened” shadows can be shifted according to the wearer’s mood, Charlie Hall’s shadow is disappointingly ordinary. It does not grow, act of its own accord, or shift on its own. That’s a good thing, since she has enough on her plate as it is. The thing is, Charlie Hall has never seen a bad decision that she isn’t willing to make. Con artist, thief, barista, and certified disaster, trouble has a habit of finding Charlie. To be fair, she doesn’t do all that much to avoid it. Ostensibly done with conning and stealing, Charlie nonetheless works in a bar that crime likes to frequent, she dates a man whose day job is cleaning up the messes left by violence, and she has a knack for upsetting the wrong people.

In a world such as that, it is inevitable that Charlie would be sucked back into a life of conning and stealing. This time the stakes are much higher: Charlie has to find a way to hopefully con her way out of a situation where every solution seems to spell death. The entirety of Book of Night is planned pandemonium, and I was hooked.

This is Holly Black’s first foray into adult fantasy, having garnered a huge fanbase in Young Adult fantasy. While Black’s signature twists and turns are present, the relationships are much more established, allowing me to enjoy the nuances of the characters without being distracted by relationship woes. Don’t get me wrong; as with everything else in her life, Charlie’s relationship with her boyfriend Vince follows the path of most resistance. However, the complications lie in the characters themselves, as opposed to their relationship status. In fact, seeing how Charlie interacted with the people around her was an excellent mirror into the morass of her rather messed-up psyche.

The story is sprinkled with scenes from the characters’ pasts, better developing both their personalities and the world. And it is such a cool world! Manipulators of shadows, known as gloamists, use their shadows to grasp at power, some legally and some otherwise. The wielders of power are fantastical, but the way the power is used to manipulate and control is completely familiar and believable.

There is always something going on, but never at the cost of the plot. The twists seemed to come out of nowhere, yet when I traced back the scenes in the book, the clues were right in front of me. The ending is fantastic, perfectly messy, instead of being tied into an overly neat little bow. While there could be a sequel, which I would gladly read, I almost hope that it is a standalone because the ending hit so well. Book of Night is an exciting urban fantasy from an author who can easily conquer any genre she chooses to write in.

Read Book of Night by Holly Black

The post REVIEW: Book of Night by Holly Black appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Illborn by Daniel T Jackson

Illborn is the debut novel from author Daniel T Jackson and is published by independent house Matador. The novel is just over seven hundred pages so is a lengthy and enjoyable reading commitment. As the first instalment of the ongoing Illborn Saga, which will hopefully be an extended series, Illborn is a fantastic, dark fantasy novel and will appeal to fans of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time or George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones. I purchased my copy of Illborn from www.thebrokenbinding.com and they still have signed copies in stock.

One thing that I loved about Illborn is that, despite its significant size, being only the first part of the saga it did not feel overwhelming like other more established epic series. It is a vast narrative, the plot spans many years and covers a whole continent through the perspectives of the four main narrative voices. Alanna, Corin, Leanna, and Arion are all in their late teens at the start of the novel and have nothing in common other than a shared dream and their burgeoning magical powers. In general the multiple points of view narrative follows these four characters on their different arcs with some minor intertwining, until the denouement where they eventually overlap. In the hands of another writer this could have felt dreary or repetitive but Jackson did not make it so. Illborn maintains a good pace throughout and each chapter ends with enough intrigue to maintain the reader’s interest. The even split of narratives with two male and two female voices gives good balance to Jackson’s novel and it feels like the attention is equally split over the course of the narrative between all four views. It is a true ensemble with no single main character and the other perspectives found in the prologue, interludes, and epilogue had me insanely curious as to what will happen next in the series and the parts these other voices will come to play.

The setting of Illborn is quite traditionally grimdark, in a feudal world with centuries of religious history and attempts at crusades to spread the word of The Lord Aiduel. The character of Corin offers a divergence to this as his arc takes place on the more Scandinavian island of Bergen, but the other narratives focus mainly on the three countries of Andar, Elannis, and Dei Magnus that are more similar to a medieval mainland Europe. Jackson does not shy away from the grittier aspects of a grimdark novel and there are elements of violence and torture in Illborn but they are not gratuitous or overly explicit which makes them all the more effective. Unexpectedly for a darker fantasy there are also some surprisingly sweet aspects to the story which offers a pleasant contrast to the harsher times. In particular the love story for Corrin and his wife Agbeth was one of the nicest parts of the novel. The religion that Jackson has created in Illborn suits the old-fashioned setting of this world and there are examples of justly devout characters as well as some truly terrifying zealots and evil men hiding in the guise of devotion. The spread of religious control and the increasing peril of war builds up and feels like a very real and pervasive threat, more so than perhaps the specific sinister persecution faced by the foursome for their magic.

Each of the four narrative voices has a clear expression and flair to it, and they are all equally compelling. I think each reader will have their own personal favourite but they are all likeable for different reasons. I initially found it to be confusing that there were similar names of characters or places but this settled quite quickly and as the novel is so immersive this is soon forgotten. The only minor criticism I have for Illborn is the use of some of the more modern language. Although fitting for the ages of the characters it felt jarring for this medieval world to have people say ‘OK’ or ‘Mum’ when I first came across it, but again this settled quickly and simply became a part of the style.

Although this is Jackson’s first novel it is a clearly established, believable world and Illborn feels like a small part of something massive. I am genuinely excited to explore this world further and expect great things from this series. There is some satisfaction that the conclusion of Illborn tied off most of the narratives but also the scene has been set for the next novel and I have high expectations for future intrigue and epic adventure. There were two places in this novel where I swore out loud and was so surprised that I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen next. The first of these was in the prologue, so from the very beginning of the novel I was emotionally invested. The second was unfortunately in the last page of the epilogue. This cliff hanger is exceptionally frustrating and I sincerely hope that the next instalment of The Illborn Saga picks up exactly where Illborn left off. 4.5/5

Read Illborn by Daniel T Jackson

The post REVIEW: Illborn by Daniel T Jackson appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: The Wheel of Time E8: The Eye of the World

The Wheel of Time E8: The Eye of the World ends the first season of Amazon’s take on Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series. Much like the series as a whole, this episode is good without pushing into the greatness shown in other series such as Game of Thrones and The Witcher. There are flashes of potential that give hope that the series will grow into something even better and overall, I am left eagerly awaiting the next season without being desperate for it to arrive right now.

The Eye of the World starts 3000 years in the past as we see glimpses of a futuristic city with the Tamyrlin Seat warning a Dragon Reborn of the dangers of facing the Dark One. In the present, Lan sets off to find Rand and Moiraine as they head through the Blight and towards a showdown with the Dark One. Moiraine offers Rand an ancient object of great power to increase his chances of succeeding in the battle at the Eye of the World. Meanwhile, horns blare around Fal Dara as an army of Trollocs attack the city. Perrin struggles with his newly found belief in the Way of the Leaf as Egwene and Nynaeve join with Lady Amalisa to hold back to the tide of the monstrous force attempting to get to the fortress and kill all in their path. The battle is an interesting one, touching on similar beats to Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers. Egwene and Nynaeve learn what it means to weave great power and the consequences of taking on too much and this is one of the stronger themes touched upon in this episode. Five women stand together to hold back the army but there is loss as the power they attempt to weave burns through them from the inside out.  Perrin unfortunately feels rather useless as the Horn of Valere is found in his presence but he doesn’t do much else along with Loial. The horn is meant to be sounded before the Last Battle but it is stolen before it can be used. Fans of the books will know the importance of this horn.

The Eye of the World is an episode that can be a little confusing for fans and non-fans of the book. There is a lot going on in the episode but little explanation along the way. Rand faces the Dark One (or does he?) and turns away from the darkness even when offered the life that he dreams of. His understanding of Egwene and the strength of his love for her are handled well in this scene as he channels the One Power and defeats his foe and breaks the seal beneath his feet. Rand leaves, telling Moiraine to tell the others that he is dead and then, somehow, Lan suddenly appears and is informed by Moiraine that she has lost her power. The Wheel of Time E8 has some stunning moments but everything feels a bit undercooked. Eight episodes is a relatively small number to adapt a book like The Eye of the World and do everything justice. The episode, like the series as a whole, achieved what it set out to do: introduce the characters and set up the stakes involved. The characters are in interesting positions as we head towards the next season and we are left with the intriguing shot of a fleet of ships channelling a huge tidal wave but again, with no explanation.

The Eye of the World did what it needed to do. With more time, it could have delivered something great but after the worrying first episode, the series has improved immensely into something that I am looking forward to continuing. The episode gives Rand a chance to finally grow and start to truly become the Dragon. Rand’s decision to cut himself away from his friends for their safety is a good way to finish the series as he continues his journey to becoming a legendary hero. There might be more questions than answers at the end, but at least I am left with the feeling that I want to still find out the answers to those questions. An impressive, if not mind-blowing end to a decent fantasy series.

The post REVIEW: The Wheel of Time E8: The Eye of the World appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Blade Runner 2019: Vol. 1 Los Angeles

Blade Runner 2019 Vol. 1 Los Angeles is the first volume of the successful award-winning series by Titan Publishing. It is by Michael Green, Mike Johnson, and illustrated by Andres Guinaldo. As a long-time fan of cyberpunk in general and Blade Runner specifically, I really should have bought this when it first came out in November, 2019 but I think we can all understand how the end of that year lead to a year that was “lost” soon after. I’m glad to have picked it up, though, because I am absolutely blown away by the work here.

The premise is the same as in the movies: Earth is devastated by pollution and the majority of the human race has fled to the offworld colonies. All that are left are the destitute, sickly, and unwanted by society. Replacing the labor of the working class in the future are Replicants: extremely human-like slaves who are illegal on Earth. Hunting down these superhuman specimens are specialized police officers called Blade Runners.

Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina is the best Blade Runner who ever lived, with the possible exception of Rick Deckard, and thoroughly hates Replicants. She even runs a side business of selling their remains to collectors who think of robot parts as interesting conversation pieces. Unfortunately, her side job gets her in trouble and to get out of it, she has to do a favor for a billionaire named Alexander Selwyn. Selwyn’s daughter, Cleo, has been kidnapped and he wants the world’s best tracker to find her.

The book has a lot of similarities to Chinatown with plenty of double-crosses, twists, turns, and conspiracy going on. Alexandrer Selwyn is creepy enough that you know he wants no good for his daughter and soon we have groups like the Tyrell Corporation involved. What is going on and how is it related to the Replicant Underground? I was genuinely surprised they didn’t go with the fact the daughter was a Replicant or hybrid, which shows the writers were smart enough to avoid the obvious path.

Ash is a fascinating and well-designed character that I quickly took a shine to both because and in spite of the fact she’s an objectively terrible person with grossly bigoted views (towards intelligent machines at least). Ash is a corrupt cop and has a lot of issues but, like many noir protagonists, draws the line at involving children. Seeing her deal with the people sacrificing their lives for Replicants and how the Replicants, themselves, are people is an interesting journey that doesn’t go in a straight line.

In conclusion, this is an absolutely great comic and one of the rare ones worthy of the title graphic novel. The story continues in subsequent installments but actually has a beginning, middle, and end that works well.

Read Blade Runner 2019: Vol. 1 Los Angeles

The post REVIEW: Blade Runner 2019: Vol. 1 Los Angeles appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Reign of the Devourer by David Annandale

Marvel Untold is a series of prose novels which tell darker stories of the Marvel Comics Universe. David Annandale’s Reign of the Devourer is the fourth installment in the Marvel Untold series, and the first to act as a sequel to a previous volume, in this case the initial entry, The Harrowing of Doom, also written by Annandale. Reign of the Devourer takes place shortly after the conclusion of Harrowing as the nation of Latveria copes with the aftermath of Walpurgis Night’s demonic battles. Doctor Victor Von Doom, here known simply as Doom, seeks to regain knowledge lost on that fateful night, and will stop at nothing to reclaim what was his.

Having discovered that the memories of the dead aren’t lost but merely displaced, Doom begins his quest for omniscience. With the aid of his allies, he discovers the prison of an otherworldly nightmare, the Devourer. While Doom’s attention is concentrated on excavating and releasing the Devourer, an old rival lurks in the shadows. As Doom nears his objective, an ancient terror is revived, and a plague of soul consuming monsters begins to sweep his nation.  Doom must make choices and take actions only he can, for he alone has the science, magic, and indomitable will to be victorious.

Reign of the Devourer is the story of a dictator’s quest for omniscience.  But what happens when a dictator’s iron will is focused on having absolute power, while the well being of his people is a central aspect of himself?  Doom is a scientific genius and a powerful sorcerer with the ego to match, but is deeply dedicated to his people. Although he expects nothing less than total obedience from his subjects, his commitment to them is also absolute. Doom views his nation as an extension of himself such that to attack his people is to attack him. Annadale handles Doom brilliantly this way, taking what could easily be a flat character and giving him depth and pathos. Likewise, Annandale does a good job breathing life into Doom’s supporting cast, and I found myself interested in their individual stories as well.

Annandale also does a good job elevating Reign of the Devourer above the tropes on which it’s built.  Unleashing ancient evil in the quest for power isn’t exactly a fresh storyline, but Reign of the Devourer pulls it off. Reign of the Devourer manages to occupy a middle ground with mild flavors of gothic and action horror, but without gore or true terror. While Annandale does very well with the characters and the world, they aren’t his. Reign of the Devourer generally doesn’t feel like a comic tie-in, but it is, which meant I was never too worried about the main characters or the world at large. I enjoyed Reign of the Devourer though, and I recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting, dark but not too dark, story.

Read Reign of the Devourer by David Annandale

The post REVIEW: Reign of the Devourer by David Annandale appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

In Richard Swan’s new fantasy trilogy, starting with The Justice of Kings, a rich low magic world is brought to life through brilliant characters and their arcs. A mixture of detective work, dark fantasy, and low fantasy, I’ll be really surprised if this book isn’t on a few best of 2022 lists this year.

Our protagonist Helena Sedanka is a clerk in a party of four led by the Justice Konrad Vonvalt. Vonvalt travels the Sovan empire as judge, jury, and executioner to the far reaches of the Empire with Helena recording his judgements, Dubine Bressinger his ex-soldier taskman protecting the team, and Patria Claver, an annoying and fiery as hell arrogant young priest, recruiting templars to expand the Empire’s eastern border Eastern border.

After dealing with some pagans in a town of Rill, Vonvalt, Bressinger and Helena go to investigate the murder of a Lady. As the pieces of a gruesome puzzle start to fall into place, a larger move by significant factions throughout the Empire to unseat the Magistrates Order comes into play, and our magistrate team of heroes is put in incredible peril.

The Justice of Kings is an excellent study in character arcs, with Helena’s point of view not only giving us insights into her own growth, but the growth and decline of the people around her, and a promise of much more to come. Swan works these characters so brilliantly that a relatively standard gritty medieval European fantasy world comes to wonderful life through character and story.

The magic system is very light / low magic, with scant detail and machination, but plenty of room and scope for growth and evolution. Vonvalt dishes out the judgements and justice using his Voice of the Emperor to compel people to speak their truth. He also has necromancy and mind reading up his sleeve.  The magic system is depicted enjoyably brutally, and I am so excited to see how Swan expands the system in book 2. I have to admit that I am a big fan of the low magic approach, so I was completely taken in by the application of magic through Vonvalt and the other magistrates, and the role magic played in this book.

The Justice of Kings is a brilliant book 1, with intrigue, excellent character arcs, a brutal magic system, and a story I just could not put down. There’s plenty in there for grimdark fans to enjoy, and I feel confident in telling you that The Justice of Kings needs to be in every dark fantasy fan’s TBR pile for 2022.

Read The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

The post REVIEW: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

An interview with Luke Scull, author of The Grim Company

It’s been a while since fans of The Grim Company have been treated to a new novel by this brilliant author. As a massive fan of the trilogy, I was just absolutely stoked to be able to spend 40 minutes chatting with Luke Scull about his forthcoming books, work in writing video games, and writing for Warhammer 40,000 / Black Library.

If you haven’t checked out Luke’s work before, you can read our reviews of The Grim Company and Dead Man’s Steel on our site (not sure how I dropped the ball on not reviewing Sword of the North), he also has a short story in Grimdark Magazine Issue #12 and he also has another short story about to be released in our The King Must Fall anthology.

The post An interview with Luke Scull, author of The Grim Company appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: Mordew by Alex Pheby

Mordew is the first instalment of the new Cities of the Weft trilogy from author and academic Alex Pheby. In Mordew, he has created a unique and disturbing world that I think will greatly appeal to fans of the grimdark genre. Its second instalment, Malarkoi, is due out in August 2022 and both are published by the independent house Galley Beggar Press. I switched between reading the novel and listening to the audio book, which has a fabulous narrator in the form of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Mordew is a richly detailed, but unflinchingly dark narrative. Even though the protagonist, Nathan Treeves, is still a boy, there is no innocence to be found in its pages. Nathan makes for a unique grimdark character in that his naiveté and childish wishes form a huge part of his decision-making process. Nathan is not the sort of morally grey scheming antihero that one may expect in a grimdark novel as he lacks the understanding to see the significance of his actions. A recurring theme of Mordew is the concept of good and evil; though Nathan tries to do something good, the unintended consequences are often horrifying, and Nathan seems more like an unreliable hero than a deliberately malevolent character. I enjoyed the delicious weirdness of this novel, but at times it was a difficult read simply because of how unnerving it is. There is a wealth of extra detail provided by Pheby in the forms of the dramatis personae at the beginning of the novel and the glossary at the close. I would however agree with the author’s note that as the glossary gives details that the novel’s protagonist is unaware of, it is best left until narrative has been read in its entirety.

Much of Mordew takes place in the slums of the city around Nathan’s increasingly desperate attempts to eke out a living scavenging through the Living Mud which surrounds Mordew and raise enough money to eat and buy medication for his dying father.  It is this desperation that eventually forces Nathan to meet the mysterious Master of Mordew and the discovery of the true nature of Nathan’s ability to ‘spark’. The reader knows from the synopsis on the cover of the novel that the Master derives his power from feeding on the corpse of God, hidden deep in the catacombs underneath the city. Nathan’s spark however is different and if he can learn to control his power he may be stronger than the Master and able to orchestrate his downfall. The Master is not a benevolent leader and the mere presence of such poverty and desolation that the reader is greeted with in Mordew made me automatically dislike and mistrust him. However the extent of the depravity of the Master of Mordew, and the other Masters of the Weft, is something we learn about at the same pace as Nathan. The childlike hopefulness that Nathan has, even in such a slimy and shadowy setting, is eroded as the novel progresses and the reader feels every loss and unexpected betrayal with him.

There are some traditional fantasy tropes at work in Mordew with a special boy, with special powers, overcoming adversity, coming of age, and a distant and mysterious ruler puppeteering everyone from afar, but they all mesh together in a weird and wonderful way. It is a dreary gothic setting for the most part that reminded me at times of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast in that it is such an unusual brand of magic I was not surprised by any of the peculiar things that popped up. I was however deeply disturbed by some of them and although Mordew is a beautifully written novel it is not at all comforting. There are also some similarities to The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch with the juvenile gang of Gam, Prissy, and Joes. I wish the criminal underbelly aspect of the city had been explored in greater detail.

The opening of Mordew is utterly immersive and I applaud Pheby for the creation of such an eerie world without losing the reader. I found the novel midsection hard work though; it required my full attention and I plodded to the end rather than raced. I hope that this was laying the foundations for the Weft and will not be as challenging in later books. The effort is well worth it though, perseverance is rewarded with an astounding climax and the cliff hanger that Mordew ends with has guaranteed I will return to continue this journey with Malarkoi. Mordew is a fascinating concept and a truly ambitious fantasy. It is not an easy or quick read, but it is worth investing the time and effort to unpick its challenging and complex nature.

3.5/5

Read Mordew by Alex Pheby

The post REVIEW: Mordew by Alex Pheby appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.