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REVIEW: Fate of Madness by Jesse Teller

Here we go, the final doorstop of a volume in the massive tetralogy by Jesse Teller, Fate of Madness.

After the first three tomes, Onslaught of Madness, Wrath of Madness, and Plight of Madness, the reader is definitely invested and past the point of backing down. We’re in it to win it, or to be crushed into pulp by the Drine war machine.

Rextur is still leading the Drine forces in their conquest of Tienne, but it’s taking too long. And while he’s winning the overall conflict, the boy king Peter Redfist is still a thorn in his side, constantly turning up and sparking little victories here and there, even when he should have been killed long ago. The Madness, as Rextur is also known, is starting to feel that it’s time to push through before the tide turns.

“’Those are Lunatics out there,’ Gralton said. ‘Those are the elite of the elite. The worst, most devastating fighting force known to Drine, maybe the whole world over. If we arm man, woman, and child for them they will cut a swath through that legion of innocence that will bring an ocean of blood to crash upon this place.’”

Part of the problem is that Drine is fighting on two fronts. Besides invading Tienne, they are dealing with an internal struggle for the crown, as the aptly named Treason wages war on his half-brother, the King of Drine. As Rextur is backing his old friend Treason, this splits his assets considerably. Still, he should have enough resources to continue his campaign.

Except, now Tienne has its shit together. While the first wave of conflict had all but wiped out the nobility class of the nation, the survivors of that purge have regrouped, having found the strength within to fight for their country, and survival. Heroes of legend have returned from myth and the new powers of the land are aligning.

Cypress Qirk is solidifying her alliance between the people of the Forest and her betrothed, William of Prox. They have the men of Stonage at their backs and the First King Clark has returned to reclaim his realm.

Tarana is still maneuvering, and is poised to be joined to the First King, realizing her long dream of being Queen of Tienne. Except, it’s not shaping up to be as grand as she’d imagined. The road to her throne is difficult, to say the least. Let’s just remember that she’s been a horrible person to those around her, and things have a tendency to come back around. This is grimdark, we’re talking about.

Aaron the Marked is still leading Peter’s forces in battle, part of the four-pronged thorn in Rextur’s side. The Madness sends his most horrifying warriors after Aaron, and the boy just laughs at them.

Gale Summerstone is also part of a foursome aligned against Rextur, this one a cadre of mages. They bring new skills to the conflict, fresh young powers matched up and holding their own with the Legends of Old.

Saykobar is still moving his pieces on the board as well, this one a mage for the other side. Or is he? While he seems to be aligned with Rextur, when he’s sent to assist Treason he hatches his own agenda. Or is it the agenda of the Valkyrie he serves?

Finally, there is another aptly named protagonist, Revenge. She’s one of three sisters of Treason, and we’ll just say that they take sibling rivalry to a new level. She has been plotting the demise of her half-brother, and it seems like just about every damn one else while she’s at it.

“He smiled and Saykobar realized he had never seen that expression on the Madness before. It was a dark thing poised on a dark face that meant only darkness.”

Fate of Madness brings all of the threads together, and though there are a lot of moving parts, it all starts to make sense by the end. Well, alright. Not so much sense as it gives a feeling of completion. The story arc has concluded, at any rate. Will there be more from the seeds that were planted and the blood that was spilled? Of that, I have no doubt.

Read Fate of Madness by Jesse Teller

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REVIEW: Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy

In The Wolf Of Wessex, Matthew Harffy picks up a theme which has worked well in other genres and applies it to Dark Ages England. The theme I’m referring to is that of the aged, world-weary warrior, who is somehow persuaded to help a much younger character, often a child.

Top of my head, I can remember watching this kind of story unfolding to great effect in the movie True Grit, in which old hand ‘Rooster’ Cogburn, played by Jeff Bridges, agrees to help the younger Mattie Ross track down her father’s killers. Come to think of it, I don’t recall previously coming across this kind of story in historical fiction. But Harffy reapplies this theme to great effect after he kicks off the book with a cracker of an opening line, which instantly sets a dark, mysterious tone to proceedings:

‘It had been a good morning until Dunston found the corpse’

Therein also lies an immediate introduction to the novel’s protagonist, Dunston. All we know at the start of the book is that Dunston is an old warrior. He’s also one who lives like a hermit alongside the woods with his one-eyed dog Odin. Personally speaking, I found it easy to identify with a character who is tired of the world and has chosen to turn his back on it. Yet following the discovery of the corpse, Dunston and Odin also come across the dead man’s daughter Aedwen, hiding away in the forest. The old warrior is left with no choice but to take her under his wing. This also means that he must eventually also mingle again with other people. Which is something that Dunston doesn’t find easy:

“At times, when the winter wind bit the skin, and food was scarce; when the nights were long and the days short and brittle with ice and snow, Dunston would ask himself if he had chosen the right path for his life. Wouldn’t he have been better off finding a new wife to tend to his needs? At moments like that he yearned for the company of others. Now, listening to Ceolwald’s inane and incessant chatter, he was sure he had chosen wisely when he had made his home amongst the trees of Sealhwudu”

Paragraphs like this are great at highlighting Dunston’s independent spirit. Before long he finds himself having to heavily rely on this quality, when the authorities who should assist him and Aedwen instead turn on them both. In a stunning turn of events, Dunston and Aedwen are forced to form an unlikely pairing. Together they engage in a desperate struggle to evade unjust accusations and punishments, while also trying to find out the true cause behind the horrific murder of Aedwen’s father.

Harffy creates some nasty, dangerous antagonists who add a lot of tension to this well-crafted and well-researched tale. Dunston also has to contend with his old, creaking body, so that the reader is often left asking: does the once great warrior still have what it takes to overcome his greatest challenge yet? In this respect, there are echoes of Gemmell’s Druss in Dunston. But both the character’s traits and his background are well crafted by Harffy, so that the old wolf is an original creation that is very engaging. Aedwen is also well developed, and the relationship between the two makes for some touching and heart-warming stuff, without ever being soppy. My reading was also enhanced by the author’s great command of language, which is both evocative and stirring. All of which contributes to a tense finish that will keep the reader glued to the pages.

This is the second book I’ve read by Matthew Harffy, and it’s great to once again witness him breathing so much life and suspense into the historical adventure genre. Wolf Of Wessex is a five on five star read. It possesses a great story arc, interesting characters and a highly satisfying conclusion.

Read Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy

 

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REVIEW: The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by K.S Villoso

The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng is the third and final book in K.S. Villoso’s Chronicles of the Bitch Queen trilogy. The structure of this one, more than either of its predecessors, feels like three separate books in its own right. The book is broken into three arcs, and each of its three arcs has a strong and compelling plot.

The story begins with Talyien, a captive despite being the queen, awaiting trial. They plan on a magical ritual to find out if her son, Thanh, is in fact the legitimate heir of her now-estranged husband Rayyel or not. Rayyel’s mother, Ryia, a sworn enemy of Talyien’s deceased father, arrives to demand these answers, with Thanh’s life at stake.

Of the arcs, this was my personal favorite. The stakes were obvious, it derived from Queen Talyien’s own decisions, and Ryia was a compelling and understandable antagonist.

The politics is always personal for Queen Talyien. While the politics are well thought-out and understandable, they only snap into focus as they relate to Talyien or someone close to her. Her primary, overriding desire through the series is to protect—Thanh, most of all, but she’s willing to undergo a lot to keep people safe.  

The second arc of The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng involves the link between Talyien and her deceased father, Warlord Yeshin. This is the most consistent through-line of the entire book. The revelations that come with this final chapter demand a re-read of the previous books to see how everything fits together.

Talyien cannot escape what her father did, and he arranged events that would ensure a legacy as royalty for his child and grandchildren. Many of these acts were atrocities; all of them benefited Talyien, who has to confront that, as well as acknowledge that her father may or may not have loved her but he certainly used her for his own ends. Even many of the soldiers and servants who should be hers, as Queen, seem more loyal to her deceased father.

Her greatest triumphs come from those few close allies she’s managed to make loyal to her. The book is always at its sharpest when it ties in with one of her three major romances—Agos, Rayyel, or Khine. The relationships always feel messy, honest, and raw. They are all poor decisions in their own ways, and yet Tali’s characterization always makes all of them make sense. Villoso is an absolute master at fleshing out character dynamics, including uncomfortable ones.

If The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng has a flaw, it’s the final villain, a man of great power and greater petulance. Compared to Ryia and Yeshin, he feels more like a bully than a Machiavellian schemer. Perhaps this is simply because the other antagonists had such a strong presence. He was also always a more external threat than the others, who were family by blood or marriage.

‘Sharp characterization, clever dialogue, and intricate politics. The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng is a strong, striking conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. 

Read The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by K.S Villoso

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REVIEW: The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston

The Maleficent Seven from author Cameron Johnston is an interesting, bloody, action-packed novel that starts big and doesn’t let up. Starting at a point where most novels would end, The Maleficent Seven brings a bunch of grim, weary bastards together to protect a town threatened by the march of a seemingly unstoppable army of fanatics. Humour, blood, and a lot of bad people doing bad things – The Maleficent Seven is a book you will not want to miss. The tagline alone drew me in.

When you are all out of heroes, all that’s left are the villains…

The Maleficent Seven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forty years ago, the terrifying demonologist Black Herran led a mighty army to the edge of complete control over an entire continent. And then she walked away. Now, she must convince the bitter allies she abandoned to fight for her and protect the small town where she raised a family and left the battles behind. An army led by the divinely guided Falcon Prince and numerous zealots are conquering the land and extinguishing all other cultures and religion. The only option Black Herran has is to get her old group back together and stop the furious march of the Falcon Prince. The unique opening of The Maleficent Seven allows Johnston to guide the reader in a world that has a lot of history and the characters feel as though they have lived interesting lives and start the story at a point where it is easy for a reader to understand each one and the way they behave. The titular seven are bitter and hold grudges but are forced to come together as they are called on by their old leader. They are a group of menacing, evil bastards but they each have their own desires and challenges that make it easy to root for them as they aim to put a stop to the rampaging Falcon Prince.

Obviously, The Maleficent Seven is a play on The Magnificent Seven and it follows the pattern of an unlikely bunch of warriors banding together to defend the innocent that has been seen from Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai to Matthew Harffy’s brilliant A Time for Swords. Though filled with enough twists and surprises to keep the reader engaged, the main plot is simple and it allows room for the band of oddballs: a demonologist, an orc, a vampire, a necromancer, a tired demigod, a pirate queen, and a mad scientist, to be fleshed out. Some characters definitely feel more rounded than others but none come across as wasted words. Tiarnach, the demigod is a particular favourite. He carries a lot of the humour in the story and though he appears at first to be nothing more than a washed-up demigod, his arc was one of the most interesting to read as the story reached its conclusion.

The world of The Maleficent Seven is dark and full of suffering for its people. It is a world that seems to be constantly at war: first with Black Herran and her captains’ conquest and then march of the Falcon Prince. It is a dark and bloody world but one that has so much potential for further stories. Johnston gives enough backstory necessary for the characters and the story to be told with clarity but he also holds back and offers hints at a wider world that is begging to be explored. His interesting take on orcs and vampires, as well as the demigods walking the continent and pirates sailing the seas mean that there is ample room for him to explore beyond The Maleficent Seven.

The Maleficent Seven is a fun, thrilling, and bloody novel filled with interesting characters and a unique world. If you are after the fantasy version of The Magnificent Seven with a bunch of bitter villains then this is the book for you. It is an entertaining and fresh take on a concept that has worked time and time again. By the time you finish, you’ll be begging for more of Black Herran and the gang.

The Maleficent Seven is out August 2021.

Read The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston

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EXCLUSIVE: Author list reveal for The King Must Fall dark fantasy Kickstarter anthology

With go-live for The King Must Fall Kickstarter only a couple of weeks away, it’s time to bring you in on who is going to be writing these regicidal stories for you. And, by the dark publishing gods, do we have one hell of an author list for you.

We’re incredibly honoured and fortunate to feature the below 19 authors in our lineup.

Author list

For The King Must Fall we went all out. We have some Grimdark Magazine crowd favourites, some Evil is a Matter of Perspective alumni, and some new authors to our pages who have massive reputations for producing amazing dark fiction. Either way, you know that you’re going to get some amazing stories.

Bradley P. Beaulieu (The Song of the Shattered Sands, The Lays of Anuskaya)Kameron Hurley (The God’s War Trilogy, Worldbreaker Saga)Michael R Fletcher (Manifest Delusions, Black Stone Heart)Anna Smith Spark (Empires of Dust)Shawn Speakman (The Annwn Cycles, Unfettered)Daniel Polansky (Low Town, Those Above)Devin Madson (The Reborn Empire)Adrian Tchaikovsky (Shadows of the Apt, Children of Time)Anthony Ryan (Raven’s Shadow, The Draconis Memoria)Lee Murray (Into the Mist, Hounds of the Underworld)Jeremy Szal (The Common)Justin Call (The Silent Gods)Trudi Canavan (The Black Magician, Age of the Five)Peter Orullian (The Vault of Heaven, The Astonishing)Stretch goal authors

No Kickstarter anthology would be worth its salt without some stretch goal authors to add extra stories to its pages. The King Must Fall has some absolutely epic dark fantasy authors to add to its pages. Make sure you share this project around to your mates to access these extra stories:

Anna Stephens (Godblind, The Songs of the Drowned)Alex Marshall (The Crimson Empire)Deborah A. Wolf (The Dragon’s Legacy, Split Feather)Luke Scull (The Grim Company)Matthew Ward (Legacy trilogy)Join our Kickstarter

The King Must Fall Kickstarter goes live on the 15th of June. Make sure you’re a part of the early backers to help us get this over that funding mark straight away. Click on the below image, go to the Kickstarter, hit the “Notify me on launch” button!

 

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REVIEW: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War, a fantasy novel inspired by the darkest chapters of China’s twentieth century, tells the story of small-town war orphan Fang Runin (aka Rin). Rin’s life goes from bad to worse when her adoptive parents, a pair of cruel opium dealers, attempt to marry her off to a middle-aged merchant at the age of fourteen. With no money, autonomy, or power of her own, she sees only one escape–the Keju: a staggeringly difficult standardized test that permits a brilliant few Nikarans to attend national boarding schools. Setting her sights on Sinegard, the most prestigious and elite military academy in the empire, Rin’s journey is further complicated by a pantheon of dangerous gods and the shadows of a looming war. In summary, The Poppy War is half fantasy boarding school novel, half war story, and wholly grimdark.

When it comes to characters, Rin herself is an exceedingly gripping protagonist. While she’s human, sympathetic, and a true underdog, she’s written with a raw intensity and brutal determination that are very compelling to read. To me, Rin’s defining trait is her victory-at-any-cost mentality, and this aspect of her personality plays out beautifully and disturbingly as the novel progresses. One of the things I enjoyed the most about The Poppy War was its cast’s capacity to genuinely surprise me for better or worse. Kuang writes excellent character arcs, some of them positive and others negative. One of the things I enjoy most in fiction (and one of the main reasons I love grimdark especially) is a well-written fall from grace–the gradual loss of ideals and compromises on morality. The author does a great job with this device and, on the flip side, handles redemption arcs with equal skill. If they’re anything like me, readers are going to end up liking some characters they initially hated…and having significant qualms about characters they initially liked. In either case, the surprises here are refreshing and believably written.

While some parts of the initial section of the story–which cover Rin’s time in school–can seem a little trope-y, the whole novel flows exceptionally well with plot and pacing, and I felt like most of the common school archetypes (spoiled bully/rival character, seemingly crazy teacher, etc.) were only there to be subverted in interesting ways.

I found The Poppy War’s worldbuilding to be top-notch. Inspired by a mixture of 20th-century and Song Dynasty China, the setting in the academy of Sinegard and the larger empire of Nikan was well-developed and unique. With the Nikaran empire broken down into provinces, each ruled by a scheming warlord and the enemy Federation of Nugen nearby, the setup is great for potential conflict. Kuang’s magic system is especially cool and inventive, with shamans using trance and narcotics to pull down gods into their own bodies and borrow power, often at a terrible price.

On the topic of the book’s darker elements, it does bear mentioning that this is one of the most troubling novels I’ve ever read. The events of the novel itself are based partially on the Second Sino-Japanese War and include fictionalized versions of recognizable atrocities like the Rape of Nanjing. While these events are handled respectfully and are an important and necessary part of the narrative, readers will probably have a hard time getting this book out of their heads. Unlike other dark fantasy novels, I couldn’t close the book and rest easy knowing it was just a story since all of the tragedies described genuinely happened. Like all the best grimdark, these elements aren’t present for a lurid ghoulish appeal–they say something about the bleaker parts of human nature (in this case intergenerational trauma, and what people can do to other people when they stop recognizing their humanity).

That said, The Poppy War is still an enjoyable, compelling read with great action, emotional impact, and an awesome magic system. The story combines the many of the best bits of magical schooling, wuxia, and gritty war stories into an exceptional novel. I would give this book a well-earned 5/5 stars. This is a book that gets under your skin, and it left me equal parts haunted, transfixed, and overwhelmingly glad my standardized testing days are behind me.

Read The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

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World of Darkness is coming to TV

Hey Grimdarklings, we here at Grimdark Magazine have been a big proponent of 90s tabletop game publisher, White Wolf, and its recent return to prominence with the release of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition under new owner, Paradox Entertainment. We’ve reviewed video games Coteries of New York, Shadows of New York, Night Road, Earthblood, and comic book Winter’s Teeth. Now we have some great news for those who love the World of Darkness property.

It’s coming to TV!

According to an article by Variety.com:

Married writer-producers Eric Heisserer (“Shadow and Bone”) and Christine Boylan (“The Punisher”) and production company Hivemind (“The Witcher,” “The Expanse”) have partnered with game publisher Paradox Interactive to develop the World of Darkness story universe for film and television.

Launched in 1991 with the tabletop roleplaying game “Vampire: The Masquerade,” the World of Darkness universe includes other properties like “Werewolf: The Apocalypse,” “Mage: The Ascension,” “Orpheus,” and “Hunter: The Reckoning,” and has expanded to video games, comic books, novels, virtual reality and card and board games. From the outset, the franchise has set itself apart in the world of science-fiction/fantasy by putting players inside the shoes — or claws, or wings — of a vast and interconnected coterie of monsters who live amongst humanity, and then forcing them to make complicated moral decisions about how to slake their character’s darkest urges.

Longtime fans of the World of Darkness will remember that this is not the first time the tabletop game world has been brought to the small screen. In the Nineties, during the height of the World of Darkness’ popularity, Aaron Spelling (90210, Charmed) produced the short-lived Kindred: The Embraced. While taking numerous liberties with the source material, it was well-liked in many circles and helped introduce many to the Vampire: The Masquerade property.

Fans that think this series will be irrelevant or dated should also note that the creators are interested in pushing the envelope of content available.

Critically, the World of Darkness titles have built their audience through embracing a wide gamut of representation of race, gender, creed and sexuality.

“The World of Darkness story universe is deliberately and unapologetically inclusive and diverse,” Boylan said in a statement. “It has always made a point of including equal gendered characters, protagonists and antagonists of every race, and representation of all creeds — bringing a female and diverse audience to gaming like nothing prior. Its games and fandom are a place where women, POC, and the LGBTQI community feel welcome and we are very proud to bring these stories to life.”

“The legacy of these stories is way ahead of its time, inviting issues and perspectives other games ignored,” Heisserer added. “This feels like the next step for genre.”

There is no distribution deal for the program yet but given the producers’ pedigree, there is no doubt they will be able to find a home for its programming once done.

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REVIEW: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Lions of Al-Rassan is a beautifully written book filled with brutality, philosophy, religion, history, and romance. Guy Gavriel Kay, for most of his novels, occupies an interesting place between historical fiction and fantasy; the word ‘historical fantasy’ has been used before, though, in the past, he has not quite agreed with that term. Yet, it is an apt enough description of what he does in The Lions of Al-Rassan. The world is an approximation of the conflicts between medieval Spain and Al-Andalus over the Iberian peninsula, and the exploits of the Spanish folk hero, El Cid. Guy Gavriel Kay changes the names of the countries to Esperana and Al-Rassan respectively, alters certain events, and even adds a dash of the supernatural to this sibling world, but the similarities are undeniably more than an ‘inspired by’ approach.

“The deeds of men, as footprints in the desert.

Nothing under the circling moons is fated to last.

Even the sun goes down.”

The Lions of Al-Rassan follows the narratives of three characters from three different faiths; Rodrigo Belmonte who leads a band of mercenaries, Jehane who is an exceptionally skilled physician, and Amman ibn Khairan who is a warrior-poet that has been known to serve as an assassin of Khalifs. Both Rodrigo and Amman are placed into an exile of sorts and join forces, with Jehane as the resident doctor for the band of mercenaries as they work together for the city of Ragosa in Al-Rassan.

“It’s one thing to make war for your country, your family, even in pursuit of glory. It’s another to believe that the people you fight are embodiments of evil and must be destroyed for that. I want this peninsula back. I want Esperana great again, but I will not pretend that if we smash Al- Rassan and all it has built we are doing the will of any god I know.”

There is a schism, a supposed holy war, and sides are drawn. The three friends must discover whether their loyalties lie with each other, with their country, with their religion, or with fate itself. The Lions of Al-Rassan tells a harrowing and complex story that manages to both show the brutality inherent in war and show the different facets of the human condition.

I could go over every aspect of the story, paste quote after quote, but The Lions of Al-Rassan is a book that is best experienced firsthand. Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my favorite authors and unlike any that I have read before. The Lions of Al-Rassan show him at the top of his game and gets a definite 5-star rating from me.

Read The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

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REVIEW: The Empire’s Ruin by Brian Staveley

Brian Staveley’s The Empire’s Ruin is a solid and enjoyable return to the dark and vivid world of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series. In the first novel of his new trilogy, Staveley follows old and new characters as they fight for survival in an increasingly hostile world. I received an ARC of The Empire’s Ruin in exchange for an honest review.

“Half the people in this city would gut us on sight, and the other half would only hold back in order to feed us to their blood-hungry so-called gods. If we wanted to be safe, we would have taken up brewing or farming or fucking haberdashery.”

The Empire’s Ruin is satisfyingly hefty at 752 pages. Within these pages are 363 individual instances of the word “fuck,” so foul-mouthed readers will feel right at home with the constantly cursing characters. Readers unfamiliar with Staveley’s earlier novels are strongly encouraged to read those before picking up The Empire’s Ruin. This review contains spoilers for the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne original trilogy and stand-alone work, Skullsworn.

Five years after the explosive events of the original trilogy, the Annurian Empire is still reeling in the wake of devastating war and civil unrest. The tools it once used to dominate the breadth of its lands, including the airborne fighting force of Kettral, have been severely compromised. The Emperor sends one of the few remaining Kettral on a quest beyond the end of the known world to find the mythical nesting ground of the giant war hawks that could turn the tide to save the Empire. Meanwhile, an ancient and powerful enemy is rising once again and seeks to threaten the balance of the world.

All of Staveley’s full-length novels have the same setting and excellent world-building: a rich, interesting, and dark world with many unexplored corners. Constant returns to the same setting can feel repetitive or diminishing in the wrong hands, but Staveley finds a way to deepen existing mythology and setting. Staveley’s continued depiction of Dombâng, likely inspired by Southeast Asian culture, feels deeply developed, especially considering Dombâng’s fraught experience with imperialism and subsequent difficulties that echo the real-world history of the area.

The pace throughout the novel is satisfying and consistent, while the prose is vivid. Constant battle scenes can wear on a reader, but Staveley’s strength lies in painting a picture while leaving enough room for the reader’s imagination to fill in the gaps. The action and battle scenes in The Empire’s Ruin feel stylized and cinematic, similar to those of Joe Abercrombie.

“To destroy is to swim with the current of reality. Once a thing is shattered—and this applies to people as well as castle walls—once a thing is broken, the world rarely allows for it to be put back together. Not the same way, at least.”

The Empire’s Ruin alternates from the point of view of Kettral fighter Gwenna Sharpe, priest Ruc Lakatur Lan Luc, and lapsed monk Akiil. Staveley admirably peoples his stories with diverse characters of varying backgrounds. Each POV character has to remake themselves in some way in order to move forward. Much of this novel and indeed the rest of the series is devoted to identity and the destruction and rebuilding of the self. One of the most intriguing depictions of this theme is in a jungle where a mysterious disease has been released that mutates all living things within its borders. Some trees have grown fruit in the shape of humanoid corpses, while others have eerie sheaves of flowing hair. Fans of the alien settings of Annihilation will enjoy this similarly unusual setting.

As other reviewers have noted in the past, Staveley’s handling of female characters can be uneven. In the original trilogy, Gwenna is written as a bit of a stereotype of a red-headed woman: hot-tempered, impulsive, and brash, she’s even a master of explosives. The newest novel gives Staveley room to expand Gwenna’s personality. Indeed, Gwenna’s story arc aligning with a traditional hero’s journey feels the most compelling of the three perspectives in the novel.

Gwenna’s scenes in the mutated jungle—young girl and military companions in tow—while being hunted by a horrific beast, strongly evoke beloved sci-fi classic Aliens. Gwenna, like Ripley, is a strong woman who has been broken down and built back up. Gwenna must protect a young girl, nicknamed Rat, as they fight for safety and their companions are picked off one by one.

However, Gwenna’s story does have problematic aspects. Gwenna is “not like other girls,” elevated to often-superhuman levels. She frequently survives the unsurvivable, kills the unkillable more than once, and curses with the best of them. At least she doesn’t remain unrealistically good-looking throughout or have a shoehorned love interest.

The most glaringly problematic issue is when Gwenna is the only woman selected by Emperor Adare to go on a dangerous mission that involves a lengthy sea voyage. Though Gwenna is accustomed to being “one of the guys,” Staveley frequently draws attention to the fact that many of the large crew would not hesitate to rape and/or injure her if given the chance. The implausible, bordering-on-offensive plotline that a female emperor would casually place such violent, misogynistic men on a vital mission with a lone strategically important woman may alienate readers.

In any case, instances of female characters’ interactions with each other are often disappointingly brief or shallow. The main relationship explored between women is that of the reluctant mother figure of Gwenna and the girl Rat who she has been saddled with but grows to love, another trope that may irk readers. This trope, in which loving the child often somehow redeems the woman, feels even more egregious in context with Gwenna’s characterization and experience.

Like the great George R.R. Martin, Staveley often kills off important characters in a devastating, satisfying way. However, as good as some of his character deaths were in his previous novels, the new book’s deaths (or lack thereof) were often jarring. The inclusion of so many “actually, they’re not dead after all” moments in The Empire’s Ruin cheapens the real deaths and opens up the idea that anyone could come back as long as we didn’t see the body. The trope might be forgiven once or twice, but it is pervasive in the novel, from POV characters, side characters, to nearly a whole continent’s worth of people.

In contrast with the tight, near-perfect character and story arc of Staveley’s previous novel Skullsworn, The Empire’s Ruin may have a little too large a scope. As the series develops, perhaps the connections between these stories and characters will deepen. The problematic treatment of female characters and worn-out tropes undermine an otherwise entertaining and well-executed novel. Hopefully, Staveley can take a more considered approach as he moves forward with the series. Superb world-building, well-written action scenes, and cohesive handling of the literary-classic theme of identity make The Empire’s Ruin a fast-paced and enjoyable read.

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REVIEW: Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve

New interpretations of Arthurian myths are hardly new by definition. These stories have been reshaped and told for centuries. In the last few years alone there have been countless variations – from Lavie Tidhar’s stubbornly modern though medieval-set By Force Alone, to Giles Christian’s Lancelot and Camelot (which we reviewed on Grimdark Magazine), epic historical novels, to April Genevieve Tucholke’s Seven Endless Forests, taking a more liberal and feminist approach to these stories. Other notable entries into recent Arthuriana include 2019’s Cursed, which has since been turned into a Netflix show and the radically different Legendborn by Tracy Deonn which took Arthurian mythology as a basis to explore race relations in contemporary US society. And blazing in to this crowd of interpretations, engines rearing, comes Laure Eve with Blackheart Knights. While reading, I sold this book to my friends as “King Arthur on motorbikes” – which, while true to the cover, isn’t strictly the most accurate description of the content of the book. But it is the spirit of it.

This is set in a world in which motorbikes take the role of horses, and leather-clad bikers are the closer visual than traditional knights. Blackheart Knights takes these familiar stories and makes them into something that is new and inventive – a gritty, grimdark take on a futuristic London, in which magic is forbidden and legal disputes are often fought out through melee battles. Enter Red. A girl with magic and a desire for revenge, enmeshed in a world of knights and fights bigger than herself. She ends up taken under the wing of the Sorcerer Knight and training as a Knight of the Callabria. Boiled down to its essence, the plot of Blackheart Knights isn’t the most special or innovative, but it is well-written, compelling and packaged in a way that keeps the reader guessing (there was strong foreshadowing for a twist that it took me a very long time to realise, and looking back, I should probably have been able to see that one coming much earlier).

The character work in this is simply splendid. Red manipulates and fights her way to the climax of the story, alongside a second narrative that shows the rise of the young Arthur and his court. I think as a whole package, Blackheart Knights worked as well as it did because of the ways the characters managed to make the most of sparse details, of hints. It is not a book that relies on lavish descriptions or flowery prose, but rather has a distinct voice carrying the story through to its conclusion. Think of this as an old school thrash metal gig like Slayer or Metallica at their heyday – loud, fast, fun and satisfying as fuck.

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