Adrian Collins's Blog, page 221

REVIEW: The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

The Red Knight was the first fantasy book I have read (listened to) by author Miles Cameron. I had read his entire Chivalry series (one of my favourite series), which is some of his historical work under the name Christian Cameron. There are similarities between Chivalry and The Red Knight, being set in a late medieval land filled with awesome sword fights, epic battles, a vast display of medieval knowledge and authentic grit.

“Listen up, then. Evil is a choice. It is a choice. Doing the wicked thing is the easy way out, and it is habit forming. I’ve done it.”

But…

The Red Knight has Wyverns. And Boglins. And Irks and many other forms of creatures part of the ‘Wyld’. Although it has a feel similar to his medieval writing, it also had it’s own completely fantastical feel, with added world-building that displays hours and hours of thought and planning into. The world The Red Knight is based is ripe with life, mercenary companies, foreign knights, courtly competition and a convent of nuns.

“To the captain, piety came in three brands—false piety, hypocritical piety, and hard won, deep and genuine piety. He fancied that he could tell them apart.”

The book begins with a fast pace and it carried that on for over 600 pages (30 hours of audible). Though, through all of the action set-pieces, battles, confrontations and duels there are plenty of opportunities to get to know each character and voice. This book has multiple POVs, some used more than others and it does take a little bit of time to adjust to the style. But from the first meeting with The Captain, I felt hooked.

The description of medieval inspired villages and lives is fantastic. Miles Cameron definitely brings his experience of re-enactment with him to make the reader understand the clothing of the period, weapon details, horse-riding and what it really feels to be in a battle. It is in these moments that the characters show thier uniqueness, and through that display Cameron’s character’s developments.

“His sword took the nearest neatly, because killing fleeing infantryman was an essential part of knightly training, taken for granted, like courage.”

The Captain is a fantastic character, full of humour and humility as well as martial prowess that I personally love to read about. Members of his company standout, like Bad Tom and Sauce, and I really enjoyed Michael’s parts. They all had moments of joy, sadness, anger and blood-lust. They all felt real. There were characters I could empathise with, and character’s I grew to detest, not mentioning any names… certainly no French knights…No.

5/5 – I cannot recommend this book enough. If you take a while to adjust to the multiple POVs at the beginning, then keep going, You won’t regret it. I look forward to delving deeper into the Traitor Son Cycle. Read it!

Buy The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

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REVIEW: The Millennial Manifesto by Michael R. Fletcher

The Millennial Manifesto is a sparse, in-your-face story about the duality of politics and perspectives. If you love Quentin Tarantino movies, with a dose of stark commentary on current events, you will love this story.

“The Brave? People cowered in their homes, clutching their guns, living in fear of their neighbors and the very government they voted into power: land of the scared, home of the wage slaves.”

The premise is simple. You have two groups and two wildly different perspectives. Julia, Chen, Aarush, and Inanna are friends with a singular purpose — they want to change the world. They want to fix the crushing reality of being a millennial and living in a generation whose lives will be worse than those preceding it, and they will do anything to accomplish this task.

Right away, you can see the morally gray area of this sentiment.

The other group is Hiran, Chuck, and Fana. Hiran and Chuck are soldiers — thugs for hire. While Fana is a hacker and assists them by finding their targets and at accessing stores of protected information, they already exist on the far side of questionable morals. The cool thing about how this story is that it has dueling protagonists. Each chapter switches back and forth between the perspectives of Hiran and Inanna. This allows the reader to see how morally ambiguous some actions of either character can be. Who “good guys” are and who the “bad guys” are is not always straightforward. Just as it is in life, people are usually neither good nor bad, and in the end, no one thinks of themselves as the bad guy.

With Hiran, although he is a mercenary, he is a father and husband. He worries about his joints and paying for his daughter’s college education. He is hired to do dirty work by a capitalist and all-around horrible person, Gartner. Gartner is also the target for Innana’s terrorist group’s first action. Innana is a woman who is anchorless. She has come into money after the death of her parents and wants to do something better with her life and for the world.

“Part of her wanted that, to go back to her easy life, to putter about pointless hobbies. No. I am going to make the world a better place. “Do any of you want out?” she asked.”

She does this by funding a small nameless terrorist cell. After the Innana’s group completes their first terrorist like action, they make Gartner drink dirty water from one of the streams he has ruined through pollution; they have to go on the run after the second group starts to chase them. From there, the story evolves into chases of cat and mouse. Each group displays actions that both humanize and demonize them.

It is an exciting take on this type of story and one that Fletcher has done it well. It is quite a departure from the science fiction and fantasy story that we have become accustomed to from him.

It is a great story.

Engaging and visceral, the reader gets drawn into the minds of the two protagonists right away. You want to know how it is going end, and from the get-go, the reader has no idea how the story will play out. My only small qualm with the story is that I didn’t feel like it was long enough. I wanted more from the characters; I wanted a more substantial base to pull from before the characters started to go on the run. The story also ends very abruptly. Whether that is a stylistic choice by the author, as it fits the narrative style, or just how the story played out, I am not sure. But it is a good ride either way.

If you are a fan of Tarantino type story that is ruthless with its characters, The Millennial Manifesto is the right choice. I hope that Fletcher continues the tale because there is room in this world for another story arc or five.

Buy The Millennial Manifesto by Michael R. Fletcher

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Our Hopes for Elden Ring

Just before E3 2019, rumors spread of a collaboration between two Grimdark giants: FromSoftware helmed by Hidetaka Miyazaki known worldwide for their Dark Souls trilogy of games and their dark, gritty, “git gud” gameplay working hand in hand with one of the lords of Grimdark literature George R.R. Martin. When Elden Ring was announced during E3 the room erupted with cheer for the chance to play through a story crafted by a legend and a world honed by skilled artisans of gaming. This most unholy of unions could be the best combination in gaming since CD Projekt Red brought the world of The Witcher to life. Here are my hopes for Elden Ring.

A New Generation of Graphical Prowess

Like most of its older siblings Elden Ring will allow us to create our own characters to roam the world of GRRM’s mythos and Miyazaki’s skillful craftsmanship (we know full well there will be countless wonderful armor sets people will be dying to cosplay). The one thing that was always lacking to me was the level of detail in the actual player characters features. I’m hoping the quality of characters we received in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, specifically the Wolf brought to the player character of Elden Ring. Having higher quality textures and more detail will also go a long way for a game of this caliber. Depending on the style or armor—no matter if it’s the heavy armor of Dark Souls or the Victorian inspired Long coats of Bloodborne—having more detailed facial animations and features would be a blessing. I would love to be able to see the fear in my character’s eyes as they are outnumbered only for it to change to the biggest shit eating grin as I cleave heads in half.

A Gritty Narrative with Good Company

Miyazaki stated in an interview that during the early development of Elden Ring he collaborated with GRRM on themes and ideas for the project in which George then went and created the mythos. This left Miyazaki to interpret the works GRRM provided acted like a good DM in a tabletop RPG with all the handbooks. Miyazaki had to then shape the world visually and create the main scenario on his own as if it were a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I hope this will lead to something I always found Dark Souls lacked being more prominent, characters development. There are many characters in the Soulsborne games who are interesting Artorias and Sif, Gwyn the Lord of Cinder, Father Gascoigne, Lady Maria and The Doll to name a few. But overall the characters feel one dimensional and vague as their stories are spread thin and can be easily missed while playing. This is something GRRM can remedy. Who doesn’t love the wit and wisdom of Tyrion Lannister who is often said to be the character GRRM spends the most time rewriting to get perfect. I would love to see the NPCs of Elden Ring brought to life and treated with more care in their crafting. Miyazaki had a habit of hiding the lore of the world and characters behind item flavor text. It was unique at first but having to hunt for stories through small and vague remarks in the games items menu is not nearly as fun as experiencing it as you play. Getting to live out the story as the adventure unfolds would bring so much more life into the game.

A Realm Bathed in Blood to Explore

Traversing Westeros and Essos in HBO’s Game of Thrones was stunning but the novels themselves left your own imagination in charge of adding the details to the world beyond the basics which GRRM provided. If Miyazaki gives the mythos GRRM created for Elden Ring the same treatment he gave the Soulsborne games I cannot wait to see what is to come. FromSoftware thrives at providing richly detailed worlds like the beautiful castles of Anor Londo and the dilapidated city of Lothric, or the sweeping Gothic and Victorian inspired streets of Old Yharnum let alone the breathtaking Japanese countryside in Sekiro. They design their worlds for you to be able to explore every crevice to fully unravel the mysteries of the world they lay before you. With Elden Ring bringing more of an open world than its predecessors I for one cannot wait to scour every centimeter will be awe inspiring sights.

(Lothric Dark Souls 3)

Dodge-roll your way to Victory

The term “git gud” has become synonymous with the brutally difficult gameplay of Dark Souls and it is one thing we can be entirely sure will remain in Elden Ring. The difference however will be in the way they work their combat system for their newest title. As I am readying myself for the beat downs to come I question what sort of combat they will give us. They have already said horseback combat will be in the game which is new, but how will the standard combat be? What I am hoping for is an amalgamation of their previous combat systems into a truly dynamic experience where you can utilize any number of different weapons from the intricate form altering weapons and firearms of Bloodborne to the standard swords and sorcery of Dark Souls. Adding in the stealth mechanics from Sekiro along with its grappling hook and you can make the quintessential game for player to choose how they wish to get their arses served to them. I would love to be able to dodge-roll around filling a creature full of lead in between each roll until the time is right to throw a grappling hook into its skull and pull it into my rapier’s blade.

Waiting out the Clock

Elden Ring is still a long ways away from being finished. A release date is still to be announced but the hype FromSoftware generated at E3 will hopefully continue to boil as they release more and more details in the coming months until we finally have the game in our hands, be it physically on console or digitally for PC. I know I am looking forward to seeing if my hopes and expectations can be met, when the time finally arrives. Let me know your hopes for Elden Ring in the comments below.

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SFF in 2020: What we can’t wait to read in the new decade

SFF in 2020 is something we’re all very much looking forward to. There’s plenty of goodness on the horizon, and in lieu of the release date of Joe Abercrombie’s The Trouble with Peace, our team has each come up with their most looked-forward-to read of 2020. Tell those TBR piles that pain is a’coming!

The Shadow Saint by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Holly Adams SFF in 2020

I’m really looking forward to The Shadow Saint by Gareth Hanrahan! The Gutter Prayer was brilliantly original & so fucking bonkers! I loved it!

Blurb: Thieves, dangerous magic, and a weapon built with the power to destroy a god clash in this second novel of Gareth Hanrahan’s acclaimed epic fantasy series, The Black Iron Legacy.

Enter a city of spires and shadows . . .

The Gutter Miracle changed the landscape of Guerdon forever. Six months after it was conjured into being, the labyrinthine New City has become a haven for criminals and refugees.

Rumors have spread of a devastating new weapon buried beneath the streets – a weapon with the power to destroy a god. As Guerdon strives to remain neutral, two of the most powerful factions in the godswar send agents into the city to find it.

As tensions escalate and armies gather at the borders, how long will Guerdon be able to keep its enemies at bay?

The Shadow Saint continues the gripping tale of dark gods and dangerous magic that began with Hanrahan’s acclaimed debut The Gutter Prayer.

The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch

Elizabeth Tabler SFF in 2020

The book I am most looking forward to reading in 2020 is The Thorn of Emberlain from The Gentleman Bastards. I love this series and the twisty plot and snark. I do enjoy a bit of wit and snark in fantasy stories and this series has it in spades.

Blurb: With 50,000 copies sold of The Republic of Thieves and with praise from the likes of Joe Abercrombie and George RR Martin the saga of the Gentleman Bastard has become a favourite and key part of the fantasy landscape. And now Locke Lamora, thief, con-man, pirate, political deceiver must become a soldier. A new chapter for Locke and Jean and finally the war that has been brewing in the Kingdom of the Marrows flares up and threatens to capture all in its flames. And all the while Locke must try to deal with the disturbing rumours about his past revealed in The Republic of Thieves. Fighting a war when you don’t know the truth of right and wrong is one thing. Fighting a war when you don’t know the truth of yourself is quite another. Particularly when you’ve never been that good with a sword anyway…

The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

Chris Haught SFF in 2020

The next series begins in the world of The Book of the Ancestor, which is a trilogy I completely fell in love with. Surely it will live up to the high standards of storytelling that Lawrence is known for.

Blurb: A stunning new epic fantasy series following a young outcast who must fight with everything she has to survive, set in the same world as Red Sister.

In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown. Yaz’s people call it the Pit of the Missing and now it is drawing her in as she has always known it would.

To resist the cold, to endure the months of night when even the air itself begins to freeze, requires a special breed. Variation is dangerous, difference is fatal. And Yaz is not the same.

Yaz’s difference tears her from the only life she’s ever known, away from her family, from the boy she thought she would spend her days with, and has to carve out a new path for herself in a world whose existence she never suspected. A world full of difference and mystery and danger.

Yaz learns that Abeth is older and stranger than she had ever imagined. She learns that her weaknesses are another kind of strength and that the cruel arithmetic of survival that has always governed her people can be challenged.

Idols Fall by Mike Shel

Nate Aubin SFF in 2020

After the shattering revelations and superbly dark worldbuilding of Sin Eater, I’m dying to get my hands on the trilogy’s last volume. Iconoclasts is a series that deftly mixes high fantasy adventuring tropes with horror, dread, and gritty realism and features some of my favorite fictional characters to date. I’m pleasantly nervous to see what terrors and traumas Shel has in store come 2020.

Blurb:

Sequel to Sin Eater and conclusion to the Iconoclasts series.​

Scheduled for a 2020 release.

(Actual cover not pictured; taken from the author’s website)

Pre-order not available as of this post

Out of Body by Jeffrey Ford

Mike Myers SFF in 2020

The novel I am most looking forward to for 2020 is (probably) Out of Body by Jeffrey Ford. Ford is a multi-award-winning monster of a writer. This past year I reread his mind-blowing fantasy trilogy The Well-Built City, the first book of which, The Physiognomy, won the World Fantasy Award. Out of Body is purported to be a contemporary urban dark fantasy thriller, but you can also expect, since it’s Jeffrey Ford, that it will be a work of literary genius. It is scheduled for release by Tor.com in May of 2020 as part of their superb novella series.

Blurb: A small-town librarian witnesses a murder at his local deli, and what had been routine sleep paralysis begins to transform into something far more disturbing. The trauma of holding a dying girl in his arms drives him out of his own body. The town he knows so well is suddenly revealed to him from a whole new perspective. Secrets are everywhere and demons fester behind closed doors.

Worst of all, he discovers a serial killer who has been preying on the area for over a century, one capable of traveling with him through his dreams.

The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood

James Tivendale SFF in 2020

I received a copy of Larkwood’s upcoming dark fantasy debut a few months ago from TOR and it has risen rapidly towards the top of my to-be-read list. The marketing blurb reads as “worlds collide in this epic new series, perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie and Robin Hobb.” A sorcerer wants a young lady as his assistant, sword-hand and assassin. The early Goodreads ratings are looking great with an average of 4.5/5 from 72 reviews and genre tags including “fantasy”, “LGBT”, and “adult”. I’m very excited for this one.

Blurb: What if you knew how and when you will die?

Csorwe does―she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.

But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin―the wizard’s loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.

But Csorwe will soon learn―gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper

Adrian Collins SFF in 2020

I am just so excited to see this book on the stands, come Feb 15 2020. It’s been a collection years in the making, and is on point for people who love Altered Carbon and similar books–in fact it’s blurbed by Richard Morgan and features a forward by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It’s grim and gritty AF, brilliantly written by an award-winning author, and we can’t wait to release it to you all.

Blurb: A collection of stories about the outsiders – the criminals, the soldiers, the addicts, the mathematicians, the gamblers and the cage fighters, the refugees and the rebels. From the battlefield, to alternate realities, to the mean streets of the dark city, we walk in the shoes of those who struggle to survive in a neon-saturated, tech-noir future.

Twelve hard-edged stories from the dark, often violent, sometimes strange heart of cyberpunk, this collection – as with all the best science fiction – is an exploration of who were are now. In the tradition of Dashiell Hammett, Philip K Dick, and David Mitchell, Neon Leviathan is a remarkable debut collection from a breakout new author.

After an epic 2019 (read out best of list here) there is plenty to love on the SFF in 2020 horizon. As fans of SFF I bet you’re all keen as mustard to buy way more books than you can possible read, urge your mates to try out the books you’ve enjoyed, and see as many as possible being turned into Netflix or Amazon Prime specials as possible.

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REVIEW: The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

I received an uncorrected proof copy of The Girl and the Stars. I would like to thank Mark Lawrence and Harper Voyager for the opportunity.

This tale is set in the same world as The Book of the Ancestor, yet in a completely different environment. We follow Yaz, a sixteen-year-old member of the ice tribe the Ictha. To progress from being a child and ascending to adulthood the younger members of all the tribes have to be judged by the regulator Kazik. All the clans converse at the Pit of the Missing where the judgement will take place. Any individuals who show weakness, strangeness or unaccustomed ‘qualities’ are deemed to be unable to survive on the ice. They are the Broken.

“In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown”

Our protagonist Yaz fears the worst. She truly believes she is destined for the harrowing darkness and the unknown horrors of the pit. If she survives the fall. Yaz suffers from fatigue on long treks far faster than her comrades. She can keep up with them as every few days she can touch ‘The River’ which is essentially ‘The Path’ which readers of the previous trilogy will be familiar with. This helps her gain extra strength, resistance and power. The regulator can supposedly see into a certain individual’s heart and soul so will surely see Yaz’s secret and thereafter she will be eternally banished.

Yaz ends up in the pit as does her twelve-year-old brother Zeen. They don’t fall together and most of the narrative is our protagonist trying to rescue her brother. Initially she is alone in the penetrating darkness – it is claustrophobic and builds up extreme tension as she tries to survive and navigate this alien environment. This constructed atmosphere underground was reminiscent of segments featured in Graham Austin-King’s Faithless and Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth. It also has elements that are similar to those showcased in 2017’s Game of the Year – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – especially with some of the monstrosities that lurk in the darkness that are known as Hunters.

Fortunately, Yaz doesn’t spend her whole time walking around alone in the gloom. When a demon-infested flesh-eating gerant (giant) attacks her she is saved by other members of the Broken. It transpires that there are many such as her who have had to brave the drop and there is actually a sort of civilisation beneath all that she has ever known on the surface.

In similar fashion to Lawrence’s work that I have read so far, we only follow one point of view perspective. Yaz is an excellent lead character. She is extremely powerful but doesn’t really know how, why or if she should use these talents. In addition, the ensemble of supporting players feature some of the finest that Lawrence has ever crafted. Examples include the former demon-tainted Thurin, the thousand-year-old mysterious but insightful and insanely strong Erris, and the seemingly shy but capable shadow-weaving assassin Maya.

This novel, as previously mentioned, is set in Abeth, the same world as Book of the Ancestor. Apart from the excellent writing, unique magics, and that the characters are crafted brilliantly, what is presented here is quite different. You can read this without knowledge from the previous trilogy, however; I believe your enjoyment will be heightened by at least 20-per cent if you had. As far as I can acknowledge, none of the characters crossover here. This led me to ask Mark when this was set in relation to the former trilogy. He replied essentially saying I’d have to carry on with the series to find out which makes it intently exciting to find out. Will Nona meet Yaz like Jalan met Jorg? Exciting times are ahead in this series for sure. Luckily Mark is one of the most proactive top-tier fantasy authors currently writing so hopefully, I will not have to wait that long to find out. The finale has an intense and shocking cliffhanger too and I can’t wait to see how the narrative continues in Book of the Ice’s next instalment.

Lawrence had already constructed a unique and astonishing world with Abeth. In The Girl and the Stars, we are introduced to new Gods, terminology, factions, and emotions. It features but is not limited to monsters, twists, darkness, civil-war, betrayal, possessions, true friendships, and sibling love. These are just a few of the themes presented here.

This is an exceptional, haunting, and claustrophobic take on fantasy that presents some of Lawrence’s finest storytelling. It’s an incredible and emotional adventure. I have no idea what comes next and I can’t wait to find out. Lawrence goes from strength to strength with every release.

Buy The Girl and the Stars

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Best fantasy books of 2019: the Grimdark Magazine team favourites

Boxing Day is here, and it’s time to check out the Grimdark Magazine team’s favourite books for 2019 in our Best Fantasy Books of 2019 (click here for 2018 if you missed it!). It’s been another helluva a year for SFF across books, television, gaming, and cinema, so the team have put up a list well worth checking out for fans of Grimdark Magazine.

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

Holly Adams best fantasy books of 2019

Unapologetically bleak, twisty plot twists, uncompromising violence, gallows humor, painfully awkward and deliciously sexy romance, characters with distinct voices, fucking bonkers imagery and of course, the gritty battle sequences. No one writes a battle quite like Lord Grimdark. The reality of the battles, the hacking and slashing, the emotional investment, the palpable energy that radiates throughout. There is a shit ton of blood that gets spilled between the pages of this book and it is glorious!

GdM Review: Click here

Blurb: The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever.

On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal’s son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments.

Savine dan Glokta – socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union – plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control.

The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another…

Master of Sorrows by Justin Travis Call

Elizabeth Tabler best fantasy books of 2019

My favorite was Justin Travis Call’s book, Master of Sorrows. Justin managed to take a fantasy trope, the hero’s journey, and turn it into something fresh and interesting. The entire book was engaging and kept me up late into the night reading.

GdM Review: Click here  | Lost Chapters: Click here

Blurb: You have heard the story before – of a young boy, orphaned through tragic circumstances, raised by a wise old man, who comes to a fuller knowledge of his magic and uses it to fight the great evil that threatens his world.

But what if the boy hero and the malevolent, threatening taint were one and the same?

What if the boy slowly came to realize he was the reincarnation of an evil god? Would he save the world . . . or destroy it?

Among the Academy’s warrior-thieves, Annev de Breth is an outlier. Unlike his classmates who were stolen as infants from the capital city, Annev was born in the small village of Chaenbalu, was believed to be executed, and then unknowingly raised by his parents’ killers.

Seventeen years later, Annev struggles with the burdens of a forbidden magic, a forgotten heritage, and a secret deformity. When he is subsequently caught between the warring ideologies of his priestly mentor and the Academy’s masters, he must choose between forfeiting his promising future at the Academy or betraying his closest friends. Each decision leads to a deeper dilemma, until Annev finds himself pressed into a quest he does not wish to fulfil.

Will he finally embrace the doctrine of his tutors, murder a stranger, and abandon his mentor? Or will he accept the more difficult truth of who he is . . . and the darker truth of what he may become . . .

Never Die by Rob J. Hayes

Chris Haught best fantasy books of 2019

Never Die – Rob J. Hayes. Brilliant stand alone in a great 2019 market for grimdark choices. These characters stuck with me through the story and beyond, and the way the narrative was all tied together was a work of art.

GdM Review: Click here

Blurb: Ein is on a mission from God. A God of Death.

Time is up for the Emperor of Ten Kings and it falls to a murdered eight year old boy to render the judgement of a God. Ein knows he can’t do it alone, but the empire is rife with heroes. The only problem; in order to serve, they must first die.

Ein has four legendary heroes in mind, names from story books read to him by his father. Now he must find them and kill them, so he can bring them back to fight the Reaper’s war.

Smoke and Stone by Michael R. Fletcher

Nate Aubin best fantasy books of 2019

Fletcher knocked it out of the park once more with one of the grimmest, darkest, and most genuinely original novels I’ve read in a long time. Smoke and stone has hungry gods, drug-based sorcerery, and a post-apocalyptic city hewn from a single, seamless piece of stone. Even among the killer lineup of 2019 releases, this book shines with creative madness.

GdM Review: Click here | Excerpt: Click here

Blurb: After a cataclysmic war of the gods, the last of humanity huddles in Bastion, a colossal ringed city. Beyond the outermost wall lies endless desert haunted by the souls of all the world’s dead.

Trapped in a rigid caste system, Nuru, a young street sorcerer, lives in the outer ring. She dreams of escape and freedom. When something contacts her from beyond the wall, she risks everything and leaps at the opportunity. Mother Death, a banished god seeking to reclaim her place in Bastion’s patchwork pantheon, has found her way back into the city.

Akachi, born to the wealth and splendour of Bastion’s inner rings, is a priest of Cloud Serpent, Lord of the Hunt. A temple-trained sorcerer, he is tasked with bringing peace to the troublesome outer ring. Drawn into a dark and violent world of assassins, gangs, and street sorcerers, he battles the spreading influence of Mother Death in a desperate attempt to save Bastion.

The gods are once again at war.

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Mike Myers best fantasy books of 2019

My favorite book of 2019 is The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht. It is a dark fantasy thriller with plagues and monsters and evil people and a beautifully rendered nasty setting, but in Giesbrecht’s deft hands, it’s also a compelling, psychologically gripping tale of lust and revenge, told in parallel, twisting narratives that ingeniously leave the reader sympathizing with the most horrible people imaginable. I recommend The Monster of Elendhaven to anyone who likes dark fantasy and horror, as well as anyone who is interested in reading a brilliant character portrayal of a sympathetic yet horrifying anti-hero. Though it has a few perplexing moments, and perhaps that’s part of its charm, I absolutely loved it, and I look forward to seeing what Giesbrecht does next.

GdM review: Click here

Blurb: The city of Elendhaven sulks on the edge of the ocean. Wracked by plague, abandoned by the South, stripped of industry and left to die. But not everything dies so easily. A thing without a name stalks the city, a thing shaped like a man, with a dark heart and long pale fingers yearning to wrap around throats. A monster who cannot die. His frail master sends him out on errands, twisting him with magic, crafting a plan too cruel to name, while the monster’s heart grows fonder and colder and more cunning.

These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city, even if they have to burn the world to do it.

The Deathless by Peter Newman

James Tivendale best fantasy books of 2019

One of the most developed, unique, and thrilling fantasy series currently being written. This is highly recommended to all grimdark and dark fantasy readers, and anyone who enjoys political or horror-tinged fantasy drama. There is something strikingly original about these books and when the next entry is released I will drop everything else and read it as quick as is possible.

Blurb: From the Gemmell Award-winning author of THE VAGRANT, a thrilling new series of power, intrigue, and magic. THE DEMONS Creatures lurk in the endless forests of the Wild, plucking victims from those who scratch a living by the sides of the great Godroads, paths of crystal which provide refuge from the infernal tide. THE DEATHLESS Humanitys protectors reign within crystal castles held aloft on magical currents seven timeless royal families, born and reborn into flawless bodies. As immortal as the precious stones from which they take their names, they fight to hold the Wild at bay. For generations a fragile balance has held. AND THE DAMNED House Sapphire, one of the ancient Deathless families, is riven by suspicion and grief. Their hunting expeditions against the Wild are failing and entire villages have begun to disappear.Then, when assassins strike, House Sapphire shatters. NOTHING LASTS FOREVER

The House of Sacrifice by Anna Smith-Spark

Adrian Collins best fantasy books of 2019

The House of Sacrifice was an unbelievable ending to the Empires of Dust trilogy. It was an experience that left me exhausted and satisfied by the end. Smith-Spark’s writing style is one of the most unique and exhilarating in recent memory and the tragedy of her characters is something I’ll savour for a long, long time.

GdM review: Click here | Excerpt: Click here

Blurb: Marith Altrersyr has won. He cut a path of blood and vengeance and needless violence around the world and now he rules. It is time for Marith to put down his sword, to send home his armies, to grow a beard and become fat. It is time to look to his own house, and to produce an heir. The King of Death must now learn to live.

But some things cannot be learnt.

The spoils of war turn to ash in the mouths of the Amrath Army and soon they are on the move again. But Marith, lord of lies, dragon-killer, father-killer, has begun to falter and his mind decays. How long can a warlord rotting from within continue to win?

As the Army marches on to Sorlost, Thalia’s thoughts turn to home and to the future: a life grows inside her and it is a precious thing – but it grows weak.

Why must the sins of the father curse the child?

That wraps out Best fantasy books of 2019. Make sure to keep an eye out for the SFF books our team is most looking forward to in 2020 to start building that TBR to even more ridiculous levels!

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REVIEW: Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2; a game that will consume you, make you laugh, bring tears to your eyes, make you a dab hand at poker, and change the way you say ‘boy’ for the rest of your life.

“Woah, boah.”

Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) is game-making in it’s finest form. Set prior to Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, RDR2 tells the story of Arthur Morgan, a member of Dutch van Der Linde’s crew as they fight for survival in the ever-changing world of the west. The time of outlaws is drawing to a close and the van Der Linde gang is trying to find a way out. One last heist, one last big money scheme and they can live happily ever after away from the Pinkerton Detective Agency pursuing them.

Arthur Morgan is one of gaming’s best characters. Iconic like Kratos, gritty like Marcus Felix and tough like Geralt, Arthur will quickly capture your senses with his one-liners, no-nonsense approach and witty remarks. The voice acting of Arthur, alongside every single character in this game is immense. Truly immense. Each scene is film worthy, every line delivered to perfection and it all adds to the realism of a game that has pulled at my heart-strings.

“‘Careful not to work yourself to death there uncle’

‘I was thinking…’

‘Does it pay well?’

‘Eventually.’

‘So, while the rest of us are busy, killing, stealing, lying, trying to stay alive…you get too think all day.’”

The realism is something that you have to take your (cowboy) hat off to Rockstar Studio for. The breath in the snow and the beard growth and the footprints in the snow and the sway of the trees and the horses testicles (THEY SHRINK IN COLD WEATHER). You might not go into this game thinking about those kind of details but they quickly ease your rapid fall into RDR2’s arms.

As a horse owner I love this game even more. The depth of detail they have added into the game is perfection. With the breeds of horses, to the colours, to the saddles, everything down to brushing your horse and the levels of bonding. I fear no game will ever be able to top this level of authenticity. That goes for all of the wildlife, and pretty much every single aspect of this game. I have spent hundreds of hours just riding across the lush country, atop my dark Andalusian, Achilles, or my white Arabian, Luna, or my American Paint, Rain. I created bonds with these animals that left me in tears and made me proud every time we rode into a camp of rival outlaws and slickly gunned them down.

“‘Calm down.’

‘You better sleep with your eyes open.’

‘Yeah? Well you’re gonna sleep with your chest open if you ain’t careful boy.’”

There are plenty of gunslinger moments, from the classic RDR duels, to dead-eye, to large scale assaults and roadside-robberies. The choices are endless, and if you want to be a ‘bad’ Arthur then you will most likely kill everything and everyone in your path. I admit, I did this on my first play through. It was fun. Going back to the beginning and being the ‘good’ Arthur, choosing to help suck venom out of a man’s leg after being bitten by a snake rather than killing him and stealing all he had, letting people live, helping those in need. This actually yielded a far more enjoyable experience, satisfying as well as rewarding. The story is tailored to Arthur’s honour rating, and I recommend experimenting with these play styles. It isn’t just good or bad either, there is a wide spectrum and Rockstar have created so much choice within the game.

I could write thousands more words about this game. I loved it. Adored it. The clothes, characters, guns, towns, games, wildlife and challenges. The herds of horses, rival gangs, alligators in swamps, Revenant-style bear attacks, customisation of weapons, quirky side-missions and hairstyles complete this game and make it an absolutely perfect experience.

“I gave you all I had.”

5/5 – One of the greatest games that will ever be, without a doubt. A wonderful spectacle with intense gun-play, an intense story, detail you didn’t think possible, and the complete urge to get yourself a six-shooter and a ranch to shoot bottles in. RDR2 is a masterpiece that gets better each time you play, and will make you feel every emotion under the sun. Enjoy cowpokes, and always be yourself. Unless you can be Arthur Morgan. Always be Arthur Morgan.

Buy Red Dead Redemption 2

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REVIEW: Shattered Dreams by Ulff Lehmann

Shattered Dreams is a rare find and one that I’m very pleased to have stumbled upon. One of the things that makes grimdark what it is, is the most simple of things: it makes war ugly. A very pretty and misleading depiction of war is shown in the vast majority of fantasy novels. Good guys win, bad guys lose, and the only people who suffer are the peasants that you see fleeing from burning villages but never really engage with. What makes people like George R.R. Martin, Joe Abercrombie, and Mark Lawrence great is their willingness to explore the horrific side of things. Innocent people are caught up in the struggle, good guys die, bad guys win, and sometimes the results are inconclusive.

Ulff Lehmann is one of the many indie fantasy authors that I discovered while trying to get a handle on this “grimdark” thing. Like M.L Spencer, Ron J. Hayes, Allan Batchelder, and Richard Nell–he is one of the voices I think deserving to be watched in the future. He has managed to create a series that encapsulates a lot of the dark, gritty, uncompromising, and ugly sides of war. Shattered Hopes is a work that is just the first part of a larger multi-book saga but I’ve already read three and enjoyed every one of them. It has a few minor flaws but this is a small thing to the greater whole and I’m only reviewing the first book anyway.

Shattered Dreams is an entertaining dark low fantasy novel about a Germanic kingdom under siege by an invading army, a religious cult devoted to the god of war, traumatized veterans, an elven wizard, and a talking squirrel. The fact this has a talking squirrel and this is still one of the grittier fantasy novels I’ve read since A Game of Thrones. Indeed, despite the elven sections having high fantasy magic, the majority of the setting is a dark lawless world where life is cheap. Eventually, it becomes about a siege, a conspiracy, and a book which can end the world.

My favorite character is Dragnar, who is a veteran traumatized by his experiences and driven to the point of suicide attempts. He makes an unlikely hero but events shift around him that links his personal tragedies to the larger threats in the kingdom. None of the characters are actually all that heroic, though, as they’re all driven by various motives ranging from religious fanaticism to trying to make a last meaningful accomplishment before they are too old to fight.

Generally, the best part of this book are the parts which deal with the grizzled old veterans of the story like the Chosen, Riders, and Dragnar. This is the area where Ulff Lehmann’s writing shines. He’s also very good at building believable religions and conflicts with elaborate histories alluded to without indulging in unnecessary exposition. I’m less impressed by his handling of less experienced characters because it’s clear he’s more comfortable writing hardened cynical types over the more naive or idealistic.

The world-building is very well done with a “show, don’t tell” sort of attitude. The only flaw I can really state about it is one that will show up in later books that he doesn’t take much time to reintroduce elements that he’s already made. If you lose track of his exceptionally large cast, approaching George R.R. Martin-esque levels, then good luck figuring out who is on first. There’s a few silly elements to counterbalance the dark but even they can be used to disarming effect on the reader. I never thought I’d mourn one ridiculous character as much as I did.

In conclusion, I think Ulff Lehmann’s Light in the Dark series is a good pick me up for grimdark fans looking for a new series to enrich their reading with. It is hard, cynical, and well-written with lots of well-researched battle scenes. Medieval warfare was horrifying rather than glorious and Ulff manages to capture that well. He also manages to capture a human story in a dark and unflinching conflict.

Buy Shattered Dreams by Ulff Lehmann

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ANNOUNCEMENT: GdM to publish noir SF collection Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper

The Grimdark Magazine team is excited to announce the February 2020 publication our first single-author noir science fiction collection, Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper. We’re even more excited to have had this exciting new release blurbed by Altered Carbon author Richard K. Morgan (US Del Rey, UK Gollancz, Netflix).

Neon Leviathan is a collection of stories about the outsiders—the criminals, the soldiers, the addicts, the mathematicians, the gamblers and the cage fighters, the refugees and the rebels. From the battlefield to alternate realities to the mean streets of the dark city, we walk in the shoes of those who struggle to survive in a neon-saturated, tech-noir future.

Twelve hard-edged stories from the dark, often violent, sometimes strange heart of cyberpunk, this collection—as with all the best science fiction—is an exploration of who we are now. In the tradition of Dashiell Hammett, Philip K Dick, and David Mitchell, Neon Leviathan is a remarkable debut collection from a breakout new author.

For the first time, all of the pieces of T.R. Napper’s SF-noir world have been collected into one volume—Neon Leviathan forms a century-long timeline of political suppression, breath-taking technologies, pervasive corruption, and the spark of human dignity that still lights the dark.

This hardcover, paperback, and kindle release collects the author’s original fiction published over the last half-decade in Asimov’s, Interzone, Galaxy’s Edge, and in Grimdark Magazine, and two new exclusive stories.

Pre-order Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper

Neon Leviathan will be available on Kindle, and in print and hardcover. Pre-order your copy, now. Don’t miss out on this unique voice.

Kindle available immediately, hardcover and paperback on the way!

Call for reviewers

If you run a review site, popular Goodreads profile, Instagram review page, etc, and you haven’t heard from our team or the author, give Adrian a shout through email to get your ARC pack: adrian [at] grimdarkmagazine [dot] com.

Add Neon Leviathan to your Goodreads

If Neon Leviathan sounds like it’s up your alley, make sure it’s on your Goodreads profile! Click here to add to your profile.

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REVIEW: Odin’s Wolves by Giles Kristian

Odin’s Wolves is superb and Giles Kristian has crafted one of the best historical fiction trilogies of … well, ever. I know I rave about them, but it is totally warranted. I adore the world in which Osric Blood Eye is a part of. Even though it is grim and gritty and terrifying, there is something about the band of warriors that sail the seas that gives me a warm feeling, and finishing this book left me feeling like I was desperate for more.

‘The blade gets dull if we don’t use it.’

It is rare to find a trilogy that has such supreme pacing that leaves you begging for more. Raven is a trio of books that definitely makes you crave for more of the tale, and leaves an opening for more. The sheer variety of set-pieces and content of each of these books covers nearly every aspect of dark-ages adventure that you could hope for. And Giles Kristian does it so well.

Odin’s Wolves pushes Osric into territories he has never been before. The adventure leads him through the seas escaping from Frankia. After meeting the iconic character Charlemagne, Kristian then writes the iconic places of Rome and Miklagard i.e Constantinople. The beauty and wonder of these places told through Osric’s eyes (or his non-blood eye) was written in an astounding way, making me wish I was shoulder-to-shoulder with Sigurd’s crew, experiencing the amphitheater and the duels, the Greek churches and the dragon-ships.

‘A wise guest knows when to leave the table.’

The crew added so much to Odin’s Wolves. The development of their relationships with Osric felt real and pure, some that bonded with him like brothers and others that thought of him as the bad luck of their Jarl. There are rivalries and bonds that are tested, strengthened, destroyed throughout this and you feel every emotion with Raven.

The realism is one of my favourite aspects of Odin’s Wolves. From the differences of cultures between the characters, to the details into the ships, equipment and mythologies, this was a Norse book through and through. I enjoyed it so much that I have been on a rowing machine in my Viking re-enactment kit. (It feels amazing. Toggle-boots, Thor’s hammer, hand-axe, I recommend this.) I can’t wait to dive into the books focused on Sigurd. He is a remarkable character, much akin to Bernard Cornwell’s Arthur, only with a longer beard and less prayer.

‘Glory is the prize that can never be burned, stolen by anyone or lost.’

5/5 – Beautiful, violent, intense and real. Odin’s Wolves is the final tale in a trilogy that will cement itself into your top 5 — easy (check out Ed’s reviews for Blood Eye and Sons of Thunder). A masterclass in pacing, character development and dark-ages realism, Odin’s Wolves is historical fiction at it’s finest. Skål to Giles Kristian!

Buy Odin’s Wolves by Giles Kristian

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