March to Other Worlds Day 30: Judgement's Tale: The Complete Omnibus by William L. Hahn

Day 30: Judgement’s Tale: The Complete Omnibus

William L. Hahn sets all of his novels in his Lands of Hope, a fascinating collection of countries that are defined mostly by their respect for a set of nearly deific heroes who drove off the forces of Despair three thousand years earlier. That Despair still exists is a matter of faith for most, but in practice, as in modern life, many do not behave as if they believe that Despair could ever truly threaten them again. As everyone reading this will suspect, they are about to discover that they are wrong.

 

Judgement’s Tale is a towering work of fiction that reads much better as a complete work than it does in smaller installments. The story is built upon the consummate outsider, Solemn Judgement, a fascinating young man of deep convictions who may be the only person in the Lands of Hope who comes from outside both Hope and Despair. This unique status permits him to see the weaknesses in the lands around him that its long-term inhabitants are blind to. That blindness is the crack that the forces of Despair intend to exploit to reignite the millennia-old war and Solemn Judgement is the best “hope” to stop that from happening. Yet Solemn has major flaws that greatly hinder his efforts to awaken the population of Hope and that makes his tale endlessly fascinating.

 

I first encountered Solemn Judgement in Hahn’s Shards of Light series and absolutely loved the enigmatic character. But there are many more intriguing characters in this story—a prince struggling to keep to the path of honor and avoid a senseless war, a band of adventurers seeking their fortune through the extermination of evil, and an intriguing knight whose religious devotions mask a serious problem in the city of Conar. This is an impressive work of fantasy that deserves to be taken alongside the great tales of Donaldson and Jordan. You won’t regret reading it.

 

You can read my individual reviews of the novels that make up this omnibus here: https://www.gilbertstack.com/william-...

 

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