A Savage Country

Low Country Trilogy #2

by Morgan Shank, Kyle Robertson (Editor)

When Sharla Tarroful hunted a Claw tribe and fought their chieftain, she didn't expect the consequences: a dead cartel leader and another one missing. She accidentally reshuffled the playing field, and now, everyone wants a piece of the pie. Thanks to her, Low Country can't trust its Watchmen any more than its cartels.

Rumor also has it that Marast, the leader of the final cartel, is mobilizing his men to launch a civil war. When a squad of Watchmen ask Sharla to help track him, she knows her grandfather, Low Country's Colonel, recognizes the threat.

Sharla has her reservations about helping Watchmen, but the darkest secrets of her past are only just coming to light. A new player follows her path: none other than Hari Tarroful, Sharla's mother. Drawn to her homeland like a moth to light, Hari envisions a new country. She's changed, but so has Sharla. Mother and daughter are bound for a collision course, a confrontation that will shape their futures, and those of their countrymen, forever.

Genres: Fantasy

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2023

About the author

In middle school, Morgan finally broke away from incoherent clumps of algebra to fill a composition notebook with his first handwritten novel. Since then, he's imagined his own Skyrim rather than fumble through objective studies.

For reasons unknown to anyone, he somehow found his way into a trucking gig, and he now enjoys a day job hauling freight. When he’s not trucking or writing, Morgan spends his time dabbling in landscape photography, running Spartan Races, and staring at the mountains that surround his hometown of Harrisonburg, VA, in the USA, which provide ample inspiration for his fantasy novels.

Reviews

[James Harwood-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dangerous factions in Low Country continue to jostle for control. Where the past haunts the present & the land sits precariously on the cusp of war.

Action packed & riveting! All the grit & nastiness continue in this excellent western inspired sequel!

[K.E. Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed ride

Continuing the Low Country trilogy, this sequel is full of action and more Tarroful family revelations. I liked Sharla a bit more in this book, but still struggled to connect with her as much. I loved getting to see the messy family dynamics. What was truly unforgivable was kill Jyrak. I will never recover from that.

[Dimitris Kopsidas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the things that made the first book such a nice example of fantasy-western are still present in this second book, but unfortunately there are some key elements missing.
The action and the atmosphere is once again great, as is some of the dialogue.
What takes a hit though is the plot and the characters. The plot tries to be more more complex but ends up feeling a tad repetitive and (especially the inclusion of an important new character) forced.
The characters is where my biggest issue was. None of the new secondary ones feels interesting or fleshed out and the new main character is more annoying than I wanted.
I really hope the third one returns to the first book's high standards

6,1/10

[E J Doble · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent sequel from a writer who continues to impress with prosaic narratives, gutsy character arcs and a quality of dialogue that demands attention. A Savage Country is a story of bitter family feuds and questionable moral choices; there's backstabbing, and blood, and so many grey areas that leave one guessing as to the results. My only issue is that the time was not evenly dedicated to side characters as it was to our main protagonist Sharla in the beginning, making the relationship between reader and character slightly lopsided from thereon, but by the end the stakes couldn't have been clearer and the final act was as potent as they come. Great stuff!

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Morgan Shank has done it again. What he started in A Low Country continues in A Savage Country. As with many great sequels, this book takes the characters to their absolute lowest and cranks up the action. The twists and turns had me hooked throughout. Such a great series!”

[Marco Landi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ottimo secondo capitolo per questo Low fantasy dal forte sapore western..
La qualità della scrittura rimane ottima, belli i dialoghi e le tante riflessioni interne..
Tante trame politiche e sociali intrecciate a scontri sanguinari e senza esclusione di colpi.. i combattimenti hanno una resa grafica davvero eccezionale..
Un ottimo cast di personaggi, vecchi e nuovi..
Avrei voluto vedere un po' più di "cose strane" dal gruppo di criminali disfunzionali di Hari.. spero che nel terzo capitolo siano più presenti..

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Savage Country by Morgan Shank

Challenging, dark, hopeful, inspiring,
reflective, sad, and tense.

Medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0 Stars

I'm glad that I've finished the second of three books in this trilogy. The third is soon to be released...so that is GREAT news.

The dual storyline of this book was interesting. At first, I was confused by it...thinking it was two different timelines (since I thought, like Sharla...that her mother was dead).

As the story neared its finale, I understood why it wasn't, but then was confused (a bit) by what actually happened AT the end of the story. 

The more that I think upon it, the more I think that I really NEED to read the final book ASAP.

I have to say, that I stand for Sharla, though at the moment...that is a very difficult situation to be in.

I do NOT stand with Harli (because of her actions...and HOW the end of the story concluded in this novel). I hope that I am correct in my understanding. 

I really am enjoying this story.

[Kendall Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good! This one takes off right from where we left off in A Low Country. Sharla is getting destroyed by everyone she tried to rely on… repeatedly. Senkhar is snapping, booze then revenge. He figures it out at the end - his fate is a cliffhanger. Hari is throwing herself at the mercy of men who seem less terrible than Kine wreaking all kinds of havoc, killing family and the best man in the book so far. And Jyrak. I should have know the author was making me like him so much for a reason, a deadly reason. I love a good session of rainy/muddy death and destruction. No clue how Low Country is supposed to pull itself from these ashes, but the naïve hopeful in me wishes for a pleasant ending. Perhaps gritty fantasy westerns will only end in sad times for me, but this one is such a fun ride along the way. Except for Jyrak - how rude.

[evan austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seamless. Coming from Book 1 (A Low Country) to Book 2 is just as gritty and tense, just as sweaty and bloody, just as triumphant and exhausting and deceitful, just as "I can't believe that just happened...but also YES I CAN".

And yet somehow it's also bigger. Fresh monsters, deeper magic, gut-grinding emotional turmoil.
And an Indiana-Jones-level minecart scene. This IS a savage country, and these characters are struggling - with each other, with their individual pasts, with their current goals and emotions - and yet there's a thread of hope through the whole thing.

[Kailyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story has immense power to touch a human heart. One which manages to allow for both respite from reality as well as provoking heart change once readers return from the fantasy - that is powerful indeed.

A brutal, yet winsome landscape woven into an intricately built world with rich character development. Consider me impressed.

4.5 stars.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

O.K. This was a good follow up to book one. I will finish this series.

[What the Sam Hill are you reading? · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent 3/5. I feel like there was more potential here than was written. I found myself annoyed with Sharla and didn’t really like the characters as much as in book 2. The action was still fun but it was just an okay book for me.