The Crimson Guild

Blood Rage #2

by Allan Walsh

Can Conall find acceptance in a world where people fear what he is?Conall O’Lorcan is no ordinary lad. There is magic inside of him, but there is also something… more. Cast out of his home, he is forced to seek a new life where nobody knows his secrets. Conall finds solace when he is recruited into a guild of thieves, but can it last? After all, secrets like his are hard to hide. The Crimson Guild is a fantasy novella and second book in the Blood Rage series, featuring compelling characters, an interesting storyline and a gritty dog-eat-dog world. You’ll be thoroughly entertained right to the end of this coming-of-age adventure by Allan Walsh.Pick up your copy of The Crimson Guild today and join Conall in a world of thieves and betrayal.

Genres: Fantasy

124 pages, Paperback

Published March 27, 2017

About the author

Allan Walsh is a writer and artist, born in sun-scorched Australia and raised in the grungy suburbs of West London. He is a keen martial arts fan, lover of fantasy, and a movie buff. Allan has been influenced by cult Asian film directors such as Jacki Chan and Stephen Chow, Spec Fiction novelists the like of Joe Abercrombie and graphic novelists such as Wendy and Richard Pini. Allan currently resides in Brisbane, where he enjoys creating new worlds through his writing.

If you want to know more about Allan, you can find him on the following sites:
https://allanwalshauthor.com/
www.facebook.com/AllanWalshAuthor/
www.tumblr.com/blog/allanwalshauthor

Reviews

[Max Lau • Maxxesbooktopia · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Stop it Conall! Don’t let your anger and hate make you like them. You’re better than that. We need to change them, not the other way around.”- The Crimson Guild, Allan Walsh.

Writing:

I didn’t like the writing style for this book. It was informal and inarticulate. For example,

“It’s alright for you, you’ve got bigger balls than most men,” Chuck replied.

Kat gave him a shove. “Everyone’s got bigger balls than you.”

WHAT!? They were in a very dangerous situation.. and both of these characters were talking about balls.

And the author didn’t really describe the characters and the surroundings in detail. The author described the characters and the things around the protagonist like a breeze, which is bad because sometimes it is hard to know where the main character is.

However, the pacing for this book was really fast! It is 113 pages long and I finished this book in three hours. So, if you are in a reading slump, I recommend you to read this book!

Plot:

The idea for this book is awesome- it is about a boy who was chased away from his home and the next thing he knew was that he joined a group of thieves called the guild- But, when I finished this book, I came to a realization that nothing much happened.

Characters:

Conall: I loved Conall. He is the best character in this book! The story progresses as we follow him through his grief and sorrow. I have to say that he may be annoying at time, but, his character will still be very lively and flash-out.

Kat: I didn’t like her as a character in this book, maybe it is because of the lack of character development or it’s just that I couldn’t connect with this character.

Little Mick: Again, the lack of character development. But this is different from the character I have talked about previously which is that I didn’t like Little Mick.. at all because he [Spoiler].

Overall:

I do be lying if I say I didn’t like this book. I liked it, but there were a lot of things that I really didn’t enjoy. So, I am giving this book a 41%.
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This review is also posted at Maxxesbooktopia /a>

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick update for those of you who don’t know: I am no longer accepting books to review at this time. With everything that is going on, I have been cramming for AP testing, drafting and editing my works in progress, and getting through my TBR pile (more like a mound, let’s be honest). I will update this as soon as I can. Thanks for understanding. Now, on with the review!
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This was a short, quick read, so the review won’t be one of the longer ones. I love Walsh’s writing style, and his entire fantasy world is creative and vivid. I am glad to have gotten some more back story on Conall’s character as well. There is a decent amount of character development, since Conall has to learn to fend for himself after the incident in his village.
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However, I didn’t feel the rise and fall of action. I know where the climax was, yet it lacked the build up that I desired. Furthermore, Conall, I feel, should have been more distrust over the death of his loved one. She seemed to be his everything to him in the beginning, but when she died, while he did feel anger and rage, he nearly forgot about everything once he moved into the city. I wanted more emotion from his character, so to speak.
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A nicely written read, Allan Walsh crafts a sincere fantasy world.
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Final grade: 3/5⭐️

[Max Lau • Maxxesbooktopia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come.

[William Bitner Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre - Fantasy/Action/Adventure
Pages - 110

Just finished reading “The Crimson Guild (The Blood Rage Series, Book Two)” by Allan Walsh. I would like to thank Allan for gifting me an e-copy of this book. Having not read the first book in this series “Blood and Fear, A Short Story)”, I don’t think it took away from reading this novella as a standalone. If you have a few hours and want a quick read this is a good one to have. I really enjoyed the characters and the plot. There was a great cadence to the story and it read quite smoothly. The book ended well on its own without much of a cliff hanger, but I would still like to read book three, “Blood Rage” in this series. A wonderful bit of escapism and fun to this little read.

Synopsis (from back cover): Conall O'Lorcan has a rage within him, a rage he doesn't know how to control. Cast out of his village when he becomes a danger, he must seek a new life where nobody knows his secrets. When he is recruited into a guild of thieves, his secrets become hard to hide.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't really been in the mood for fantasy lately, until I read this. Despite it being short, the author manages to pack a lot of detail and story in a mere 112 pages. While it's definitely a little lacking in character development, there's hints of what can be expected in the series. I'm excited to see where these characters go and the expansion of the world building. I breezed through this in less than an hour, and despite the lack of a cliffhanger I'm intrigued to get my hands on the next one. There's definitely potential with this series, and I'm excited to find out if the rest hold up.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a twelve year old reader, I absolutely loved The Crimson Guild. It was sneaky, daring, imaginative, and riddled with magical elements and danger at every turn. It had the basic story arc that would be expected with any young adult story, but hinted at many future adventures for this group of outlaws. I felt for the main character's sorrows, I did not like the "mean" characters he met along the way, and I rooted for the main character to prevail in every situation. My inner child looks forward to many sequels from the author.

As an adult reader, I also enjoyed reading this novella, although I was disappointed with how small it was. I'm typically used to 9-12 400 page book series, but I was highly interested in reading this book based upon the description and my love for the "thieving" genre. I felt the story left out a lot of time gaps and descriptive scenes that would have elevated the story, but overall, there was still a pleasant story within these 100+ pages. The author hit the major impact points and development within the character's life, but glossed over the devastation and day-to-day turmoil that also shaped the character's situation.

For example, I would have loved to have read more about the character's first six months in the town, and his attempts to acclimate to the streets and survival. Where were the fight scenes? Did the author specifically choose to leave street or sword fighting out of the book for the sake of younger readers?

I trust I am not spoiling anything when I say that the main character develops skills from the Crimson Guild as the story progresses. However, we never really saw the main character use any of those newly acquired skills except once. There were no background stories for any of the other characters beyond their relationships to other characters. The author described the scenes in a few paragraphs well enough for my imagination to take over, but I'm so used to other authors taking a dozen pages to describe various scenes like the town square, the vendor stalls, or all of the unique inhabitants visiting the market. Basically, I encourage the author to expand their descriptive powers, wrap your arm around our shoulders, and fully describe everything you want us to see in your wonderful world.

Overall, enjoyable book, but definitely geared towards a younger reader. I feel the author has tapped into a world with boundless potential. I'm excited to read more from this author. I would definitely recommend this book for a young reader.

p.s. I don't feel I have really given away any spoilers not already mentioned by other reviews, but let me know if you feel I should add a *spoiler alert* flag to my review.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of this book via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I didn't really know what to expect from this book but it turned out to be an absolute delight to read. I love the world that the author has created and the characters are great. I would have liked to know a bit more backstory about the other thieves though, and I'm super curious to know more about Conall's heritage.

My only complaint is that it's too short! Haha :) I'd definitely like to read more from this author in the future :)

[Leesa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different from my normal read. But like it. Very easy to read.

[Allan Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review – The Crimson Guild by Allan Walsh (Author Review)

Here is a little blurb, just for this review. The Crimson Guild by Allan Walsh is a fantasy novella about Conall O’Lorcan, a boy with magical abilities, who is forced to leave his village after he loses control. In the outside world, Conall must hide his abilities. After living rough on the streets, he finds refuge in a guild of thieves, but the threat of his secrets always looms over him.

The Bad Stuff: There are parts of the story that are glossed over; some scenes could have been developed to show more of the characters hardship, creating a stronger bond between the reader and the protagonist. The Crimson Guild was originally part of a novel I wrote called ‘Blood Rage’. I split the novel after receiving feedback that there were three distinct stories in the book that would stand alone. As an author, sometimes you can spend your whole life reworking and editing your books and never release them. I fear that if I had decided to go for three novels, I may well have put this series into a drawer and left it there. After all the time and effort I had already invested into ‘Blood Rage’ I really just wanted to release it and move on. So, I tweaked this section of ‘Blood Rage’ into a stand-alone novella and The Crimson Guild was born. I believe it could have been better, but only if I could have shifted my mindset at the time, and I really needed to move on to something new.

The Good Stuff: I think this works well as a stand-alone novella and I really enjoyed writing the banter between the characters. I tried not to saturate the book with description. Personally I think too much description slows the reading and holds a story back, so I have tried to give enough to solidify the world in the readers mind, but not so much that the reader gets bored and closes the book.

Overall this fantasy novella is a quick, fun read. I believe the characters are likeable and, where required, appropriately dislikeable. Some readers may be disappointed that it is only a short story and I’ve glanced over some of the details that could have made this a great novel. Who knows, maybe I will expand it into a novel in the future. As a novella that stands alone and is also part of a bigger story in the ‘Blood Rage’ series, I would have given this 3.5 Golden Bookmarks, but as Goodreads doesn’t do anything in halves, for me, this one just sneaks in and steals 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

[Shelley Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun novella to read, with a likeable main character. Conall faces grief and loss at a young age, losing himself to his rage, before being thrust out into a world he knows nothing about. Traumatised by what happened, he flees to a major city where he is forced to learn new skills to survive even as he fights to control the monster within. Parts of the story have been glossed over, time passing with little evidence of it happening, with limited characterisation of the secondary characters. Some of the dialogue felt too contemporary for a fantasy story, but I did like Conall’s reactions when he arrived at Rangor and how he resolved his problem at the end.
The Crimson Guild was a fast-paced read, with events moving quickly once Conall first loses control of his inner monster. While I would have preferred a more meaty storyline, it was nice to see him utilising some of the skills he worked on with his mother, and I hope the next book will build on that, along with the skills he is learning as part of the guild. I would also like to learn more about the monstrous side of him and his battle to control and use it. In all, this reads like a taste test for a bigger series to come, one where Conall will have more to deal with than surviving in a den of thieves who will kill him if they find out the truth about his heritage.

[Tinnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fast pace and entertaining. However, since the story was short, I felt that there was very little development to the story and the main character's purpose is yet to be established.

At this point in time, we don't know the purpose Conall's involvement with the Guild. 'The Crimson Guild' appears to be an ordinary thieving guild with very little morals. As a result, it makes it very hard to root for and empathise with the characters. It is also difficult to accept that the Guild is going to use Conall's talents to their advantage - especially since we want our hero to use his powers for good.

However, it still is a great start to the series and hopefully a purpose will be established in the next book.

[Melanie Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first in The Blood Rage series. Conall O'Lorcan, born with gifts he doesn't always understand, is cast out of his village. Using his talents he survives in Rangor and is noticed by Lynch, a member of The Crimson Guild. Conall must learn fast and earn his keep or be a liability.

The banter between characters was a highlight of this story; they are quick witted and hot headed street urchins. I wasn't sure who is trustworthy or who has ulterior motives and this kept the story interesting.

I'm looking forward to the next instalment.