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The Godblade
The warrior-smith Rænon, after witnessing the return of Brakur the Insane God, has returned to his homeland in Aelbrond. Now he must seek the tomb of the dead god Farick for the remains he needs to pyre-forge The Godblade, the only sword that can kill Brakur and stand against the nefarious cult of Arhai. Will the armies sworn to the cult sweep through the lands of Arginor or can Rænon bring the forces of Aelbrond together to stop them? Will cold steel prevail over sorcery and the dark gods?
Find out in The Godblade.
Find out in The Godblade.
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2020
23 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
dnf
December 9, 2020DNF at 10%. I won't give it a rating, because it may well improve substantially. But I won't know.
Normally I try a sample of a book before I buy it. Unfortunately, this time I did not. It reads like someone has decided to write up the story of their D&D campaign. The prose was both awkward and overwrought at times. The focus on female characters' breasts was excessive.
Most of the first chapter is devoted to a fight scene and then unsubtle exposition/plot setup. It's bad when I'm skim reading the action scenes.
I'd probably give this 2/5 if I could bring myself to read it all.
Normally I try a sample of a book before I buy it. Unfortunately, this time I did not. It reads like someone has decided to write up the story of their D&D campaign. The prose was both awkward and overwrought at times. The focus on female characters' breasts was excessive.
Most of the first chapter is devoted to a fight scene and then unsubtle exposition/plot setup. It's bad when I'm skim reading the action scenes.
I'd probably give this 2/5 if I could bring myself to read it all.
December 24, 2020
A messy, boring throwback adventure in the Conan, Sword and Sorcery style. It doesn't bring anything new to this genre, and doesn't ever do anything particularly well or interestingly. Stick with the band.
alternatively drink each time you read the exact phrase "massive breasts"
alternatively drink each time you read the exact phrase "massive breasts"
January 29, 2024
I looked at the cover and thought "sword-and-planet planetary romance", which is totally not where it went. It went a lot of places but not there.
The essence of all this is fairly simple, yet Tarpey dresses it up. It starts as sort of a dungeon crawl adventure that blossoms into regional warfare for reasons requiring the author to stop the action and explain in dialog.
Only it doesn't seem to matter much because the alliance of various weirdo civilizations never reach internal conflict. The main thrust of it never falters: beat up the bad cult guys that are using the Insane God for their own nefarious ends. Thankfully the first part of this, "obtain the Godblade plot device", is tackled as the interesting preamble.
Strangely, the story reaches its high point and then keeps going for dozens of pages of straightforward warfare. It is glorious and well-described battle but the ending is never really in doubt and never transitions to some other mode that suggests further story or another layer or additional twists.
The essence of all this is fairly simple, yet Tarpey dresses it up. It starts as sort of a dungeon crawl adventure that blossoms into regional warfare for reasons requiring the author to stop the action and explain in dialog.
Only it doesn't seem to matter much because the alliance of various weirdo civilizations never reach internal conflict. The main thrust of it never falters: beat up the bad cult guys that are using the Insane God for their own nefarious ends. Thankfully the first part of this, "obtain the Godblade plot device", is tackled as the interesting preamble.
Strangely, the story reaches its high point and then keeps going for dozens of pages of straightforward warfare. It is glorious and well-described battle but the ending is never really in doubt and never transitions to some other mode that suggests further story or another layer or additional twists.
January 20, 2021
I'm a real big fan of Eternal Champion. Ravening Iron was my 2020 album of the year. This book? It was okay. It has a lot of cool ideas (pyre-forging and quenching in blood is AWESOME) but it's very...pastiche-feeling in style. Raenon is basically barbarian Batman. All the women have large, heaving breasts, even when they're warriors. Narila's boobs are literally described as "huge" the first time she shows up cause her whole thing is being Naked and Evil™. I went into this book wanting to like it but after the "final" battle, the rest of the story just felt like cleanup work that you knew was gonna get finished and oh look, something cool but ultimately pointless and I was just skimming the last twenty pages. I honestly think this book would've been served better by folding in the prequel short story (which I haven't read) and been given a good round of editing (I'm not sure how much was actually given), with the end being restructured entirely for more impact.
It gets a three star rating purely for its potential, but there were too many issues for me to really say I liked it. If you're a fan of the band, and you're not a writer yourself, it may fair better. I just could not turn off writer brain enough to get through it without constantly criticizing it, especially when a lot of the stuff was things I learned writing my second book.
Also, in the event this review somehow gets to Jason Tarpey: I'm sorry, man.
It gets a three star rating purely for its potential, but there were too many issues for me to really say I liked it. If you're a fan of the band, and you're not a writer yourself, it may fair better. I just could not turn off writer brain enough to get through it without constantly criticizing it, especially when a lot of the stuff was things I learned writing my second book.
Also, in the event this review somehow gets to Jason Tarpey: I'm sorry, man.
November 18, 2020
I really wanted to like this but it just didn't work for me. I found the writing plain and sort of clunky. A lot of things were just stated without being described, which made it hard for me to really get into the story. It has the potential to be fun sword and sorcery in the classic pulp tradition, but the writing needs a lot more polish for the story to be able to shine.
October 10, 2020
That cover rocks! I think I would have read it just because of the cover. I mean what even is that bug thing? And it has a humanoid rider? The true horror of this scene is better enjoyed while reading it. I won't give anything away.
As I began reading this, I couldn't for the life of me remember the events of the previous story Vengeance of the Insane God published in Swords of Steel Omnibus. So of course I put down The Godblade and began reading Vengeance of the Insane God again. This isn't absolutely necessary to enjoy The Godblade. Even though it would be nice if both were published together at some point in the future.
Vengeance of the Insane God introduces us to Rænon. Who has been cast adrift in life since the murder of his father. With no prospects he decides to visit the island Isahim to finish his training as a blacksmith. While there he encounters the cult of the Starless Night and the woman Aren. Running afoul of the rulers of the isle he is sentenced to be sacrificed to Brakur. Finding the opportunity to escape with Aren, Rænon silently witnesses the waking of the insane god Brakur from the deck of an escaping ship. It's fairly dramatic.
The story in The Godblade takes place many months after the events in Vengeance. Rænon is leading an expedition to the tomb of Farrick. Rænon needs Farrick's remains to pyre-forge a blade that will kill Brakur. Betrayed and left for dead Rænon exhibits an iron will to return to his king and reap vengeance on his betrayers.
The Waar'kesh are nasty customers. Pictured on the cover. Insect-like, eyeless, and tons of tentacles. They share a special bond with their riders.
Sedyt of the Starless Night could have been an interesting character. I suspected his fate as soon as he was introduced. I still wonder at his inclusion in the story.
It was interesting how Voidcaller got sharper and stronger the more it killed. Would it eventually subsume it's wielder?
The story continued longer than I thought it would; with events not word count. The remaining thread to possibly continue the story seems thin and tenuous. After all, how do you top killing a god? Most everything else seems to become mundane and beneath your time afterwards.
Another excellent release from those folks at DMR books!
Recommended!
As I began reading this, I couldn't for the life of me remember the events of the previous story Vengeance of the Insane God published in Swords of Steel Omnibus. So of course I put down The Godblade and began reading Vengeance of the Insane God again. This isn't absolutely necessary to enjoy The Godblade. Even though it would be nice if both were published together at some point in the future.
Vengeance of the Insane God introduces us to Rænon. Who has been cast adrift in life since the murder of his father. With no prospects he decides to visit the island Isahim to finish his training as a blacksmith. While there he encounters the cult of the Starless Night and the woman Aren. Running afoul of the rulers of the isle he is sentenced to be sacrificed to Brakur. Finding the opportunity to escape with Aren, Rænon silently witnesses the waking of the insane god Brakur from the deck of an escaping ship. It's fairly dramatic.
The story in The Godblade takes place many months after the events in Vengeance. Rænon is leading an expedition to the tomb of Farrick. Rænon needs Farrick's remains to pyre-forge a blade that will kill Brakur. Betrayed and left for dead Rænon exhibits an iron will to return to his king and reap vengeance on his betrayers.
The Waar'kesh are nasty customers. Pictured on the cover. Insect-like, eyeless, and tons of tentacles. They share a special bond with their riders.
Sedyt of the Starless Night could have been an interesting character. I suspected his fate as soon as he was introduced. I still wonder at his inclusion in the story.
It was interesting how Voidcaller got sharper and stronger the more it killed. Would it eventually subsume it's wielder?
The story continued longer than I thought it would; with events not word count. The remaining thread to possibly continue the story seems thin and tenuous. After all, how do you top killing a god? Most everything else seems to become mundane and beneath your time afterwards.
Another excellent release from those folks at DMR books!
Recommended!
November 19, 2024
2/10
First the disclaimers: I am a big fan of the author’s other project, Eternal Champion. A Heavy Metal band that delivers a unique sound and atmosphere and whose main source of material is the world in which this book is based, so I don’t need to explain that I was really invested and biased from the moment I started reading.
For the first part of the story I enjoyed its simplicity. A tough dude on a quest to get a powerful sword that will kick this god’s ass, kind of like Conan the barbarian. But as soon as you keep reading you start finding some flaws, which mostly come from the writing and not the story itself.
I am currently working on my first book and I know how hard it is for your passages to sound credible and engaging and I keep going back to the same paragraph to reread and edit it. That’s what I think this book needs, some re-editing, to give it a few more reviews to remove some repetition and add some more rhetoric to some descriptive passages that may come off as too literal sometimes.
The characters may be a bit simplistic but I don’t really have a problem with it, the story is about cracking some skull and sending some heads rolling so there’s no need for evolution, this is about vengeance and bloodshed and I’m cool with that. I would only reduce the focus on women’s breasts… I mean, you can describe the female characters some other way that doesn’t include their “massive bosom”.
Overall it needs work to reach the Eternal Champion level, but it’s just a matter of trying again.
First the disclaimers: I am a big fan of the author’s other project, Eternal Champion. A Heavy Metal band that delivers a unique sound and atmosphere and whose main source of material is the world in which this book is based, so I don’t need to explain that I was really invested and biased from the moment I started reading.
For the first part of the story I enjoyed its simplicity. A tough dude on a quest to get a powerful sword that will kick this god’s ass, kind of like Conan the barbarian. But as soon as you keep reading you start finding some flaws, which mostly come from the writing and not the story itself.
I am currently working on my first book and I know how hard it is for your passages to sound credible and engaging and I keep going back to the same paragraph to reread and edit it. That’s what I think this book needs, some re-editing, to give it a few more reviews to remove some repetition and add some more rhetoric to some descriptive passages that may come off as too literal sometimes.
The characters may be a bit simplistic but I don’t really have a problem with it, the story is about cracking some skull and sending some heads rolling so there’s no need for evolution, this is about vengeance and bloodshed and I’m cool with that. I would only reduce the focus on women’s breasts… I mean, you can describe the female characters some other way that doesn’t include their “massive bosom”.
Overall it needs work to reach the Eternal Champion level, but it’s just a matter of trying again.
November 17, 2021
The story is sort of interesting
June 2, 2023
This was a grim but fun read. It was full of action, violence, wonderful horrific images, treachery and retribution. It also had some very interesting characters, including some of the gods.
And there were descriptions that did justice to the awesome back-cover by Ken Kelly.
Definitely enjoyable to lovers of sword, sorcery and pulpy fun. Hence, recommended.
And there were descriptions that did justice to the awesome back-cover by Ken Kelly.
Definitely enjoyable to lovers of sword, sorcery and pulpy fun. Hence, recommended.
June 11, 2022
After meeting Jason at Eternal Champion’s recent London show, I had to bump this up my reading list. Jason clearly knows and loves his sword and sorcery, and since he asked me to let him know what I think after reading this… well, here we go!
The Godblade is a fast-paced, to-the-point novella about blood-tempered swords, mad gods, and a dark prophecy that we get to see play out in this story. The strengths are down to Jason’s creativity. He has a clear knack for scenes sure to satiate any sword and sorcery and Lovecraftian horror fans. Seriously, there’s a part where two dying warriors, melted faceless, kamikaze themselves at giant insects bearing decomposing riders cursed to ride and rot in undeath against their will. I never thought I’d be able to write a sentence about a book like that. It’s so METAL, and just one of many stand-out moments. The events around Shunned Albrunn were my personal favourites!
On top of this, Jason’s writing is direct in a way that wastes little time. This keeps the story moving, and makes battle scenes easy to visualise. Plus, as a fan of Jason’s lyrics, I know reading this will make listening to Eternal Champion even more rewarding. I’ve long been intrigued by Arginor, and this will definitely add an extra layer of immersion to the music!
Now, as an author myself, I always try to offer helpful feedback, so here’s some constructive criticism. Jason’s story and lore here are epic… but I feel this particular story was perhaps TOO epic for his style. The Godblade is 156 pages, and I sometimes felt there was too much to cover in a book this length. The direct writing and page count meant some characters, locations, etc. were named without being fully developed. I’d love to see Jason try his hand with stories that are smaller in scope and more self-contained. His storytelling is effective, and I feel it would work optimally on small-scale Conan-like adventures rather than something so grand and cosmic.
All in all; a dark, wild ride that, though a tad over-ambitious for a newer writer at times, absolutely does not lack creativity or passion. I hope Jason keeps writing, and I look forward to seeing what he offers next!
The Godblade is a fast-paced, to-the-point novella about blood-tempered swords, mad gods, and a dark prophecy that we get to see play out in this story. The strengths are down to Jason’s creativity. He has a clear knack for scenes sure to satiate any sword and sorcery and Lovecraftian horror fans. Seriously, there’s a part where two dying warriors, melted faceless, kamikaze themselves at giant insects bearing decomposing riders cursed to ride and rot in undeath against their will. I never thought I’d be able to write a sentence about a book like that. It’s so METAL, and just one of many stand-out moments. The events around Shunned Albrunn were my personal favourites!
On top of this, Jason’s writing is direct in a way that wastes little time. This keeps the story moving, and makes battle scenes easy to visualise. Plus, as a fan of Jason’s lyrics, I know reading this will make listening to Eternal Champion even more rewarding. I’ve long been intrigued by Arginor, and this will definitely add an extra layer of immersion to the music!
Now, as an author myself, I always try to offer helpful feedback, so here’s some constructive criticism. Jason’s story and lore here are epic… but I feel this particular story was perhaps TOO epic for his style. The Godblade is 156 pages, and I sometimes felt there was too much to cover in a book this length. The direct writing and page count meant some characters, locations, etc. were named without being fully developed. I’d love to see Jason try his hand with stories that are smaller in scope and more self-contained. His storytelling is effective, and I feel it would work optimally on small-scale Conan-like adventures rather than something so grand and cosmic.
All in all; a dark, wild ride that, though a tad over-ambitious for a newer writer at times, absolutely does not lack creativity or passion. I hope Jason keeps writing, and I look forward to seeing what he offers next!
October 15, 2024
This novella has the band of adventurers one has come to expect ever since the publication of The Lord of the Rings but with the muscled stylings of Conan the Barbarian with a hint of the weirdness of Zothique. It is a quick read; perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon. (I do wish that The Godblade had been bundled with Jason Tarpey's “Vengeance of the Insane God” (found within DMR's Swords of Steel Omnibus) as it read like an old-school S&S trilogy that one somehow missed the first book within.)
February 1, 2021
Meh. The cover is great.
May 5, 2021
So I’m a huge fan of Eternal Champion, and have been since their split EP with Gatekeeper came out in 2015 on no remorse records. I met Jason at one of their shows in 2017, and he turned me onto DMR book’s Swords of Steel Anthologies. As almost no one was doing S&S at the time I was really excited. Out of the Swords of Steel collections(which were released as one book), I thought Tarpey’s “Vengeance of the Insane God” was the best story in collection, except for Byron Robert three part Caleb Blackthorne series. I knew Jason was writing fantasy and was super excited when this book was announced to come out alongside the new album. I’m a little late to the party reading it but here are my thoughts below.
First off, the stuff I really love about it. The world building is great, the mythos behind this world is also very creative, the themes around blacksmithing is also solid. It’s got a great cohesive backbone.
Also, as a huge fan of the band, it’s really cool to see many of the stories of songs put to the page.
However, I found the writing dry and practical. It didn’t really resonate with me. Also, the main climax happens so early on the battle in the last quarter of the book feels anti-climactic and tacked on.
This feels like a good rough draft. It has the bones of something tremendous. There is so much thought into the world, mythos, and cultures. The execution unfortunately is rough. I don’t know if this was rushed to come out alongside the album or what? But I feel it really needed some more time in the oven, and some more revisions. As it stands I think it’s something that’s more creative than it is good. Which is still enjoyable to read, but the whole time I had this nagging feeling it could have been something much more than it was.
First off, the stuff I really love about it. The world building is great, the mythos behind this world is also very creative, the themes around blacksmithing is also solid. It’s got a great cohesive backbone.
Also, as a huge fan of the band, it’s really cool to see many of the stories of songs put to the page.
However, I found the writing dry and practical. It didn’t really resonate with me. Also, the main climax happens so early on the battle in the last quarter of the book feels anti-climactic and tacked on.
This feels like a good rough draft. It has the bones of something tremendous. There is so much thought into the world, mythos, and cultures. The execution unfortunately is rough. I don’t know if this was rushed to come out alongside the album or what? But I feel it really needed some more time in the oven, and some more revisions. As it stands I think it’s something that’s more creative than it is good. Which is still enjoyable to read, but the whole time I had this nagging feeling it could have been something much more than it was.
May 11, 2025
The Good Stuff
The Godblade is a certifiably "rip-roaring" fantasy adventure across a vast and epic sword and sorcery world, replete with monsters, mayhem and massive breasts (which is apparently a turn-off for some other, less inclusive reviewers, who unfortunately refuse to tolerate diverse body shapes). The story is epic, the action is bloody and frenetic, the heroes are wildly heroic, the villains are dastardly, and the encounters with the ancient, the chthonic and the supernatural are appropriately shocking and bone-chilling.
The one criticism I might level at the novel is that it's a super quick read. That might be personal preference. After all, the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard didn't waste any time navel gazing. On the other hand, there were several of them, so the reader had more opportunities over time to get a feel for the world and characters. I guess that means bring on more Warrior-Smith Raenon and more stories set in the world of Arginor!
The Godblade is a certifiably "rip-roaring" fantasy adventure across a vast and epic sword and sorcery world, replete with monsters, mayhem and massive breasts (which is apparently a turn-off for some other, less inclusive reviewers, who unfortunately refuse to tolerate diverse body shapes). The story is epic, the action is bloody and frenetic, the heroes are wildly heroic, the villains are dastardly, and the encounters with the ancient, the chthonic and the supernatural are appropriately shocking and bone-chilling.
The one criticism I might level at the novel is that it's a super quick read. That might be personal preference. After all, the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard didn't waste any time navel gazing. On the other hand, there were several of them, so the reader had more opportunities over time to get a feel for the world and characters. I guess that means bring on more Warrior-Smith Raenon and more stories set in the world of Arginor!
May 11, 2025
The Good Stuff
The Godblade is a certifiably "rip-roaring" fantasy adventure across a vast and epic sword and sorcery world, replete with monsters, mayhem and massive breasts (which is apparently a turn-off for some other, less inclusive reviewers, who unfortunately refuse to tolerate diverse body shapes). The story is epic, the action is bloody and frenetic, the heroes are wildly heroic, the villains are dastardly, and the encounters with the ancient, the chthonic and the supernatural are appropriately shocking and bone-chilling.
The one criticism I might level at the novel is that it's a super quick read. That might be personal preference. After all, the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard didn't waste any time navel gazing. On the other hand, there were several of them, so the reader had more opportunities over time to get a feel for the world and characters. I guess that means bring on more Warrior-Smith Raenon and more stories set in the world of Arginor!
The Godblade is a certifiably "rip-roaring" fantasy adventure across a vast and epic sword and sorcery world, replete with monsters, mayhem and massive breasts (which is apparently a turn-off for some other, less inclusive reviewers, who unfortunately refuse to tolerate diverse body shapes). The story is epic, the action is bloody and frenetic, the heroes are wildly heroic, the villains are dastardly, and the encounters with the ancient, the chthonic and the supernatural are appropriately shocking and bone-chilling.
The one criticism I might level at the novel is that it's a super quick read. That might be personal preference. After all, the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard didn't waste any time navel gazing. On the other hand, there were several of them, so the reader had more opportunities over time to get a feel for the world and characters. I guess that means bring on more Warrior-Smith Raenon and more stories set in the world of Arginor!
Read
May 21, 2025okay nope. i managed to slog through ~20 pages of some of the clunkiest, most hamfisted prose i've ever read in my life, but i value & respect my own time too much to waste it trying to finish this. the bits i read had the same level of emotional depth as the harry potter fanfic i wrote when i was 15, except i wasn't an adult man publishing wannabe dungeons & dragons conan ripoffs.
August 25, 2022
hehe cool
August 28, 2023
Not I'll-Nitar
Not Albrunn's spire
Will stand against
The armor of Ire
Not Albrunn's spire
Will stand against
The armor of Ire
April 12, 2022
Great sword and sorcery romp!
This was a fun read! It's quick, deadly and full of awesome imagery. I look forward to more stories in this world!
This was a fun read! It's quick, deadly and full of awesome imagery. I look forward to more stories in this world!
July 10, 2023
Overall a solid book. My main complaints are the protagonist is a little bit too OP, and is lacking depth in that we have almost no understanding of his life/past/motivations, but this book had some great moments regardless. Not that this genre is exactly Shakespeare, but if you're reading this it will likely exceed your genre expectations.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews