Travellers' Rest

Morlock Ambrosius #0.5

by James Enge

Morlock Ambrosius and his dwarf apprentice have traveled to a town were the people are disappearing and Wyrth wishes they had taken the next town.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Ebooks, Magic

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2010

About the author

James Enge lives in northwest Ohio with his wife and a philosophic dog-detective. He teaches Latin and mythology at a medium-sized public university. His stories (frequently featuring Morlock Ambrosius) have appeared in Black Gate , in the Stabby-Award-winning Blackguards , in Tales from the Magicians's Skull , in F&SF , and elsewhere. His first novel, Blood of Ambrose was nominated for the World Fantasy Award in 2010 and its French translation was shortlisted for the Prix Imaginales in 2011.

Look for more Morlock stories this year in Tales from the Magician's Skull and Old Moon Quarterly .

You can reach James Enge on Twitter (as jamesenge) or, if all else fails, via (jamesenge.com).

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story involving the wizard Morlock Ambrosius and his Dwarf apprentice Wyrth. As they travel on foot they arrive at a village which harbours a secret.Morlock seems reluctant to get involved,until his lunch is disturbed.
I had just started to enjoy the read when suddenly it was all over. Although, I have to admit that this is now another author whose works I shall keep an eye out for. An entertaining read, but unfortunately far too short.

[Ixris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an -extremely- short story, and it was free, so there you go. :) Don't think it counts as a book, but here it is, on GoodReads. :)

Anyway, Enge is compared - in the introduction to the piece - with Lovecraft and Leiber. I've never read Lovecraft, but I absolutely adore Leiber. His Fafhrd and Mouser stories built a whole extra limb for the fantasy genre to stand on (and frankly, it's my favorite limb...) with stories of gritty heroes and loose women and strange masters demanding stranger tasks.

With that in mind, I read this story.

I don't know if I would have drawn the connection to Leiber upon reading Travelers' Rest if it hadn't been pointed out to me. I mean, here we have our hero, Morlock Ambrosius, whom the townsfolk regard as a demon who drags people to hell when they die, so I guess that checks off "Gritty Hero" from our Leiber comparison chart.... But the writing and the voice is so drastically different.

Enge has a voice that is a very dry, sarcastic silliness. It's an interesting voice, though it took some getting used-to. The main difference between Leiber and Enge's stories is, I think, this voice. Where Leiber brings us to a world made of dirt, grime, and grease, Enge brought us to a land of sunshine, light, and strange livestock.

It was certainly an interesting story, though. And I miss it already. So I'll be looking for more of Enge's Morlock stories over time. :)

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read, but... short. It's a short story, so I suppose that should be expected! As short stories often do, this one left me wanting more. I enjoyed Enge's voice and writing style, in spite of a strange attachment to the word "inveigle" and a habit of doubling up on the adjectives (a minor distraction). The character of Morlock Ambrosius is observed through the eyes of his dwarvish apprentice, who has a fine knack for sarcastic humor. I'd have liked to see what magic Morlock could do—he was advertised as wizard/maker, after all! Swords, sorcery, magic and curses make this a funky little piece of pulp-fantasy.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sword & sorcery story plays out almost like a spaghetti western, with the moody wizard-swordsman Morlock Ambrosius and his dwarfish companion happening on a tiny hamlet with a dark secret. Both the characters and story remind me a great deal of Michael Moorcock's Elric stories, sharing driven, melancholy characters, a tense atmosphere, and weird events. This free Kindle novella was released by James Enge's publisher Pyr to introduce readers to his Morlock Ambrosious series, and it certainly succeeded in capturing my interest.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of good old fashioned pulp and sword and sorcery I have found only a few authors who can even come close to this style that I enjoy. This short story makes me think I may have found another. Fritz Leiber with a dash of Lovecraft.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars.

[Carlyle Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This free novelette accomplished its goal of enticing me into wanting to read Enge's Morlock novels. (In fact, since I reviewed this on Amazon, I have read read two out of the three ((Reviews soon!)) and will definitely read the third)

TRAVELLER'S REST covers an adventure of by he enigmatic and infamous Morlock Ambrosius and his amusing sidekick Wyrth. The story is well-told, humorous, and clever enough to bring more than a bit of fun to the archetypical Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson pairing. Though the story itself is not strikingly unique, there is more enough originality in a particular portion (which would be a spoiler to reveal more than I've said) to cover for that, and the difficulties presented by world-building along with telling the story actually render what Enge accomplished in TRAVELLER'S REST impressive. If you enjoy this story at all, you will definitely like Enge's Novels.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the very 1st free e-book I downloaded onto my kindle app on my phone. Thus only reading when I had to wait for one one or something & not having a "real" book with me. Got distracted by other free books & forgot to finish this one. Can't remember how I was actually feeling about this one. Liked or disliked? Even though I do remember what is going on. & now read the review again I intend to finish this book & get it off my 'currently reading' list. Either that or move it to my couldn't finish list, which honestly is not how I feel about this book. Half my books on my 'currently reading' list are books I have been distracted from though don't nessasarily unlike. Just need to make time to finish them! Ha!

Finished. It's pretty dark & a bit horrific if you ask me! Glad it's finished

[R.A. Danger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morlock Ambrosius and his apprentice Wyrth travel to a town only to find out that the people are disappearing. Morlock doesn’t get involve until his lunch is disturbed.
The story was short (an hour) and to the point. A strange little story (the cows? That is.) and some other things. Let just say that Morlock is a different type of hero or “maker” as he calls his title. It’s hard to tell with Morlock if he stops the villain because of lunch, Wyrth or a little but of both.
I fun it funny that they were calling Morlock a demon that takes liars to hell and how the inn keeper’s family scream when they found out his name.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was one of those "single" Kindle books that is currently free for the downloading. To about 20 minutes or so to read, but it was pretty good. Definitely for the fantasy loving reader.......those that like Lord of the Rings types of stuff. I enjoyed it and will now look at his three other regular length books in this series. The series features a very interesting anti-hero and his dwarf apprentice. The dwarf seems to be the voice of reason but the "Maker" or magician makes a very good main character. I'll definitely check out his other stories in the series at some point.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit it, I downloaded this because it was free. I really don't read many short stories because they're...well, short. Just as I was starting to get into the story, POOF! it was over. And I was left going "Seriously, that's it?" Morlock and Wyrth are interesting and like-able characters. The story itself is fun and there's a bit of humor which I quite liked. I give it 3 stars, not because it's bad, but just because I'm still a bit peeved that it was so short! lol I think I'll probably have to check out some of the other books by this author.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this short story we meet Morlock Ambrosius, who appears to be an interesting character; although there wasn't much time spent on developing who he is, and why he is so feared.

The story is set in a fantasy land where swords and magic are in play, and the villain is a twisted character doing all sorts of strange experiments on the local villagers.

I thought the ending was very predictable, but I guess I can't complain since it was a free story I downloaded recently from Amazon.

[John Cress · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off this is more of a short story then a book. It is basically a good guy beats bad guy story set in the fantasy world. I felt the action scenes were well written and kept me turning pages rapidly. It reminded me a bit of RA Salvatore and his Drizzt character. There was also some humor mixed in which adds to the enjoyment. I'm sure at some point that I'll dive into the series. This was a freebie so I had reasonable expectations but it was a very pleasant surprise.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Travellers' Rest was a free short I downloaded for my Nook. In only 29 pages it tries to introduce you to Morlock Ambrosius and recount one of his adventures, he seems like he could be an interesting character, but the novelette didn't do much to draw me into the rest of the series (which may or may not have been part of the intent of the story anyway).

I may revisit Enge at some point, but not until I've made more of a dent in my current to-read list.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book is kind of interesting. It is not quite a horror story, it is more a short story. It is interesting and enjoyable to read.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the'Isms'"

[Ros · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see why it could be compared to the writings of David Eddings, but for me it tried too hard to make the monsters disgusting. I shall not be reading future books in the series. A short story to make up the numbers in my 2011 challenge.

[George the Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. I'll look up more by this author, because this was so short it's hard to get a feel for the characters. But, even being so short I was drawn in and enjoyed the story! The main characters were really likable, in a seemingly good at heart even if not nice kind of way.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to the world of Morlock Ambrosius, hunchback, drunk, warrior and wizard. Excellent characterizations, with SO much shown simply through dialogue. Magic and mayhem well worth reading.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much better than I expected given some of the reviews. It's pure pulp-fantasy of course so don't go in looking for the next Tolkien or anything like that. I would say Enge is on par with someone like Robert Jordan. This was a fun, short novella.

[Scott Waisner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had never heard of this character or this author before picking up Traveler's Rest. If nothing else, it was definitely enjoyable enough to pick up Blood Of Ambrose. A good story in it's own right, and a great intro to the other stories by Mr. Enge

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Kindle freebie - I'm not quite sure what the point of this was, but it wasn't quite interesting enough for me to follow with one of James Enge's full novels

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an action-packed, exciting adventure all in a short story, this is a good pick! Fast and fun, you will really enjoy this quick read!

[Dearg Glas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good-humored, entertaining sword-and-sorcery novelette. I plan on reading more Morlock stories...

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A well written short story, but really nothing here to get excited about. I was hoping it would engage me to pick up an Enge novel. It did not.

[S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and fun. Tolkien fans will like this.

[Karen Highland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful characters. Witty and enjoyable.

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tease to the rest of the series, I might check it out.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun short book. I think I will read another book about Morlock's adventures.

[Christopher Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read that may have me looking at other books with the Morlock character

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grimm Brothers meet JRR Tolkien characters but an easy read Free from Nook & Kindle libraries