The Bookwyrm's Review of Born of Swords by Steven L. Shrewsbury

Author: Steven L. Shrewsbury

Length: 324 Pages

Release Date: June 22, 2015

Publisher: Seventh Star Press

Genre: Swords and Sorcery

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Amazon Link

Being a big fan of old pulp fantasy, I have wished for a while that someone would take up that style of uncomplicated action packed storytelling again. I discovered Steven Shrewsbury on his book King of the Bastards, co-authored with Brian Keene, which was a callback to Robert E. Howard era pulps like Conan and Kull. When I saw the premise about Born of Swords, I knew I had to review this one.

PLOT SUMMARY

Gorias La Gaul, 700 year old mercenary, finds himself in a small city hired to kill a man who has been cursed to turn into a monster. He was hired by the man's twin, who also turns into a monster, and who hired him to kill them both so they would stop wreaking havoc and death. While accomplishing this job, Gorias literally stumbles across Jessica, a scribe from the city of Nineveh, who has traveled a long distance to interview Gorias, and record his stories for posterity at the Nineveh School. Gorias is less than thrilled with the idea, telling her that she might not like what she learns, but she insists, so he allows her to tag along as he goes about with the trip he takes annually.

Jessica gets a chance to see the course of Gorias's life as recorded in the dragon eye gems she uses, and what she finds is nothing like she expected. She gets to see how Gorias's parents came to have him, and the details quite shock her, but it does set the tone for his life of violence, adventure and tragedy. We see the various adventures of his life, from his birth into a barbarian horde, to various adventures and battles against bandits, cults, wizards and warlords. Jessica sees him lead armies, and see those same armies betrayed and Gorias wreak terrible vengeance. She even sees him fight a dragon, something she never believed possible.

Meanwhile, as they travel, Gorias is collecting certain items on their travels, for which he won't tell Jessica the purpose. Why would he need a witches hand? Or a bag of bones? What could these items be worth killing for, and even possibly dying for? These questions lead to the end of the book, where the truth of what Gorias is doing is revealed, and Jessica's romantic illusions of the Gorias, who's name literally means King of the Bastards, are shattered by his need for revenge. She finds out that sometimes it doesn't pay to meet your heroes. 

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Since this book is basically a slightly modernized version of pulp sword and sorcery like Robert E Howard or Edgar Rice Burroughs would write, the characters are definitely the center point of the story. Larger than life and twice and loud, Gorias is everything you would expect from the son of the chief of a barbarian horde. Strong, determined, and holding a grudge like nobody's business, Gorias is more than happy to remove an annoying warlord's head at the shoulders if that's what it takes to get a job done, or just stop their yapping. He is just an amazingly fun character, and is one of my top five characters in fantasy. The secondary characters are well thought out, with Jessica being the obvious example. She is much more than the weak book worm you would expect, being able to handle herself in dangerous situations, all while collecting the information she was sent for. There are a wide assortment of villains, from evil warlords to conniving princesses, to dangerous bandit chiefs. They are a just the kind of villains you'd expect in a pulp story, and they really add color to the story.

The world building is so much fun, and you could imagine seeing Gorias on the bar stool next to Conan and Kull. The world bears the hallmarks of a Hyborean era setting, with evil wizards and warlords vying for power, as well as crazy cults and monsters as well. There's a wide variety of terrain and settings, from desert kingdoms to jungle villages, and of course, temples to various gods. We see that Gorias's god is Wodan, and this Wodan is definitely in the mold of Crom, a merciless warrior's god. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

There are just so many good touch's to evoke that old school pulp feel in this book. From the pacing to the characters, you just find yourself turning pages, getting more engrossed in the story with every page. This book should appeal to any fan of old school pulp fantasy, but also has plenty to appeal to fans of more modern fantasies. It's just a classic story that I can't get enough of.

The Bookwyrm's Review of Cody Black Vampire Hunter: Bite of the Wolf by C.M. Craddock

 

Author: C.M. Craddock

Length: 285 Pages

Publisher: Self Published

Release Date: December 31, 2019

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Amazon Link

I make no secret of my love for urban fantasy. Whether it be the big timer's like Jim Butcher, small press writers like C.T. Phipps or self published writers like Joel Spriggs, I just can't get enough of their books. When I got the chance to read and review this book, I jumped at the chance, and here are my thoughts.

PLOT SUMMARY

Cody Black absolutely hates vampires. This definitely helps with his job as a vampire hunter for the Foundation, the rulers of the vampires. Cody is not thrilled having to work for them, but its either kill rogues for them or end up dead. It does pay well, though. He launders the money through the gun shop and range he owns, which is run more by his assistant Sierra than it is by Cody. It does allow him to create and train with vampire killing weapons, though, so it works.

When a slew of murders start to occur in the club district, Cody is called in by the local vampire queen, Marie Delfleur, notifying him that an old vampire is turning people under 20, who can't handle the change and just become feral murder machines. This is against Federation law, and Cody is tasked to hunt him and his spawn down and end the threat. Discovering one of the young vampires, Cody follows him but is ambushed by the old vampire, a 1500 year old viking named Aabiorn,  who fights through all of Cody's weapons and injures him, although not without injury to himself that forces him to retreat. 

With the help of Sierra, Cody escapes, and begins to heal. Meeting with Marie, he gets injected by her with a substance that will supposedly help him be better able to hunt vampire, making him into a one of a kind vampire killer. Searching for the vampire's lair, he inadvertantly leaves clues as to where he lives, and they attack him there. 

This leads to the final frantic confrontation between Cody and Aabiorn, as he is now threatening everything Cody cherishes and would do anything to protect. This confrontation leads to even more revelations about who Aabiorn is, and what his plans were. It also shows that Marie has plans of her own that could have world shaking consequences if Cody does nothing to change it, and he has new allies to help him respond to the changes.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

This is a very character driven book, centered mostly on the title character, Cody. He's a very solid character, having a tragic background that led to his becoming a vampire hunter, and he is a well rounded character, with strengths and weaknesses that offset each other, just like a real person. Sierra also is fairly well rounded, although she is a bit of a trope as the beautiful assistant/love interest. The antagonists, which consist of Marie and Aabiorn, are both good foils to Cody, in their own way, with Marie wanting to control Cody, while Aabiorn just wants him dead. Their back stories are revealed later in the book, and help flesh out their motivations. The secondary characters are a bit flat, with most of the vampires just seeming to be a bit two dimensional. Not a deal breaker, but they don't add as much as they could.

The world building is fairly pedestrian. The story is set in New York, but it never really gives you a sense of anything particular about the setting. It just kind of seems like the story is set there, but none of the unique locales or culture is ever really used to enrich the story. Again, its not a deal breaker, but it just seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. The vampire world, though, is pretty well expanded upon, and a secret history of the world at large is also an interesting facet of the story. 

FINAL THOUGHTS  

While I wouldn't put this book in my very top tier of urban fantasy books, it's definitely in the upper range of the genre. Its flaws are far outweighed by the things that work in the story, and the characters are definitely worth exploring and keep the pages turning. I do have to mention that there are some adult sex scenes in this book, which I didn't mention earlier, so this is not a book I would recommend for young readers, but it shouldn't put off adult fans of vampire or urban fantasy. This is definitely on the recommended to read list.

The Bookwyrm's Review of Serpents Rising by Joe Jackson

 

Author: Joe Jackson

Length: 561 Pages/ 17 Hours, 5 Minutes (Audio)

Publisher: Aethon Books

Release Date: June 5, 2020

Narrator: Chelsea Stephens

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Series: Eve of Redemption, Book 3

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Amazon Link

Its always interesting to see where an author who has a multi-book arc is taking the series, especially when it's an extended series. At 11 books, I'd say Eve of Redemption qualifies as extended. When I started reading, I was wondering if this was kind of a placeholder book, or if it was moving the story arc along. I'm happy to say this is definitely a story mover, opening up new avenues of exploration for the characters, and challenging their knowledge of the world they live in.

PLOT SUMMARY

Picking up right after the events of the previous book, there is a bit of chaos in the ranks of the demon hunter's order, as it was discovered that quite a few syrinthian serpent people, servants of the demon king Sekassus, have infiltrated the order. Hatching a plan to expose them, they successfully draw them into the courtyard of the demon hunters compound in the city of Darkwind, and capture them. Kari, the new head of the demon hunter order, is weighing a journey to the underworld to help the priestess Danilynn rescue the daughter of a syrinthian high priestess she owed a debt to, and plans on using any intelligence gathered from those captured. 

After a lot of consultations to determine if its feasible, Kari decides to go, making a deal with one of Sekassus's rival demon kings, and they travel by magic to the underworld, only taking Kari, her sister-in-law Sonia, and the priestess Danilynn, as well as Kari's brother-in-law and her friend Eli. The women are to travel to Sekassus's kingdom from the underworlds capital city, since a group of women won't be accosted, being seen as harmless by the denizen's of that world. As they prepare to leave the underworld capital, they gain some much needed intelligence about the political situation, as well as how they need to proceed to get the young woman, named Sesasha, from the demon king. 

Proceeding through a path arranged for them, the party stops at a village they are guided to. The village is inhabited by mallasti, a hyena humanoid type of demon. This is where they start finding out that what Kari's order thought they knew about demons is completely wrong. Traveling with a young villager as their guide, they work their way towards Sekassus's kingdom, and along the way Sonia is learning to use her magic effectively from their guide, who's race is much more in tune with arcane power. 

Finally reaching Sekassus, they bargain for his prisoner, and Kari and the rest find out that their guide is the reason they can get her exchanged at all. When they have Sesasha, Sakassus shows how evil he truly is, shocking the entire party. As they leave to return to the capitol, they have a seven days grace period where they can't be harmed, but if they can't get out, they are subject to the whims of the king. 

What follows is a harrowing journey, as the Sekassus's forces try to delay the party, while Kari has to avoid killing the kings forces, invalidating their truce. Things come to a head at the border, where an unexpected attack comes from someone attached to Kari's deeds a few months earlier in Barcon. Barely escaping, they even add to their party, finding a lost elf from an earlier invasion of the underworld, and using his help to escape to the capitol.

Returning to the order, Kari takes Sesasha with her to meet the syrinthian prisoners, and Kari realizes Sesasha can be a huge source of help for them, since she is a high priestess of her people, who would happily turn on Sekassus. Taking Sesasha to the grave of her mother to commune with her spirit, Kari, along with a good part of her extended family, are attacked by someone who shouldn't exist, since he was killed by the king of the Gods. Returning part of the way home, Kari and a couple others travel to the temple that Kari, as Salvation's Dawn, is supposed to be able to open with certain keys. What they find there will change their plans going forward, exposing just how far behind they are of the forces arrayed against them. If they can't catch up, their world may be lost to them for good in fire and death.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

This series has to be one of the most character driven series I've ever read. While there's lots of action, strong plot and creative and expansive world building, it all revolves around the large cast of characters, with Kari Vanador as the focus. She has quickly become one of my favorite characters in fantasy. She's strong, well trained and determined to do right, but she can also be rash and caught by crushing self doubt, especially when it comes to her lack of formal education and the trauma of her childhood. She just really feels like a real person with the weight of the world on her shoulders. The secondary characters are so well written, they just fit seamlessly into the story. They are not cardboard cutouts, but well rounded characters in their own right, with strengths and weaknesses that really add to the story. The villains are well thought out, with their own motivations driving their actions, some in bewildering ways, but all seemingly for a purpose, and not just to advance the plot. I'm not sure I've ever read a better group of characters in any series.

The world building is strong once again, with the underworld added as a setting, and being not at all what I would have expected. Instead of a generic hellscape, we get a fully realized world that, while different than Citaria, is definitely a wide range of settings, as the kings realms are different from one another. When the history of this world is revealed, it really expands on what the demon hunters order doesn't know, but needs to find out if Citaria is to avoid the underworld's fate.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I have to say that this is an enjoyable read. It really takes some unexpected twists and turns, with the trip to the underworld really changing how the characters see their universe at large. I'm curious to see where these revelations lead. I think this series, which is now complete at 11 books, will appeal to a wide range of fantasy fans. 

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Temple of Arrival by M.S. Olney

Author: M. S. Olney

Length: 250 Pages

Publisher: Star Forge Books

Release Date: March 31, 2020

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Amazon Link

After reading The First Fear, the first book in this series, I was anxious to see where the story would go. Comparing it favorably to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, I was hoping to see more development of the characters and world he created. Here are the results, which don't suffer from the dreaded second book slump.

PLOT SUMMARY

The Liberator's success in provoking an uprising in the city of Asta, which included killing the Supreme's head enforcer, the First Fear, has emboldened them, even though they were forced to retreat from the city. The powerful Empowered Elian, who can use all the powers of the Gifted, and combine them, which is supposed to be impossible, is now one of the leaders of raiding parties trying to damage the power base of the Supreme, starting with freeing the mines of Hestra. While they initially succeed, they are again forced to retreat from a much larger force of the Supreme's troops. 

They are forced to separate, with one group moving on to the capital to try and gain intelligence about the Supreme's plans, while Elian, who is now struggling to use certain powers, goes looking for Vavius, who betrayed the movement to try and gain power on his own, replacing the Supreme. Along the way he meets an Empowered woman named Cassia, who says shes there to help protect him as he continues his mission, as well as teach him to better utilize his power. Elian remains suspicious of her, as her turning up seems a bit to coincidental.

 Proceeding forward, both groups face the Supreme's attempts to stop both groups, and Elian knows he must beat Vavius to The Temple of Arrivals, because if he gets there and seizes the power held there, he can become even more powerful than the Supreme, and make her rule look kind and benevolent in comparison. 

This all leads to a final confrontation where all the opposing parties meet at the Temple of Arrivals. Unfortunately, the power is not what it seems, and even the history of the world is shown to be a lie. The Supreme is not what they thought, but forces out of their control force a confrontation with results that have world shaking consequences for both the Supreme's forces and the Liberators, which could end with death for them all.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

There are an intriguing mix of characters in this book, with Elian getting the lion's share of attention, as he is the main protagonist. He is such an interesting character, having so much power, but struggling in his use of it. He's definitely a flawed character, trying to do the best, but often rushing off without thinking, making things worse. He comes across as a real person of his age, being forced to mature by circumstances. The secondary characters are given attention as well, to round out their personalities and story arcs, and it helps enrich the story. The villains are excellent, with Vavius really standing out, as his motivations are explored more, and we get to see just what brought him from an ardent freedom fighter to traitor to the cause.

The world building is excellent. The magic system is fully fleshed out, with a consistent set of rules, and an interesting premise with how it's powered. The ability to gain another tier of magic with sufficient mastery is also intriguing, and really adds to the story. 

The world itself is creative, with the various locations drawn out nicely on the page. The descriptions are very well done, without being overblown or excessive. You get a real feel for these places, and have no problem imagining the various locales. You really get a feel for the oppression the populace feels under the Supreme's rule, the general dystopian feel of the place, and what pushes the Liberators into their actions. Its definitely one of my favorite fantasy settings.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I was impressed with the world the author has created. Its magic system seems a bit complicated to start, but the included key to the various magics at the front of the book really helped keep track of what the various powers can accomplish. I also really appreciated the map, it helped really bring the world into focus. I am excited to see where the series goes from here, and think this series will appeal to a wide variety of fantasy fans.