Tag: Fantasy

Waiting on Wednesday – Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday, Young Adult2 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For my latest Waiting on Wednesday I highlight a somewhat surprising but highly anticipated upcoming release with the epic Murtagh by Christopher Paolini.

Murtagh Cover

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I have been a fantasy fan for a long time and have had the great pleasure of reading quite a few impressive series over the years.  However, one of my favourite all-time fantasy series is the epic Inheritance Cycle that was the debut series of amazing author Christopher Paolini.  Starting in 2003 with Eragon, the Inheritance Cycle told the tale of a young hero who uncovers a dragon egg and uses his newly hatched companion to battle an evil empire and defeat the fallen Dragon Rider turned evil king, Galbatorix.  Taking place over four books, including Eldest, Brisingr and Inheritance, this was a particular favourite series of mine growing up and I made sure to read every single book the moment they came out.  While the story was a little derivative in places, I had a great deal of love for this series due to its elaborate fantasy universe, the cool magical systems, the fantastic bond between the human protagonist and his dragon, and the many exceptional battles Paolini detailed.  The Inheritance Cycle has become something of a comfort series for me and since the final book dropped in 2011 I have reread (and relistened) to these books multiple times with great enjoyment, and I also did a fun joint review of the entire series.

Due to how much I enjoyed his debut series, I have kept an eye on Paolini’s career, which also saw him produce some intriguing science fiction novels, including the massive To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and the upcoming prequel Fractal Noise.  However, I hadn’t really expected to see anything more from the Inheritance cycle, especially after over 12 years of waiting.  That is why I was pretty damn thrilled when I saw last week that Paolini was releasing a standalone sequel later this year with the fantastic sounding Murtagh.

Murtagh is an awesome book that is currently set for release in November 2023.  Set shortly after the events of Inheritance, this cool novel will follow fan-favourite character and anti-hero Murtagh as he attempts to find his place in the world after serving the previous series’ big bad, while also embarking on a new adventure.

Plot Synopsis:

Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Rider—and fan favorite—Murtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy!

 The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.

Ok, so if I wasn’t already pretty damn excited for a new Inheritance Cycle novel, I am even more hyped after reading that synopsis.  Out of all the characters that Paolini could have set his next novel around, Murtagh is one of the absolute best, as he is probably one of Paolini’s more complex characters.  The son of a notoriously evil Dragon Rider and the secret half-brother of series’ protagonist Eragon, Murtagh is a rogue and adventurer who spent his appearances in the first novel trying to escape his past.  However, he was captured at the start of the second novel, Eldest, and morphed into a deadly weapon, bound to the red dragon Thorn and forced to fight against his brother as Galbatorix’s ultimate enforcer.  Essentially serving as the Darth Vader of the series, Murtagh killed several key supporting characters and became quite a good brooding villain.  Managing to free himself at the end of the series and help Eragon kill Galbatorix, Murtagh departs with his dragon, attempting to find his own place in the world.  This opens quite a lot of interesting potential storylines which Paolini looks set to fully explore in his new book.  I love the idea of the author fully exploring all of Murtagh’s trauma and guilt, especially after all the terrible things Galbatorix made him do, and I am sure that it will play into the story extremely well.  It was also be very interesting to see the story told from Murtagh’s point of view, something we never got in the previous books, and I am hoping that we’ll get an eye on the events of the original series from his perspective.

On top of the fantastic focus on the great character of Murtagh, the rest of this story sounds pretty damn awesome.  The idea of this lone and despised character travelling the lands, attempting to find a place where he isn’t hated is an excellent basis for a story, especially when he attempts to finally be a hero and tries to solve a dangerous mystery.  No doubt this will lead to another dangerous adventure and it will be cool to see how he deals with it on his own.  I am also quite excited to see some expansions of the already vast land of Alagaësia, which Paolini really built up well in his previous books.  It will be fascinating to see how much Alagaësia changes in the aftermath of the war, and I am very hopeful that Paolini will take us to some new locations that will no doubt add a lot to it.  Throw in references to a mysterious witch, who could potentially be the always entertaining Angela, who readers have been wanting to see more of for years, and Murtagh has all the ingredients you need for a pretty epic book.

Now if am going to be honest, I was always going to eagerly grab up any new additions to the Inheritance Cycle that Paolini created, but I am particularly excited for Murtagh, which has so much damn potential.  I cannot wait to see how the author expands on his complex protagonist in this upcoming novel, and I am sure it will feature an epic adventure.  Murtagh is going to be such a nostalgia filled blast for me and I am sure that I will enjoy every damn second of it.

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer: Giantslayer by William King

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer3 Comments

Giantslayer Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 3 April 2003)

Series: Gotrek and Felix – Book Seven

Length: 10 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  After having a ton of fun listing my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels last week, I dive back into Warhammer Fantasy in a big way with the seventh epic entry in William King’s Gotrek and Felix series, Giantslayer.

While the Warhammer franchise has many great series, few are as iconic or long-lasting as the epic Gotrek and Felix books.  Following a doomed dwarf Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his human chronicler Felix Jaeger as they travel across the Warhammer Fantasy landscape, trying to find a worthy death for Gotrek, these books are amazing and fun action-packed reads guaranteed to keep you entertained with their excellent stories.  Each of these books is an outstanding read in their own way, and I have had a wonderful time getting through the previous Gotrek and Felix books by King, including Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer, Beastslayer and Vampireslayer.  Giantslayer actually marks the end of William King’s run on the Gotrek and Felix series, and he brings his tenure of the series to a powerful and impressive end.

Following their arduous and costly battle against the vampires of Sylvania, Gotrek, Felix and their companions attempt to deal with the losses they all have suffered.  However, the evils of the Old World are never considerate of grief, and soon the heroes find themselves attacked by a horde of beastmen.  Following them to their lair, they discover a mysterious cavern full of tunnels pulsing with unnatural power.

Separated from their friends and dragged through an unnatural gateway, Gotrek and Felix find themselves transported to the legendary island of Albion, home of ancient tribes, dark forces, and massive giants.  Fate brings the two companions into contact with the legendary High Elven mage Teclis, who has journeyed to Albion to uncover the source of dangerous magical energy that threatens to sink the High Elves’ home island of Ulthuan and devastate the rest of the world.

Reluctantly agreeing to work with the elf mage, Gotrek and Felix travel across Albion, attempting to uncover the cause of the latest magical threat facing the world.  They soon discover that the island is far from tranquil; instead it is a dark land corrupted by magical power and the dangerous legacy of the Old Ones, the mysterious beings who created the world.  Worse, the island has been invaded by the dark forces of Chaos who are determined to harness Albion’s unique magic for themselves.  Caught between dark sorcerers, corrupted giants, an army of greenskins and the long-lasting enmity that exists between elves and dwarves, can Gotrek and Felix work with Teclis to save the world, or will the Slayer finally find his doom on Albion?

Giantslayer was another great and highly entertaining Gotrek and Felix novel that successfully showcased the outrageous protagonists while further exploring the elaborate Warhammer Fantasy universe.  This was another amazing book from William King, and I felt that he ended his run on this series on a great note, especially as Giantslayer contained a fantastic and fast-paced story.  Taking place in the immediate aftermath of Vampireslayer, Giantslayer quickly thrusts the protagonists into the midst of the action while simultaneously introducing the reader to the character of Teclis, who serves as a great additional central character.  The first few chapters of the book are pretty trippy in places, especially as all the characters find themselves trapped in a mystical realm, and the subsequent escape results in some fantastic sequences.  The characters are then transported to Albion and must explore this intriguing new landscape while trying to overcome their many personal issues, namely the animosity between Gotrek and Teclis, which adds a fun edge to the entire narrative.

King expands the story as the book continues, introducing the reader to several fantastic supporting characters from amongst the people of Albion, and soon shapes the major threat facing the world, namely the forces of Chaos overwhelming the magical energy of the island for their nefarious purposes.  King utilises an excellent series of villains at this point of the novel, including the recurring sorcerous twins who have been dogging the protagonists since Dragonslayer.  Everything eventually leads up to the massive final confrontation as the protagonists and their allies find themselves in the middle of a massive three-sided battle as they attempt to achieve their goal.  There is a ton of action, sacrifice, magical duels, and of course a giant, in this last part of the book, and King really built up an explosive and powerful conclusion to the entire novel.  I really enjoyed how this entire book came together, and it was great to see the characters embark on a final adventure under King’s reign.  While the story itself can be read as a standalone, the author does fit in a ton of references to the previous entries in the series and long-time readers will enjoy the cool callbacks.

I think that King did an interesting job of wrapping up his run on this series with this final fantastic action story, and fans of his writing style will not be disappointed with Giantslayer.  This is very much another epic hack and slash Warhammer novel, and King always manages to make that style of novel stand out, especially with his excellent attention to detail and ability to make all the fun action really pop.  The use of multiple perspectives, including through Felix, Teclis and several antagonists’ eyes, gives the reader a very wide narrative to explore, and I loved the fantastic and fun moments that emerged through their adventures.  King utilises very quick pacing for this book, so it is quite easy to power through it, especially as there is really never a dull moment as the characters jump from one deadly scenario to another.  I do have to be a little critical and point out that King is a somewhat repetitive writer; if he finds a phrase, description, or sentence that he likes, he tends to overuse it slightly throughout the plot.  This is particularly noticeable after seven Gotrek and Felix books and readers of this series will no doubt know what phrases I am talking about (wool cloaks and beads of blood).  However, while this repetition is occasionally distracting, it honestly didn’t mess up my enjoyment of the story too much and I had a ton of fun getting through Giantslayer.

Giantslayer also serves as a particularly interesting and lore-heavy addition to the Gotrek and Felix books as King spends a lot of time diving into the history of the Warhammer Fantasy world and the original creators, the Old Ones.  The book is primarily set on the island of Albion, the setting for the 2001 Warhammer Fantasy campaign series, Dark Shadows, and the author really leans heavily into the setting, showing the rain drizzled island in all its swampy and deadly glory.  King sets it a little before the events of Dark Shadows, and much like the campaign’s descriptions the island of Albion is shown as a very Celtic landscape, very much inspired by Scotland.  This serves as a brilliant background to the main story, and I loved seeing the characters traverse and fight across the various settings to achieve their goal.  As one of the few Warhammer Fantasy books set on Albion, fans of the Dark Shadows campaign can have a bit of fun with Giantslayer, and it was great to learn a little more about the local societies and the history of the island.  History really is a major part of the book, and the protagonists end up finding a lot of about Albion and the Old Ones as the story continues.  This includes a dive into the Path of the Old Ones, a series of magical gateways existing outside of the main reality which can be traversed.  The sequences set within this gateway are very trippy and dark, especially as they have been invaded by daemons, and King really knows how to make all these unique locations stand out with his excellent writing.  As a long-time Warhammer Fantasy fan who can remember the Dark Shadows campaign, I really liked the heavy lore inclusions in this book and I felt that King utilised them perfectly throughout Giantslayer to tell a powerful narrative with some really heavy stakes for the protagonists.

I need to highlight the great characters contained within Giantslayer, especially as you get to see more of the titular protagonists, Gotrek Gurnisson and Felix Jaeger.  This odd-couple pair of suicidal Slayer and pragmatic human is always a ton of fun, and King keeps this up all the way to the end, as the two characters play off each other perfectly.  Gotrek’s glee at each encounter is usually only matched by Felix’s understandable reluctance to travel into the dangerous places their quests take them, and you can always count on a sarcastic and fatalistic statement from Felix, and it makes for some amazing, if slightly predictable scenes.  King has never done a lot of character development when it comes to these protagonists and this continues again in Giantslayer.  Gotrek remains the same old unstoppable and unflappable Slayer that he always has been, constantly diving into danger, with the author never showing his perspective or providing too many hints at this past.  While King does however provide some intriguing insights in Gotrek’s seemingly unkillable nature, this was pretty much a status-quo book for Gotrek, which still has its fun moments.  Felix also had some minimal growth in this book, although King does dive into the emotional impacts that the previous adventures have had on the character, which does provide some insights into his cynical and reluctant personality.  I did like the more scholarly bent that was shown around Felix in this novel as he learns more about the history of the world and it was fun to see him finally get the idea to start writing the books that have introduced all the prior Gotrek and Felix adventures.

While the character work around Gotrek and Felix was minimal in Giantslayer, King more than makes up for this with the inclusion of the master mage Teclis, one of the more significant High Elf characters in the game.  Teclis is a very fascinating character in the lore, and I deeply enjoyed how King portrayed him throughout Giantslayer.  King amped up the arrogant, ethereal and ancient qualities of Teclis in his storytelling, and you can really feel how apart from the various human characters he is, especially in the many scenes that he narrates.  Teclis is also, by his nature, a rather darker cynical figure, even compared to other elves, and it was great to see this featured throughout the book, especially when it comes to his dealings with the other characters.  Despite this, he is still a good person whose sole concern is the preservation of his homeland and the rest of the world.  I think that King utilised him perfectly throughout Giantslayer and he served as a great alternative narrator to Felix.  I loved seeing this iconic mage in action, and it was especially fun to see him interact with Gotrek considering how antagonist dwarfs and elves are with each other.  The two engage in a petty war of words for most of the book, which proves to be highly amusing, as these usually collected characters end up bickering like children.  This makes for an extremely unique dynamic throughout the novel that I found to be highly entertaining.  King backs up Teclis with a series of great supporting characters and intriguing villains, all of whom add a certain amount of flair and strength to the story.  While King once again fails to include any substantial or distinctive female characters, except for a few minor figures, I enjoyed the excellent character inclusions to the series and you get really invested in some new personal stories in this book.

While I did manage to get a physical copy of Giantslayer (as part of the Gotrek and Felix omnibus), I ended up listening to it on audiobook out of convenience, and due to my love of the format.  Coming in at just under 10 and a half hours, this is rather easy audiobook to get through quickly, and I manage to knock it out in a couple of days.  Like most of the Gotrek and Felix books, the audiobook format for Giantslayer was very fun and I loved how it managed to enhance the epic nature of the book.  Not only does it really showcase King’s elaborate descriptions of the Warhammer world, but it also ensured that all the many action scenes really popped as you were drawn right into the heart of the battle through the cool narration.

It helped that the listener was once again treated to the awesome narration of Jonathan Keeble, a veteran voice actor and audiobook narrator who has lend his voice to a huge number of Warhammer audiobooks, including all the Gotrek and Felix books.  Keeble is a particularly skilled narrator, not only because he produces a huge number of distinctive voices but because he brings a high level of excitement to his performances that really drags the listener in.  I love how Keeble’s voice speeds up to match the carnage and the enthusiasm and energy that permeate his voice as he describes every blow or crazy moment makes you feel like you are sitting there watching it.  I also love the very fitting voices that he brings to all the characters, all of which are pretty damn perfect and a lot of fun.  The gruff and brutal voice of Gotrek and the sarcastic, scared, yet determined tones of Felix are still just as good here as they were in Trollslayer, and all the new voices introduced by Keeble in the Giantslayer audiobook work just as well.  I loved the more ethereal and arrogant voice that Keeble used for Teclis, which really fit King’s portrayal of the character in the novel, and the cool Scottish accents that the natives of Albion spoke with were very distinctive and helped to really characterise these awesome supporting figures.  Keeble also brings a great range of monster voices to the book to fit the various Chaos creatures, orcs and giants that are such a prominent feature of the plot, and I loved how dedicated he got to bringing these creatures to life with his narration.  Keeble is a very talented narrator, and his performance adds so much to this audiobook while also helping to enhance the already exciting narrative of Giantslayer.  As such, I would highly recommend the audiobook version of this book, and you are guaranteed to have a ton of fun listening to it.

Overall, I felt that William King brought his run on the iconic Gotrek and Felix to an end in a fantastic way with Giantslayer which was another awesome and electrifying entry in the series.  Featuring an epic, lore-rich story, a ton of action, and the complex and enjoyable characters that King has spent seven books developing, Giantslayer is King at his best and all Warhammer fans will have a blast with this outstanding novel.  This entire impressive series has been so much fun to get through and King’s work on these books really stand the test of time as the Gotrek and Felix series are still the premier Warhammer Fantasy books.  I will hopefully dive into the next book in the series, Orcslayer, later this year, and while it will be odd not to have it written by King, I am very intrigued to see what Nathan Long brings to the franchise.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Immortal Longings and The Jasad Heir

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday1 Comment

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For my latest Waiting on Wednesday, I’m doing a double feature and looking at two awesome and epic upcoming fantasy novels set around deadly tournaments.

Now I hope that I’m not going to sound too weird, but I love a good death tournament.  Death tournaments, competitions or games lie at the heart of so many exceptional fantasy or science fiction read, and there is something very fun watching people compete in brutal fights to the death in elaborate scenarios.  As such, I was pretty intrigued when I came across two separate upcoming fantasy books that are strongly set around lethal tournaments, and I very much want to grab both of them.  These two books are set for release in late July 2023, and I have a feeling that they will end up being extremely fun and impressive novels.

Immortal Longings Cover 2

Amazon     Book Depository

The first of these books is Immortal Longings by bestselling author Chloe Gong, who is making her adult fantasy debut here.  While I haven’t had the chance to read any of her previous novels, I have heard good things about her young adult fantasy These Violent Delights books, and I am intrigued to experience her writing style.  It helps that her first adult fantasy book sounds pretty damn epic, and comes with a very awesome looking cover.

Plot Synopsis:

 #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong’s adult epic fantasy debut, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, is a fiery collision of power plays, spilled blood, and romance amidst a set of deadly games.

The only way to win, is to survive.

Every year, thousands flock to San-Er, the dangerously dense capital twin cities of the kingdom of Talin, where the palace hosts a set of deadly games. Those confident in their ability to jump between bodies can enter a fight to the death – for the chance to win unimaginable riches.

Princess Calla Tuoleimi has been in hiding for five years, ever since she murdered her parents to free the people of Talin from her tyrannical family. Only one person stands in her way of finishing the job: her reclusive uncle King Kasa. However, she knows he always greets the victor of the games. If she wins, she will finally get the chance to kill him.

Enter Anton Makusa, whose childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace. He’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Which means his last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.

When Anton proposes an unexpected alliance with Calla, they quickly find their partnership spiraling into something all-consuming. But before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for – her lover or her kingdom. For no matter what, only one of them can walk out alive . . .

Ok, now this is one very interesting sounding book.  I love the idea of a fugitive princess entering a death tournament to try and kill her corrupt uncle, and from the plot you know that plan is going to get very complicated thanks to the other major protagonist.  I am also quite intrigued by the underlying magical concept that see people jump between bodies, and I am curious to see how the author will showcase that throughout the book.  Based on this plot synopsis, I am incredibly excited for Immortal Longings, and I think this might end up being one of the most captivating, exciting and potentially heartbreaking fantasy novels of 2023.

The Jasad Heir Cover

Amazon     Book Depository

The next novel that I wish to highlight in this post is the dark and powerful sounding fantasy read, The Jasad Heir by debuting author Sara Hashem.  This amazing sounding book will see another fugitive princess, this time running from the conquerors of her kingdom, get co-opted into a dangerous tournament by her enemy’s son, and must learn to control and unleash her magic to survive.

Plot Synopsis:

In a world of scorched kingdoms, forbidden magic, and cunning royals, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her fallen kingdom’s greatest enemy and soon finds herself embroiled in a political game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever in this stunning debut epic fantasy.

At ten years old, the Heir of Jasad flees a massacre that takes her entire family.

At fifteen, she buries her first body.

At twenty, the clock is ticking on Sylvia’s third attempt at home. Nizahl’s armies have laid waste to Jasad and banned magic across the four remaining kingdoms. Fortunately, Sylvia’s magic is as good at playing dead as she is.

When the Nizahl Heir tracks a group of Jasadis to Sylvia’s village, the quiet life she’s crafted unravels. Calculating and cold, Arin’s tactical brilliance is surpassed only by his hatred for magic. When a mistake exposes Sylvia’s magic, Arin offers her an escape: compete as Nizahl’s Champion in the Alcalah tournament and win immunity from persecution. In exchange, Arin will use her as bait to draw out the Jasadis he’s hunting.

To win the deadly Alcalah, Sylvia must work with Arin to free her trapped magic, all while staying a step ahead of his efforts to uncover her identity. But as the two grow closer, Sylvia realizes winning her freedom as Nizahl’s Champion means destroying any chance of reuniting Jasad under her banner. The scorched kingdom is rising again, and Sylvia will have to choose between the life she’s earned and the one she left behind.

This is another amazing novel that has really grabbed my attention and which I am extremely keen to check out.  Featuring a cool new fantasy world and a dangerous situation that will force a young princess to endure a deadly tournament and the regard of her enemies, The Jasad Heir sounds like another gripping and outstanding read, and I think it has a ton of potential.  It sounds like Hashem will be combining some great political, personal and magical elements in this narrative, and I have a feeling that this will end up being one of the top debuts of the year.  As such, I will make a great effort to grab a copy and I cannot wait to see how this book unfolds.

As you can see, we are going to be very spoiled when it comes to impressive fantasy death tournaments later this year, and that is something that I am very grateful for.  Both Immortal Longings and The Jasad Heir should prove to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to experience the amazing stories they contain.

Quick Review – I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Quick Review, Short StoriesLeave a comment

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights Cover

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 29 November 2022)

Series: Kagen the Damned – Book 1.5

Length: 1 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 4.5. of 5 stars

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Get ready to dive back into the crazy world of Jonathan Maberry’s epic Kagen the Damned series with the intriguing and fun novella, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights.

Readers of this blog will know that I am a pretty big fan of acclaimed thriller/horror author Jonathan Maberry, and my experiences getting into his books are well documented across The Unseen Library.  I have been a particular fan of his impressive Joe Ledger science fiction thriller books (which includes books like Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, Code Zero, and Dogs of War), his sequel Rogue Team International series (made up of Rage and Relentless), as well as his standalone horror read Ink.  These excellent thrillers cleverly feature science heavy villains or reimagined supernatural foes to great effect, and I love the dark and elaborate stories they contain.

Maberry changed his game around last year when he presented his very first pure fantasy novel, Kagen the Damned.  An extremely dark and shocking read set in a new fantasy realm, Kagen the Damned follows Kagen Vale, a former hero and royal protector who loses everything in a single night when the force of the Witch-king of Hakkia suddenly invade, destroying his home, family and the children he was sworn to defend.  Traumatised by the carnage he witnesses and forsaken by his gods, Kagen believes himself truly damned and walks around the country in a daze before managing to pull himself together to launch a counterattack.  I had an outstanding amount of fun with Kagen the Damned, especially as Maberry made great use of his trademark writing style and successfully combined it with a fantasy setting and narrative.  Kagen the Damned ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, and I have been very keen to continue the series.  While I haven’t had a chance to listen to the recently released sequel, Son of the Poison Rose (one of my most anticipated fantasy novels of 2023) yet, I did manage to quickly listen to the connected novella, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, which proved to be a lot of fun.

I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is a short and sweet novella that showcases a quick and brutal adventure around Kagen during the period where he drunkenly wanders around the lands.  Featuring an intriguing new enemy, this is a very typical Maberry read, with a ton of violence, sex and some impressive horror iconography.

Plot Synopsis:

Kagen Vale—disgraced former palace guard, damned by his own gods, on the run from bounty hunters and assassins—discovers that no matter where you try to hide, evil can find you. In this standalone short story, Kagen the Damned squares off against a clan of ferocious supernatural predators in service to the Witch-king.


I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights was an excellent read that is guaranteed to whet reader’s appetites between Kagen the Damned and Son of the Poison Rose.  The plot itself is fast-paced and action packed as Kagen, drunk and depressed in the woods, comes across a young woman being chased by a pack of deadly wolves and rushes to her defence.  However, Kagen soon finds himself at the mercy of his supposed damsel as she is revealed to be a deranged werewolf hired by the Witch-king to kill him.  Maberry tells an effective and exciting story around this concept, which doesn’t take long to unfold.  For example, the audiobook version I listened to was only an hour and 20 minutes long, which I finished in a single setting.  As such, you really breeze through I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, since Maberry ensures that it has a very concise and comprehensive story to it.

I really liked how this entire narrative came together, and it was fun to see Maberry’s typical writing style compacted down into novella form.  The action is brutal and bloody, the characters are very over the top, and it serves as an interesting continuation of the previous narrative from Kagen the Damned.  The plot itself is very self-contained, and at times it felt more like an extended interlude from the first book.  As such, fans of the first novel will have the most fun with I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, although anyone familiar with Maberry and his horror-based books will know what they are in for.  The author has a lot of experience writing werewolf fiction, and the brutal transformations, excessive violence and inhuman nature of the characters, which really freak the protagonist out, make for some striking and compelling scenes.  Due to the length, there isn’t a great deal of universe expansion here, which isn’t too surprising, as the author focuses more on the story.  However, there are a few hints at the changing world, such as Kagen being forced to deal with more and more supernatural monsters, and he luckily comes across a useful weapon that may aid him in the future.  Plus, Maberry really showcases the continued assistance/stalking that Kagen receives from the mysterious nightbirds, which hints at things to come while also increasing the Lovecraftian feel of the entire story.

A good deal of the focus of I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is once again on the depressed and broken Kagen Vale.  Just like with Kagen the Damned, Kagen is severely damaged and drunk, having still not recovered from the devastating events of the first book.  While the action and events of the story briefly recover his wits, he is still forced to again deal with horrors outside his understanding and watching him try and overcome the odds whilst being severely outclassed is a fantastic part of this outstanding story.  Kagen of course reverts to his more bloodthirsty and deadly persona to survive, but it takes every aspect of his being to get there, and you really feel his pain, both physical and emotional.  The audiobook version really encapsulate this, especially with the always impressive narration of Ray Porter, who is such an expert at diving into Maberry’s complex and brooding protagonists.  I deeply enjoyed seeing a struggling Kagen through Porter’s narration again, and it adds some great layers and impact to the overall experience.

Unsurprisingly, I loved my latest Jonathan Maberry experience, and I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights is an impactful and captivating read.  Serving as an electrifying and compelling companion novella to the wider Kagen the Damned series, I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights provides a fun and brutal new adventure for fans to sink their teeth into, and anyone who loved Kagen the Damned will have an epic time here.  I highly enjoyed this cool novella, especially in its audiobook format, and it has got me particularly excited for the next entry in the series.  I am planning to start listening to Son of the Poison Rose this week, and I know I am going to have an exceptional time doing so.

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The Voyage of the Forgotten by Nick Martell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books2 Comments

The Voyage of the Forgotten Cover

Publisher: Gollancz (Audiobook – 3 November 2022)

Series: The Legacy of the Mercenary King – Book Three

Length: 19 hour and 47 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of the very last books I read in 2022 might be one of the very best: the latest epic novel from Nick Martell, The Voyage of the Forgotten, which showcases just how much of an impressive, rising talent this outstanding author truly is.

Since 2020, one of my absolute favourite new fantasy authors has been the very, very talented Nick Martell, who burst into the scene in a big way with his elaborate and compelling The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy.  This series started with The Kingdom of Liars, an exceptional book that introduced Martell’s intriguing fantasy world and distinctive protagonist Michael Kingman.  The scion of a formerly great family whose patriarch was executed for a murder he didn’t commit, Michael spent most of The Kingdom of Liars trying to prove his father’s innocence while also finding himself dragged into various conspiracies infecting his home city of Hollow.  I had an amazing time reading The Kingdom of Liars, and it ended up being one of my favourite books, audiobooks and debuts of 2020.  Martell expertly followed his first novel up a year later with the equally incredible The Two-Faced Queen, which continued many of the fantastic story threads from the first book.  However, the stakes were raised even further with the protagonist forced to deal with immortals, dragons, assassins, serial killers and more, all while trying to stop the woman he loves from killing him.  This was another exceptional read, and The Two-Faced Queen was easily one of the best books and audiobooks of 2021.  Naturally, there was no way that I would not read the third and final book in the series as soon as I could.  This third book, The Voyage of the Forgotten, was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and I eagerly dove into it just before the year came to a close.

After proving his father’s innocence and restoring his family’s place in Hollow society, Michael Kingman should be happy.  However, the closer he comes to victory, the more tragedy and defeat he suffers.  Not only is the love of his life, Serena, the queen of Hollow, engaged to a merchant prince with his own elaborate agenda, but dangerous conspiracies centred on Michael seem to emerge from around every corner.  His sister is enslaved to an immortal Wolven King who seeks war with his soon to be freed brothers, while his mercenary mentor, Dark, is becoming one of the most dangerous creatures in existence, using his stolen dragon magic to wreak havoc and destruction in the name of love.  However, his true enemy remains Angelo Shade, Dark’s father, who seeks to bring back his dead wife and will burn the world, and everything Michael loves, to achieve it.

Thrust once again into this deadly battle of forces outside his league or ability to comprehend, Michael only has his wits, his barely trained magic ability, and a few dedicated friends to fight against the immortal schemers who have spent years bringing their elaborate plans to fruition.  However, Michael is well used to being outclassed and underestimated by everyone he goes up against, and he resolves once again to make everyone pay to keep those he loves safe from harm.

Gathering his allies, Michael embarks on a foolish quest to fully understand all the world’s secrets that have long been hidden from him and ensure that he has the weapons to survive.  But his course of action will put him at odds with the deadly mercenaries of Regal Company, all three of the ancient Wolven Kings, and even his own mercenary company.  Defeating all of them seems impossible, but that has never stopped him from trying before.  Can even the legendary stubborn Michael Kingman succeed and achieve his goals of becoming a Mercenary King when fate itself seems set against him?  And even if he succeeds, is he willing to pay the terrible price that victory demands?

Wow oh wow, what an epic book.  Nick Martell continues to deeply impress me with his captivating story writing ability as he brings this trilogy to a powerful and momentous end that I was instantly addicted to.  The Voyage of the Forgotten was a truly exceptional read, loaded with amazing characters, elaborate fantasy lore and an intense story that refused to drop my attention.  I can find no higher praise for this book than the fact that I named it one of my favourite books of 2022 well before I had even finished it; the first half was that damn good.

Martell has come up with a pretty epic narrative for The Voyage of the Forgotten, and it is one that I will not forget in a hurry.  However, the first thing that I need to say about the story is: if you haven’t read the first two The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings novels, go back and start at the beginning.  Martell has loaded the entire series with a ton of intricate and interesting lore, and he starts rapid firing back to the events of the last two books extremely early on in the story.  While there is a useful Dramatis Personae, as well as a fun summary of previous events from one of the side characters, which helped to refresh my memory, if you haven’t read the previous books you will get lost very quickly when trying to read The Voyage of the Forgotten.  The narrator is constantly making references to previous events, revelations, or characters who only appeared in the prior books, and it can get a little confusing if you don’t know what he is talking about.  As such, I would strongly recommend reading (or re-reading) The Kingdom of Liars and The Two-Faced Queen in advance, which is a very small chore considering how amazing they are.

Now, if you’re up to speed on the prior books, you are in for a real treat when it comes to The Voyage of the Forgotten’s story.  Told mainly from the perspective of protagonist and calamity-magnet Michael Kingman, Martell weaves together an intriguing, action-packed and character-driven conclusion to the elaborate story he set up in the first two books, which also leaves a lot of room for the larger series to grow in the future.  The author once again primarily utilises a chronicle style from Michael’s perspective, which really helps to tell this unique story, especially as it forces Michael’s chaotic and hilarious personality into the story and made every scene seem that little more entertaining and personal.

The narrative itself starts quickly and effectively, with a series of fun battles, big confrontations, and a horde of vengeful dragons, all of which ensures that the reader is quickly reintroduced to the chaotic main character and the multiple tangled webs and conspiracies that he has found himself involved in.  The story quickly advances to the main issue of this book as Serena Hollow loses her memory, and Michael is forced into an epic quest to find a cure.  This of course leads Michael to fight against the entire world, as everyone is opposed to his quest, and this ends up resulting in multiple intriguing or over-the-top encounters.  At the same time, Michael is constantly trying to unravel the mysteries of the world and his many enemies.  There are some epic scenes and sequences in this first half of the book that I really fell in love with, and Martell has some fantastic writing chops behind him that makes his outrageous concepts really work and come to life.  For example, one of the best sequences in the first half of the book sees Michael trapped in his own mind, forced to experience multiple loops of a historical battle from an ancient time.  The constant death and fighting that occurs over innumerable rotations slowly drives the protagonist mad, which Martell captures perfectly in exquisite detail.  Partnered with this intriguing sequence are several scenes showing an external view of Michael’s body, which has been taken over by a malevolent entity.  This ended up being one of the best moments of the entire book, especially as it has a very fun ending.

In addition to the action, Martell continues to unwind or add to the overlying layers of conspiracies, plots and personal or historical secrets that have always been such a fun part of this series.  Several long-running story threads are finally resolved in the first half of the book, and it is so much fun to see Michael finally get quite a few intriguing answers.  Martell really does not hold back with the revelations in The Voyage of the Forgotten, and the entirety of the book is loaded with characters unburdening their secrets (at least some of them) or discussing the unique history of the wider world.  I absolutely loved every sequence where revelations about this universe and its fun inhabitants came to the surface, and it was fascinating to see how they fit into the wonderful tapestry that Martell has woven throughout this trilogy.  This universe building is further enhanced by a series of great interludes with alternate narrators, which show events outside of Michael’s knowledge and experiences.  Not only do these help to showcase some of the fun supporting characters from the first two books but it also deepens the narrative and shows what schemes his friends, and more importantly his enemies, are up to, which provides some fun foreshadowing.

Everything really comes to a head in the second half of the book as Michael and his companions are thrust towards their destinies.  After several major setbacks and further revelations that show off the sheer scope and intricacies of the story, you and the protagonist are dragged back on the road towards the final epic confrontation.  The author sets all of this off perfectly by finally answering some big secrets that have been bedevilling the protagonist since the beginning, and there is a particularly cool twist that makes you rethink every major event of the first two books.  I really loved how Martell briefly changed the narration around when this big twist is revealed and had Michael address the audience directly to reveal why he never mentioned certain details in his previous storytelling.  This helped to really sell the effectiveness of this major reveal, as well as showcase a previously unseen alternate layer to the character’s personality, and I personally thought that this was bit of pure genius from Martell.  All this leads up to the big final confrontation as Michael finally comes face to face with Angelo Shade, the main architect of his family’s pain, as well as some other surprising foes.  This big conclusion is everything you would want it to be, with some epic moments, utter tragedy and multiple character arcs coming full circle in all the right ways.  While parts of this conclusion do get a bit overly complicated and metaphysical, I felt that it came together pretty damn perfectly in ways that really fit the universe and the controversial main character to a T.  Readers will come away from this conclusion both heartbroken and hopeful, and I felt that it was an exceptional and very on-brand ending to one of the more distinctive fantasy trilogies of the last few years.

I honestly think that Martell wrapped this book up extremely well, and my only major disappointment is that there was not more crammed in, as I would have gladly listened to several more hours of it.  The exceptional narrative, backed up with extensive lore, amazing character development and the very distinctive writing style helped to make this final book really pop, and I was honestly impressed every step of the way.  I was also very happy with how Martell handled the sheer range of extensive storylines that he had set up in the previous books.  My main concern before reading the final book was that Martell would be unable to wrap up every storyline or plot point he had set up.  Indeed, there are still quite a lot of potential storylines and questions that were unresolved by the end of the book, but Martell is clearly setting up a sequel trilogy of some design in the same universe.  Some of the best ongoing storylines have been left to continue in the future, and I for one am very excited for that as I hope to spend many more years getting lost in Martell’s world.  I felt that the author was cleverly selective when it came to which storylines ended in The Voyage of the Forgotten, as he chose to close off the ones connected with protagonist Michael Kingman, while leaving others open.  This ensures that any future stories will probably focus on some of the other characters that Martell has set up in this trilogy, and indeed it is pretty clear who that will be.  I personally look forward to seeing a new take on this universe in the future, and it will be very interesting to see how the narrative continues with a major change in perspective.

One of the things that has always impressed me about The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy is the elaborate and well-thought-out fantasy world that the story has been set in.  Its dark and grim nature, coupled with the intricate history, compelling magic system, and diverse people, has always added so much to the story, and this remains true in The Voyage of the Forgotten.  Because he did not shut off this universe completely, Martell was given free rein to continue to expand on his elaborate universe, and boy did he.  The reader is treated to a ton of extra information and history about this amazing world, including some of the strongest glimpses about the mysterious Wolven Kings, the world’s various immortals and other unique creatures, and their long-running battles throughout history.  There are several glimpses of the past thanks to magic, and you really learn a lot about what previously befall many of the immortal characters and how this affects their current motivations.  In addition, several new cities, islands, nations, groups and other great elements are featured heavily in the plot as Michael and his companions explore the wider world and engage on some massive sea voyages.  Martell does a great job of incorporating these new elements or character history into his wider narrative, with the protagonists either spending substantial time exploring this information, or else discussing it with the clear intention that it might become a major detail in the future.  I really enjoyed how many of the previous novel’s mysteries were answered thanks to world expansion featured in this novel, and it is very clear that Martell has a lot more planned for this fantasy world in the future.

Of course, I also need to mention the cool magical system that Martell features throughout The Voyage of the Forgotten, especially as it has some major and extremely clever implications on the plot.  Like the first two books, the main form of magic featured is Fabrication, which forces the user to sacrifice their memories to perform magic.  It is actually quite horrifying to see the consequences of Fabrication misuse, as some of the users forget friends, facts or family, and this is often enhanced by the user’s sacrifice or by the fact that they suddenly lose all concept of someone they’d grown close to.  However, this is nothing to becoming a Forgotten, someone who has completely lost their memories or sense of self, and this is strong explored in this book.  I deeply appreciate the amazing way that Martell utilises this memory loss throughout The Voyage of the Forgotten, especially when it relates to the protagonist, as he often does not remember what he is forgetting, and it is always very heartbreaking when you notice that he, or one of the supporting characters, has forgotten something or someone important.  This darker side of magic is well counterbalanced by the various impressive usages that occur throughout The Voyage of the Forgotten, and there are some rather elaborate battles that take place as a result.  Martell also does a very deep dive into the origins of magic in this novel, and you find out some interesting facts about Fabrication, as well as other magical disciplines that exist in this universe, many of which have been cleverly foreshadowed throughout the trilogy.  I really enjoyed seeing some of the over-the-top magic that was utilised by other characters throughout the various battles, and there are some very interesting moments as a result.  It will be very interesting to see what happens to the magic use in the future, especially considering the major changes to Fabrication theory that occurred at the end of The Voyage of the Forgotten, and I look forward to seeing how Martell continues that intriguing plot thread.

While I can go on about the story, setting, magic and writing, for me the true strength of The Legacy of the Mercenary King books has always been the outstanding and extremely complex characters.  This remains the case in The Voyage of the Forgotten as Martell brings many of his best characters back for a particularly emotional adventure.  There are so many major and dramatic character moments throughout this book as Martell used the end of the trilogy to wrap up multiple character storylines and events.  I really appreciated some of the fantastic development and big character moments that occurred throughout this final book in the trilogy, and fans of the first two novels are going to be very moved by what happens to their favourite characters.

The primary focus of the plot is naturally Michael Kingman.  Martell has done some real wonders around Michael Kingman in the last two books, and he has ended up being one of the most complex characters you are ever likely to encounter.  A highly damaged individual who has had his mind warped by magic, has seen his family destroyed, has been forced to live up to an impossible legacy, and has been kept apart from the love of his life, Michael has had a lot of growing to do in the last two books, and Martell has really laid on the character development.  As such, the Michael Kingman in The Voyage of the Forgotten is wiser and more mature than we have previously seen, although he still has some ways to go.  However, Martell ensures that this growth continues in this final book, as he keeps trying to become a better person, especially when faced with the certainty of his death and the loss of people he loves.  There are some major moments when Michael is forced to face damaging revelations or hard truths and each of them change him in some way, often during a pivotal and well-written scene.  Martell also cleverly includes some great secrets about his past and his life that I thought were pretty damn epic, especially as it answers some major questions about his personal history and why he is stuck in the middle of events.

Despite all this, Michael is still the same cocky bastard that he was at the start of the trilogy and his overconfidence, determination and sheer ability to enrage anyone he comes into contact with is so damn entertaining.  Seeing normally calm and collected characters trying to deal with the Michael problem always result in some of the funniest scenes, and I loved the often hilarious edge that the character brings to much of the story due to his amusing narration.  As such, you find it very hard to dislike Michael, no matter how hard you try, and his unique and heartbreaking tale is one that will appeal to many people.  Martell wraps up much of Michael’s great and intense story in this final book and it was very moving to see some of the dark sacrifices the character is forced to make to save his family and fix some of his biggest mistakes.  I guarantee you will not be prepared for everything that Michael goes through in The Voyage of the Forgotten, but you won’t be able to turn away as Martell does some dark, yet wonderful things, to his best creation.

In addition, quite a lot of the book focuses on major secondary character Serena Hollow, Queen and love of Michael’s life, who has had a turbulent relationship with her Kingman.  This relationship gets even more complex in The Voyage of the Forgotten, especially when Serena becomes a Forgotten without any idea of who she is or what her many responsibilities are.  You see a much more free version of the character in this book, and I found the differences between this person and the vengeful queen of the second book to be very intriguing.  The continued focus on the relationship between Michael and Serena hits extra hard as a result of this loss of memory, and it is fascinating and moving to see them attempt to rekindle what they had.  Honestly, their entire story is pretty tragic in this final book, but I was nice to see a powerful conclusion to their doomed love story and Martell features some damn fine character work when it comes to Serena.

Aside from Michael, The Voyage of the Forgotten features a rich and extensive cast of characters, many of whom are returning from the previous two books.  Standout characters include Dark, the mercenary killer who serves as Michael’s mentor and possibly most dangerous foe, as he attempts to find his own way to bring back the dead.  Dark is a brilliant character, and I love how Martell has written such an edge of menace around him, although by the events of The Voyage of the Forgotten Michael is pretty much immune to it, resulting in some very entertaining interactions.  You also have to love the sinister Angelo Shade as the main antagonist of the book.  Michael’s former foster father and the man responsible for his family’s downfall, Angelo has been an outstanding manipulative bugger the entire way through this trilogy, and I loved seeing more of his games in this final book.  Watching his elaborate plans come to fruition is pretty amazing, and Martell does a good job continuing to show his past and motivations, ensuring his obsession with bringing back his dead wife is mirrored by Michael’s attempts to save Serena.  Other great characters like Naomi, Chloe and Alexis have some fantastic moments in this book as the main supporters of Michael and Serena, and it was great to see some of their storylines.  The rest of the cast make some fantastic appearances as well, although it is interesting that several key characters from the first two novels only had minor appearances, and indeed I was a tad disappointed that some figures, such as amusing immortal nobleman, Charles Domet, were barely featured.  However, it is clear that Martell is saving them up for future entries in this larger series, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them next.  Overall, this was a great cast of characters and Martell should be congratulated on the amazing character work he did.

While I received a massive physical copy of The Voyage of the Forgotten, I chose to listen to the audiobook version of this book when it first came out, and boy was I glad that I did.  I have often said that the audiobook format is the perfect way to absorb vast amount of lore and universe elements (at least for me), and, with all the revelations and expansions that Martell featured here, that proved to be a major boon.  The story came across perfectly in this format, and you can easily visualise the powerful scenes, battles of wits, and some of the more outrageous actions of the characters, as they are read out to you.  It helps that this audiobook was once again narrated by one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Joe Jameson, who has impressed me before with the first two audiobooks in the series, and with his work on King of Assassins by R. J. Barker and the fun Warhammer 40,000 novel, Fire Made Flesh.  Jameson always does a remarkable job with his narration of Martell’s books, and his great tones and pacing help to move The Voyage of the Forgotten along at a fast clip.  However, the main advantage of Jameson as a narrator is the cool voices he brings out for the characters.  While I was not the biggest fan of a couple of his female voices, the majority of his narration was pretty much spot on and I felt that he really showcased the cool personalities and emotions of the key figures.  However, the best voice is saved for the main protagonist and narrator Michael Kingman, who Jameson perfectly encapsulates throughout the course of the audiobook.  Jameson really gets into Michael’s head with his narration and expertly portrays his personality, emotions and thought process.  This great portrayal of the central characters adds so much to overall quality of the entire audiobook, and my enjoyment of The Voyage of the Forgotten as a whole, and I loved every damn second of Jameson’s narration as a result.  This honestly was the best way I found to enjoy The Voyage of the Forgotten, and I very strongly recommend it as a result.  With a run time of just under 20 hours, it does take a little bit of effort to get through this audiobook, however, it is more than worth the effort as you will have a fantastic time.

If this extensive write-up didn’t give it away, I clearly deeply loved The Voyage of the Forgotten.  Nick Martell has wrapped up his The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy in an exceedingly epic way, and I deeply enjoyed how the elaborate, powerful, and character rich narrative came to an end.  This is some of Martell’s best work yet, and if you haven’t experienced this amazing fantasy author’s work yet, you are really missing out.  I look forward to seeing how Martell will continue this story in the future, and any follow-up trilogy that will jump to the top of my to-read list the moment it is announced.  In the meantime, make sure to check out this exceptional book, as well as the proceeding two novels in the trilogy, as The Voyage of the Forgotten gets one of the easiest five-star ratings I have ever given out.

The Voyage of the Forgotten Cover 2

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Waiting on Wednesday – Gods of the Wyrdwood by R. J. Barker

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday2 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest entry I look at one of my most anticipated fantasy releases of 2023 with Gods of the Wyrdwood by R. J. Barker.

Gods of the Wyrdwood Cover

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There have been some outstanding fantasy works in the last few years and I have been lucky enough to experience a range of talented authors and fantastic stories.  However, few authors have engaged me with their creativity, cleverness and ability to bring complex characters to life than the phenomenal and continually improving author, R. J. Barker.  Barker debuted back in 2017 with his debut novel, Age of Assassins that kicked off The Wounded Kingdom trilogy.  Following an assassin and his master as they attempt to unravel a political conspiracy in a dark castle, Age of Assassins was an awesome book that served as a great introduction to Barker’s writing style.  However, Age of Assassins was only the start, as he soon followed up this first book with two epic sequels, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins, both of which saw the aging protagonist become involved in several elaborate plots and battles as he tries to keep his king/best friend alive.  Both these novels were extremely good and Barker seemed to markedly improve with each book, with King of Assassins being an exceptional, five-star read in my opinion, especially with its many dark twists.

As such, by the end of The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, I was very impressed with Barker as an author, however, Barker was just getting started.  In 2019, only two years after his debut, Barker unleashed a second trilogy with The Tide Child series.  Set in a whole new fantasy world, The Tide Child trilogy was an intriguing nautical-based dark fantasy that followed a crew of a condemned ship, made of dragon bone, as they attempt to survive the dark machinations of a corrupt government while attempting to bring back the ancient sea dragons previously hunted to extinction.  This incredible trilogy stated with The Bone Ships (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019), an excellent and powerful read that perfectly introduced the trilogy’s main characters and showcased just how far Barker had come as an author as he seamlessly dived into a whole new sub-genre of fantasy fiction by pulling together an epic tale on the high seas.  The following two novels, Call of the Bone Ships and The Bone Ship’s Wake (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), were incredible sequels the expertly continued the great story while providing some powerful development to the main character.  Everything was given a dramatic and fitting ending in the final novel and The Tide Child series ended up being one of the very best trilogies I have ever read.

Naturally, after how exceptional his first two trilogies have been, I have been quite eager to see what this talented author would do next and I am deeply excited to see what new and elaborate fantasy setting and scenario he brings together.  Well, after a couple of years of waiting, my fantasy fiction prayers are about to be answered as a brand-new R. J. Barker series is set to start in June 2023.

This new Barker series will be known as the Forsaken trilogy and will once again be set in a new dark fantasy world.  The first book in this Forsaken series will be the 2023 release, Gods of the Wyrdwood, which they just released an epic cover for.  This new book has a very intriguing narrative to it and I have been very excited by all the cool details that have been revealed.

Plot Synopsis:

In a world locked in eternal winter and haunted by prophecy, a young boy trains for years to become the Chosen One, only for another to rise and claim his place in the start of an unmissable epic from a rising star in fantasy.

The northlands of Crua are locked in eternal winter, but prophecy tells of the chosen child – who will rule in the name of their God, and take warmth back from the South. Cahal du Nahere was raised to be this person: the Cowl-Rai, the saviour. Taken from his parents and prepared for his destiny.

But his time never came.

When he was fifteen he ceased to matter. Another Cowl-Rai had risen, another chosen one, raised in the name of a different God. The years of vicious physical and mental training he had endured, the sacrifice, all for nothing. He became nothing.

Twenty years later, and Cahal lives a life of secrecy on the edges of Crua’s giant forests – hiding what he is, running from what he can do. But when he is forced to reveal his true nature, he sets off a sequence of events that will reveal secrets that will shake the bedrock of his entire world, and expose lies that have persisted for generations.

So Barker is going to put his own unique spin on the classic ‘Chosen One’ storyline, yeah now that is something I can really get behind.  I already knew that I was going to love this awesome book, but damn me if that above awesome synopsis hasn’t gotten me extra excited.  I am extremely intrigued with the idea of the story following a chosen child who is replaced and made obsolete by another rising chosen champion, especially as it going to play into the larger storyline and the character’s growth so extremely well.  I can just imagine how much chaos the character is going to unleash when he reveals his existence to the world, and I am sure that every damn second of it is going to be glorious.  Thrown in an inventive and cool new fantasy world from Barker, this time an ice-locked wilderness, and I am very damn sure that this is going to be another exceptional novel.

Look, based on how much I raved about Barker at the start of this article, I doubt anyone is too surprised that I have some very high hopes for Gods of the Wyrdwood.  This author has produced some truly epic and exceptional works over the years, and it honestly seems to me that everything he touches turns to gold.  As such, I was already pretty damn excited for this book, and the powerful plot synopsis and the very striking cover has only reinforced this.  As such, I fully expect Gods of the Wyrdwood to be one of the very best books of 2023 and I intend to grab it the second that it comes out.  Everything about this book, from the story to the author, is already very outstanding and my mind, and I cannot wait to see what magic Barker weaves in this promising upcoming trilogy.

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Waiting on Wednesday – The Hunters by David Wragg

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday2 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I check out a fun sounding upcoming fantasy book with The Hunters by David Wragg.

The Hunters Cover

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A few years ago, I grabbed a copy of a very entertaining and compelling fantasy novel from a new author, The Black Hawks by David Wragg.  An excellent novel that saw a desperate young noble and a cowardly prince get rescued/kidnapped by an eclectic band of dangerous mercenaries who drag them into a series of deadly encounters across the lands.  Fast-paced, action-packed, and loaded with funny and memorable characters, The Black Hawks was a pretty epic read and I really enjoyed how the excellent story played out.  I had a lot of fun with The Black Hawks and I was really impressed by Wragg’s writing and storytelling ability.  While I haven’t had a chance to read the sequel to The Black Hawks, The Righteous, yet, I have been keeping an eye out for more books from Wragg and I was intrigued when I heard the premise for his next book, The Hunters.

The Hunters, which is currently set for release in July 2023, will be the first book in his Tales of the Plains trilogy.  Set in the same universe as The Black Hawks, The Hunters will be only loosely connected to Wragg’s first two books, with a mostly standalone a plot.  As such, I am very interested in checking it out, especially as the plot synopsis below sounds extremely fun.  The Hunters will follow a violent woman and her niece as they are hunted through the wilderness of the realms by several bands of mercenaries for unknown reasons.  Sure to be loaded with action, adventure and some crass by clever humour, The Hunters is bound to be one of the most exciting fantasy novels of 2023 and I am really keen to check it out, especially after all the fun I had with The Black Hawks.  I might also try to read The Righteous in advance of The Hunters coming out, but even if I don’t this book remains one of the top upcoming fantasy books that I am looking forward to this year.

Plot Synopsis:

Ree is a woman with a violent past – a past she is eager to put behind her. After years of wandering, she and her niece, Javani, have built a small farm in mining country, at the edge of the known world, and Ree is keeping her head down.

But one day two groups of professional killers arrive in town, looking for a young girl and an older woman. A deadly chase through deserts, mountains, and mines begins. And Ree will have to discover her former self if she is to keep them both alive.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Will of the Many by James Islington

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday2 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For my latest Waiting on Wednesday, I look at an awesome upcoming fantasy novel with a dark magical school setting, The Will of the Many by James Islington.

The Will of the Many Cover

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One of the things that I love about fantasy fiction is that there are so many awesome potential settings that can be used as a backdrop for an epic tale.  Fantasy can incorporate anything from modern urban settings to outrageous alien communities, and everything in between, and you can get some amazing reads out of that.  However, if I had to choose one of my absolute favourite settings for a fantasy, it would have to be a magical school.  Maybe its because the Harry Potter books were such a big part of my childhood, or maybe because there have been some outstanding recent novels set in fantasy academies (check out a Top Ten Tuesday list I did on the subject), but I have always loved these novels in a big way.  As such, when I see that a talented fantasy author is releasing a cool new book with a magical school setting later this year, it really gets my attention.

This upcoming book is The Will of the Many by new-to-me author James Islington, which is currently set for release in May 2023.  Set to combine mystery, intrigue, politics and the future of a nation with a dark magic school, The Will of the Many sounds particularly epic, and I am actually really excited to check it out.  The plot synopsis below has some very intriguing details to it, and the entire magical system, which is based on people ceding their Will into someone else to give them power, is very unique and opens up a raft of possibilities.  I look forward to seeing how Islington will bring everything together and I have feeling that The Will of the Many is going to end up being one of the most interesting and compelling fantasy novels of 2023.

Plot Synopsis:

At the elite Catenan Academy, where students are prepared as the future leaders of the Hierarchy empire, the curriculum reveals a layered set of mysteries which turn murderous in this new fantasy by bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

Vis, the adopted son of Magnus Quintus Ulcisor, a prominent senator within the Hierarchy, is trained to enter the famed Catenan Academy to help Ulciscor learn what the hidden agenda is of the remote island academy. Secretly, he also wants Vis to discover what happed to his brother who died at the academy. He’s sure the current Principalis of the academy, Quintus Veridius Julii, a political rival, knows much more than he’s revealing.

The Academy’s vigorous syllabus is a challenge Vis is ably suited to meet, but it is the training in the use of Will, a practice that Vis finds abhorrent, that he must learn in order to excel at the Academy. Will—a concept that encompasses their energy, drive, focus, initiative, ambition, and vitality—can be voluntarily “ceded” to someone else. A single recipient can accept ceded Will from multiple people, growing in power towards superhuman levels. Within the hierarchy your level of Will, or legal rank, determines how you live or die. And there are those who are determined to destroy this hierarchal system, as well as those in the Academy who use it to gain dominance in internationally bestselling author James Islington’s wonderfully crafted new epic fantasy series.

Quick Review – Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Quick Review, Young Adult2 Comments

Only a Monster Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 1 February 2022)

Series: Monsters – Book One

Length: 410 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Only a Monster by Australian author Vanessa Len is a particularly wonderful debut highlight of last year that I have been meaning to talk about for some time.  A brilliant and awesome young adult fantasy read, Only a Monster is an impressive novel that sees a shocked girl realise that everything she thought she knew about her family was a lie and that deep down she really is a monster.  Intense, incredibly clever, and beautifully inventive, Only a Monster was pretty damn epic and proved to be one of the best debuts of 2022.

Plot Synopsis:

With the sweeping romance of Passenger and the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song, this standout YA contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, is the first in a planned trilogy.

It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.

As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .

. . . she is not the hero.


Only a Monster has an awesome story that takes a teenage girl on a dark journey of self-discovery and magical adventure as she tries to figure out who she is and what lies within her.  Len starts this book quickly, with a good introduction to central protagonist and point-of-view character Joan Chang-Hunt, who is part of the unusual Hunt family.  A shuddering moment of unreality reveals that she is really half monster, someone who has the ability to steal time from humans to power their time-travelling abilities.  Though Joan initially tries to avoid this revelation and enjoy time with her crush, Nick, an encounter with the malevolent Oliver family of monsters forces her further into their hidden world, especially when it is revealed that Nick is secretly a monster slayer destined to kill every monster in existence, including Joan.  After a brutal series of events that sees most of her family and the other monsters of London killed in a single, coordinated massacre, Joan flees into the past with her surviving cousin Ruth and the youngest member of the Oliver family, Aaron, hoping to find a way to save their families.  Their quest leads them to try and recover a legendary artifact that will allow them to rewrite time.  But to do so, they will need to go up against the mysterious King of the Monsters and his dangerous plot to control reality.  Caught between monsters and monster slayers, the characters are forced into a series of deadly encounters which will force Joan to choose whether to retain her humanity or embrace her inner monster.

Len really came up with something special in Only a Monster, and I personally loved how this outstanding debut unfolded.  The author keeps a pretty fast pace throughout the entire book, and you are constantly thrown from intense moment to intense moment as the protagonist and her companions attempt to stay ahead of their enemies and find a way to bring back their families.  I felt that Len did a great job introducing her compelling world, fantastic characters and unique magical elements, and you quickly learn to appreciate the author’s inventive ideas.  This is actually a pretty dark read, especially as it starts with a massacre and focuses on a group of magical beings who can suck the life force out of normal humans to power their abilities.  I personally deeply enjoyed this darker tone, as Len balances it well with her unique creative ideas and the emotional character development to create an intense and addictive read.  The magical time travel elements of this book are very well done, and the darker ideas behind the absorption of people’s time span helped to make it a malevolent gift that the protagonist is forced to use by necessity.  Despite this, it does produce some fun time travel jokes, and I had a laugh at some of the pop culture references that were utilised in the identification of the period.  Len also lays down a series of interesting twists throughout the story which are revealed at perfect moments and which help to produce a pretty amazing story.  However, the absolute highlight of this book had to be the epic ending that Len decided to traumatise her readers with.  While I’m not going to give away anything here, let’s just say it is pretty insane, and I was deeply impressed with how Len set it up and executed it.

The final thing I really need to gush about when it comes to Only a Monster is the deeply complex and damaged characters featured within.  Only a Monster features a fun crew of central protagonists, each of whom are going through their own epic journeys.  The primary focus is on central character Joan Chang-Hunt, a sweet and nerdy character who, in the course of a day, finds out she is a half-monster with life-sucking time travel abilities, and then witnesses her entire extended family getting massacred.  This naturally causes her to experience a lot of emotions and trauma as she constantly tries to come to terms with how her life has unravelled and changed forever.  The main focus of her character arc is the examination of her inner monster as Joan tries to get to grips on whether she wants her abilities, especially as they force her to drain away people’s time.  She is also dealing with intense guilt over her role in the massacre that destroyed her family, partially thanks to her relationship with Nick, and this clashes hard with her own concerns about being a monster.  All this, and more, ensures that Joan is forced to grow up a lot throughout the course of Only a Monster, and she must keep making harder and harder decision as she gets closer to crossing lines she doesn’t want to.  Her final actions in this book bring all these deep feelings close to the surface as she is forced to make a terrible decision in a heartbreaking and powerful scene.  Len did an outstanding job when it came to Joan in this book, and I look forward to seeing how she continues to develop in future entries in this series.

Two other major characters I need to highlight are Joan’s accidental companion, Aaron Oliver, and her crush/personal nightmare, Nick.  Both characters have pretty dark introductions to the story, especially as they end up trying to kill Joan in the starting chapters, but Len develops them separately as the book continues.  Aaron ends up working with Joan as they try to stay alive and find a way to save their families, and they become an intriguing and combative duo throughout the book.  While Aaron is initially arrogant and antagonistic, you soon see that this is a façade, as Aaron is also incredibly damaged due to the actions of his cruel family.  Len does a wonderful job of slowly uncovering this deeper side of Aaron throughout the course of Only a Monster, and the eventual bond he forms with Joan is a touching and moving part of the book, even if it isn’t destined to last.  Nick, on the other hand, is an outstanding villain for this story, especially when it is revealed that he is an unflinching and implacable monster hunter.  Despite the connection he had formed with Joan before the events of this book, mainly because he sees her as more human than monster, Nick soon starts fanatically hunting her throughout time and becomes determined to stop her at all costs.  Clever and dark reveals about Nick come to light as the book continues, painting him in a somewhat sympathetic light, but this doesn’t stop him from hunting Joan, which leads to an exceptional and shocking confrontation towards the end of Only a Monster that perfectly changes everything.  The powerful character work contained in these central characters, as well as the intense bonds they form with Joan, are such a key part of Only a Monster, and you will come away heartbroken and moved with how their storylines unfold.

Overall, I had an incredible time with Vanessa Len’s Only a Monster, and not only was it one of the best debuts of 2022 but one of the best young adult books of the year as well.  This brilliant and powerful fantasy read had an amazing story and you will be impressed and excited by the complex characters and deeply inventive fantasy elements that are worked into this compelling narrative.  Intense, dark, and full of hope, Only a Monster is an incredible read that comes highly recommended to anyone interested in seeing the start of an extremely promising career in fantasy fiction.  I am very excited to check out the sequel, Never a Hero, later this year, and if Len keeps up the amazing writing from Only a Monster, it is going to be particularly epic and exceptional.

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