Tag: Fantasy

Waiting on Wednesday – Born of an Iron Storm by Anthony Ryan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday8 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.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this somewhat late Waiting on Wednesday, I check out the awesome upcoming book from Born of an Iron Storm by Anthony Ryan.

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As some of you who are familiar with my blog would have seen, I just published a long-overdue review of the awesome 2024 novel, A Tide of Black Steel by Athony Ryan.  A sequel to the authors previous Covenant of Steel novels (The Pariah, The Martyr, and The Traitor), A Tide of Black Steel was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024, and I have been meaning to put a review of it up for a while.

As I had an outstanding time finally writing up my review for A Tide of Black Steel, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to review the intriguing upcoming sequel, Born of an Iron Storm.  The second book in the author’s Age of Wrath series, Born of an Iron Storm is set for release in late August 2025 and will continue after the impressive cliffhanger that Ryan left his previous novel on.

Plot Synopsis:

From the international bestselling author Anthony Ryan comes the spectacular second novel in a new epic new fantasy trilogy inspired by Norse mythology.

The Sister Queens have fallen and Ascarlia lies naked before the storm. A Nihlvarian plan, years in the making, has seen Ascarlia’s enemy seize the capital Skar Magnol. Now the invaders look to the wealthy port city of Olversahl to complete their conquest.

But there is hope.

Elvine is trapped at the heart of the conspiracy, yet her role in the new government offers the chance to plan resistance from within. She must tread a fine line between loyalty and secret disobedience, knowing the smallest mistake will mean her death.

Meanwhile, Thera has secured the Outer Islands, but her loyalist forces alone cannot liberate Skar Magnol. She must seek allies to have any chance of defeating the Nihlvarian threat. But her greater challenge will be to overcome her own doubts and become the leader she needs to be.

If she fails, Ascarlia will fall.

And far away across the ocean, Felnir embarks on a bloody path towards kingship whilst to the north, Ruhlin seeks escape from the tyrannical realm of Nihlvar where the mysterious Vortigurn holds sway.

Continuing the epic tale begun in A Tide of Black Steel, Born of an Iron Storm is a compelling saga of bloody retribution, deadly intrigue, and desperate courage.  

This is a very awesome sounding sequel, and it looks like Ryan is going to expand on a lot of very cool plot points in Born of an Iron Storm.  Set to continue with the four same perspective characters from A Tide of Black Steel, Born of an Iron Storm will likely start with several separate narrative threads as these great characters each try to navigate on from the dark places that they finished the last book in.  I deeply enjoyed all four of these separate, character focused stories in A Tide of Black Steel, and I look forward to seeing how each character survives their last misadventures and continues to try to fight back against the mysterious new enemy.

Of the four I think the perspective I am most looking forward to in Born of an Iron Storm is that of Elvine, a young scribe caught up in the middle of a successful conspiracy to destroy Ascarlia from within.  A lot of the reasons I am keen to see Elvine’s perspective is her recently revealed connection to the protagonist from the original Covenant of Steel novels, and it will be interesting to see where Ryan takes her familial story going forward, especially as she tries to survive alongside her adventurous half-brother, who those familiar with Ryan’s previous series will know has quite a dark legacy behind him.  Elvine’s chapters also have the potential to be some of the more intrigue and mystery laden as the protagonist attempts to rebel while forced to live in service of those who want to destroy her people, and I cannot wait to see how that blows up in her face.

While Elvine’s chapters have a good chunk of my interest based on the synopsis above, the rest of the perspective chapters in Born of an Iron Storm have a lot of potential as well, and I can see all of them being quite impressive in their own way.  Thera’s chapters will likely be the most militarised, as she attempts to fight back a massive invading fleet, so expect a lot of cool longship-on-longship or shield wall combat there.  Felnir’s narrative will likely be the most frustrating, as the young captain seeks glory and power in all the wrong places, although I feel there will be some intricate lore in these chapters.  Finally, the young escaping pit fighter Ruhlin will likely have a dark tale of survival and finding oneself in his storylines, and it will be interesting to see how this monster survives on the run.  All four of these character perspectives sound extremely compelling, and I am anticipating that there will be some excellent crossover the further we get into Born of an Iron Storm’s story, which should make for a particularly incredible novel.

Due to how damn impressive Anthony Ryan’s last four books have been, there is no way that I will be missing out on Born of an Iron Storm later this year.  Sure to be filled with complex characters, great action and some elaborate storytelling, Born of an Iron Storm has so much potential, and I have no doubt at all that it will be another five-star read from this great author.  As such, Born of an Iron Storm is one of my most anticipated books coming out in the second half of the year, and I cannot wait to see how Ryan continues his exceptional Age of Wrath series.

A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books11 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Audiobook – 24 September 2024)

Series: Age of Wrath – Book One

Length: 19 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After finally getting something up for We Solve Murders, I continue trying to publish long-overdue reviews for some of the better books of 2024, including the highly captivating fantasy novel A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan.

Veteran fantasy author Anthony Ryan is an author I have been really learning to enjoy in recent years, especially as I fell in love with his epic The Covenant of Steel series.  Following a young rogue who takes on the mantle of a warrior, spy, strategist and most importantly a scribe throughout his complicated and danger-filled life, The Covenant of Steel novels were an impressive collection of books loaded with great characters, a compelling chronicle style and some brilliant twists.  All three books in the series, including The Pariah (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), The Martyr (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), and The Traitor (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), were instant five-star reads from me, and I had so much fun getting through them.  As such, I was very excited to find out about Ryan’s new novel, A Tide of Black Steel, especially as it serves as a sequel to The Covenant of Steel series.  The first book in the author’s new Age of Wrath series, A Tide of Black Steel sets up a mighty fantasy tale that I had a brilliant time with.

Plot Synopsis:

From the international bestselling author Anthony Ryan comes the spectacular first novel in a new epic new fantasy trilogy inspired by Norse mythology. A new age has dawned. An age of blood and steel. An age of wrath.

The land of Ascarlia, a fabled realm of bloodied steel and epic sagas, has been ruled by the Sister Queens for centuries. No one has dared question their rule. Until now.

Whispers speak of longships of mysterious tattooed warriors, sailing under the banners of a murderous cult of oath-breakers long thought extinct. A tide of black steel that threatens to vanquish all in its path.

Thera of the Blackspear, favoured servant of the Sister Queens, is ordered to uncover the truth. As Thera sails north, her reviled brother, Felnir, sets out on his own adventure. He hopes to find the Vault of the Altvar – the treasure room of the gods – and win the Sister Queens’ favour at his sister’s expense.

Both siblings – along with a brilliant young scribe and a prisoner with a terrifying, primal power – will play a part in the coming storm.

The Age of Wrath has begun.

A Tide of Black Steel was another outstanding novel by Anthony Ryan that provided readers with a cool and layered fantasy adventure.  Cleverly expanding the fantasy universe introduced in The Covenant of Steel books, A Tide of Black Steel brings together several interesting storylines into one exciting read with a very different tone to the author’s previous novels.  Powerful, action-packed, and featuring some interesting twists and turns, A Tide of Black Steel gets a full five-star rating from me, and it was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024.

I really enjoyed how this cool novel turned out, especially as Ryan introduced an ambitious and powerful new narrative that combines bold, seafaring adventures with some complex world-building to create an outstanding read.  Serving as a loosely connected sequel to the author’s The Covenant of Steel books and told through the eyes of four compelling protagonists, the plot of A Tide of Black Steel breaks off into several divergent threads that each have their own charm while also individually exploring a dangerous new enemy threatening the world.  These perspective characters include Ruhlin, a young man who is captured for his mysterious magical abilities and must try to escape from dangerous new masters who want to use his gifts in the fighting ring.  At the same time, Thera of the Blackspear, an agent of the Sister Queens of Ascarlia, investigates a mysterious series of raids against Ascarlia’s borders, travelling to the most isolated islands of the nation.  Finally, Thera’s brother, Felnir, and the young scholar Elvine, are tasked with trying to find an ancient treasure horde and the dark secrets it contains.

Apart from Thera and Felnir’s perspective chapters, which are strongly linked for much of the book, these major storylines are kept mostly separate from each other, allowing for three separate adventures to occur simultaneously.  All these arcs were equally interesting and provided some cool alternate perspective and themes to the book, with Ruhlin’s being a dark coming-of-age plot, Thera’s being a brutal series of battles and investigation, while the combined plot of Felnir and Elvine was a great mixture of exploration, redemption and secrets.  While I was a little more drawn to Felnir and Elvine’s plotlines at times, primarily because of a couple of secretive supporting characters that hinted at a great connection between this book and The Covenant of Steel series, I honestly had a brilliant time with all the storylines, and they combined nicely into one compelling and cohesive overall plot.  All these storylines progress nicely, amping up the stakes and enhancing the adventure until they reach some thrilling conclusions where some big reveals come to pass.  While I saw a few of the twists coming, the impact of these arc conclusions was really impressive, and I came away from A Tide of Black Steel wanting more, especially as there was a cool and brutal cliff-hanger that is going to result in dark moments for the series going forward.

Ryan gave it a real classic adventure feel that worked in the context of the plot.  The author used a very different writing style here compared to The Covenant of Steel novels, as this latest book was a multi-character epic that lacked the chronicle style of the previous trilogy.  While this change in style while remaining the same universe could be potentially jarring, I think it worked quite well, and I enjoyed the complex and entertaining narrative that emerged.  Ryan proved adept at splitting the narrative between various protagonists, and the diverging perspective chapters blended well into a large and compelling story, with only occasional crossovers.  The reveal of key plot points in one perspective arc was well utilised in some of the other protagonist’s chapters, and I really enjoyed the tight, character-driven narrative that emerged.

As I have mentioned a few times, A Tide of Black Steel and the Age of Wrath series it is a part of are a sequel to Ryan’s The Covenant of Steel series, which the author uses to full effect to makes this novel even more enticing and fun.  Set years after the conclusion of The Traitor, A Tide of Black Steel takes place in a new setting, Ascarlia, a neighbouring realm to the lands featured in The Covenant of Steel books and features several characters with interesting connections to figures from the previous trilogy, including that series’ main protagonist.  Ryan has a wonderful time diving into this new setting, which has a distinctive Norse/Viking feel compared to the more traditional medieval Europe vibe of the previous novels.  This allows for an entirely new focus on naval combat, a boat and island focused culture and Norse-inspired military tactics, which really helps to set A Tide of Black Steel apart.  Ryan utilises all these elements to great effect in this new book, and the multiple longship-on-longship battles and clashes at the shield wall were impactful, as well as the well-researched and beautifully written depictions of maritime activity and nautical life.  I deeply enjoyed this expansion of Ryan’s universe, and the focus on a whole new realm within this world really opened the story options and allowed new protagonists and threats to shine.

While A Tide of Black Steel stands on its own extremely well, the events of The Covenant of Steel books are routinely referenced, and there are some very interesting connections between it and this new series.  As such, I feel that A Tide of Black Steel is a book that fans of Ryan’s previous series are going particularly enjoy, especially as they eagerly await any clues or hints about the open story threads from the end of The Covenant of Steel novels.  I know I was constantly curious to see whether some of the characters with more mysterious pasts were going to be revealed as figures we’d previously seen in the other series, and the result of that was pretty good.  I also liked how the use Ascarlia in this book finally provided a good follow-up to a key part of the first The Covenant of Steel novel, The Pariah, and I really enjoyed seeing Ryan expand on these events, including bringing back an antagonist from that book and making them a key supporting character here.  Despite all these references, those readers interested in checking out A Tide of Black Steel without reading The Covenant of Steel novels first are still guaranteed a good time, especially as Ryan provides all the relevant background and refreshes your mind about details relevant to the plot.  Still, for the full emotional attachment and background, I would recommend reading the other trilogy first, especially as they are excellent pieces of fantasy fiction.

I should also take the time to mention the excellent array of characters featured within A Tide of Black Steel, as Ryan introduces four outstanding central protagonists, as well as a great collection of supporting figures.  These characters are used to full effect throughout the course of the plot, and you grow attached to several, especially when you learn their background and motivations.  Each of the four perspective protagonists set an own excellent tone for their chapters, and I frankly enjoyed seeing all their separate adventures and differing mindsets.  Watching all of them overcome adversity, lies and issues from their past was quite impressive, and Ryan sets up some interesting, long-running character arcs that are going to be really interesting to see conclude in the future books.  The supporting cast was also quite impressive, and Ryan introduced a range of fantastic characters who were usually exclusive to a particular protagonist.  I personally enjoyed seeing a couple of Ascarlian-related characters previously featured in The Pariah return here, include Margnus Gruinskard, whose deadly duel in his previous appearance directly led to much of the carnage in the previous trilogy.  A couple of mysterious prisoners who find themselves tied to two of the protagonists also added a great deal of interest to the plot, and it was fascinating to see how they connected into the larger plot of the overall series, as well as their personal connection to a key character of this book.  I deeply enjoyed this fantastic cast, and their complex storylines added so much to the overall plot of A Tide of Black Steel.

While I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the A Tide of Black Steel paperback, I ended up listening to the audiobook version instead, primarily because I previously had such a great time with The Covenant of Steel audiobooks.  This proved to be an outstanding choice, especially as the audiobook version really helped to showcase the extended scope of Ryan’s fantasy world, while also enhancing the cool action sequences.  I personally really appreciated that they brought back narrator Steven Brand for A Tide of Black Steel, especially after he did such an awesome job voicing The Covenant of Steel audiobooks.  Brand really gets Ryan’s writing style, and he once again perfectly voiced all the key elements of the plot through his narration.  His take on the large cast of characters was particularly impressive, and each of the compelling figures featured in the plot was perfectly portrayed, with their complex personalities on full display.  I absolutely sped through A Tide of Black Steel’s nearly 20 hour long run time thanks to both the great story and the excellent narration, and this ended up being a particularly amazing audiobook that I deeply enjoyed.  A highly recommended listen and one of the best ways to experience Ryan’s cool new series.

Overall, A Tide of Black Steel was an outstanding fantasy novel, and one I really should have written something about earlier.  Cleverly expanding Ryan’s previously utilised fantasy world to create a compelling Norse-inspired fantasy adventure loaded with twists and hidden secrets, A Tide of Black Steel was a very worthy follow-up to The Covenant of Steel books and takes the reader on a very wild ride.  Exciting, intense and featuring some impressive characters, A Tide of Black Steel was extremely good, and there is a reason it was one of my favourite books from last year.  I cannot wait to see how Ryan continues the Age of Wrath series this year, and the upcoming sequel, Born of an Iron Storm, already sounds particularly awesome.

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The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books5 Comments

Publisher: Gollancz/Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 13 May  2025)

Series: The Devils – Book One

Length: 25 hours and 7 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The master of grimdark fantasy fiction presents a bold and over-the-top new story with The Devils, an outstanding, addictive and highly entertaining read that you will not be able to turn away from.

Joe Abercrombie is an impressive and compelling author who has been wowing fantasy fiction authors with his complex reads for nearly 20 years.  While he has written some other cool books, like his Shattered Sea trilogy, Abercrombie is best known for his iconic First Law series of dark fantasy novels, that followed a group of highly damaged people as they tried to survive war, magic and politics in a messed-up fantasy world.  I really enjoyed the original First Law trilogy, and Abercrombie has cleverly expanded it out over the years, including with three standalone novels and his sequel Age of Madness trilogy.  The Age of Madness novels were ones that I particularly enjoyed reading, and A Little Hatred (one of my favourite books of 2019), The Trouble With Peace (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020) and The Wisdom of Crowds (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), were very highly rated by me, and I could not get enough of this series.

Needless to say, I am a pretty big fan of Abercrombie’s novels, and I have been eagerly awaiting a new book from him since I finished The Wisdom of Crowds.  While I had hoped that we would be getting a new First Law novel, Abercrombie instead decided to present readers with something a little different with his new The Devils series.  Starting off with The Devils, this series is another clever dark fantasy series, set in an alternative, magic filled version of medieval Europe.  One of my most anticipated books of 2025, The Devils sounded so damn good, especially with its crazy plot and intriguing new setting.

The lands of Europe are in dire peril.  Between the constant wars, dangerous monsters, ruinous famines and deadly plagues, the various kingdoms of Europe are in poor condition, barely held together by the fractured church.  However, the real danger lies outside its borders, as the mysterious elves gather their power in the Holy Lands, preparing for another invasion of Europe that will surely lead to the destruction of all humanity.

In response to the growing threat of the elves, the church and its juvenile pope determine that a new ruler needs to be placed upon the Serpent Throne of Troy after its evil sorcerous empress dies.  With all four of the empress’s duplicitous and power-hungry sons unfit for the crown, the church surprisingly finds that their ideal candidate is a lowly street thief from the Holy City called Alex.  A ferrety sneak with no noble bearing or confidence, Alex is shocked to discover that she is really the long-lost Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos of Troy, destined to reunite the churches of Europe by claiming the throne.

Turning the reluctant and terrified Alex into a potential princess is one thing, but getting her to Troy is a far more difficult prospect, especially as her rival contenders to the throne are stalking Europe with their deadly, magically enhanced followers, determined to claim Troy for themselves.  To succeed in marching Alex through the European hellscape and placing her on the Serpent Throne, the church will need far more than prayers and the blessing of saints; they are going to need devils.  Luckily, such devils are close at hand. 

Deep within the Holy City lies the Chapel of Holy Expediency, which binds dangerous heretics and monsters and forces them to seek redemption through holy missions for the pope.  Led by the hapless Brother Diaz, the congregation of the Chapel of Holy Expediency is charged with getting Alex to Troy and placing her on the throne.  But can a terrified monk, an immortal knight, an arrogant necromancer, an invisible elf, a sarcastic vampire, an uncontrollable Viking werewolf and the most experienced woman in Europe succeed in making a street-rat an empress, or will their new mission only bring even more death and destruction to the continent? 

Joe Abercrombie once again shows why he is one of the very best authors of dark fantasy fiction with his captivating and deeply impressive new novel.  The Devils was an ultra-entertaining read that perfectly introduced the author’s intriguing setting and populated it with highly amusing characters and dark deeds.  Exciting, clever and loaded with over-the-top humour, The Devils was an absolute joy to listen to, and I loved every second I spent with it.  One of the most addictive novels of 2025 so far, The Devils gets a very-well deserved five-star rating from me, and readers are guaranteed an extra fun time with this crazy novel.

I absolutely loved the cool and highly entertaining story that Abercrombie came up with for The Devils, which was essentially a fun dark fantasy iteration of The Dirty Dozen/Suicide Squad narrative with some amazing monsters.  Providing a quick introduction to the key characters, the reader soon becomes highly invested in the narrative, as the memorable and very amusing protagonists begin their trek to Troy.  What follows is a classic travelling adventure story with some dark and comedic twists, as the protagonists encounter all manner of foes on the way to their destination, which they are forced to dispatch with ruthless efficiency.  While parts of this story start to become a tad formulaic, especially as the protagonists are intercepted multiple times by one of Princess Alexia’s cousins, with each encounter resulting in a deadly battle for survival against different occult forces, you are generally so entertained by the compelling characters, interesting interactions, and over-the-top action sequences, you don’t even really mind.  Abercrombie works to break up these encounters with some fun side quests, as well as altering the circumstances by having the characters occasionally split up into unlikely pairings, exploring the fun alternate medieval Europe that works as such an effective setting for this book.  This allows for some interesting changes of pace in the main quest narrative, while also allowing for some outrageous character moments as the reader gets to know the protagonists a little better.

Everything nicely leads up to the last third of The Devil, which sees the protagonists arrive at their destination against the odds.  Without going into much detail, things naturally go to hell, and everybody is forced to fight for their lives.  This chaotic series of events isn’t unexpected, as the reader is waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire book, but the who and the how of it makes for great reading.  Some excellent twists come to life here, often revealed in a fun meta way, and, while you see a couple of them coming, the entire ball of surprises and reveals make for quite an exciting end sequence.  These twists are well backed up by some of the grittiest action sequences in the entire book, and you are constantly on your feet waiting to see what happens next.  The entire novel ends on a tragic, if thoughtful note, especially when you’re left to consider who the true monsters of the story are.  An overall impressive narrative, that blends alternate history and classic adventure narrative threads with Abercrombie’s wild imagination to create something exceedingly entertaining and addictive.

The Devils was a very fun and well-written story as Abercrombie provides a very intense and hard-hitting tale, bound together by dark humour, over-the-top sequences, and complex characters.  Abercrombie once again showcases his skill at balancing multiple distinctive perspectives to tell an integrated and ongoing narrative, with the story cleverly bouncing between the viewpoint of several impressive protagonists.  The continued switches between the characters allows for a very elaborate narrative, and the reader is drawn into both the overarching plot and the more personal battles of the protagonists.  I liked how Abercrombie was able to tailor the descriptive narration of each of the perspective chapters to suit the character it was following, and each chapter has a slightly different tone as a result.  However, this is a very dark overall story, as the characters encounter outrageous scenarios of death and destruction, and the resulting carnage allows for some intense moments.  I will say that The Devils did feel a little sillier than some of Abercrombie’s previous novels, although the author uses this extra layer of ridiculous energy to full effect to tell an extremely addictive story.

As you would expect from Abercrombie, the intense action sequences are a highlight of The Devils, with the many brutal sequences coming to life thanks to the author’s great descriptive style.  There was a certain casualness to some of the fights, especially those featuring the plot’s more dangerous killers, and which was enhanced by the clever overall narration of the writing.  I loved how Abercrombie set out all his scenes, with a lot of subtle humour revolving around cynical description of events, especially as the author provides some ironic results and meta commentary.  This more subtle writing of events is counterbalanced by the over-the-top humour of the dialogue, especially when it comes to certain characters.  A lot of the dialogue gets downright filthy at times, with some very adult discussions coming out in outrageous fashion.  While this excessive crass language had the potential to distract from the story, I think that Abercrombie got the right balance, with the ridiculously rude dialogue fitting in well amongst the crazy events of the plot.  While the combination of ugly events, adult humour and cooky carnage isn’t going to be everyone, I think most fantasy fans are going to have a ton of fun with it, especially as it plays into Abercrombie’s grimdark style.  Throw in a clever alternative medieval Europe as the elaborate setting which will delight history buffs with the intricate differences, and The Devils was a very impressive read that perfectly plays the author’s strengths and talent for entertaining and dark fantasy fiction.

Fans of Abercrombie will know that the author specialises at making damaged and captivating characters to set his narratives around, and The Devils is no exception to this.  The author introduces an amazing cast of complex and memorable characters in The Devils, and I love the very impressive storylines that emerge around them.  This includes six separate perspective protagonists, two major supporting characters, and an array of interesting figures throughout Europe who play various roles in the outcome of the plot.  Abercrombie does an excellent job of introducing and utilising this complex cast, with all the major characters getting their chance to shine in some impressive ways.  While some of the characters in The Devils didn’t quite have the complexity of the protagonists from the First Law books, Abercrombie instead amps up the entertainment aspect of these figures, introducing several particularly hilarious, ridiculous and highly relatable monsters, each of whom added a great deal to the overall reading experience.

The first two characters I want to talk about are major perspective protagonists, Brother Diaz and the newly discovered princess, Alex.  Despite neither being members of the titular devils, both have major roles in this book and are shaped by their experiences with the monstrous pawns of the church.  Brother Diaz, a simple monk who is brought in to guide the devils, is initially shown to be a hapless and terrified figure, clearly out of his depth when it comes to the dangerous mission he has been entrusted with.  Abercrombie has a lot of fun showcasing him as a useless social climber at the start of the novel, and he initially has more of a comedic role in the plot.  However, as the story progresses, Diaz starts to gain a little confidence as he continues to survive, and you soon see flashes of the man he could be.  Despite falling to temptation (repeatedly), Diaz ends up being quite a stalwart figure in the book, and I loved some of the scenes where he got to show off his intelligence (including one particularly entertaining legal battle).  The way in which Abercrombie subtly added more and more depth to Diaz’s personality as the story continued was very impressive, and his growth as a character was a highlight of the book.  The author also ensured that Diaz was one of the more relatable characters in The Devils, especially as he continuously makes mistakes, finds himself shaken by his fears and failings, yet continues to try to do the right thing.

Much like Diaz, the other non-devil perspective protagonist, Alex, is also shown to be an imperfect figure who finds themselves thrust into events outside of their control.  Initially shown as a simple thief, Alex, or Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos, is ill prepared for the events before her, and is forced to rise to the occasion when she is declared long-lost royalty.  Mostly shown as the book’s damsel in distress, Alex is generally scared and lacking confidence, especially as she knows she is not the princess everyone wants her to be.  Like Diaz, Abercrombie writes Alex slowly rising to the occasion throughout course of The Devils’ plot, as she learns to fight back and become a leader.  I really liked following Alex’s journey in The Devils, and while the journey to the character finding her self-confidence is a long and bloody affair featuring some good twists, it ended up being a powerful part of the book’s overarching narrative.

Outside of Alex and Diaz, a lot of time is also spent following the other perspective members of The Devils, including Balthazar, Sunny and Vigga, who are a necromancer, an elf and a werewolf respectively.  These three characters are amazing, and I liked how well they played off each other and the rest of the cast with a great mixture of serious and more comedic elements.  For example, Balthazar (or to introduce him properly, Balthazar Sham Ivan Draxi), is a highly arrogant figure who chafes at being captured and controlled by the church.  Much of his story focuses on his many attempts to break the Papal binding compelling him to help Alex, while also dealing with the realisation that he is helpless against those he considers his lesser.  Much of the entertainment around Balthazar is his complete lack of self-awareness or humility, especially within his own mind, and while there are times when it appears that he is going to become a better person, he usually returns to his old personality when he hits a wall.  Sunny the elf, on the other hand, is a far more sensible character, who serves as the team’s shadow thanks to her ability to become invisible.  Despite her nice and helpful personality, Sunny is shown as an alien creature, incapable of understanding the humans who generally hate and fear her.  Imbued with a more subtle humour than her fellow devils, Sunny proves to be quite an interesting figure, especially when you examine her past and her dark experiences with humans.  Probably one of the more likeable and selfless figures in the book, Sunny’s arc adds a lot to the overall story, especially through her unlikely romance angle, and Abercrombie clearly had fun writing the various scenes where she traipses around invisible.

One of the more memorable cast members of The Devils is Vigga, a former Viking raider who was cursed as a werewolf and then captured by the church.  Crass, constantly controlled by her urges, incapable of self-restraint and particularly deadly, even when not a massive wolf, Vigga powers through the entirety of The Devils’ narrative, leaving a major impression whenever she appears.  Featuring some of the more visceral and entertaining perspectives of the book, which includes a combination of hungry sequences from her wolf mind and her more entertaining insights as a human with no impulse control and an inability to focus on anything, Vigga is responsible for a large part of The Devils’ chaotic and outrageous tone, and the book would not be anywhere near as fun without her.  However, as this is Abercrombie, there are quite a few darker moments in Vigga’s story, and you soon become absorbed with her attempts to pull together her fractured mind and control the monster within, especially when she gets close to her travelling companions.  The dark depression that occasionally befalls her because of her uncontrolled actions adds some major drama to certain tragic parts of The Devils’ plot, and Vigga comes away as one of the more sympathetic, if scary, characters in the book.

While the above perspective characters are all particularly impressive, my favourite was the team’s resident knight, Jakob of Thorn.  An old soldier cursed with immortality who has been fighting battles on behalf of the church and God for hundreds of years, Jakob is a tired and haggard figure bound by his many vows.  Suffering from the degradation of his body due to age and the many injuries inflicted on him, Jakob is weariness personified as he attempts to deal with his pain, and the guilt from his long history of death and service to the church.  Readers familiar with the author will know that Abercrombie specialises at writing tired old warriors who are sick of the death and destruction they cause, and Jakob of Thorn is one of his better ones (which is saying a lot).  I loved all of Jakob’s scenes, especially as he doggedly continues to fight despite his pain, often providing some of the book’s best quotes and insights.  Unsurprisingly, Abercrombie makes Jakob suffer a lot in this novel (what else would this sadistic author do with an immortal character?), and you learn a lot about his resolve and psyche as a result, especially as he knows he is the biggest monster of them all.  I really think that Jakob’s grittier and more self-aware perspective chapters helped to balance out the more outrageous character arcs in The Devils, and he was a perfect addition to this outstanding narrative.

The final two major characters I want to highlight are Baron Rikard, an ancient vampire, and Baptiste, a rogue hired to keep the devils in check, who seems to have experience with every profession possible in Europe.  Both these characters are excellent additions to the plot and manage to shine through, despite not being perspective characters.  Indeed, I felt that their role in the book was enhanced by the readers not having direct insights about their motivations or actions, and instead you get to enjoy the mystery surrounding them as you see them through the eyes of the other characters.  Baron Rikard, who serves as a fun, sarcastic figure who only helps when it suits him, proves to be a great inclusion in the plot, especially as his gentlemanly manners and demeaner makes him stand out amongst the other characters.  While a ridiculously charming figure (especially when he starts talking about dumplings), you are initially given the impression that Rikard is another trapped monster keen to escape his binding.  However, Abercrombie nicely turns this assumption on its head as the story continues, and I really enjoyed the character’s revealed motivation, especially as it shades all the character’s actions in a new light.

Baptiste, on the other hand, is a suave and entertaining figure whose impact on the book would be diminished if you got a deeper look at her thoughts, motivations or true history.  I particularly enjoyed how well Baptiste served as a foil to Balthazar, and they had a great back and forth that helped to define them both.  Throw in a range of other impressive supporting characters, including a barrage of outrageous or diabolical antagonists, and the cast of The Devils was something very special.  I cannot emphasise enough just how much fun all these characters were, and their moving and complex arcs and interactions really helped to give some powerful meat to The Devils’ entertaining narrative.  You really come away with some conflicted feelings for many of the protagonists, especially as none of your favourites have a truly happy ending, and it will be interesting to see what happens to the survivors in the future entries of the series.  A special shoutout as well to the fun artwork depicting several of these characters in The Devils paperback, especially as the artist really captures how the author wrote these colourful protagonists.

While I did receive a physical copy of The Devils, I ended up listening to this novel on audiobook, which was a fantastic choice.  Not only did the audiobook version allow for a fuller immersion in Abercrombie’s new fantasy universe and his crazy action sequences, but it also featured the superb voice of actor Steven Pacey.  Pacey, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, previously lent his voice to the audiobook versions of Abercrombie First Law novels, and he frankly does a perfect job of capturing the author’s unique tone and style.  Abercrombie’s complex writing, witty dialogue and excessive humour really come to the fore when read out by Pacey, and the narrator’s tone and cadence in The Devils always perfectly matched the intended mood of the scenes, no matter how dark or over-the-top they became.  Pacey also does some very entertaining and highly fitting voices for the key characters of The Devils, and it is amazing how well he captures all these outrageous figures.  All the defining character details, including the timid nature of Brother Diaz, the arrogance of Balthazar, the pain and weariness of Jakob, the wry amusement of Baron Rikard, the unearthly nature of Sunny and the sheer wildness of Vigga are all amazingly highlighted by Pacey’s various voices, and really come to love the characters the way that Pacey reads them out.  Thanks to Pacey’s brilliant acting and evident love for the content, this was an incredible listen, and I really cannot emphasise enough just how effectively he narrated this crazy story.  I flew through the books lengthy, 25-hour runtime due to this brilliant narration and epic narrative, and I honestly don’t believe that anyone but Steven Pacey could make Abercrombie’s amazing novels come to life in the same way.  An exceptional audiobook and one of the best things I have so far listened to in 2025.

With his trademark blend of chaos, fantastic humour and complex characters, Joe Abercrombie presents one of the very best books and audiobooks of 2025 with The Devils.  A unique and very entertaining fantasy adventure novel, The Devils pushed everything to 11 and beyond, ensuring that you couldn’t turn away.  An exceptional read from start to finish, I had so much fun with The Devils and I cannot wait to see how Abercrombie will continue this series in the future.

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Waiting on Wednesday – King Sorrow by Joe Hill

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Horror, Waiting on Wednesday9 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.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I check out King Sorrow, a very interesting upcoming novel from acclaimed author Joe Hill that sounds like quite an epic and compelling ride.

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We are nearly halfway through the year, but there are still a ton of awesome and memorable books to come.  One of the more unusual, but intriguing novels releasing in the second half of 2025 is a very distinctive read by horror and fantasy author Joe Hill.  Hill is an author whose work I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, especially as comes up with some very inventive scenarios to base his stories around, and it looks like I will finally get the chance later this year with King Sorrow.

King Sorrow, which is currently set for release in late October 2025, will be Hill’s first full novel since 2016, and looks to contain a bold and elaborate story about a group of friends who summon an ancient dragon to take down a group of drug dealers, only for their monster to turn on them.  I have to say that I really love this fantastic plot idea, and its one that has a lot of gritty potential.  Based on the synopsis below, King Sorrow will likely be a complex, character-driven read, that will explore an eclectic group of protagonists who are forced to live with the consequences of their dark mistake.  With the plot of King Sorrow set over four decades, this is probably going to be quite the elaborate novel, and I look forward to seeing the long-term problems associated with summoning a dragon who requires yearly sacrifices.

This sounds like such a fun and compelling upcoming novel, and I already quite curious about whatever dark, ethics-laden, character-defining horror story Joe Hill will be presenting in this cool book.  As such, King Sorrow is highly anticipated release for me, and I strongly believe that this will be one of the memorable books of the year.

Plot Synopsis:

SOME PROMISES SHOULD NEVER BE MADE…

Bookish dreamer Arthur Oakes is a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters and beautiful buildings.

But his idyll – and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot – is shattered when local drug dealers force him into a terrible crime: stealing rare and valuable books from the exceptional college library.

Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for help: the wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren; brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen. Together they dream up an impossible, fantastical scheme that they scarcely imagine will work: to summon the fabled dragon King Sorrow to kill those tormenting Arthur.

But the six stumble backwards into a deadly bargain – they soon learn they must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow each year or one of them will become his next victim. Unleashing consequences they can neither predict nor control, this promise will, over the course of four decades, shape and endanger their lives in ways they could never expect.

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery, Throwback Thursday3 Comments

Publisher: Gollancz/Penguin Random (Audiobook – 1993)

Series: Discworld – Book 15/City Watch – Book Two

Length: 12 hours and 58 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After yet another re-read, the classic fantasy satire novel, Men at Arms remains as one of my favourite Discworld novels by the late, great Terry Pratchett, especially as its new audiobook version breaths fresh life into the always impressive novel.

Readers of this blog will have noticed that I have been on a real Discworld rampage lately, having re-read several books from my absolute favourite fantasy series.  Much of this is due to the recent release of a cool new audiobook version of all the Discworld books, featuring an awesome array of new narrators and vocal talents.  This new format has proven particularly awesome for books like Pyramids, Moving Pictures and Small Gods, and I have been eager to see how some of the books in my favourite Discworld sub-series, the City Watch books, come across with the new narrators.

While I have a lot of love for all the books in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, my absolute favourites come from the City Watch sub-series.  Following the unlikely members of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, a rag-tag team of guards generally looked down upon by the entire city, the City Watch books features an exceptional combination of fantasy and crime fiction elements, wrapped up in Pratchett’s usual satirical humour, as the protagonists investigate a series of dastardly crimes in the supernatural Discworld.  The series started perfectly with the awesome novel Guards! Guards!, which I reviewed last year, and Pratchett did an outstanding job following this up with the brilliant sequel, Men at Arms.

After saving the sprawling and eternally crime-ridden city of Ankh-Morpork from a fire-breathing dragon, the men of the Night Watch are still at work protecting the city, even though most of the city wishes they didn’t exist.  Despite their previous escapades, it’s a bad time to be a copper in Ankh-Morpork, with species tension between the dwarfs and the trolls at boiling point, while the powerful guilds disregard the Watch’s non-existent authority.  Worse, the Night Watch has been forced to accept three diversity hires, and must now contend with a mad dwarf, a thick troll and a woman (gasp) amongst their ranks.

Despite this, when an explosion at the Assassin’s Guild literally rocks the city, it falls to Captain Samuel Vimes and his small squad to investigate the heist hidden by the blast, despite the deliberate orders of the city’s tyrannical ruler to stop.  Determined to wrap up the case before his impending marriage and retirement, Vimes is soon forced to contend with a series of unusual, but seemingly linked murders, many of which have been caused by a lethal weapon never seen on the Disc.

With riots on the streets, and assassins and fools dodging their questions, all the members of the watch, including their contentious recruits, will need to work together to solve the murders before the city descends into chaos.  But how will they fare when going up against the most dangerous criminal mind the city has ever seen, one determined to bring back the Ankh-Morpork’s ancient kings, while wielding a dangerous new weapon that could change the entire Disc forever?

Even after many, many re-reads, Men at Arms continues to shine as one of Pratchett’s better books.  Featuring an epic crime fiction narrative, loaded with impressive characters, fantastic humour and great use of Pratchett’s iconic Discworld setting, Men at Arms is a complex, emotionally charged and deeply moving read that I could honestly read 100 times and still not get bored with.  A brilliant novel that unsurprisingly gets an instant five-star rating from me.

Pratchett wrote some exceptional narratives throughout his career, but few stand up to Men at Arms in terms of complexity, cleverness and emotional impact.  Expertly reintroducing the cast of Guards! Guards!, while also bringing in some impressive new support characters, Men at Arms starts off an excellent pace, as Pratchett cleverly examines the changes to the characters, sets up the new case, while also showcasing the motivations of the apparent main antagonist.  From there, it doesn’t take long for a dark series of crimes to take place, with Vimes and his squad investigating despite the apathy of the rest of the city.  Pratchett does a lot of excellent set up in the early part of the book, and the reader soon becomes invested in the investigation, especially as the book begins to follow a series of deaths, some of which were caused by a particularly deadly weapon that modern readers will be all-too familiar with.  Some great character arcs are also introduced here, as the extended cast all hit their own various problems they are forced to overcome, with Vimes dreading his eventual retirement, Carrot feeling the added responsibility, the fun buddy-cop arc between Detritus and Cuddy, and Angua dealing with her own problems.  The author sets up and expands on these arcs throughout the book perfectly, providing additional emotional impact, as well as some interesting side angles on the main storyline.

While the first half of the novel sets everything up perfectly, it is in its second half where Men at Arms truly shines.  Pratchett keeps raising the stakes of the story, with more victims, run-ins with the shadowy antagonist, and the Watch characters attempting to understand the nature of the weapon that has been turned against the city.  The author throws in some interesting wrinkles to the case, which shadow who the true villain is, while other events throw emotional shade across several of the characters.  The various connected character arcs start to come together perfectly as the book continues, and you go into the final stretch with a range of emotions around you.  While ostensibly a comedy, Pratchett chooses to hit the tragedy element of the plot really hard in the lead up to the finale, with some big moments that will leave you speechless.  The big end reveal and confrontation is exceptional, and I loved how well all the storylines and cleverly setup plot points came together.  Everything leads up to a very desperate struggle that helps to define some of the main characters in some very powerful ways.  Pratchett chooses to leave the book on a hopeful note that sets the expanded course for the future City Watch books, while also providing some interesting insights into one of the main characters and his role in the city.  An overall epic narrative that twists, turns and keeps you guessing, while constantly entertaining and emotionally charged.

As with his other books, Pratchett perfectly sets out Men at Arms with impeccable writing, and I loved how this complex novel came about.  Featuring his usual impressive blend of fantasy and humour elements at its base, Men at Arms is both intriguing and quite funny in equal measures, and I love the subtle comedy that runs through it.  Many of these scenarios involve classic fantasy scenarios being seen through the eyes of self-aware characters, allowing the situation to be taken up to an 11, with sarcastic commentary from the witnesses.  This humour is well enhanced by several of its best characters, including a fantastic new buddy cop routine, with members of two separate and historically antagonistic species forced to work together and eventually becoming friends.  Some of the other hilarious moments in the book include unlikely members of the city’s population being conscripted into the Watch, unfunny clowns, unconventional investigation methods, and other subtle humour.  You also have to love the brilliant footnotes that seek to enhance the story and showcase just how ridiculous the Discworld is by providing additional details about the universe and the people within it.  All this results in a brilliant and highly entertaining fantasy read, and that’s before you even get to the great crime fiction elements of the story.

As with Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms stands out from the rest of the Discworld series due to the way that Pratchett provides a complex and compelling crime fiction narrative.  Focused on an explosive heist that eventually results in a series of brutal murders, Men at Arms tries to envision how firearms would disrupt the Discworld.  This allows for quite a captivating crime fiction narrative, which I feel was a much better mystery than Guards! Guards!.  Advancing more into police procedural territory than its predecessor, the mystery of Men at Arms proves to be top rate, with the protagonists going after an already known villain for much of the book.  Much of the early story involves the protagonists trying to unfurl the antagonist’s plan and discover how he committed the crime, which allows for some great scenes as the Watch inexpertly investigate.  Pratchett cleverly twists the fact that think you know who the antagonist is towards the end of the book, and I love how well he switched this key story element, especially as the implied true villain of the story is far more sinister than just evil humans.  I really enjoyed how well Pratchett sets up this mystery in Men at Arms, and even after so many re-reads there are still additional subtle clues and foreshadowing that I’m only just picking up on.  The police procedural elements of the story are also extremely well handled, with a lot of humour focused around three very unlikely recruits joining the already scruffy outsiders who make up the Watch.  All these elements come together extremely perfectly and allow for readers of various genres to come into Men at Arms and have an incredible time.

Due to Pratchett’s excellent writing style, Men at Arms does work quite well as a standalone novel, and new readers can generally enjoy this book without any prior knowledge of the Discworld series, especially once they get caught up in the cool story and amazing humour.  However, I do feel that to get the best experience with Men at Arms, readers really do need to have checked out Guards! Guards! first.  The continuing storylines, history of the city and character arcs all come into play extremely well in Men at Arms, and you get a much more complete experience viewing all City Watch novels in order.  There is also a continuation of some character arcs from the standalone novel, Moving Pictures, especially as a few major characters from there get a recurring role in this new sub-series.  As such, I would say that Men at Arms is a novel more aimed towards Pratchett’s established fans, with those who loved Guards! Guards! guaranteed to enjoy its impressive sequel and the compelling direction Pratchett starts to take the City Watch books in.  It helps that the author continued to explore the crumbling and crime-ridden city that is Ankh-Morpork in this Men at Arms, providing even more details about its governance, mindset and people.  This includes really expanding on the species tension between the dwarfs and trolls and showcasing it as a major plot point while also paralleling real-life racial tensions.  This focus on dwarf and troll conflict becomes a major plot point of the Discworld going forward (especially in the later City Watch books), and its setup here was spectacular.  Combine that with the changes that happen to the Watch at the end of the book, and Men at Arms is an important entry in the wider Discworld context, especially as so many key City Watch storylines start here.

While there are so many amazing writing elements to Men at Arms, few things top the exceptional character work that ensured that this novel was far more than just a funny fantasy novel with crime fiction elements.  Instead, the complex and heartfelt dives into its extensive main cast ensured that Men at Arms was one of the more powerful and emotionally charged entries in the Discworld (a very impressive feat).  The combination of returning protagonists from previous books, as well as a few outstanding new characters, allows for a range of different plot perspectives and personal storylines, and Pratchett effortlessly works to make you invested in all these character arcs before hitting you with intense tragedy and powerful moments.

At the centre of the plot lies main character Captain Samuel Vimes, the cynical veteran leader of the Night Watch, who has finally found happiness and romance in his life.  Now on course to retire and become a man of leisure, Vimes must deal with the horror of becoming the thing he hates most: a rich civilian.  Dealing with it by diving into one last investigation, Vimes finds himself facing everything he hates about his job, including bureaucracy and the whims of powerful people, resulting in some brilliantly chaotic scenes.  While it does seem that Vimes’s role in this story is slightly diminished compared to in other City Watch books, especially in the centre, he is still a major part of the book, and Pratchett writes some excellent storylines around him being the dogged and worn-down investigator pushing against authority and trying to solve one more crime.  The focus on his identity as a copper, the sacrifices he makes for his fellow officers, as well as the horror at having to give up the job are major parts of his character arc, and there are some truly heartbreaking moments when he realises he must give it all up.  This is well balanced with his heartwarming romance with his unlikely partner, Lady Sybil Ramkin, whose well-meaning support and determination help to make Vimes a better person.  However, it is the major sequence when Vimes finally encounters the antagonist which really provides the best look at the character.  Forced to decide between being a good cop or a figure of vengeance (a battle that rears its ugly head for Vimes many times during the series), Vimes truly hits his mental and moral limit as he faces down his adversary, and it is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire Discworld series.

While Vimes is the main character of the City Watch series, the focus of Men at Arms is a little more skewed more towards Corporal Carrot Ironfoundersson, as Pratchett expands on his excellent introduction in Guards! Guards!.  Now firmly a part of Ankh-Morpork society, Carrot has evolved from naïve newcomer to a seasoned police officer who knows literally everyone in the city.  Fully utilising his natural charisma, Carrot proves to be a major force for law and order in the city.  I loved how much Pratchett enhanced Carrot in this sequel, as his personality evolves due to his role and responsibility, and despite still appearing quite naïve and obedient, Carrot showcases some impressive intelligence driving much of the investigation.  I especially appreciated the various scenes where Carrot managed to outfox many of the city’s more dangerous figures who fall for the dumb copper routine.  Despite his new confidence and ability to bring out loyalty in others, Pratchett makes sure to show that Carrot isn’t infallible, and you see some vulnerability at times. Carrot also serves as the moral centre of the book, bringing out the best in the other members of the Watch.  His interactions with Vimes in the final confrontation were very heartfelt, especially as he keeps the man he admires most from doing the wrong thing, while the way he handles the antagonists goes to show that he is truly a good man, who you better pray you never face.  I also think that his talk with Vetinari at the end of the book was one of the best scenes in Men at Arms, especially as he truly surprises the Patrician, while also dancing around the tricky subject of Carrot’s potential position as heir to the throne.  His decision to refuse power and ensure that Vimes will be there instead really helps you keep faith in the good of people, and this was frankly Carrot’s best book.

I also have to highlight the fantastic and fun duo that was the newly instated watchmen, Cuddy and Detritus, the later of whom previously appeared in Moving Pictures.  An unusual dwarf and the thickest of trolls, the two make for a particularly unlikely and chaotic duo, which Pratchett uses to full effect as the book continues.  Thanks to the enmity that exists between their respective species, Cuddy and Detritus spend much of the early part of Men at Arms bickering with each other, including in one scene in the middle of a riot.  However, after being forced to work together, the two form a grudging bond, especially when Cuddy stops seeing Detritus as a dumb troll.  I loved how well Pratchett took the classic odd-couple police partner trope and twisted it around the compelling species-rivalry theme of the book, and the fun dynamic that forms between the new friends is a major highlight of the book.  The various sequences that follow the big scene that defines these two partners are some of the most powerful in the entire Discworld.

Following on the heels of Cuddy and Detritus is Angua, the other new recruit to the Night Watch.  Angua is an interesting figure in the story, mainly because she’s one of the few people able to see how ridiculous the entire Night Watch is.  The subsequent storylines surrounding her potentially doomed romance with Carrot and her desire to keep her status as a werewolf secret from everyone, add some excellent alternate perspectives to the plot, and Pratchett did an outstanding job setting her up as a compelling figure for the rest of the series.  It helped that for this first book she worked as a bit of a double act with the small talking street dog, Gaspode, who also previously appeared in Moving Pictures.  Gaspode proves to be a fantastic wise-cracking counterpoint to Angua, and it was hilarious to watch him mess with the various human characters who refuse to believe he can talk.  Their resulting storylines about investigating the crime as canines, as well as the unlikely dog rebellion brewing within the city, works well with the other character focused arcs, and it was fun to get a little more closure on Gaspode’s story after his previous appearance.

Other great supporting characters in Men at Arms includes the returning members of the City Watch, Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobbs.  While not as well utilised in this book as the rest of the City Watch series, they still prove to be a fantastic addition to the supporting cast.  Entertaining backers to the various other character-driven storylines, both show interesting depths in this book, whether it’s Colon acting as a put-upon drill sergeant, or Nobby’s use of his quartermaster past to obtain a collection of weapons.  Other members of the city also prove to extremely entertaining, with the tyrannical Lord Vetinari being the highlight.  The way in which Vetinari manipulates Vimes throughout the entire novel, while also understanding the true nature of most of the city’s residents is highly impressive, and I love that he stayed on as a major character after Guards! Guards!.  Throw in a complex arrangement of well-hidden antagonists, including an idea of violence that takes on a familiar form, and the cast of Men at Arms proves quite exceptional.  I really cannot emphasise just how much these carefully written character arcs and complex personal storylines increased the impact and emotional power of this novel, and you will come away loving everything about them.

I doubt anyone will be too surprised that I am about to write several paragraphs about Men at Arms’s epic audiobook formats, which I have long described as the very best way to enjoy Pratchett’s stories.  I honestly love all the Discworld audiobooks and luckily for connoisseurs, there are two outstanding versions of the Men at Arms audiobook that you can check out.

The first of these is the classic edition that was released back in 1996 and which is read by Nigel Planer.  Planer, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, lent his voice to most of the early Discworld novels, and is a key reason why I love Discworld books in this audio format.  Planer unsurprisingly does an amazing job with Men at Arms, especially as he perfectly captures Pratchett’s complex humour and intense story arcs with his brilliant narration, with every element of the book coming across in an exceptional and addictive manner.  This includes the brilliant characters, many of whom Planer previously voiced in other Discworld books.  Planner does an amazing job once again diving into these unique characters throughout Men at Arms, and the way he effortlessly portrays each character and shows their full personality and emotional range is just amazing.  He frankly provides the definitive portrayal for all the City Watch characters, and I honestly love the passion he brings to the Men at Arms audiobook. 

While the Nigel Planer audiobook version is always going to be a favourite of mine, I also have come to deeply appreciate the latest Men at Arms audiobook.  Part of a newly released collection of Disworld audiobooks that feature an interesting array of British talents bringing their vocal skills to Pratchett’s classic tales, this new Men at Arms audiobook is very impressive and is just as easy to get lost in at the classic Planer version.  Featuring the amazing cast of Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy, this Men at Arms audiobooks has a runtime just short of 13 hours, which is a few hours longer than Planer version.  However, the excellent array of narrators really makes it worth a listen.

The heart of this new Men at Arms’ audiobook is British radio and television personality Jon Culshaw, who dove into this role in a very impressive manner.  Culshaw really makes the story his own with his take on the novel and the characters, resulting in a very different feel that fans of the original Planer version will really appreciate.  Part of the reason why it was so good was that Culshaw brought back the excellent character voices and tones he previously used in Guards! Guards!, many of which provide great and often gritty new takes on some classic characters.  This includes a much rougher and despair filled Vimes, which fits the darker places Pratchett took the character in Men at Arms, especially when he goes up against the system.  His voice for Carrot captures the same keenness and naiveté that we saw in the previous book, however Culshaw’s vocal work also backed up Carrot’s excellent character development as the protagonist came into his own.  His voices for Lord Vetinari and Nobby Nobbs were also a ton of fun, with the dark and insister tones of Vetinari stealing every scene he is in, while Culshaw’s Nobby voices sounded appropriately similar to David Bradley or Jon Pertwee, which is just hilarious.  Culshaw also did an excellent job with several newly introduced City Watch characters, and I felt he got ever new additional cast members’ voice down perfectly.  My favourite was probably the troll Detritus, as Culshaw worked hard to showcase his massive and rocky troll nature, as well as his serious and slow personality.  This excellent vocal work from Culshaw ensured that the core of this Men at Arms audiobook was extremely impressive, and I really could listen to Culshaw’s take on these epic characters all day long.

As with all books in this new collection of Discworld audiobook’s, Culshaw’s main narration was perfectly backed up by recuring voices of Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz. Both play key parts in this audiobook, with Nighy providing the narration for the footnotes, while Serafinowicz was the voice of Death whenever he appeared. These performances were once again perfect, and I especially loved Nighy’s excellent work with the vital, comedic footnotes.  Nighy really enhances the impact and value of these footnotes with his calm and impressive voices, and I especially loved his take on some of the more entertaining footnotes, including one where he partially sings a bad folk song.  Serafinowicz’s role in Men at Arms is also very fun, as he brings the fan-favourite character of Death to life.  Death has several great appearances in Men at Arms, and hearing Serafinowicz’s excellent voice suddenly appear amongst the general narration really increases the impact of the character.  Both Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz’s inclusions were extremely fun, and I felt that they were combined with Culshaw’s main narration in a very impressive way.  These three brilliant British talents ensured that the new version of Men at Arms was particularly impressive, and while the original audiobook will always remain one of my favourite ways to enjoy Men at Arms, this new version is very much worth a listen and will likely inspire a new generation of Discworld fans.

Well, I think that my above excessive ramblings have probably made the point by now that I deeply enjoyed Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett.  One of the best Discworld and City Watch novels, Men at Arms was a glorious, captivating and moving read that perfectly blended crime fiction, fantasy and satire into one truly addictive and impactful book.  Clever, sharp and loaded with truly exceptional characters, Men at Arms was Pratchett at his very best, and I cannot recommend this book enough, especially on audiobook.  I can think of no higher praise for Men at Arms than to once again state that I will never get bored with this exceptional book, and it inspired me to continue the series and re-listen the next City Watch book, Feet of Clay.

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Waiting on Wednesday – The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday3 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.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For my latest Waiting on Wednesday, I check out the highly entertaining fantasy novel, The Bone Raiders by awesome author Jackson Ford.

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Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, there are a lot of entertaining fantasy novels coming out, but one of the ones that has really caught by attention is the very fun sounding read The Bone Raiders.  Written by author Jackson Ford (a pseudonym of writer Rob Boffard), who previously impressed with his Frost Files series, The Bone Raiders has an insane and deeply intriguing fantasy plot that I am really excited for.

Set for release in August 2025 and already boasting a very cool cover, The Bone Raiders will follow a group of grassland raiders feared for their habit of bedecking themselves with the bones of their enemies, as they attempt to survive a dangerous new enemy and his massive army.  When threatened with invasion, they are forced to find a way to survive, and their best idea is to do the impossible and tame the giant, fire-breathing lizards that rampage through their homeland and turn them into the ultimate raiding mount.

Those readers who are familiar with this blog will know that is the sort of crazy and hilarious sounding plot idea that I instantly love.  I have no doubt that with Ford behind the helm, this unique scenario will result in The Bone Raiders becoming something very special, especially as his outrageous characters attempt to achieve something particularly insane.  As such, I am extremely eager to get my hands on a copy of The Bone Raiders when it comes out, and I strongly believe it will be one of the more entertaining and captivating fantasy novels coming out in the second half of the year.

Plot Synopsis:

The start of an edge-of-your-seat, action-packed fantasy series from the irreverent Jackson Ford, where a wild band known as the Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland.

You don’t mess with the Rakada. The people living in the grasslands of the Tapestry call them the Bone Raiders, from their charming habit of displaying the bones of those they kill on their horses and armour.

But being a raider is tough these days. There’s a new Great Khan in the Tapestry. He’s had it with the raider clans, and plans to use his sizeable military to do something about it. And then there are the araatan: fire-breathing lizards the size of elephants, roaming the grasslands in search of dwindling food supplies.

Sayana is a Rakada scout, and she loves her job. But if she wants to keep it, she’s going to have to do something drastic. Like convincing her clan to ride araatan, instead of horses. Sayana doesn’t quite know how to get that done without being eaten and/or cooked alive, but she’d better figure it out fast – or she and her clan, along with every other raider in the Tapestry, will be wiped out.

Waiting on Wednesday – Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Waiting on Wednesday8 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.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight the final upcoming entry in the excellent Broken Blades fantasy trilogy with Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland.

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Last year I had the very great pleasure of reading Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland, an outstanding fantasy debut that saw five highly damaged killers, including a thug, a spymaster, a poisoner, an outlaw prince and a thief join forces to kill an immortal king.  Featuring a great plot, some excellent protagonists and an impressive audiobook format, Five Broken Blades was a very impressive read that ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2024.  However, this was only the start of the fun I was having with Corland’s new series.

Due to how much I enjoyed Five Broken Blades, I made sure to listen to a copy of the sequel earlier this year, Four Ruined Realms.  An excellent sequel that moved the plot of the series along in some exciting ways, including with some additional character development and a good dose of tragedy, Four Ruined Realms was an awesome novel and one of the better audiobooks I enjoyed so far this year.

After having a brilliant time reading the first two books in the Broken Blades trilogy, I was naturally very excited to find out that Corland was finishing the series off this year with the third and final book, Three Shattered Souls.  Set for release in July 2025, Three Shattered Souls will wrap up the series as the remaining protagonists will face the combined wrath of their world as they try to finish their mission and remove the tyrant king from the throne.

Plot Synopsis:

THE UNMISSABLE FINAL CONCLUSION TO THE EPIC KOREAN-INSPIRED FANTASY SENSATION, THE BROKEN BLADES TRILOGY

Some betrayals cut deeper than blades.

The Blades were never supposed to survive this long. But after the battle in Quu Harbor, escaping is no longer enough. The most dangerous liars in the four realms have one last mission – return to Yusan and finish what they started.

But now a usurper sits on the serpent throne. And he may be more dangerous than the god-king.

With three relics of the Dragon Lord in their possession, the Blades will face the might of the four realms. Enemies will become allies. Allies will become traitors. And the ones they love most? They’ll be the ones to break them.

Grief will carve the Blades into something ruthless and unrecognizable. But only by losing everything can they win this game of kings and crowns.

Three Shattered Souls looks set to continue all the best storylines from the first two books, and I am deeply excited to see where this final entry goes.  It sounds like the character’s will be involved in a three-way war against all their enemies, and I cannot wait to see what carnage comes out, especially after the chaotic conclusion of the second novel.  Corland will also have to expand and then wrap up the remaining character arcs in this final book, and I cannot wait to see how the various complex relationships, motivations and secrets finally end up, especially as there is bound to be even more treachery, mistrust and sacrifices in this final novel (based on the title, I’m worried at least one more major protagonist is dying here).  As such, Three Shattered Souls’ narrative has so much potential, and I really hope that Corland has a powerful and memorable finale in store for us.

After having an excellent time getting through the previous novels in this series, there is no way I’m stopping now, especially as Three Shattered Souls sounds so damn good.  This final Broken Blades book by Mai Corland should be something very special, and I am very excited to see how this epic trilogy comes to an end.  As such, July cannot come soon enough, and I am planning on listening to Three Shattered Souls as soon as it comes out.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery7 Comments

Publisher: Hodderscape (ebook – 8 April 2025)

Series: Shadow of the Leviathan – Book Two

Length: 432 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Robert Jackson Bennett continues to shine brightly with the epic second novel in his Shadow of the Leviathan series, A Drop of Corruption, an exceptional and incredible fantasy murder mystery that I could not get enough of.

Robert Jackson Bennett is an awesome author who has produced some impressive fantasy series over the last few years.  Best known for his Divine Cities and Founders trilogies, Bennett has consistently wowed audiences with his elaborate settings, great characters and intricate narratives.  However, even though I knew how good an author Bennett was, I honestly was not prepared for how much I would enjoy his 2024 novel, The Tainted Cup.

The Tainted Cup was a truly outstanding novel that saw Bennett bring together the fantasy and murder mystery genres into an exceptional and highly addictive fusion.  The first book in the author’s Shadow of the Leviathan series, The Tainted Cup followed the young assistant to an unnaturally gifted investigator as they attempted to solve several murders brought about by magical grass.  Set in a powerful Empire constantly under attack from giant leviathans, The Tainted Cup was a truly epic read, and I loved the elaborate narrative that emerged, as Bennett perfectly set a highly clever mystery amongst the chaotic and highly detailed fantasy setting.  The result was a five-star novel that ended up being one of my favourite books of 2024.  I really cannot emphasise enough just how good The Tainted Cup was, and I think it goes without saying that I was very keen to continue the series after that outstanding first entry.  As such, the second Shadow of the Leviathan novel, A Drop of Corruption, was one of my most anticipated books of this year, and it really did not disappoint.

On the borders of the Empire of Khanum lies the small canton of Yarrowdale, part of an independent kingdom that is reluctantly set to join the Empire.  A dank and impoverished land filled with swamps and waterways, the only thing of importance for the Empire in Yarrowdale is the high-security compound known as the Shroud.  A top-secret lab where the best scientists from the Empire dissect fallen leviathans to harvest the transformative magic found in their blood, the Shroud keeps Yarrowdale on the map and its inclusion in the Empire an inevitability.  However, when an impossible crime takes place within its borders, all eyes within the Empire will be looking towards it.

An important Imperial Treasury officer on assignment to Yarrowdale has gone missing, seemingly disappearing into thin air inside his locked and guarded quarters.  Needing answers, the Empire calls upon its most unlikely hero, the brilliant, and possibly insane, special investigator Ana Dolabra.  Accompanied by her loyal and often exasperated assistant, Dinios Kol, Ana soon invokes her uncanny talent for observations and ability to make unlikely connections to find answers.  But despite quickly working out how the victim disappeared, Ana discerns that the crime was only the first move in a diabolical master plan.

A dangerous and clever killer is stalking Yarrowdale, one with the ability to think ten steps ahead and effortlessly cover their tracks.  Worse, the killer has devious designs on the Shroud and is willing to use the facilities own dark science against it, crippling the Empire’s ability to defend itself.  To save the Empire, Ana and Din will need to discern the killer’s schemes and stop them before it is too late.  But have the pair finally met an opponent even more brilliant that Ana?

Wow, wow, wow, now that was an outstanding book!  Robert Jackson Bennett once again impresses to the extreme as A Drop of Corruption was an incredible read that I honestly could not put down.  Another excellent blend of brilliant mystery and inventive fantasy fiction, A Drop of Corruption was so damn good, and I loved every single second I spent absorbed in its captivating pages.  A very easy five-star read and one of the very best fantasy novels of 2025.

I just loved the story Bennett cooked up for A Drop of Corruption, and frankly I am still thinking about its many elaborate twists, turns and revelations.  Starting off with a good introduction to Yarrowdale, a setting starkly different to the locations from the previous book, the reader is soon brought up to speed about the unusual case within the isolated canton.  Told exclusively from the perspective of assistant investigator Dinios Kol, you soon become emmeshed in finding out how the treasury official disappeared from his guarded room, with his body soon discovered in the nearby waterways.  Thanks to the combination of Kol’s enhanced memory and the unique mind of lead investigator Ana Dolabra, the manner of the victim’s disappearance becomes apparent; however, this only raises more questions and reveals a dangerous killer stalking the canton.

Now I guarantee that at this point of the story you will be extremely hooked, thanks to the compelling mystery that is developing, as well as the intriguing characters, cool new setting and the hints of a very clever killer capable of outthinking the protagonists.  Following some cool moments that indicate just how far the killer is willing to go to achieve their goals, Bennett cleverly ties his mystery into some of the fantastic elements of the setting, including Yarrowdale politics, and the hidden science of the Apothetikal, the branch of the Empire dedicated to the biological alchemy that enhances people.  The author really raises the stakes as the book continues, especially with dangerous bioweapons, essential scientific advances, and ancient political turmoil all impacting the plot.  Bennett keeps the shocks going with several impressive scenes, especially the killer works to alter the destiny of both Yarrowdale and the Empire.

This leads up to the very exciting and fast-paced final third of the book, where all the pieces of the mystery come together.  Despite knowing the identity of their opponent, the protagonists are forced to work overtime to try and catch them as they constantly stay multiple steps ahead of them.  The protagonists are soon forced to take drastic action to get answers, and there are some great scenes as some interesting revelations come to light and various characters are forced to face the consequences of their actions.  After a particularly powerful scene that hints at dark secrets that will likely become a bigger problem later in the series, Bennett masterfully builds up to the final confrontation, where Ana provides her final deductions, and chaos reigns as a result.  This entire conclusion was so damn clever, and it was very satisfying to see Ana bring all the story threads and hidden elements of the mystery together in the climatic revelation scene.   This all results in a thoughtful, moving but overall satisfying end to the book that perfectly wraps everything up, and allows the series to continue.  Readers are guaranteed to come away from A Drop of Corruption very happy, and I know that I am even more eager to continue this series after this exceptional second outing.

As with the first Shadow of the Leviathan novel, A Drop of Corruption was an outstanding and captivating blend of fantasy and murder mystery storytelling elements, as Bennett wraps a particularly impressive investigation narrative around a distinctive fantasy setting.  In many ways an over-the-top fantasy Sherlock Holmes novel, A Drop of Corruption was so damn addictive, with no slow moments as the protagonists follow a deadly trail of a dangerous and unnatural killer.  The mystery itself is just perfect, and I loved how well the author enhanced the elaborate investigation with his own unique fantasy elements, carefully blending them together to create and even more elaborate tale.  Thanks to the constant revelations, carefully hidden clues, sudden outrageous twists and some very entertaining characters, I honestly found myself unable to put this book down, as I couldn’t wait to see what amazing reveal was coming next.  Bennett also successfully balanced the darker tone of the narrative with his own excellent character-driven humour, which ensured some lighter moments amongst the serious investigation and dangerous results.  This humour, which mostly lay around the author’s outrageous detective protagonist, often had me chuckling out loud, while never overpowering the murder mystery or fantasy elements.  Working well as either a standalone novel or a sequel to The Tainted Cup, there is something very fun for everyone in this book, and all fans of either fantasy or crime fiction can have a brilliant time here.

In addition to featuring a cool story with some wonderful blended elements, A Drop of Corruption also served as a great expansion of the outstanding fantasy realm introduced in The Tainted Cup.  I personally loved the overarching setting of the Empire of Khanum, which not only features gigantic, mutated monsters constantly attacking its walls from the sea, but also features a unique magical system of biological grafts originating from leviathan blood that alters people, animals and plants to benefit the Empire.  Many of these unique elements are on full display in A Drop of Corruption, with the focus on new grafts, research into the leviathans, and the existing enhancements of the protagonists all serving as key plot points in the main mystery.  Highlights include dangerous bio-weapons, grafts that turn the antagonist into a particularly dangerous opponent, and an elaborate look inside the research station known as the Shroud.  These unique fantasy elements are well re-introduced and expanded on as the novel continues and allowed for quite a unique crime fiction read as they are cleverly inserted into the plot.

Bennett also uses this book to explore new areas of his fantasy setting, particularly by introducing Yarrowdale, a semi-autonomous nation under the Empire’s influence that has yet to officially join it.  Filled with its own people, politics and history, as well as the influence of the Apothetikal, who have one of their most important bases there, Yarrowdale is a very different place to the previous settings featured in The Tainted Cup, and Bennett paints an elaborate picture of swamps, waterways and disgruntled locals who have their own opinions about joining the Empire.  As with the existing fantasy and setting elements of the book, Bennett expertly introduces and utilises this new setting into his narrative, and it serves as an effective and compelling background to the plot, especially when the case gets even more complicated, and the protagonists are forced to become involved in Yarrowdale politics and its royal family.  These scenes also allow Bennett to engage in a bit of social commentary, especially when it comes to the overall wickedness of kings (or other autocratic rulers), and it was fascinating to read his notes at the end where he expands on some of these points.  I really enjoyed this complex additional world building from Bennett, especially with how well it was utilised in the main story, and every new glimpse of the Empire of Khanum makes me an even bigger fan of this series.

I must also highlight the two awesome main protagonists that helped to make A Drop of Corruption so impressive, as Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra were a highly entertaining duo.  Featuring an often exasperated but loyal subordinate working for a brilliant and eccentric detective, Bennett once again achieves the iconic detective/sidekick dynamic that fans of Sherlock Holmes will be familiar with.  In this case, Dinios serves the Watson role as the book’s only point of view, which allows him to be the sounding board for the mad detective, in this case Ana, while also being present for all of her deductions.  As such the reader, through Dinios’ eyes and ears, get the full explanation for how Ana reached her conclusion as she brings her assistant up to date.

This method of splitting the load between the detective and the sidekick is a classic for a reason, and I loved seeing the compelling story emerge from Dinios’s perspective, as he was front and centre for all the case’s twists and turns.  He was also a witness to all the crazy behaviour of his boss, and Ana did not disappoint, being her usual disrespectful and slightly unhinged self.  Most of the book’s humour came from Ana’s insane behaviour and the reactions of the other characters seeing it, which, alongside her incredible detective skills, is quickly making her one of my favourite fictional detectives.  I really enjoyed the dynamic that continued in this sequel novel between Dinios and Ana, and you get a great balance of eccentric genius and troubled young apprentice throughout the story.  While this partnership hits some snags in this book, especially as Dinios dreams of a more heroic career while Ana proves to be her usual impossible self, it proves to be a strong centre to the book, especially as certain revelations bring them even closer together.  A truly incredible central pair of protagonists whose entertaining antics I could not get enough of.  Throw in a great selection of supporting characters, including an intelligent and enhanced local assistant who manages to out-sass the protagonist, a multitude of suspicious individuals who have their own secrets around Yarrowdale, and an antagonist who is built up to be an insanely intelligent opponent for the protagonists, and this really ends up being an exceptional, character focused novel with some real emotional heart to it.

Overall, A Drop of Corruption was another exceptional novel from Robert Jackson Bennett, who did a truly outstanding job continuing his Shadow of the Leviathan series.  A Drop of Corruption was so damn good, and I loved every single part of this epic fantasy and crime fiction hybrid.  I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, and it easily one of the top fantasy reads of the year.

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Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy11 Comments

Publisher: Recorded Books/Zaffe (Audiobook – 7 January 2025)

Series: The Broken Blades – Book Two

Length: 13 hours and 31 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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One of the hottest fantasy sequels of 2025 is the impressive Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland, that once again follows an entertaining band of killers and self-interested liars as they get drawn into dark events that threaten their entire world.

Last year I had the pleasure of reading the outstanding debut Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland.  The first book in Corland’s Broken Blades trilogy and one of my favourite debuts of 2024, Five Broken Blades was an impressive fantasy novel with some great Korean aesthetics that followed five deadly killers who are recruited to kill the king of Yusan and steal the magical crown that makes him invulnerable.  However, their planned assassination and heist becomes complicated by secrets, treachery and the fact that each member of the group had hidden motivations for being there.  Corland provided a pretty wonderful story for this first book, loaded with betrayals, lies and compelling character-driven perspective chapters, and I loved the great twist at the end that saw the protagonists captured and forced to engage in a new heist.  As such, I have been eagerly awaiting the sequel since last year, especially as I couldn’t wait to see how Four Ruined Realms resolved the awesome cliffhanger Corland left the first book on.

The group known as the Blades are five of the best killers, liars and thieves in the kingdom of Yusan.  Made up of a master spy, a beautiful poison-maiden, a murderous banished prince, a lethal thug and a mysterious thief, the Blades were hired to pull off an impossible task: kill Yusan’s God King Joon and steal his crown.  Each of the killers had a reason for becoming involved with the plot, as well as their own dark secrets that drove them onwards.  However, all of them underestimated Joon’s manipulations and greed, as the entire job was a ploy from the King to bring them together and evaluate their skills.

Captured and forced by bribes and threats to accept a new mission, the Blades now find themselves journeying to the neighbouring nation of Khitan, which has long resisted the armies of Yusan.  Ruled over by Joon’s vengeful sister, Quilimar, Khitan remains free thanks to the power of the Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord, one of five legendary magical treasures gifted to the ruling houses of the rival realms.  Determined to possess all the treasures, Joon gives the Blades one month to steal the ring and return it to him.  If they succeed, they will have everything they desire, but if they fail, then they and everyone they love will be killed.

Arriving in Khitan, the Blades find dangerous enemies all around, an impossible theft before them and their once cohesive group fractured thanks to their uncovered lies.  But even with their conflicting motivations and secrets out in the open, these killers can all agree on one thing: King Joon is their true enemy.  Determined to fight back, the Blades embark on a mission to gain an audience with Quilimar and find a way to use Khitan’s resources to defeat Joon.  However, there is a darker conspiracy at play within the borders of Khitan, and the Blades have once again underestimated the lengths their enemies will go to win.  Worse, each of the band still has secrets, and soon a new set of lies will tear them apart from within.

Four Ruined Realms was another exceptional fantasy novel from Corland that effortlessly drags you in with its fun action, compelling story, doomed romances and outstanding and damaged protagonists.  Perfectly telling a massive, multi-character narrative, Four Ruined Realms was a very worthy sequel to Five Broken Blades that proved very hard to put down.

Corland set forth another complex and emotionally charged narrative in Four Ruined Realms, and I loved how well she continued after the cool cliffhanger ending of the first book.  Taking place right in the aftermath of the betrayals and lies of Five Broken Blades, Four Ruined Realms begins just as the Blades arrive in Khitan and are forced to work together to survive and secure the prize, despite the complete lack of trust and the anger brought about by their revealed secrets.  Corland works a lot of great character development into these early chapters, as the book flits between the protagonists and showcases their respective mindsets.  There is a good blend of early planning, espionage, and personal issues, as the protagonists try to work together, while also maintaining additional secrets that they know will tear the group apart.  The first part of the book features some very fun sequences, especially when the male protagonists depart on an expedition for knowledge, while the girls attend a party that ends in turmoil.  At the same time, there are hints of a bigger conspiracy beneath the surface of the new realm they are in, and Corland provides some interesting clues that perfectly come into play later.

As Four Ruined Realms continues, Corland enhances the book by including more chapters from the perspective of returning protagonist Tiyung.  Tiyung, while a perspective character in Five Broken Blades, only had a relatively minor point-of-view role, so it was interesting to see him as more of an equal protagonist in the sequel.  His storyline of being stuck in a notorious prison back in Yusan proved to be particularly compelling, especially as he gets to interact with two of the book’s best supporting characters.  Tiyung’s storyline blends well with that of the main protagonists, and thanks to the simultaneous timeline, you get to see him react to the events occurring over in Khitan and find out secrets that have potential impacts on how the Blades succeed in their task.

The second half of the book primarily details the Blades’ attempts to learn more about Khitan and find a way to get an audience with its queen.  Their plans to achieve this see them once again split up into dramatic groupings, and you get some interesting adventures and interactions as a result, especially as all the powerful emotions come to the surface.  It also perfectly sets up the final massive sequence of Four Ruined Realms, which really delivered in both action and tragedy.  While I don’t want to spoil too much, readers will come away from this novel pretty heartbroken, and there are some very intense moments going on in the last third of the book.  Combined with a series of final reveals and twists, all of which are nicely foreshadowed by earlier subtle inclusions from the author, you come away from Four Ruined Realms both moved and extra excited to see how the series is going to come to an end.

As with the first book in the series, Corland sets Four Ruined Realms out in a fantastic manner, and I deeply enjoyed how the complex narrative came across.  The use of six separate perspective characters was a major highlight as it allowed for a multi-layered narrative with a focus on character development and interactions.  The author did an outstanding job of balancing the different perspectives, with all the protagonists getting their chance to shine in their respective chapters, and even the increased use of Tiyung didn’t throw this out of whack.  Indeed, Tiyung’s chapters honestly pulled the other perspectives together into a tight and captivating overarching narrative, as the inclusion of an outsider character viewing events from afar increased the complexity of the plot.

The author makes full use of the book’s alternating viewpoints to insert a lot of great story elements into the plot, so there is a little something for everyone here.  The constant intrigue and danger that the protagonists found themselves in was well balanced by the author’s excellent worldbuilding, while the cool action scenes are guaranteed to get anyone’s blood pumping.  There are also multiple romance subplots that none of the protagonists are immune to.  While not a full-on romantasy novel, a good chunk of the book is focused on the complicated relationships that have formed between various protagonists, which will appeal to some readers, especially as the doomed nature of many of these romantic affairs leads to some excellent drama and heightened personal tensions.  While there were a few more romantic subplots than I typically enjoy in a fantasy novel, I felt that Corland got the right equilibrium here, with the focus on relationships and failed love enhanced the main fantasy intrigue elements of the plot rather than distracting from them.

Four Ruined Realms proved to be a very worthy sequel to Five Broken Blades, and I really enjoyed how effectively the author continued her elaborate storylines and continued to build up her great characters.  Corland uses this book to substantially expand the overarching setting of the series, including exploring a second realm and diving into the larger politics of the world.  The primary new setting, Khitan, worked extremely well as a background to the story, especially as its history and inherent intrigue played nicely into the chaotic mission of the protagonists and the plots surrounding it.  While I loved how the narrative continued in this sequel, readers should be warned that Four Ruined Realms isn’t necessary the best place to dive into the Broken Blades books, primarily because it is the second entry in a complex ongoing fantasy series.  While Corland does a great job of recapping the key events of the first book throughout Four Ruined Realms to make it accessible to newcomers, readers should really start at the start of the trilogy as it will give you the full emotional impact, especially when it comes to the character arcs.  Still, there is plenty for everyone to enjoy here, and I feel that Four Ruined Realms was a great book and sequel for readers new or returning.

As with the first book in this trilogy, the element that really ensures Four Ruined Realms stands out was its well-crafted main characters through whose eyes we see the narrative unfold.  Corland brings back all six protagonists from the first novel, made up of Royo, Sora, Euyn, Mikail, Aeri and Tiyung, and features them as equal parts of the plot.  After exploring their tragic backstories in Five Broken Blades, Corland spends this second novel diving into the drama and turmoil caused by the events of the first book, including the reveal of their darkest secrets and hidden motivations.  This brings out a lot of mistrust, antagonism and broken romances, which works to create quite a turbulent and entertaining plot.  I really appreciated how well each of these protagonists came through as a result, and it was fascinating to see their next set of secrets and hidden concerns, especially the deeper you get into their new mission.

Of the six, Royo, Mikail and Tiyung probably had the best arcs in Four Ruined Realms.  Royo continues to be the loveable, tough street thug with a past, and his more straightforward approach to life and honest need for redemption are quite refreshing amongst the rest of the schemers in the group.  Mikail, the dark spy master, proves to be the book’s ultimate badass, and his entertaining persona, complex backstory, and conflicted opinions about his love interest Euyn, ensure that he is one of the better perspectives in Four Ruined Realms, especially as he continues to mislead and lie to everyone.  Tiyung, as I mentioned above, gets much more of a chance to shine in this sequel, and his transformation from spoiled rich kid to starving prisoner ensures you get a better look at his character.  A genuinely good person, Tiyung continues to rise above his family legacy here, and his narrative of prison life and unexpected connections was a true highlight of the book.

The rest of the Four Ruined Realms protagonists also had some excellent moments, and I really appreciated their storylines.  Euyn, the fugitive prince of Yusan, has a troubled time in this sequel, primarily as he has the most paranoia and mistrust after the events of the first book.  This leads to a lot of conflict, and Euyn’s character growth from the first book starts to reverse in places as he seeks fights and alienates his allies.  However, Corland works this conflict into an excellent overarching narrative for Euyn, with its resolution being a key part of the plot.  I also felt that Sora, the beautiful and deadly poison-maiden, had a great arc in this sequel, especially as she loses her confidence and her killing edge, becoming the group’s conscience.  The final protagonist, Aeri, is my least favourite, although she ties the central cast together nicely.  The secret child of the main antagonist Joon and the group’s traitor in the first book, Aeri is the most mistrusted protagonist, despite being in the same boat as the rest of the Blades, and spends much of Four Ruined Realms trying to prove herself again.  While her storyline is really interesting and an essential part of the overall plot, I still didn’t connect with Aeri.  I’m not sure if this is because of how she is written, or because of the narrator assigned to Aeri’s chapters, but I feel that there is a huge disconnect between Aeri and the other protagonists which makes her not quite fit in, especially with her overly manic (and horny) personality.  Still, she does have some great moments in Four Ruined Realms, and it will be very interesting to see where Aeri and her doomed romance ends up.  Throw in an array of excellent supporting figures, including outstanding and ruthless antagonists, and this proves to be an amazing overall cast, whose layered roles and interactions helps to turn Four Ruined Realms into quite an exceptional read.

As with the first book in the series, I chose to listen to the audiobook version of Four Ruined Realms, especially after Five Broken Blades came across so epically on the format.  Unsurprisingly, the sequel was just as impressive on audiobook with Four Ruined Realms also featuring talented narrators, Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Roger Yeh, Donald Chang, Jaine Ye and Sophie Oda, each of whom voiced the chapters of a particular character.  These multiple narrators worked wonders to tell Four Ruined Realms’s elaborate character-driven story, and I loved how each of them inhabited the role of their respective protagonist.  All the narrators really impressed me in Four Ruined Realms and thanks to the even spread of chapters between characters, they all got a chance to shine.  There was a fantastic array of voices featured in each chapter, and we get to hear several differing tones for the same characters throughout the course of the audiobook.  I will admit that the narration for Aeri’s chapters still didn’t quite seem to fit the tone of the rest of the audiobook, but the other chapters more than made up for it, and I really enjoyed some of the elaborate and varied voices that emerged.  Featuring a 13-and-a-half-hour runtime, this was a quicker audiobook to get through than Five Broken Blades, and it ended up being a wonderful way to appreciate Corland’s fantastic story.  As such, this format comes very highly recommended for Four Ruined realms, and I am currently planning to finish this series off on audiobook.

With even more betrayals, secrets and tragedy, Four Ruined Realms was another exceptional novel from Mai Corland, who is really starting to impress me as an author.  An outstanding sequel to Five Broken Blades, Four Ruined Realms perfectly continues the trilogy’s captivating narrative, and you won’t be prepared for all the cool twists, turns and major moments.  A brilliant and moving fantasy novel with some dramatic character moments, Four Ruined Realms was such a good book and I’m so very glad I continued this fantastic series.  I cannot wait to see how this trilogy concludes, and luckily the final book, Three Shattered Souls, is out in July.

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