Mark Chadbourn

This book literally exceeded all my expectations. Every single last one I had.

I had bought this book years ago, actually on the same day that I bought “Auslander“. I remember buying it thinking that it looked very reminiscent of A Song of Ice and Fire, which I’ve never actually read. I had just started Season 2 of Game of Thrones at the time, so I was excited to read something along those same lines. As the years went by though, I forgot about this book, and recently decided to give it a go. I wasn’t to excited to read it – I was convinced I would probably sell it once I was done with it.

Boy, was I wrong.

The book centers around a man named Vidar, who doesn’t remember anything that happened to him before the last three years occurred. All he knows is that he has a vampire jewel stuck in his chest (it siphons off his energy, or demands that he kill to feed it). He is not a beloved man in Idriss, the walled, ‘Unbreakable’ city, but he is a good warrior and has favour with the King. And he is part of the Crimson Hunt, the ‘police’ force of this world.

However, the Crimson Hunt’s leader has just been brutally murdered, and Vidar is now in charge of the Crimson Hunt, and must also try and find out who killed Mellias, the most beloved man in all of Idriss.

The story has the best mixture of plot and character, along with the right elements of fantasy to it. The story deludes you into thinking, up until a good halfway through it, that it’s strictly a fantasy novel, and will then prove you wrong in one of the most unexpected and beautiful ways. It has some wonderful instances of dialogue, imagery, and even character development. Basically, it took all my low expectations and shattered them to a pulp, giving me one of the most enjoyable reads of this year. I’m so glad I decided to read this book.

Final rating: 4/5. The writing isn’t perfect, but it’s still a wonderful read if only for the story, and the curve-balls it throws you.… (mais)

My thanks to the Author publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
An exciting entertaining start to this series, well researched and written with an atmospheric and authentic feel for time and place and characters who leap from the page. The action sequences are descriptive gruesome and there are plenty of them. Hereward is right up there with the 'Uhtred' series by Bernard Cornwell.
Quality page turner from first to last page, and I look forward to reading more in this series.… (mais)

I wanted to like this book. I really did.

A story about how the modem day world had to deal with the return of magic, and all the creatures of myth and legend?

That should make for a great story.

Unfortunately there's not a single likable character in the book. Not one. Everyone is constantly at eachothers throats. Hardly a civil word between the 5 main characters.

It took everything I had hoping for good character development, buy nope.

It's rare that I say this about a book I finished, but I'll never read this again.

I will give the author this though. He does a damned good job at storytelling. Is a great story. The magic system is superb, the villains are terrifying, and I loved how he drew the changes out instead of making it happen all at once.… (mais)