BOOK BLURB:They came from the north, and the city fell. It is a time for warriors, a time for heroes. Kell's axe howls out for blood. The land of Falanor has been invaded by an albino army, the Army of Iron. A small group set off to warn the king: Kell, a magnificent and brutal hero; his granddaughter, Nienna and her friend, Katrina; and Saark, the ex-Sword Champion of King Leanoric, disgraced after his affair with the Queen. Fighting their way south, betrayal follows battle, battle follows deviation, and they are attacked from all quarters by deadly warriors, monstrous harvesters who drain blood from their victims to feed their masters. As Falanor comes under heavy attack and invasion, only then does Nienna begin to learn the truth about grandfather Kell -- that he is anything but a hero. Ferocious fantasy from a real-life hardman come to claim the post-Gemmell world.
REVIEW:
As a new reader to the genre, I asked Gareth to pass me the next fantasy book to come to through the post. Having read a select number recommended by Gareth previously I was looking forward into my own foray into the genre so when local author Andy Remic’s offering from Angry Robot landed I thought that it would be a good place to start.
What I found was an interesting tale that had a vibrancy of its own, had big fight scenes and brought some new villains to the fore, the Clockwork Vampires. It was fast paced and above all the plot was pretty smooth, however once you take that into consideration it starts to fall apart as my major gripe (and one that I think a lot of genre fans will recognise) was that the principle cast member is very similar if not a carbon copy of Gemmell’s Druss the Legend. Which, whilst could be seen as a “homage” to the sadly lamented King of British Heroic Fantasy, it did keep coming back to me that the principle character wasn’t as fresh or vibrant as David’s and sadly lacked what I had come to expect with this type of book. Had Andy changed the character enough to make it his own would have made the book something special instead of something that blends in with the other multitude of fantasy fare on the market.
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