The Sword Defiant

I dnf'd this book. Not necessarily because it's bad; but because it read like it was simply a written version of someone's DnD campaign. Which is perfectly fine for those who like that style, but it was overly simplistic for me, and after the first couple of chapters I wasn't at all engaged.

I'm not giving a star rating, because I don't think it's a BAD book, it's just not a book for me.

“The sword cares not who it cuts.”

That's the tagline for this book. This book is a sword that will cut you over and over and have you begging for more! Quite simply, this is THE Fantasy Book of the Year! In fact, it's in the Top 10 Fantasy Books of all time and it's one of my favorite books! Oh, and one more thing... A TALKING SWORD!!!

I love fantasy books that are highly fantastic and full of imagination. Author Gareth Hanrahan has to have one of the most creative and imaginative minds. This book has everything you could ever ask for in a fantasy novel. The world building is next level!

Imagine if you will, that the in the Lord of the Rings, there were no Hobbits. But the Fellowship still formed and they were able to win! Then imagine what happens after the book ends. That the stories, poems, and songs all tell of the mighty heroes and their victory and they all lived happily ever after. But what if it wasn't happily ever after? What if life still goes on? This is what this book is.

Alf is such a great character and his companion, the talking sword, Spellbreaker is also a fantastic character. Alf keeps putting Spellbreaker away but I wanted more of this talking sword. Olva, Alf's sister, is the character we can relate to. She's the normal person who gets introduced to the world in all its beauty and horrors. I wondered why she was included in this tale, but it works itself out. She really represents us getting to discover this world.

The prose also deserves a mention. It's kind of written in a classical fantasy-type prose that I really enjoyed. It's not at all difficult but it fit this world perfectly! Also, the cover is amazing. Just look at it! Oh... and there's a dog!

I have a new favorite author and a new favorite book. I can not hype up this book or love it any more than I do! Waiting for book two is a bummer but it will be an instant buy, as will any book this author writes!

I really wanted to like this more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I do think this is a good, well written book. I love Gareth's Black Iron Gods series - the weird twisted setting with mad gods and gaslamp fantasy. And to a certain extent the world here was also the star, a place where the dark lord has been overthrown and people are trying to pick up the pieces. The concept here is definitely good enough to draw me in.

What went wrong for me here then? The problem for me was one of the POVs. Alf, the grizzled old member of the crew who overthrew Lord Bone always stole the limelight (in particular his sword stole the limelight), and I constantly spent the other POVs time wishing that we were instead with Alf. The second story, following the mother of an abducted son just was no way near as engaging to me. This was either one too many POVs or too few POVs - if there had been additional stories for it to get mixed in with it would have been less obvious how unengaged I was with that particular story line. It was a narrative choice that just flopped a bit for me. That being said it was not awful. It was still very readable and everything else in the story really was well done.

Whilst this leans heavier on classical tropes than the Black Iron Gods series, The Sword Defiant does do a good job of bending them in interesting ways. Take the idea of undying elves. In this world they literally cannot die. They become revenants if slain and are eventually reborn. They can turn to vampirism to sustain themselves when mortally wounded. All this is some wonderful twisting of standard fantasy race tropes. There are clever twists on who the actual monster here is as well, through both current plot and allusions to the past (Lord Bone was a human lording it over the elves for example). Themes of prejudice are well dealt with. The world building really is top notch.

The central theme of the fading of the fellowship is also cleverly realized. The original heroic band who overthrew the dark lord are gradually dwindling - what happens then? It is some interesting questions to ask that take us away from standard fantasy plotlines.

I remain interested in what happens in the series, and as the story went along and the POVs converged the differentiation in my interest between them did lessen. I am intrigued to see where this goes so I do intend to continue the series. The world building really is up there with the best of the best! Hope we get more time with the sword and Alf going forward though!