The Warrior

Not sure what to make of this one - it is mostly a rehash of ideas used in the first book in the duology (questing to save the world with a small band who are not necessarily all on the same page). The quest is a bit weirder - the location is some parallel reality with some infection spreading in rather than the icy waste, but the modified monster concept remains the same. We get a bit more backstory on what is happening back home this time, as Kell's wife provides one of the major POV characters. This story is often more interesting than the main quest story which kind of breaks the flow of the book sometimes. The characters remain as engaging as ever though and the companions of Kell provide an intriguing extra, with their own clever redemption arcs.

A nice questing novel, not breaking any new literary ground but well enough written to be enjoyable

Last summer, we were introduced to Kell Kressia, a man who was mistaken for a hero and sent on a quest to save the world from the terrible Ice Lich in the far Frozen North – and not for the first time. The Warrior picks up two years after he returned victorious and finds Kell stagnating: having been married off to Sigrid, and now appointed King, when he'd rather have gone back to his quiet life on the farm. Offering him a timely escape, comes Willow...

My full review can be read online via Grimdark Magazine, here:

https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/review-the-warrior-by-stephen-aryan/

I want to thanks the author and his publicist for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Warrior concludes the story of Kell the reluctant hero. Two years after the first book, Kell has become, although reluctantly, a king. To make matters worse his arranged marriage to his queen Sigrid is anything but happy.
However, his morose new life is interrupted by the arrival of his old quest partner Willow, a member of the mysterious Alfar race. She has come to ask him his help as her homeland is ravaged by a terrible plague.
In parallel, queen Sigrid has to go through a quest of her own, starting with her confrontation with the evil church that has gained more power and threatens her very existence. Through a series of terrible ordeals, she has to find the strength to become the very embodiment of this book title.

As with The Coward, the author touches on various subjects in his story like the misuse of faith to manipulate people, the importance and influence of stories, the strength of hope against overwhelming danger, the importance of communication and mutual support to surmount difficult times.
As always the author did a great job with the worldbuilding especially Willow's land, it was reminiscent of Stranger Thing's Upside Down world. Filled with creepy forests and mountains, unimaginable monsters, devastated and hopeless people, the characters traverse a portal to this post-apocalyptic world where time moves differently and where their very mind is poisoned by mad thoughts and feelings. The author perfectly recreated the sense of dread, despair and horror that the characters go through and his descriptions of a dark and desolated land were incredible.


Like the previous book, we follow several characters within the two plots. Kell, Willow, Sigrid, Yarra and Darya were my favourite characters and they're all compelling. I also loved how friendships between characters were developed or deepened by the ordeals they went through, and the relationship between Sigrid and Kell comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Some things did not work for me. I felt Sigrid's storyline was too rushed, I would have preferred more of a slow burn. I didn't really care about one of the POV characters and his chapters took me a bit out of the story. Also some things got repeated too much, interesting details about characters were given too late and some plot points moved too quickly.

In conclusion, this is fitting ending to this very good quest fantasy duology and I look forward to reading Stephen Aryan.