As the concluding chapter of Bloodsounder’s Arc, Chains of the Heretic is a rousing and fitting finale; one which thunders out of the gate, determined to shed light upon every shadowy mystery and to resolve every plot line. This journey of Arki from naive scribe to trusted member of Captain Killcoin’s Syldoon company ending the only way it could: with both tears and optimism for a new beginning. But, wait, I’m getting ahead of myself; let me set the stage for this grimdark lovers delight.

Fans of this series recall how Scourge of the Betrayer set the table; Mr. Salyard’s introducing young Arkamandos (Arki for short) desperate to belong to an epic endeavor, some notable enterprise worth chronicling. And imaging he has found such with the rough and rugged Captain Killcoin, he eagerly sets off into the Kingdom of Anjuria upon an unknown mission, quickly finding himself immersed in political machinations, eye-opening violence, and legendary magical mysteries; his only desire to survive it all.

In Veil of the Deserters , the Syldoon mission in Anjuria comes to a dramatic climax, as the Captain’s estranged sister, Soffjian, arrives, recalling him to the capital upon the orders of Emperor Cynead. This summons sets off a chain of events which leads Arki deeper into the strange world of Captain Killcoin; his childhood, his rift with his memory witch sister, the exotic and dangerous world of the Syldoon Empire, and the mystery of the Captain’s unholy flail. Each of these facets of the Captain’s life shifting and merging into a dynamic and mesmerizing grimdark adventure, which triumphs in its realistic characters, true-to-life combat, and believable situations.

But now, in Chains of the Heretic, it must all end. Arki’s time with Captain Killcoin, Soffjian, and all the other Slydoon winding down. The quest to uncover the truth behind Bloodsounder’s magic, its true use, and the key to freeing the Captain from its unholy influence still at the forefront, even as the group finds itself fleeing from the city of Sunwrack, determined to find deposed Emperor Thumarr and aid in his revolution; their every move thwarted by imperial troops, who continue to drive Killcoin’s motley group toward the Godveil, where they will be trapped.

But there is one last, desperate hope. The cryptic lore discovered by Arki in moldy tomes pointing to a possible use for Bloodsounder. At least, the young scribe believes so — if he can convince Captain Killcoin to attempt it. But there is no promise it will work, and even if it does, Arki and his comrades might find themselves in even worse straits than facing their Syldoon enemies, because who can say what lies on the other side of the Godveil!

First off, I have to say this was a great book. A really amazing grimdark. Especially if you found the first two installments of the trilogy to your liking, because — likeScourge of the Betrayer and even more so Veil of the Deserters —Chains surrounds itself in the realistic trappings of a magical, medieval world, focuses on the people involved in the tale, and actually sets out to tell their stories without any shortcuts or deus ex machina. While it isn’t historical fantasy by any stretch, the loving details and accurate portrayals of the world and the people makes it seem so real that at times it will seem like you could hop a plane and be there in a few hours to tour the ruins. And for me, being able to fully immerse myself in a fantasy and believe it is real is the first step to falling in love with the narrative.

The second, necessary element of a great fantasy is the characters. No worries there, because Bloodsounder’s Arc has always had those.

Arki is the easy to empathize with youth, caught up in events way over his head, but willing to learn, fight to survive and, perhaps, find his place among his companions. He isn’t an instantaneous god-like hero by any stretch of the definition, but rather a real person whom you grow to like and pull for.

Captain Braylar Killcoin is so many things: the foul-mouthed soldier (Who can forget his constant “honey-cock” insults to one enemy), the rough but complex man (His past reveals so much), the harsh but fair mentor (Arki learns many hard lessons from him), and the dedicated soldier (The ending of this trilogy makes it very clear.) Each side of him turning Braylar from a simple caricature into a fully-rounded man, whom you find yourself frustrated by but always willing to forgive.

Soffjian is Braylar’s feminine side. She is still harsh, sharp as a honed blade, determined to the point of stubbornness, and unforgiving of anyone’s weaknesses, but her interactions with Arki and her brother show multiple facets of her personality. Little tidbits of humanity and her long suffering for what she is (A memory witch remember) slowly bubbling to the surface, making her a very interesting character to read about.

There are many more, but those are the big three in my eyes, and they are definitely the stars of the show.

Lastly, a story must have a compelling plot which actually pays off in the end. Lord of the Rings is the epitome of this for me personally. Tolkien taking his hobbits from their comfortable hobbit holes through the horrors of war and to fiery Mount Doom before bringing them home again — changed forever by their journey. Other series have attempted to emulate the same formula, but failed in my opinion (*Cough* The Dark Tower by Stephen King *Cough*) because their conclusions resolved nothing. But with Chains of the Heretic, Mr. Salyards hits the mark closer to Return of the King than that other unnamed (wink) series, because all the plot lines in Bloodsounder’s Arc are basically resolved here, converging together into a conclusion which not only nicely wraps up the story but acknowledges that this is merely the beginning. The start of a whole new chapter in not only Arki’s life but the other surviving characters as well, which is so realistic since life is exactly like that.

I give Chains of the Heretic and Bloodsounder’s Arc my highest recommendations; it really is one of my favorite grimdark fantasy series. While I could nitpick about small details in the narrative or bitch about this resolution or that one, I chose not to do so, because this novel should be appreciated for all the things it did so well, and I look forward to seeing Arki and friends again in the future and growing to know them again.

Immediately after finishing this novel, I rated it 3.5 star. Now, after mulling it over for a few weeks, I'm downgrading that to a 2.5 star rating for reasons to be explained.

A Crown for Cold Silver was a book seemingly tailor made for my tastes; a grimdark-esque, epic fantasy which throws you directly into a complex story, demanding that you quickly acclimate yourself to the setting and characters, as multiple points of view are used to create a rich, new world filled with unique races, strange cultures, and a deep history. At least, that is how I envisioned it. And for the first two-thirds of the novel, I enjoyed Alex Marshall’s first foray into the Crimson Empire well enough, but then the negative elements of the story overcame the positives, sending my enjoyment of the narrative into a nosedive until it eventually crumbled into oblivion after a very disappointing ending. I’ll explain why in a moment. First, let me describe the set up of this fantasy tale.

A few decades ago, a tough-as-nails revolutionary called Cold Cobalt aka the Banshee with a Blade and the First Among Villains lead her Five Villains and their home grown army across the Crimson Empire, fighting to destroy the monarchy and uplift the downtrodden people. And through skill, trickery, and pure luck, Cold Cobalt succeeded in her coup and crowned herself Queen Zosia of the Crimson Empire. May her enlightened reign last forever!

Only one problem: Zosia didn’t particularly like being queen. She found the politics and constant scheming by the remaining nobility and the Black Pope (leader of the Burnished Chain religion) insanely annoying, and when her idealistic dreams for social reform and uniform justice for all began to fail, she did what she did best: She challenged someone to a duel to the death, winner take the Empire.

In the years since Queen Zosia lost that duel, the Crimson Empire has been in perpetual turmoil. The current Queen and Black Pope fighting a bloody civil war (which has only recently ended); Zosia’s Five Villains taking part for a while before disappearing from the world stage; and the commoners whom Cold Cobalt sought to aid finding themselves beaten down more than ever. Out of this chaos, a new revolutionary movement has arisen, proclaiming in pamphlets and graffiti that ‘Zosia Lives!’

Far away from the social unrest and brewing revolution lies an isolated mountain hamlet. The people there are poor but proud, and they have avoided the civil wars, paid taxes to which ever side demanded them. When a regiment of troops arrive unexpected, they do not come for cows or goats or crops, but for blood; their mission to send a message to someone; someone they do not even know. Their subsequent acts of horrible savagery shattering the idyllic life of an aging character, who is then driven from the shadows of domestic bliss, forced to charge out into an unfamiliar world seeking bloody revenge, looking for old friends and allies, and desperately trying to recapture the old magic which once came so easy. This individual never suspecting that the war to determined the fate of the Crimson Empire – and the very world — has already begun!

Well, it sounds pretty damn good when I describe it like that, right?

And A Crown for Cold Silver did start out great. At least, in my eyes, it did.. The beginning chapters quickly and effortlessly capturing the trauma and determination of our main character. The writing style, the prose, was amazing, detailed yet crisp, leading me to favorably compare the book to one of my favorites: George R.R. Martin’s Mi>A Game of Thrones. Needless to say, I believed great things awaited me among the pages of this grimdark-esque fantasy.

Then things began to happen. Small missteps really. But they began to add up quickly. Soon, enough had arisen that I felt frustration take hold of me. Eventually, there were so many issues I had to encourage myself to finish the story. And, now, I find it difficult to write this review, because I know the negatives will greatly outstrip the positives, and I really hate to speak negatively about a writer’s work. Obviously, I can and have done so, but I don’t enjoy it; it doesn’t make me feel good. Since I’m a reviewer by choice, however, I feel it only fair to let people know the issues I had with A Crown for Cold Silver, and then they can decide for themselves if they agree or disagree with me.

First, the story was too slow. In sections, it literally crawled. I blame this on too many points of view. We go from a handful at the beginning to a plethora of characters by the end. While it certainly isn’t unusual for an epic fantasy to have multiple characters, A Crown for Cold Silver really over did it, causing the story of each person to really stagnate, as they waited for their time in the spotlight. Sure, there was a minor amount of character development, but not nearly enough considering the length of this novel.

Second, I never connected with any of the characters. Let me talk about main and supporting characters separately. Please understand that I’m using those designations loosely, because there were so many point of view characters it is difficult to pin down who the lead actually was.

For my part, I assumed the “main” character was the old-badass-coming-out-of-retirement-to-get-revenge. Naturally, I envisioned significant character development as this person dealt with a huge personal tragedy, reconnected with old friends, faced previous enemies, tried to fit into a different world, and schemed for revenge. What I got wasn’t even close. The character never developed after an amazing opening introduction. Instead, this person traveled around telling everyone “Hey, I’m a badass!” rather than actually doing anything remotely badass, then spent the rest of the time being made a fool of by lesser characters, propositioning sex from any girl who gets close for more than 5 seconds, and reminiscing about smoking, drugs, sex, and the epic skill of pipe carving. (Yes, pipe carving seems to be a big thing.) Honestly, by the end of the story, I really did not like this person at all, nor did I care if they lived or died.

As for the “supporting” characters, they were a mixed bag, but the one constant was that they were fairly unlikeable. One of them is a recovering drug addict who is a repetitive screw up, but he never seem to learn from his mistakes; another is a young man (Think Saul Silver from the moviePineapple Express) who wants to find his way in the world, but never knows how to do anything except smoke “weed”; a third is a young princess determined to prove her maturity by acting like a brat most of the time, smoking “weed”, sleeping with whomever she pleases, and refusing to listen to anyone older than thirty; and another is a religious warrior whose deformities and magical abilities mark her as a freak, but who deals with her outcast status by satisfying her sexual fetishes at every opportunity. Perhaps it is just me, but none of these guys were the least bit compelling, amusing, or complex, nor do they grow or develop at all. There were several other minor characters mixed in with these, but none of them really amounted to much other than being moving scenery.

Third, the plot twists began to loose their “WOW!” factor after a while. Twists and turns, shocks and surprises, they are part of what makes a story great. But they have to be used sparingly, or they become pretty meh. I mean, honestly, hasn’t George R.R. Martin’s tendency to kill every Stark . . . uh, I mean, main character gotten fairly pedestrian after five books? It has to me anyway, because I know it is going to happen, so there really isn’t a big “WOW!” moment, but rather an “Oh, that again” moment. And that is how I felt inCrown, because every few chapters there was another revelation about this character being someone else or this character having a hidden motive. After the third time of someone taking their helmet off and saying “Look I’m not really John Doe; I’m Jim Doe!” I just began to roll my eyes.

Fourth, the supposed gender equality. I’m all for gender equality. Strong men, strong women. Nothing better than two equals dealing with one another. Sure, some characters will be stronger than others, but no Richard Rahl-like supermen in a 2015 fantasy books, right? And I was really hopeful Crown was going to deliver a world without gender inequality. What Alex Marshall does, however, is merely replace the dominate man of yesteryears with a dominant woman and proudly declare, “Look, look, gender equality has been delivered.” I really hate to point this out, but that isn’t gender equality, merely role reversal, and it isn’t anything but a female power fantasy, the same as old school fantasy was all about male power fantasies. I mean, this is the twenty-first century, and our gender equality is a woman rescuing a male prostitute from the whorehouse and marrying him – because he is so good in bed? Or, maybe, it is a female head of household with a mustache, smoking a pipe, and ordering everyone around while her husband isn’t referred to at all – except as a sperm donor? Perhaps, it is another female who is betting on whether – she can get a certain man in bed? Or the female warriors being more skilled, more deadly, more clever, more everything than their male counterparts – even their so called equals? It goes on and on. Yay, fantasy gender equality. Ain’t it so original. Just change “he” to “she” in any story, and it is now gender equal, because our hero is Ricki Rahl, not Richard Rahl!

Fifth, the world building turned into a hodgepodge of real world cultures pieced together rather than a new, fresh world. Every culture in this book can be easily matched with its real world counterpart. The Burnished Chain and its Black Pope are so clearly a fantasy version of the Catholic Church and the Pope that it isn’t really funny. One country has Korean names and a Korean culture. Another has Indian names and Indian cultural references. It goes on and on. Some reviewers have labeled this tendency by Alex Marshall to just pick up and place real world cultures into the story without modifying them at all (except for gender equality and diversity modifications, of course) a “linguistic short-cut” to allow the author to have full grown and familiar cultures without having to bog a reader down in world building, and I can understand that, but I don’t like it. I have had issues with Glen Cook doing this same thing in his Instrumentalities of the Night series, which is so clearly thirteenth century Europe that it almost reads like historical fiction, and if I’m not willing to let my favorite fantasy author get away with it, I’m not overlooking this tendency by pseudonym Alex Marshall.

Sixth, diversity. I always get bashed, insulted, and generally trolled for pointing this out, but diversity means that lots of different lifestyles are portrayed in a story. That is diversity. Saying a story is diverse when every character is a bisexual and is promiscuous is like arguing that Lord of the Rings was diverse when every single person in the story is a heterosexual in a married relationship. It just isn’t true, and it is downright silly for you to argue that it is. And, unfortunately, Alex Marshall chose to follow the current discriminatory pattern of non-diversity by filling this tale with gender-swapped house-husbands, mustached female husbands, overpowered female warriors, weak and stupid men, and a world where every single person whose sexual preference is mentioned is bisexual. Guess that is our current excepted form of diversity: no heteros. Damn, seems eerily similar to years ago when no one could be homosexual in a fantasy, doesn’t it?

Seventh, the ending left me underwhelmed. I’m struggling to find the right words without giving away spoilers, so with that in mind, I’ll merely say the conclusion was rather stale and blah. The buildup to the confrontation wasn’t especially riveting; I wasn’t given any reason to care which side won; the foreshadowing for the first big “WOW!” moment (Oh, yes, there are two.) didn’t peak my interest very much; and when the characters were in danger, I didn’t care if they lived or died, because I’d been given no reason to like them. Even the second big “WOW!” moment, which was suppose to set up the next book, was fairly ho-hum.

Honestly, this novel is a real paradox to me. It is a story which I enjoyed immensely at the beginning, comparing it favorably to George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, then gradually lost patience with as it grew less and less compelling until now (after several weeks of mulling it over before writing this review) I’m struggle to find more than one good quality (The prose is wonderful.) to praise. Weird, I know. I feel the exact same way. But that is exactly where I find myself. So, as for the question of whether you should give A Crown for Cold Silver a try, all I can suggest is you read lots of reviews (both good and bad) and make an educated decision based on what you enjoy reading, because, as I type this, I have no idea if I will continue with this series or not. Take that for what it is worth.

When I finished Veil of the Deserters, I declared loudly on Goodreads "Damn that was good!", going on to describe it as “one of the best fantasy novels I've read in a quite a while.” And after a few weeks to mull over my initial reaction, not only do I stand by those words but confidently anoint this book the best fantasy I’ve read this year. So let me explain why you should get on board this fanboy train and start loving Bloodsounder’s Arc too.

In book one Scourge of the Betrayer, Mr. Salyards introduces his readers to the young, scribe Arki, who accepts a commission to record the exploits of a group of foreign soldiers. He believes it will be a break from his dull life chronicling the exploits of self-aggrandizing merchants and petty noblemen, but he might not have known everything he was getting into, quickly finding himself neck deep in secret, political intrigue. Plus, his employer, Captain Braylar Killcoin, seems to be possessed by a cursed flail that bombards him with the stolen memories of those he slays in battle. (Not that Arki is complaining out loud about false advertising or anything.)

From this unique “embedded journalist” beginning, Scourge goes on to weave a textured, realistic, and complex tale of Arki trying to survive in this brutal world of war and intrigue. Quickly, he begins to become desensitized to the violence around him (though he isn’t comfortable with it) and is forced to acknowledge the brutal pragmatism of many of the heinous deeds Captain Braylar and his soldiers practice routinely. And through the simple process of not dying and not betraying his wary employers, he gradually is taken into the inner circle of the Syldoon warriors; something that finally allows him (and the readers of Scourge) to start to understand all the things going on in the story.

Now, I realize some readers were put off by book one due to the slow developing story. (Even Mr. Salyards has acknowledged in interviews that he understands this criticism of Scourge.) But where book one laid the foundation for Arki and Captain Killcoin’s tale, Veil of the Deserters unleashes it in its full glory.

The plot and character revelations come fast and furious in book two. We learn more about Captain Braylar and his mysterious flail; more about the personalities and history of the Syldoon warriors surrounding Arki; and more about the immediate schemes and the long term ones that have lead these elite warrior to spend years away from their northern home.

Deeper world building. Where there were merely a few brief glimpses of this interesting fantasy world in Scourge, here there is so much more revelations about its nations, their history, the mysterious Godveil, the world before the Deserter gods abandoned mankind, and Captain Braylar’s cursed flail’s role in it all. Each piece of lore fitting seamlessly with the next until a vibrant, living world slowly begins to grow before a reader’s eyes.

Realist battles continue – only they are bigger and more frequent. And when I say realistic that is what I mean. These are not Hollywood movie fights, where the hero kills twenty people without a scratch and without getting one hair out of place. Nope, Mr. Salyards carefully crafts well-thought-out and organic fights, where armor matters, numbers count, and the realities of brutal men hacking at one another with sharp edge instruments of death are not glossed over. Not to say that Veil of the Deserters is a gorefest, because Mr. Salyards doesn’t overdo the blood and guts, but rather that he shows the realities of war in a medieval-type setting. People die hideous deaths. Those that survive may be horribly wounded or maimed. And those that escape with their life are scarred by the experience of dealing death and find themselves grieving over their own dead.

Creepy magic users. In Scourge the magic was rather sparse throughout and spoken of in whispers by everyone, but in Veil the Memoridon make an early appearance and are major players in the whole book. And somehow, Mr. Salyards is able to reveal enough about the memory witches to make them understandable but not totally stripping them of their mystery and inherent creepiness.

Kickass female character. While this is a testosterone driven series, Captain Killcoin’s sister Soffjian is introduced and holds her own against all of the brutal Syldoon warriors – instilling instant fear in all but the strongest men. Plus, she is a Memoridan, which only makes her that much more interesting.

Syldoon political machinations. Oh, yeah, readers get to go back to the capital city of the Syldoon Empire, experiencing all the brutal scheming of the warrior elite of the world, and through this change of scenery, Mr. Salyards sets up book three of the series, which looks to be a great one.

So after hearing all the great things about Veil of the Deserters and Bloodsounder’s Arc, why are you still reading this review? Go buy book one, sit down for a nice, intense read, get the world and the characters in your mind, then plunge into Veil where the story catches fire. Look forward to talking to all of you after we read book three next year! (Next year, right, Mr. Salyards?)

The publisher and the author provided this book to me for free in return for an honest review. The review above was not paid for or influenced in any way by any person, entity or organization, but is my own personal opinions.

Scourge of the Betrayer is one of those rare books. A novel that takes the familiar tropes of a particular genre, tweaks them ever so slightly until you (a long time reader) find that your expectations of that genre have been suddenly raised to a new level.

And how did Jeff Salyards do that, you ask?

Well, mainly, he did it by refusing to be confined by the familiar, formulaic pattern of grimdark fantasy. Where most “grims” cover their pages with equal parts gore-coated combat, cynical characters, sexual situations, harsh language, and gritty worlds, Scourge embraces those elements but does not stop with them, adding a layer of realism and attention to detail that elevates this standard “grim” story into a realistic, tour-de-force of fantasy. Indeed, Mr. Salyards creates a world where armor actually does protect you in combat. Where there are no “Chosen Ones” or godlike heroes or all-powerful villains. Where magic is present but not scattered around like motes of dust. Where your favorite character might appear as a “good guy” one moment only to seem a “bad guy” the next. And where anyone, ANYONE can die if plans do not work out or a blow is mistimed or too many foes appear. All things that might sound like normal grim but are so much more in this story.

Mr. Salyards throws readers into his realistic grimdark world from the first page; the first person narrator of the tale being a young man named Arkamandos (or Arki for short.) This youth has just been hired by Captain Braylar Killcoin, leader of a band of Syldoon soldiers, to be their company’s scribe. And while Arki is very wary of his new employers (They are the fiercest, most vicious soldiers in the world), he explains his reason for joining up with them as:

I had no family, or none that had claimed me as such for years, and no friendships of any lasting duration. The promise of being part of something larger than my life—which admittedly, up to this point hadn’t exactly been consequential or noteworthy—was exciting, even if my involvement was restricted to observing and recording. At least it would presumably be something worth setting to parchment for once. And there was no denying the draw to that.

This desire to be part of a grand, epic adventure is exactly why Arki is the perfect narrator for the story that follows, for he is in the exact same shoes as his audience: a spectator completely in the dark as to what is actually going on. For there doesn’t seem to be any dark lord to defeat here or epic war to wage or apocalyptic event to stop – well, not that Arki knows about anyway. Instead, Captain Braylar and his men have their own secret agenda; a plan that they have no intention of willingly sharing with anyone. And so, Arki is left to listen to the conversation of his employers, gather clues as to their intentions, and piece together theories about their motives, goals, and true aims. All the while never knowing if his guesses are anywhere close to accurate.

And as Arki leads readers along on this grand adventure to discover the why of it all, Mr. Salyards carefully uses the interactions between the young scribe and the other characters to slowly sculp vibrant people, not grimdark caricatures of humanity, but real, living, breathing people who gradually come into focus. Don’t be surprised when there are not any long soliloquies where the characters intentionally reveal their inner demons or hidden desires or troubled past to you, because Mr. Salyard does not spoon feed anyone. Instead, he forces you to live day to day along with Arki, reading his interpretations of his traveling companions, his beliefs about their personalities, and his assessment of their actions, making you use the youth’s observations to form your own opinions about these three-dimensional people who surround him.

While this gradual development of plot and characters could have ruined the pacing of the story, it did not do so. For even though the beginning is slow and a tad confusing, Mr. Salyards deftly places clues throughout the narrative, stringing a reader along. Each suspected insight into Braylar’s plans building a little more excitement, each small revelation about his history adding a touch more drama to the tale until you can’t wait to turn the page, hoping to find the next part of the puzzle that Mr. Salyards has so expertly hidden from view.

But this is a grimdark, so where is the bloody combat, you ask?

Oh, it is here. Braylar is a man of action, willing to trade a few humorous slurs with his opponent before wielding his exotic flail to crush their skulls, and his Syldoon are constantly in the thick of the action. Blood and gore coat the pages, especially after the halfway point of the book, with the fighting coming fast and furious (though Arki presents it more from the point of view of a witness than a participant), and always Mr. Salyards deftly crafts these fights with utmost realism. No overpowered godlike warriors here. Even the most experienced fighter only one step away from getting struck down in battle. A fact that makes the fights even more gripping, as you wonder if anyone is safe from the grim reaper in this world.

As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and there are lots of further things I’d like to say about the story, but I can’t – to do so would reveal too many spoilers and ruin the fun for you. Perhaps it will suffice for me to write that Scourge of the Betrayer took everything that I love about grimdark, added in a touch of realism, and coupled those things with a slow-developing, character-driven story that made me constantly strive to figure out what was going on. It is quite simply a great fantasy read.

So, with all that being said, I highly recommend this one to grimdark fans, lovers of character-driven stories, fantasy fans, and all those that just adore tales that make you think. Have fun reading!

With The White Towers (The Rage of Kings Book 2), Andy Remic does something amazing. He takes the members of the Iron Wolves and actually begins to turn them into some semblance of human beings without losing their grimdark appeal. For those of you have not read my review of The Iron Wolves, I’m sure that seems somewhat nonsensical but just trust me when I say that our heroes are some of the most despicable, vile, and loathsome humans you will ever come across. From pit fighters to drug addicts to kidnapper/serial killers, the Iron Wolves run the gamut of human depravity. Honestly, when reading the first book of the series, I felt dirty for even routing for them to not be hanged for their crimes against humanity. But as I said, in book two, Andy Remic begins their slow transformation into something more than classic grimdark caricatures.

The story picks up right where book one ended: the remaining Iron Wolves have saved the Kingdom of Vagandrak from Orlana the Changer and her vile mud orcs and inhuman "splice" only to be arrested and sentenced to death by mad King Yoon. Now, they must not only find a way to save their sorry assess from the hangman’s noose but also, somehow, escape the impregnable fortress in the Pass of Splintered Bones. And even if they succeed in doing those things, none of them are prepared for what awaits them back home. For Orlana’s coming has awoken another enemy: the Elf Rats. These twisted denizens of the toxic land far to the north have returned to their ancient homeland, determined to avenge themselves on their ancient tormenters and wipe the scourge of mankind from Vagandrak!

From this great beginning, Mr. Remic weaves a grimdark story that actually spends a great deal of time on the characterization of the individual members of the Iron Wolves. The Captain of the Wolves, KiKi, has her early years and unusual childhood explored. Dek the Pit Fighter opens up about his family. Narnok of the Axe begins dealing with his wife’s betrayal and his vile torture. Trista the Serial Killer turns into more than a murdering ice princess. Even Prince Zastarte exorcizes his demons to an extent and explains how he had been lead down the path to serial killing. Not that any of these epiphanies by the Wolves washes them white as snow or changes their inherent evilness, but at least, Mr. Remic begins to explore the why of their insanity. That, in and of itself, made the characters more real and compelling to me.

Another thing that Mr. Remic does a good job of doing is actually giving readers a less over-the-top villain. The Iron Wolves really suffered, in my opinion, from the fact that Orlana the Changer was so evil, so ridiculously inhuman that all her actions seemed surreal. Here, though, the author finds the right balance between vile and fantastical with the Elf Rats. Sure, they are genocidal monsters, but their reasons for being such are clearly articulated, allowing a reader to understand why they hate the humans of Vagandrak so much and what they hope to gain from their behavior. Perhaps that doesn’t seem very praise worthy, but after book one, I thoroughly enjoyed knowing exactly why the bad guys were killing everyone.

With all that being said, I want to assure grimdark lovers that even with Mr. Remic spending more time of characterization and explanation The White Towers is still a blood spattering grimdark fantasy. There are pages and pages of gory atrocities, fierce battles, and monstrous genocide. Sex also plays a major role here, and more than a few of our heroes are bi-sexual, which leads to several uncomfortable moments when the less open-minded members of the group discover this. So if you loved The Iron Wolves or just are overdue for a hit of grimdark, pick this one up, but make sure you have a clean rag to wipe all the blood off your face as you read it.

I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank Netgalley and Angry Robot Books for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.