I particularly enjoyed the battle scenes and duels. You get the feeling John knows a lot about swords and swordplay (no idea if he does or not).

The Faithful and the Fallen respectfully eschews elements of ‘high’ fantasy in favour of more unusual, folklore-inspired creatures. Dragons, elves, wizards and dwarves are nowhere to be seen; nope, instead, the Banished Lands are populated with giants, draigs, fallen angels and—yes!—wyrms. (And giants. Did I mention the giants? Riding bears?) I wanted to kill people seven ways til Sunday in this book! The damn bullies and the evil people. If you read this book you best not like anyone or anything because they are going to DIE! Well, not all of them, but still! You know how these epics go =) With perspective comes understanding, and readers will no doubt find themselves surprised by their own changing attitudes towards certain characters. Viewing a battle—along with its associated victories, losses and deaths—from different sides of the conflict brings humanity to every character, no matter how despicable they may seem. And with humanity comes sympathy. With its shifting scenery (cinematically comparable to Game of Thrones, Ironclad, Spartacus and Lord of the Rings) and mixed mythological influences (from talking birds to wolf companions to legendary weapons to GIANTS RIDING BEARS) Gwynne’s saga is much greater than the sum of its parts: and is no less than a brilliant blend of Arthurian motifs and Brythonic lore scaled to epic, Norse-like proportions.We see an on-coming 'god-war' / wide spread crisis as the first tremors of it reach into the lives of a collection of characters (mostly young men ranging from low-born to noble) scattered across the many nations of this world. There are intrigues and mysteries and we're often not sure who can be trusted. Various potential heroes grow over the period of (possibly a year?) and have their mettle tested. I have heard tons of great things about this series and I have been putting reading it off for a long time because I am intimidated by huge books and this is a series of huge books. I also thought it would have more rigid writing and it would be hard to follow but I am glad I was wrong. This book was a great introduction to what I would expect to be an amazing series. I broke the fear of facing this series so I should be making my way through the rest of the series soon. Have you ever found yourself ambling around your local bookstore, mumbling as you search the shelves for something – anything– that will fulfill your need for fictional giants mounted on giant bears? Art of War: Anthology for Charity (2018) – war-themed anthology collecting short stories from 40 authors, including John Gwynne, published for Charity. The pacing! There is absolutely no fluff whatsover in these books. Yes, Malice starts slow because it has to introduce so much, but there is no filler. I put this in neutral because I see both pros and cons with this. Personally, I wouldn't have minded more filler and scenes where the characters just sit around a fire drinking mead and chatting. I wanted more character moments, but I came into this series after reading six of Abercrombie's novels in a row, so Gwynne's fast pace took some time to adjust to. He isn't afraid of doing a lot of time jumps either, there will be a lot of ”a ten-night later”. But, this speeds the plot along nicely. Gwynne tells his story, and he tells it well.

This series is without a doubt a 5/5. I have a serious book hangover now, but it felt good to share some thoughts about it. Hopefully you will also give this series a chance and join the warband. Malice (and, to some extent, Valour) carefully builds the web of character relationships that is then brought beautifully to the fore in Ruin. No matter how grand the situation or how large the scale, Gwynne never lets us forget that this entire series is a sprawling net comprised of a thousand little strands of humanity – and it’s this that makes it such an engaging and emotional read. The Scent of Tears (2018) – an anthology collecting works from multiple authors of fantasy, like the short story The Message written by John Gwynne.Plenty of books deal with the celestial versus the demonic. In the Banished Lands, angels and demons wage war against one another in a landscape heavily inspired by Paradise Lost. At first, the protagonists seem obvious; the Ben-Elim are the angels, bringers of light, while the brutal Kadoshim are the harbingers of darkness and death. I would say 50% of this book follows young Corban. A youth from Ardan who is dealing with bullies, family issues and the ever present knowledge that he needs to work hard before his looming manhood challenge; sitting the Long Night where he can prove he is a warrior which is his main ambition. He wants to make everyone proud if possible. It doesn't always appear easy for young Corban with the challenges he faces on this road to ever looming manhood. Well, if he makes it that far. Not a spoiler. Just may end up being a fact in this rotten world. I loved the characters. Corban ben Thannon may be my favorite Chosen One character of all time. He's flawed, stubborn, and makes mistakes, but you can understand his reasoning and he never feels "pure good" to an obnoxious or unrelatable level. Reading Maquin's journey was an incredible experience, and watching him finally get his vengeance in Wrath was exhilarating, and watching Fidele die was heartbreaking... Veradis ben Lamar may be one of the most interesting, three-dimensional characters I've read. His conflict between serving his blood-brother, High King Nathair, and fighting for good was highly engaging. The series really points out the dangers of committing atrocities for "the greater good," which I thought was a great touch. I enjoyed most of the POV's, honestly; Camlin, Fidele, Coralen, on the side of Good, and even Uthas and Lykos's chapters were interesting.

As we’ve already established, the Banished Lands is a place with a rich lore but there is much more to this novel to keep you entertained; great set of characters, plenty of battles and sword fighting duels, scheming, betrayals, which will set in motion a chain of events affecting all of the kingdoms in the Banished Lands and this is just the beginning of this compelling tale. A significant part of book two, Valour, takes place in a Romanesque setting, while books three and four ( Ruin and Wrath) introduce misty marshes and mighty forests; ancient fortresses and windswept mountain peaks. Such vivid variety is a welcome change from the gorgeous, but overly-comfortable starting location.

This meant that he not only had to fix but also lift, paint and do whatever his wife told him to do. It was during this period that John started writing. Initially, he started telling his children stories during bedtime. They pestered him to write some of it down, since most of them were really good. Despite the fact that writing was more of a hobby, John was still able to write down two of his first books; Malice and Banished lands during this period. As the demonic forces multiply, they send a mighty host to overthrow the angel's stronghold. Like heroes of old, Drem, Riv, and the Bright Star's warriors must battle to save themselves and save their land. But can the light triumph when the dark is rising? Set in the same world as the Faithful and the Fallen quartet, this sequel takes place one hundred years after the end of Wrath.