Wytchfire
By Michael Meyerhofer
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Book Description
In a land haunted by the legacy of dead dragons, Rowen Locke has been many things: orphan, gravedigger, mercenary. All he ever wanted was to become a Knight of Crane and wield a kingsteel sword against the kind of grown horrors his childhood knows all too well.
But that dream crumbled—replaced by a new nightmare. War is overrunning the realms, an unprecedented duel of desire and revenge, steel and sorcery. And for one disgraced man who would be a knight, in a world where no one is blameless, the time has come to decide which side he’s on.
Author Bio
Michael Meyerhofer grew up in Iowa where he learned to cope with the unbridled excitement of the Midwest by reading books and not getting his hopes up. Probably due to his father’s influence, he developed a fondness for Star Trek, weight lifting, and collecting medieval weapons. He is also addicted to caffeine and the History Channel.
His fourth poetry book, What To Do If You’re Buried Alive, was recently published by Split Lip Press. He also serves as the Poetry Editor of Atticus Review. His poetry and prose have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Brevity, Ploughshares, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Rattle, and many other journals. He and his fiancee currently live in Fresno, California, in a little house beside a very large cactus.
Author’s Blog: http://www.troublewithhammers.com/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrmeyerhofer
On Red Adept: http://bit.ly/RAPWytch
On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20935130-wytchfire
KSR's Previous Guest Post From The Author: http://kellysmithreviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/blog-tourguest-blog-dragonkin-trilogy.html
My Review
If you've followed my reviews, you'll know that I am a Tolkien fangirl. Films, books, lore...I love it. So I am extremely critical of any books that have an obvious take on the Tolkienverse. Many of the species in Wytchfire have similarities to Tolkien's Elves and Dwarves, but not so much that it should be considered plagiarism. Tolkien fans will be comforted by familiar creatures surrounding a type of tale that has been retold a thousand times and never gets old.
The protagonist is unable to become a knight because of his low birth, but it is all he wants most in the world. It has left him a bit bitter, but he is not so bitter that you will dislike him. He has his low moments, his spots of wavering between good and evil, and those are not just to be expected, but welcomed by longtime fantasy readers.
This is a very well written book, but at times it seems to play it too safely. To be entertaining in a world where these types of stories are a dime a dozen is an amazing feat, and Mr. Meyerhofer did write a story that keeps playing in your mind even when you close the book. However, there were moments that I wished for more, for some bigger shock as the book went on.
I really liked this book, and I know many fantasy readers will as well. Also, if you're new to the genre, this is the perfect modern book to start with, as it has everything that the genre promises.
4/5--a great first book and I will be reading the rest of the series!
As a longtime Tolkien fanboy, thanks for the kind words! Just an FYI, things get progressively more effed up as the series continues. ;) If you'd like free review copies of the two sequels, i.e. the rest of the trilogy, I'd be happy to provide!
ReplyDeleteAs a Tolkien fanboy, thanks for the kind words! Just an FYI, the series gets progressively more... well, effed up... as time goes by. ;) If you'd like free copies of the other two books, I'd be happy to provide them.
ReplyDelete