[REVIEW] The faithful and the fallen #1: Malice by John Gwynne
Book
Title: Malice
Series: The Faithful and the Fallen
Volume: 1 of 4
Author: John Gwynne
Publisher: TOR
Release Date: 2013
Pages: 628
Summary
The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle. An uneasy peace reigns, but now giants stir once more, the very stones weep blood and there are sightings of gigantic worms. Those who can still read the signs see a prophecy realised: sorrow will darken the world, as angels and demons make it their battlefield.
Young Corban watches enviously as boys become warriors and yearns to join them, determined that he will make his family proud. It is only when everything he knows is threatened that he discovers the true cost of becoming a man.
As the Kings look to their borders, and priests beg answers from the Gods, only a chosen few know that the fate of the world will be decided between two champions, the Black Sun and the Bright Star. And with their coming will be a war to end all wars.
My opinion
"I shall stay and tell my tale, hope that it may serve some purpose, that eyes shall see it and learn, that the future will not repeat the mistakes of the past. That is my prayer, but what use is prayer to a god that has abandoned all things."
When I started to read Malice I had my problems diving into the story. It was hard to separate all the places and people mentioned, it was a lot. Especially because everyone was a warrior and you didn't had something specific to take them apart. The only one that was easy on me, was Corban, not just because he was not yet an adult, but because something clicked with him right from the start and he and his sister Cywen became my favorite characters. The others were great too, John Gwynne did an amazing job in writing such intriguing and loveable characters and doing an awesome worldbuilding.
As the story progresses I felt way more comfortable with the world and characters, also because John Gwyne has such an easy, fresh and natural way of writing, you can't help yourself but enjoy it a lot. The story has a very dark tone to it, although I would not put it in the Grimdark Genre. It's a classical story of Good vs. Evil but wrapped well in a lot of mystery, political intrigues and gorgeous fighting scenes. Seriously John Gwynne knows what he does, I seldom read more realistic fights.
The finale was absolutely stunning. It was a pure tragedy, because everything went down, but it was exciting as hell. I was so invested in the characters and the story by the time, that I couldn't put it down.
A great start into the series and I'm more than pumped to continue this journey.
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