The Prince of Graves (The Desolation War Saga Book 1)

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The Judging Eye (Aspect-Emperor, #1) by R. Scott Bakker

Email Subscription Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 1, other followers. In spite of leaning toward grimdark, where authors often enshroud every scene in depressing darkness, there is no lack of cheerful moments or brilliant scenery. Yet the pangs of near-instant nostalgia that come after you put down a book like this have less to do with the inspired setting, and far more to do with those who inhabit it. From savage, unremorseful heroes, to deep, introspective villains, the cast of this story is comprised of believable characters capable of unthinkable actions.

And it is these characters -- the ones you wish you could share a drink with or end up wanting to kill -- that forge the connection between fantasy and reality. Keethro, Titon, Ethel, Annora. These are names you will never forget, and each belongs to a man or woman as unique as they are memorable. No book would be complete without a its fair share of intrigue, however, and there is no lack of it here. Each chapter leaves you wanting more, and Ireman's masterful use of misdirection leads to an abundance of "oh shit" moments.

Do not be fooled or do -- perhaps that's part of the fun by storylines that may appear trope-ish at first. This is no fairytale. The Prince of Nothing. This book made waves when it was first released. A philosophizing, epic fantasy — arguably the first of its kind. The story and landscape is one of desolation and darkness, the characters are either used or use others, and the heroes are broken individuals with plenty of flaws or straight-out manipulative bastards.

One of the key characters that the story centers around, Kellus, becomes a sort of magical Jesus Christ of the series. However, unlike the Jesus of the Bible, his motives are definitely not altruistic: In one part of the story, Kellus even allows an innocent slave woman to continually be beaten and raped by her tormentor because it allows him to better manipulate both her and her tormentor a travel companion , playing them off each other. A Land Fit for Heroes. One of the darkest fantasy books and series It's pretty much the 'anti-fantasy' of every fantasy book you've read, a complete subversion of the fantasy tropes.

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It's also darkly gripping, insanely violent, well written, with some of the best action scenes you'll read in the genre. If you can get past the depressed heroes and the dreadful world portrayed, there's some real good stuff to be found in this series. The concluding novel in the series was remarkable and a fitting ending to the series it's the best of the the three books.

If you want antihero, well, Morgan delivers a story with about as antihero as you are going to get, poking holes into the fantasy genre the whole way through with his subversion. The Chronicles of the Black Company. A military fantasy where there is no real definition of good and bad. Croaker, the protagonist-narrator of the story at least for the first few books , is also an anti-hero, quite often doing bad things just for the sake of survival.

The Desolation War Saga

This time around he focuses his efforts on a different sort of anti-hero, a prince who is a cowardly fool. For the most part, Lawrence's effort works. The anti-hero is interesting and empathetic and funny to read about. This is no comedy though -- it's grimdark in the style of Lawrence's Broken Empires, though with more humor.

This, as some people have put it, is fantasy pretending to be science fiction and science fiction pretending to be fantasy. And the star of the show, Caine, is the high priest of violence a broken, brutal assassin who kills for the entertainment of millions.

Why does this qualify as an anti-hero fantasy? Caine is a homicidal anti-hero whos not afraid to get his hands dirty to solve a problem. In fact, Caines attempts at solving political problems usually end up with everyone dead and the world worse off than before his meddling. Violence aside, theres some seriously strong writing going on in the Caine series with a twisted story, non-stop action, and top-notch narration.

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Stovers works are vastly under-appreciated for the gems that they are and Caine, the storys brutal badass that always seems to get the short end of the stick, a fascinating portrait of a broken hero. The actual premise of the Caine novels is quite interesting and unique: Caine is a mega superstar who gets transported to an alternate reality to unleash his butchery on the local residence all for the entertainment of millions who watch his violence via live feeds on earth.

Three words to describe Caine: For a truly evil anti-hero, read the Cold Fire trilogy. Tarrant is a human whos literally traded his soul for eternal unlife, yet still has a twisted sense of honor that somehow makes sense. There are a couple of other main characters, but Tarrant is by far the most interesting of the bunch and perhaps one of the most interesting characters I've yet read.

Tarrant is not just some straight evil bad guy whos going to destroy everything but hes not a misguided fool that needs to be helped to see the right path; he knows right from wrong, good from bad, but is not sure he wants to seek the right path. Never do you label him as some dark lord and forget about him; hes a real, breathing character with a bent towards cruelty and his motivations are complex, and in some twisted way, sympathetic.

This book is good, damn good. One of the best characters would be the world itself its a twisted world, literally powered by the imagination. Magic itself comes from the fae, which is pure thought; dark emotions such as pain, anger, suffering, rape, and death feed the Fae and literally bring to life these imaginings, which take the form of monsters. Death, tragedy, and suffering are scattered throughout the novel; this world is a dark place and the story never lets you forget it.

A new author, but one who is writing some powerful grimdark with some real zest. And it's delicious indeed. A must read for any fans of some serious hardcore, bloody grimdark. Classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy with a badass anti-hero. In any other series, Elric would qualify as the villain and not the hero of the story. After totally destroying his home and his family, he manages to kill off his friends for good measure and finds his own death at the hands of his sentient and murderous sword. He has a strict code of honor and does try to follow the right path when he can, and would be considered a lawful individual, but at the same time is aligned with demons of Chaos from which his sorcerous power is derived and so brings the world to a fiery ending.

You quite feel for him, as life has dealt the poor guy a pretty crappy set of cards. So why does this qualify as an anti-hero fantasy? Rather, he robs from the rich and gives the proceeds…to himself.

Tears of a Heart marks the tale of a young man, Aeden, who unwittingly shapes the world. The writing is beautiful, layered, and timely. Chase Blackwood weaves an intricate tale that hints at so much more. And that may be its greatest challenge. Tears of a Heart, the first book in the series, was beautifully written, and interesting. It shows us an amazing world filled with detail and depth, but for a portion of it, just a touch slow. The writing, such beautiful writing, overshadows this, as does the ending.

Tower of the Arkein , the next book in the series, is where the story truly begins to unfold, and where Chase Blackwood shines as an author. It is fast paced, full of action, adventure, and love. A very strong entry in the fantasy genre, and if the next book is equally as good, expect it to make quite a splash.

You can buy on Amazon now. More science fantasy than actual fantasy, but features one of the most complex and well-drawn anti-heroes in the genre.