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Order “Malice”
HERE
(UK)
Read An Extract
HERE
AUTHOR INFORMATION: John Gwynne studied and
lectured at Brighton University. He’s been in a rock ‘n’ roll band, playing the
double bass, travelled the USA and lived in Canada for a time. He is married
with four children and lives in Eastbourne running a small family business
rejuvenating vintage furniture. Malice
is his first novel.
FORMAT/INFO: Malice is 672 pages long and is the
first volume in The Faithful and the
Fallen epic fantasy series. December
6, 2012 marked the UK Hardcover/Ebook publication of Malice via Tor UK.
OVERVIEW: “Even the brave will fall…
Young Corban
watches enviously as boys become warriors, learning the art of war. He yearns
to wield his sword and spear to protect his King’s realm. But that day will
come all too soon.
The Banished
Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle,
the earth running dark with their heartsblood. Although the giant-clans were
broken in ages past, their ruined fortresses still scar the land. But now
giants stir anew, the very stones weep blood and there are sightings of giant
wyrms. Those who can still read the signs see the threat of a war to end all
wars.
The High King Aquilus
summons his fellow kings to council, seeking an alliance in this time of need.
Prophesy indicates darkness and light will demand two champions, the Black Sun
and the Bright Star. They would be wise to seek out both, for if the Black Sun
gains ascendancy, mankind’s hopes and dreams will fall to dust.”
Malice, the first book in The Faithful
and the Fallen fantasy series, takes place in the Banished Lands, a territory of giants where humans fled after the
God War while opposing Asroth, Elyon, and his Ben-Elim. The Banished Lands are composed of several
kingdoms, overseen by High King Aquilus,
although his authority over the other Kings is only for show. The storyline is
straightforward and narrated chronologically through the point of views of the
main characters living in different parts of the Banished Lands, with the different storylines crossing and
sometimes joining together.
The main character is Corban—roughly half of the novel is told through his point of view.
Fourteen years old and the son of a blacksmith, Corban is shy and a coward (or so he seems to think). Yet it soon
becomes apparent that there is much more to the blacksmith’s son than meets the
eye. Other characters include Corban’s
sister Cywen whose storyline is used
as a complementary piece to her brother’s narrative. Then there’s Veradis, a young, unconfident man who
has just finished his war training and been appointed to Nathair’s personal guard. Meanwhile Kastell, the nephew of King Romar,
is set on a path that will take him far from home while giving him a chance to
prove himself. Finally, there is Evnis,
a middle-aged counselor to King Brenin
living in the same kingdom as Corban,
who has secretly sold his soul to Asroth
for power and is waiting patiently for his time to come.
After the High
King Aquilus reveals the prophecy and the signs announcing another God War,
Kings become divided, and while some rally to Aquilus’ cause and start preparing, others are not so eager to follow.
All the while, Asroth’s shadow
becomes more apparent as nations tear each other apart—will they be able to
tell good from evil before it is too late?
ANALYSIS: Upon first seeing the cover and blurb to John Gwynne’s debut novel Malice,
my initial reaction was that the book looked pretty generic. A young, innocent
man with a destiny; a war between Gods and forces of good & evil; a
mysterious prophecy . . . sound familiar? If you read fantasy, even occasionally,
you probably recognize more than a few of these elements just as I did.
However, when reading fantasy I try not to get caught
up in a book’s similarities to other fantasy novels and instead focus more on
my personal enjoyment of the book. Was the story gripping? Are the characters
interesting? And if there happen to be giants and dragons in the novel, so what?
After all, isn’t that why we love reading fantasy in the first place?
So that’s the approach I took with John Gwynne’s Malice, and to be honest, the book was difficult to get into at
first—world-building was slightly confusing and the story was slow. Thankfully,
I kept at it and was eventually rewarded with a great reading experience. How
so?
First off, even though Malice is not presented as a YA novel, I think the book is a great
example of what YA fiction is all about—a coming of age story. With all of the
main characters at that difficult age where they are trying to find their place
in life, often in opposition to their family—Prince Nathair who is desperate to better his father High King Aquilus, Veradis who always felt his father refused to see his worth because
of his mother’s death during childbirth, Kastell’s
fight with his cousin Jael for King Romar’s favor, Evnis’ deal with Asroth because of his father’s lack of recognition—Malice is a familiar tale, but one that
readers can sympathize with and enjoy.
Secondly, John
Gwynne’s world of the Banished Lands
became real to me. Granted, much of the novel’s mythology is clearly adapted
from Christian religion, not to mention the classic medieval setting with the
addition of such recognizable tropes as giants and wyrms as well as the
perceptible influence of Welsh folklore—all familiar trappings for a fantasy
novel—but it is for these very same reasons that it is so easy to wrap your
head around the world of Malice.
Lastly, there is a clever subtlety to John Gwynne’s debut novel. Main
characters for instance, all start out in a similar situation at the beginning
of Malice, but as the novel
progresses, each character evolves in very different ways. Even better, it is
not clear whose side each character is on (except for Evnis), which leads to some exciting developments once the evil is
revealed! Then there is the story which starts out simple at first (a God War,
a King trying to ally kingdoms in the fight against evil, etc.), but as the
plot thickens, it became harder and harder for me to put the book down thanks
to rising tension and chaos, unexpected twists and a gripping rhythm.
CONCLUSION: With three-dimensional characters, a gripping
plot, and a world that became real to me, John
Gwynne’s Malice is a great debut.
In short, this is the kind of fantasy I love to read and I truly can’t wait for
the next volume in The Faithful and the
Fallen!
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
Robert |
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3 comments:
sounds interesting -- though I don't always do a good job of sticking out a book if the beginning is rough.
I'm an old granny and I absolutely loved the book couldn't put it down.No housework was done hubby and animals fended for themselves.Can't wait for the next book hopefully
Friend of mine picked this up while in the U.K. and said it was excellent, unfort., he forgot it in his room. When will it be available in the U.S., particularly in ebook?