This is a world dying.
A world where wild magic leaks from the
corpses of rotting gods, desperate tyrants battle over fading resources,
impassive shapeshifters marshal beasts of enormous size and startling
intelligence, and ravenous demons infest the northern mountains. A world
where the only difference between a hero and a killer lies in the
ability to justify dark deeds.
But even in this world, pockets of
resistance remain.When two aging warriors save the life of a young
rebel, it proves the foundation for an unlikely fellowship. A
fellowship united against tyranny, yet composed of self-righteous
outlaws, crippled turncoats and amoral mercenaries. A grim company,
indeed...
Luke Scull is new name in the literature, but his debut novel «The Grim Company» has attracted the attention of genre fans, and we easily can see why. The book reminds of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy and Joe Abercrombie’s First Law, but still Luke has something new to add to the game.
The action takes place in a rather dark world years after a devastating war, during which the most powerful mages destroy the Gods themselves. After that magicians have gained immortality and take over the world, but also broke down some invisible but very important detail in the world order by the way. Fife hundred years after a young, naive and foolish warrior Davarus Cole is dreaming to overthrow Salazar, one of the most powerful magelord and ruler of the city of Dorminia. According to legend, Davarus is the only one who can kill the tyrant, because he posesses the special sword, the Magebane.
Foolishly Davarus gets in trouble and almost gets himself killed, but is rescued by seasoned warrior, northman Brodar Kayne. Cole attracted Kayne and his team-mate Wolf to the side of rebellion. And together, with the help of legless wizard Eremul, resourceful and incredibly talented manservant Isaac and Sasha, unapproachable girl with a dark past, this motley crew must find a way to deal with Salazar.
Descriptions of characters (narcissistic young man who imagines himself a great hero, a couple of frostbitten northern veterans, a magician with a disability, a noble and honorable warrior, fighting on the wrong side) recall the images of the characters of the "First Law" trilogy, and there is possibility that Luke specifically gave his characters the similarity. In fact, Scull uses the same techniques as Abercrombie - he shows us something known and seemingly familiar, and then if he doesn’t turn everything upside down, he guides the development of the characters in a completely different direction. Only if Joe used the trands and cliches of classical fantasy, Luke uses the stereotypes of Abercrombie’s characters.
This is where the similarities between the characters are ended. Davarus Cole intolerable Jezal, Brodar Kayne has a number of qualities that Logen Ninefingers is lacking - Kayne more honest with himself and better able to adapt to the world around him. And Eremul is no Glokta. If the inquisitor suffered from constant pain and wondered, "Why am I doing this", then Eremul has no such problems. He hated Salazar and he dreamed of nothing but revenge.
In "The Grim Company" we see a very small segment of the world. Except for one storyline that unfolds in in the High Fangs of the north, all the events take place in the same region, called the Trine. There are three main city-states in Trine, each of which is rules by one of the magelords.
But still it is a very colorful (all shades of gray, yeah) and detailed world, though many detais we see only out of the corner of eye. But the most interesting moment of the book is it’s magical system. Mages can store magic for some time and use different sources to recharge it. New magic can be mined near the corpses of the gods. There are several regions where natural sources can be found, and magelords fight each other for these lands.
Some of the plot moves can be predicted in advance, but, as the author himself notes, interesting story is more important than unpredictable book. Some story lines are connected together to the final, although the northern chapters are still a little out of the general picture, but may be we can learn more about the North in the second book, called The Grim Company: Sword of The North.
The action takes place in a rather dark world years after a devastating war, during which the most powerful mages destroy the Gods themselves. After that magicians have gained immortality and take over the world, but also broke down some invisible but very important detail in the world order by the way. Fife hundred years after a young, naive and foolish warrior Davarus Cole is dreaming to overthrow Salazar, one of the most powerful magelord and ruler of the city of Dorminia. According to legend, Davarus is the only one who can kill the tyrant, because he posesses the special sword, the Magebane.
Foolishly Davarus gets in trouble and almost gets himself killed, but is rescued by seasoned warrior, northman Brodar Kayne. Cole attracted Kayne and his team-mate Wolf to the side of rebellion. And together, with the help of legless wizard Eremul, resourceful and incredibly talented manservant Isaac and Sasha, unapproachable girl with a dark past, this motley crew must find a way to deal with Salazar.
Descriptions of characters (narcissistic young man who imagines himself a great hero, a couple of frostbitten northern veterans, a magician with a disability, a noble and honorable warrior, fighting on the wrong side) recall the images of the characters of the "First Law" trilogy, and there is possibility that Luke specifically gave his characters the similarity. In fact, Scull uses the same techniques as Abercrombie - he shows us something known and seemingly familiar, and then if he doesn’t turn everything upside down, he guides the development of the characters in a completely different direction. Only if Joe used the trands and cliches of classical fantasy, Luke uses the stereotypes of Abercrombie’s characters.
This is where the similarities between the characters are ended. Davarus Cole intolerable Jezal, Brodar Kayne has a number of qualities that Logen Ninefingers is lacking - Kayne more honest with himself and better able to adapt to the world around him. And Eremul is no Glokta. If the inquisitor suffered from constant pain and wondered, "Why am I doing this", then Eremul has no such problems. He hated Salazar and he dreamed of nothing but revenge.
In "The Grim Company" we see a very small segment of the world. Except for one storyline that unfolds in in the High Fangs of the north, all the events take place in the same region, called the Trine. There are three main city-states in Trine, each of which is rules by one of the magelords.
But still it is a very colorful (all shades of gray, yeah) and detailed world, though many detais we see only out of the corner of eye. But the most interesting moment of the book is it’s magical system. Mages can store magic for some time and use different sources to recharge it. New magic can be mined near the corpses of the gods. There are several regions where natural sources can be found, and magelords fight each other for these lands.
Some of the plot moves can be predicted in advance, but, as the author himself notes, interesting story is more important than unpredictable book. Some story lines are connected together to the final, although the northern chapters are still a little out of the general picture, but may be we can learn more about the North in the second book, called The Grim Company: Sword of The North.
Summary: Luke's debut was a clearly success
and in future former BioWare and Ossian Studios writer could become a major
star.
