Steven L. ShrewsburyBesprekingen

I received this book in e-book format as an earlier reviewer. This is the second book in the series and I did not read the first one, which I think would have been helpful for this book. The story is passable but I found the over-the-top male barbarian style not to my taste. The characters spend a lot of time talking about who has the longest, how many women they have conquered, and how many people they have killed. At times there are attempts to make them seem sorry for what they do only to have them just keep doing it. A male testosterone ride unless it is parody, which I doubt.

Fast paced adventure and a quick read. If you read Keene's The Lost Level and enjoyed it, King of the Bastards won't disappoint.

Throne of Bastards is the sequel to King of Bastards by Brian Keene. It is sword and sorcery, written in the terse style of R.E. Howard, Lin Carter etc. The ideas are a bit more modern but the style is definitely a throwback. I feel like one of those movie critics who pans an action movie because it has limited characterization, ignoring the fact that the audience wants action over intellectual plot. This is a good read if you like the genre but will disappoint if you are looking for epic fantasy.

I normally like Keene's stuff. He has written two of my favorite novels, regardless of genre: Terminal and Ghoul. I'm basically giving this one a C, although that may be a little harsh because I typically don't get into sword and sorcery novels very much; not even Howard's stuff. If you're into the Conan stories, give this one a read. But I wouldn't recommend it if you're new to Brian's work, because he has much better stuff out there

Jason

King of the Bastards is everything you would expect from…well, a book titled King of the Bastards! Authors Brian Keene and Steven Shrewsbury bring us a rowdy sword and sorcery tale in this novella that harkens back to the traditions of Robert E. Howard’s Conan, decking out its pages with larger-than-life heroes, monstrous villains, evil magics, exotic places, and bloody battles galore. We’re talking pure unadulterated pulpy fun.

“Come, my sons, and I will tell you the beginning of the tale of the bastards of King Rogan!” the wizened storyteller proclaims, and we are introduced to our titular character, who has apparently spilled more than just his blood across the world on his adventures as a pirate, outlaw, and mercenary before conquering the throne of Albion. Shipwrecked and stranded on a strange land with his nephew, the barbarian king must now fight with his newfound allies against a demon and its agents in order to find his way home and reclaim his throne.

A clear advantage with books like this is that what you see is what you get. King of the Bastards feels a lot like an updated version of the pulp outlet offerings from the first half the 20th century, complete with the requisite genre tropes, sometimes even exaggerated for what I feel is satirical effect. Our protagonist is a crude and aging barbarian who runs on testosterone and the blood and tears of his enemies. He’s insensitive and boorish towards women and other cultures, hates wizards and magic, but he sure knows his way around a sword and loves a good fight. Speaking of which, have I mentioned the sexual content and graphic violence yet? Underline it.

If you don’t like the sound of what you’ve read so far in this review, then I suspect you are not going to like this book. But if you’re in the mood for a bit of punchy, gore-soaked entertainment with a taste of retro, then you’re going to be in for a real treat. Personally speaking, books like this have an important place in my reading routine, providing the perfect sort of respite in between some of my longer, weightier reads and giving me a chance to let loose with something light and fun which doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s not something I could take all the time, but in small doses it can be a refreshing change of pace. And coming in at just a little over 160 pages, King of the Bastards was the perfect length, piling on the action and adventure without actually wearing out its welcome.

All told, this isn’t a book out to break new ground, but if you consider it as a “guilty pleasure” read with an aim to entertain, the authors might be on to something here. If you think you are the audience for this, definitely check it out. You could do worse than spend a rainy afternoon curled on the couch reading this rollicking yarn about a real bastard!

Won from a Goodreads giveaway

Thrall is a gritty fantasy novel filled with blood, guts, gore, and zombie dragons. Who wouldn't love that?

The plot was not too complicated, but it may have been overshadowed in some parts with merciless killing of everyone around. Some parts of the plot are not completely explained, but it didn't effect the story too much.

I noticed while reading was that though there was a lot of back story and events that happened before Thrall took place, Shrewsbury wrote in such a way that there was room for additional books, but it didn't hinder the story.

I would recommend this book for any fantasy lover, but don't expect a heavy, complicated book.

I am normally a big fan of Brian Keene, but this book was a miss. There was not enough backstory nor world-building to ground the reader and for the first quarter of the novel you are lost. While you are trying to figure out what's going on and who the characters are, you then discover that the main character is completely unlikable and is fueled purely by violent sex, violent food and violent violence. This plot / character combo may have worked as a graphic novel, but as a standalone story it did not work for me. My advice is to skip this one.

I received this book as part of the Early Reviewer's Club. It took me months to get halfway through the book as it is just not my cup of tea. It seems geared to adolescents.

Received from Early Reviewers Group. The cover art is great, the storyline is not. The main character is a mysoginist bully who doesn't appreciate his family, friends, fellow warriors or women. The fighting scenes were good, but his interaction with others was horid.

I received this book from the Early Reviewers program. I'm a big sword & sorcery fantasy fan, so this was my kind of book. It was kinda violent, but what would you expect from a book such as this. It did remind me of Conan the Barbarian, but still different. Every once in a while I want to read a book in which I can leave all my sensibilities at the door and just be entertained. King of the Bastards did just that. If this becomes a series, I just might seek out the next book.

I'm afraid I couldn't finish this book. Got to page 113 - nearly halfway. Too much battle and carnage for a middle aged woman! Similar to The Lost Level by Mr Keene in that he uses many different ideas in one story - in an unecessary way. Sorry Mr Keene and Mr Shrewsbury.

Throw back to Howard and Moorcock hard edged fantasy. This feels as though it could be the middle part of a series, but the history given through out the story easily allows the reader to imagine what those earlier books may have been like. Fast paced and violent, this will surely please fans who like their fantasy nasty.

I read the e-pub version of this book that I got from the Early Reviewers program.
This book is about an unstoppable barbarian named Rogan, who is in his later years of life. Despite being older, this guy is pretty much Conan the Barbarian on steroids and after reading this book you'll be convinced that nothing can stop him. From start to finish is pretty much non-stop action, which for me is a little excessive. But if you're a non-stop action guy who likes their heroes to be an unstoppable force of nature with no flaws and little character development, then this book is for you. Not a horrible book, as it kept my attention for the most part, but there isn't much depth here. Although, the ending kind of intrigued me, so *maybe* I'll check out the next book to see how this weird ending leads into the next book in the series.½

This violent story in the fashion of Conan the Barbarian held my attention, though the constant fighting and brutality was a bit much. Still the reliance on strong descriptions is nice. There is also the sense that this is part of a series. I cannot say for sure that I would read them if they existed as this type of story isn’t my normal sort of fare, but it was also a nice change of pace.

I read the e-pub version.
The book starts with a one page introduction of the hero Rogan, tediously summarizing what had happened to him before. It is best to skip this boring summary that repels the reader from reading any further.
In this summary I noticed in particular this sentence with its bad writing repetition of the word 'savage': “Border clashes with savage Prytens and their savage Queen Tancorix kept them busy for decades”. This factoid, dead sentence is typical for all of the other sentences in the one page summary.
Next is a page with two quotes only in very large letters. I could not read the last words of the second quote, though, because they mysteriously were below the border of my window: “Living, I was your plague – dying, I shall be your death.” Martin Luther. “What you really wanted, you could never … I have no idea what the ending of that second quote ought to have been. The first quote indeed was said by the theologician Martin Luther. In my opinion those quotes could have been left out too. They are superfluous and detract from the story.
Next we have a chapter titled “Prologue. Prelude to a yarn”. Uggh! That is a tautology: a needless repetition of the same sense in different words. The word 'yarn' is not promising for what may follow, either. A nameless father announces to his named sons that he will tell them about their grandfather, his wife's father Rogan. I have got to admit that this is better written. I especially liked one of the last sentences: “Beneath us, the Earth twists on its foundations, reshaping, changing its face”.
I notice that nearly half of the initial page of each chapter is taken up by the chapter's title. It irritates me.
The first sentence, in cursive, of the first true chapter 1 is: “There's blood on my hands and something is coming for me...” The perspective is that of the first person. The next paragraph, though, is written in the third person! This switch from the first person to the third person is bad. That paragraph is an extravagant boast of prowess and barbarity. Next page...
This next page is filled with text, I am happy to report. Rogan has caught a large fish and battles to get it out of the water. The ship has sailors who were descended from Atlanteans, and it also has slaves for rowers. I have no idea why we are told: “The scars of battle lined the former monarch's sun-scorched face”. It does not have anything to do with the fish, after all.
The ship is on a 'long trip of coastline fishing', but the sailors will be 'rewarded with adventure, women, and the promise of gold hidden in the depths of their shadowy continent'. This does not add up... It does not make sense.
Next page. Besides sailors and slaves, Rogan also has two bodyguards on board.
One of the next pages: “That is when I took you with me. I have not been back since”. That last sentence is said to Javan, but it is meant for the reader; because Javan already knew that.
Hm, the ship is attacked by some kind of squid. It reminds me of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies... It is not very original.
It is at page 25 out of 148 that I decide to stop reading. The story is driven by action, action, action. There are also tidbits of information dumps in the wrong places. Biremes are not freighters, but warships; the writers obviously were careless in his research. I am not at all impressed. The authors Stephen Shrewsbury and Brian Keene have a lot to learn. I do am surprised that they are prolific and successful authors! They have lost me as a reader, though!
This book might be of interest to boys aged seven to eleven, and it might serve as the script for a comic book. It lacks any other merit. My advice is to not read it.

This book was better than I iniatially expected. It's filled with action and gross scenes and you can't get bored. The writing style is very descriptive, so that you can imagine the situations in the story easily

King of the Bastards by Brian Keene actually made me smile a little, reading the reviews made me smile even more. For me this is King Conan written with 21st century sensibilities. If you read the Conan stories he is s a misogynist bastard wrenching and fighting his way through life. Even as a king, Conan would run off for adventure to stem the boredom of ruling a kingdom. Keene and Shrewbury deliver a Conan for today in the form of Rogan. The telling is more graphic than R.E. Howard and his followers but the essence is spot on.

i grew up loving the Conan clones, Thongor of Lemuria being a favorite. Trying to re-read Lin Carter's barbarian is excruciating due to molding of style to be similar to Howard's. King of the Bastards keeps the essence of Conan while writing in a style of today. I find it refreshing and enjoyable.
This book isn't for everyone and the reviews reflect that. Just like the old days you didn't read Howard expecting Tolkien and vice versa. Roger Ebert once said sometimes you got to look at a movie for what it is horror, juvenile comedy etc. not compare it to what is not. I think these guys channeled Howard and brought him into this century.

This was a brutal tale that I tore through in about a day. This was a very violent tale where the fighting never really stops. the attack on the mountain was quite cool and I loved the final showdown. This definitely needs a sequel and prequel.

Given this book.

Not my cup of tea. I'm not sure if this is part of a series or not. It starts with a rundown of a barbarian raised to king only to give up his kingdom because he's bored. It then goes into a story being told to children about their grandfather, the former barbarian king. Rogan, the king, is disrespectful of the people he meets in his travels and doesn't come across as anyone people would "worship" let alone follow. Graphic violence, women seem an afterthought only to be used.

I suspect I've ended up joining this mid-series, although there's absolutely no indication what any of the previous titles might have been, but there is a brief synopsis of the plot. Sadly this hasn't actually made the book any worse, it's just bad from start to finish, and the explanation of the previous plot doesn't sound any better.

A barbarian fought and killed his way to kingship in some distant land. But then having achieved his aim, got bored, and installed his son as regent while he went off to have adventures abroad. We join his tale some way into his adventures on a ship crewed by foreign tribesmen. This gets attacked by pirates, and he and his sole remaining trusted nephew survive by butchering them, and end up on a beach. Here they butcher a bear, before meeting some native, and butcher their two champions (one each) and are informed that these natives will only help them regain their homeland, if first they help the natives attack an evil sorcerer who's invaded their mountain. More Butchery follow. Along with despoiling of women etc. The fact that the evil sorcerer has summoned a being from the outer dimensions and is in fact a time traveller from the future stuck in the past seems to have absolutely no relevance to the plot or the butchery.

There is a lot of graphic description of the fights. Which rapidly becomes repetitive and dull. There is some graphic sex too just to remind us the authors really care about women. THen there's a lot more graphic fighting. Then it ends. I don't know or care if the king was in a position to make it back to his homeland, but apparently he meets some old friends.

If I was being kind I would cast this in the mould of Cook's Black Company, but it's nowhere good as that. Bad comic book fantasy without the pictures really.

I initially assumed that this would be another "Warlord" goes on a killing spree, blah, blah, blah. Thankfully, I was surprised to see a very well thought out story, based lightly with magic, and very descriptive in all aspects from fighting to natural bodily functions. The author has the makings of a good series here and I hope that he continues it on so at we find out what eventually happens to our "heroes" and their friends

Review copy

Brian Keene, a name synonymous with horror, and Steven Shrewsbury, best know for his work in the sword and sorcery genre, have combined their considerable talents and given us King of the Bastards.

Told as a story to a small group of children, it was to be about their grandfather, the king...

"'Was grandfather king of the entire old world?'

'No, he ruled but a small part of it. But he was known, feared, and lusted after throughout the entire old world. Kings, women, brigands, and bards---all knew his name. It is KING OF THE BASTARDS.'"

Check your thinking cap at the entrance and get ready for big time adventure. In the tradition of Conan the barbarian, King of the Bastards is a bold, brash saga of a king and his nephew on a quest to return home and save their people from oppression at the hands of a group of savages. Along the way they have to deal with sea monsters, zombies, pirates, giants, one-breasted amazonian women, maybe even aliens and some elements of Lovecraftian horror.

Rogan, King of the Bastards, is a bit misogynistic, but he's a bastard and I guess that's to be expected. Overall, this was a lot of fun and I can't leave without complementing artist, Daniel Kamarudin, for the brilliant cover art on this book.

King of the Bastards will be available, July 21st, 2015, from Apex Books, in both digital and paperback formats.

Recommended for sure.

Overkill is a fast paced novel introducing Steven Shrewsbury's Gorias LeGaul to new fans in the form of a stand alone prologue. A 700 year old warrior who is known for his prowess on various fields of war and action. Be ye wizard, dragon, fellow warrior, queens or whores on the beach, battlefield, hammock, standing up... in the bushes, on a boat.. OK you get the picture! He is a well-rounded individual to put it very mildly!

With many fantasy stories reaching for epic proportions, there is a tendency to tell so much back story the actual action takes time to get ramped up. Not with this story.

"Nykia opened her door and watched her bodyguard's head roll past. She took one step out into the hall and looked to her right following a trail of blood to where it originated." (page 1)

The story starts off with the beginning tale of a princess who will soon become lost, but not before her love is professed on the back of a horse with the aging warrior Gorias. He comes in with a swoop of his dual swords to rescue the princess! But do not mistaken this for any old fantasy, it is far from it.

Step forward a few years and we have the introduction of Orsen, a well-groomed courtier who the queen has sent to bring Gorias back so she can enlist his help in finding the princess, her grand-daughter Nykia who was apparently kidnapped after he rescued her the first time and to solve the mystery of the murders by dragonfire. Since Gorias killed the last dragon, even wears the skin of a Wyvern as armor, this is baffling to all involved.

Confused? I know I was! But honestly I did not care most of the time. Gorias is a fun character to read, listen to and laugh with. Shrewsbury balanced the humor, action, mercenary behavior and lecherous actions of our hero well. Our warrior is well aware of his age and continually reminds those around him he is not invincible.

As mentioned above we have Orsen who brings equilibrium to Gorias' boisterous and crass personality with his soft court padded life one made more for velvet than chainmail and will face more than things that threaten to stain his tunic, including his lunch. Athena is one of the queens personal guards, and is perhaps my favorite character. Not a frilly little paper doll facade many royals have, and not a black wearing assassin that others have used in the past, but the daughter of a well decorated General who has served the monarchy for generations. She and her sisters guard the queen with their lives till hers end and will continue to serve the crown till they die themselves.

Oh one major note. Shrewsbury knows his weapon use and what it takes to use each one. He did his research and not just with a d20 roll. Even Orsen has been trained in a weapon appropriate for the proper protecting of ones back and kidney's while still maintaining the no blood approach to death, though he does get a bit messy in the end.

This prequel to Thrall steeps you in adventure, action of all kinds and intrigue faster than dragon's fire licking up the side of a priestess eaten away with ruthless revenge. Remember this when you pick it up because you are not going to want to stop. You will feel a bit taken away from reality and wondering at the same time what type of message is trying to be given to you betwixt and between. But I say let it go and move on you will be wondering what is next before it all ends.
There are no gentle magics and romantic flighty princesses in this tale. Even Orsen has his balls drop in the end while we find out just how large Athena's are!

Over all since I need to give this solid number I am going to give it a four. I was fluttering around a mid 3.5 because of my own issues with blending obvious modern religion into my fantasy, but at the end after the mind-boggling surprise (which I really hope are answered in the next book) I am happy to give it a four! Plus I cannot have issues with anyone who is as big of a red-head lover as Gorias is! Thanks Seventh Star Press for another great thrill! Deliverance will come for more than just Gorias, deliverance will come to many within the pages of this book!

I gathered from some information online that this is the second book taking place in this setting, and I have to say I am not surprised. This book was well crafting and interesting from the beginning, so it would make sense that the author would have a book before this one, and it's probably as good as this one is.

For those of you who follow my reviews, my biggest complaint recently is that not every book has a strong beginning. This book did not suffer from that at all. I think that this is really important, especially for a book like this, because it has so much more to establish with the reader than with a book that takes place in this world in modern time. By having this book start off so strong, it made me invested in the book, it's setting, and it's characters, all the more, which in turn made it easier for me to latch on and understand the world building aspects all the better.

This is definitely a book that is not short on the action front, so if you are looking for a slow and steady boring ride than this is not your book. There are a lot of unexpected events that happen within the book, which makes it even more fun for the reader, because it keeps you guessing.

One thing some books heavy on the action sometimes get wrong, is not breaking up the action. A book with all action is like a sandwich with no bread. I was glad to find that this book did have a little bit of humor in it to break up the heavy pace of action. And there is even a bit of "romantic" elements within, which both I think balance the book out pretty well.

Character wise, I think that Gorias is a pretty interesting character to follow along. He has his own personal code that he follows, which is basically what drives him within the story. he is one of those main character guys who is macho in every sense of the word. He is a strong and pretty ruthless character, but thankfully there are some other aspects to him that make him more than just the muscle of the story, and more of a well rounded character.

Overall, I think this book would be easily enjoyed by anyone who liked epic fantasy. The world building is pretty good, as are the characters. I don't think this book should go out to the YA crowd, but anyone else with an interest in fantasy should check out this book.

Thrall is an epic stand alone fantasy novel.

Gorias La Gaul is a warrior and a legend, some say he was born of a nephilim, and with his 700 year old plus age, one begins to wonder. Gorias is so famous, that he runs into his own stories, some are hard-pressed to believe who he is, until they see him in action. With two swords in hand, or a dwarf, for that matter, Gorias is an unstoppable killing machine. Wearing a suit of dragon armor and carrying a blade of adamantine and his wits about him, there is no one with enough moxy to take down the likes of Gorias, and many try.

A hated foe of dragons, Gorias must stop a cult of Nosmada's necromancers from animating the corpse of Carlato Wyss, the only one who knows the true power behind the Daemononlatreia. When he successfully thwarts one attempt another is being cast and a Draco-Lich is risen and he wants blood, lots of it!

In order to save Khabnur, Lady Lira Rhan enlists Gorias' help to stop the necormancers from raising Wyss, by unknowingly condemning Gorias' own grandson, Maddox. Lira's daughter, Kayla is infatuated with Gorias and will stop at nothing to help his cause, joining his side to fight the evils that come their way. Tammas is a young bard who also joins the two, along with Maddox, the four must find out what is afoot and who the players are in the game.

General Tolin has a heart of a dragon and leads Nosmada's army, Nosmada is an evil necromancer whose age is undetermined, Zillian is Nosmada's ancient, decaying seer, Brock Lloydson, barbarian Chief of the Bellgades, looking to make his glory in all the carnage and having a great time doing so, Mitre Stillwell, a bugbear/ogre combination who is the overlord of the underground minds, where beholders and Minorcs lurk and slaves have their tongues cut out, the Leeches, who rise from the dead and suck the blood out of the living, Robyn De Balm, the evil necromantic dwarf with his own reasons for being involved and Ezran and Gavreel, two enigmatic and ethereal beings.

Everyone has their part to play and the stakes are high, will Nosmada's plans fail or will the end of the world finally prevail?

I thought the first chapter was horrible and it took me a while to get past it, the dialect was hard to read, the characters had no real purpose and everything seemed stiff, however, whence you get passed that first chapter, things begin to pick up immensely and Gorias becomes a likeable, witty, sarcastic, no holds barred kind of guy. He doesn't mince words or hold punches, a man who says and does what he wishes.

I found the story to be a fairly decent one, the characters came into their own as the story progressed, however, the back story was definitely lacking. There are so many references to back story, you get almost frustrated as the book progresses and you realize that there just isn't enough book left to get the meaning from the snippets of back story that do occur. It often leaves you with more questions than answers, and it is this reason that I found that the characters had no real direction, they always went the right way and did the right thing. The suspense was lacking in this sense, the path was laid before you with few twists and turns until the very end.

The battle scenes are great and there are a lot of them, I found some of the techniques involved to dispose of the intended target to be entertaining and sometimes amusing! I loved Gorias' natural fighting ability and his wit while doing so. The ending was great, and the outcome was more than surprising and leaves you wanting for more, which I do believe will be coming for the last print of the book states..."The End?"

I would definitely continue to read the series if it were to be made into such, the story can only grow as there is so much left unattended from Thrall. As I read, I watched Steven Shrewsbury strengthen his talent with his prose, the character building was phenomenal, however, I would pay attention to more detail on the scenery and background a bit more. Often times I didn't realize we had switched locations, the characters involved in each setting determined where you were in the book. I would recommend this to any fantasy readers, this will not disappoint!