Michael Scott Rohan (1951–2018)

I picked this one up as ex libris from the Brown County Library, a first US edition, no less! If memory serves, I was interested in it initially because it had a reference to blacksmithing in the title. As I am a hobby blacksmith, I thought it might offer a diversion. Well, it did. In fairly quick succession, I grabbed the next two books in the series; The Forge in the Forest and The Hammer of the Sun. Now, I gather that three more have been written. I suppose it is time to go shopping show more again. This is a well-written book with a Tolkinian flavor, so to speak, perhaps mixed with Conan the Barbarian and a little Game of Thrones. The fact that I am going to actively seek out the three newest additions in this series says as much as needs to be said about this book and the series it spawned. show less

An enjoyable picaresque romp that is reminiscent of Avram Davidson's Peregrine series. Very whimsical in style. A half-elf apprentice mage is at a loose end when his master attempts to summon a demon and it all goes horribly wrong. Leaving town before the Inquisition start asking pointed questions (or questions accompanied by sharp pointy things), he is hired by a merchant to escort a caravan from Germany to Sicily to recover a demonic artifact. Except the merchant is assassinated before the show more caravan gets going.

A fun story set in a fantastic Europe where other races abound. The grim-dark aspects reminded me of Tim Powers' The Drawing of the Dark.

Recommended show less

The first volume of this series ended on what seemed like a triumphal note, with the smith Elof and the disinherited prince Kermovan defeating Elo's evil teacher the Mastersmith and saving the great southern city of which Kermovan was the rightful heir. The second volume begins badly, with Kermorvan unexpectedly giving up his claims in the face of factional opposition led by Bryhon. He, Elof, the Duergar princess Ils and their old friend Rok set out to cross the continent to the possibly show more surviving eastern kingdom of their people. They start with a fair-sized escort, all of whom get unpleasantly eliminated early on, then find themselves encountering the Power (at least demigod) of the Forest, who has presreved several legendary heroes from the lost central kingdom of Morvan. However, this also turns out to be a kind of trap, and they escape and end up going through the underground ruins f the ancient city itself, where Kermorvan is able to reclaim the helm which served as the crown of its kings, his ancestors. They reach the eastern kingdom Morvannec and find it has only recently been conquered by the barbarous Ekwash, led by the Ice Power Louhi, her acolyte Kara whom Elof had once pledged to love, and Bryhon from the west. Elof persuades Kara to switch sides and Kermorvan leads the people of the city in defeating the Ekwash, killing Bryhon in the process. The ending is powerfully satisfying, with a magical pursuit-by-successive transformations by Elof of Kara (reminiscent of "The Coal Black Smith" but much more serious), but the earlier parts of the book are so grim I did not enjoy it as much overall as the first volume. show less

This adventure may be nothing to take seriously (the cover features the words "A Fantasy Romp", openly acknowledging its pedigree), but it's a fun one. There's a touch of music in the plot, a Seven Samurai style of recruitment for the questing party, plenty of wit and humour, heroes casually brilliant at combat, regularly scheduled action scenes, grim and powerful villains. Descriptive passages are wonderfully crafted, among them the kobolds' impressive canalworks that are bound to stick in show more memory. This fantastical version of medieval continental Europe may feel especially familiar to fans of the Warhammer line, since it was originally intended for that market.

There's some minor stumbles: the goofy opening "History Lesson" may trip you up but it's non-essential so you can skip to the prologue for the start of clean, clear writing. The lead character (Volker) initially feels like a non-factor until he gets his feet under him, and the party's token female is precisely that although she does get a few good shots in. The pace is absolutely headlong and it could have used more pauses for breath, but it's very visual and action-oriented. If this was the lead-in to a series I would definitely keep reading (and resolve the mystery: which is the series title, which the novel's?) Pick this up for a bit of light fantasy fun if these flaws aren't show-stoppers for you.

A number of us on LT were pleased to have MSR drop by a few years ago and update us on his activities: https://www.librarything.com/topic/93107 show less