Is this a story about a man who must save his lady love? Yes. Do I normally despise those? Also, yes. However, this was such a solid fantasy adventure book that by the end of it I could *almost* overlook some of the things that would normally have me giving up on it halfway through.
Skallagrim wakes up in an alley with no memories of how he got there, he knows only two things he is in a fight for his very life and he must rescue his beloved before she is kidnapped. Unfortunately for him, things are not looking so good, he is surrounded by mercenaries and cultists all hell-bent on his death. He's barely dodged a death blow that has peeled away most of the skin from his face, he's losing blood fast, and he has nothing that will help him other than grim determination. That is until the sky above him lights up and like a falling meteor, a screaming sword falls from the sky right into his hands. Just in time for him to beat back his foes before the Archon Guard arrive. His real rescue comes from a merchant tied up in the corner who takes him to somewhere safe so he can heal. Skallagrim still can't remember anything and Erling, his savior, fills in what gaps he can for him, telling Skallagrim that the only way to save his lady love is to head into the very heart of evil before she is sacrificed by the Sorceror Forneus all to resurrect the Knight Balor. Skallagrim is pretty sure he can't trust Erling but he'll do anything to save the woman he loves, even if that means taking on ancient evils and mad sorcerers, even if he has to give his own life to do so.
My main complaint and what kept this from being a five-star book is that I'm not a fan of the whole Dude must save the girl thing. Especially when the dude is ridiculously good, as Skallagrim is, gods he's even ridiculously polite as he's killing people. I kinda thought that since Skallagrim was a thief he'd be a little grayer than he is, but no, just good till the very end. This also means he is ridiculously overpowered which fits the type of story this is but still gets kind of old. Or it would have if the action scenes weren't so good.
The thing I really enjoyed about this was the world-building and what's left not said in this. As Skallagrim makes his way through the forest to save his lady love the characters he comes across fill us on in the details of the world. It's done in such a manner that this world, its history, and characters aren't shoved at you all at once which can lead to you forgetting important points which ultimately leads to later scenes making no sense. And the monsters he faces are amazing. Babb actually gives the ghouls backstories. Honestly, I don't think I've ever really come across that, except in video games. If you've played Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced (it may be the second Tactics advanced it's been a bit since I played them) there are actually a couple of ghouls that you get the backstories of and I really enjoyed that there so it was nice to see it in a book. It gives the fight scenes a completely different dimension in terms of your feelings towards them. Especially with a kind of generic monster like a ghoul, normally, these are just mindless bad guys the hero has to fight but giving them a backstory makes them more than that. In this case evil on multiple levels.
The pacing in this is well done too, it takes a bit to pick up, but once it does it just takes off and it's almost non-stop action until the end. But as a warning yeah there are a few chapters where it's just Skallagrim walking through the forest and you are left wondering if something, anything is going to happen.
Overall, outside of the complaints I addressed earlier this was a solid fantasy adventure with just enough twists and turns and well-done foreshadowing that I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Skallagrim next!
Thanks to BookSirens for my copy of this book in exchange for my review!
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