I just finished two Euro-Mediterranean-inspired fantasy novels, and, by
chance, both feature dragons on their beautiful covers. This post showcases
both. Scott Oden's The Doom of Oden wraps up a trilogy (Grimnir
Series) and Howard Andrew Jones' Lord of a Shattered Land begins
a five-book series (Hanuvar Chronicles). Each offer anti-Roman
myths/legends, Oden's Grimnir overtly calls out Rome (and then introduces loads
of Nordic fantasy) and HAJ's Hanuvar's primary antagonist is the Dervan Empire
(obviously inspired by the Roman Empire). In the spirit of Robert E. Howard's
Conan, who roamed the Euro-Mediterranan continue of Hyboria, these both
continue a tradition with a unique flair. These series are not to be missed!
Both are veteran authors with respect for history and historical fiction
(HAJ is known for his Harold Lamb series editing and Oden
for his bibliography that includes The White Lion, The Lion of
Cairo, Men of Bronze, and Memnon). Here they write sagas
about veteran protagonists. Don't expect coming-of-age stories or epic fantasy,
five-character parties either. These provide the classic Sword & Sorcery
approach: the protagonists may have sidekicks, but they operate primarily on
their own, and they are already equipped with experience/skills/power from
page-one. So the pace is fast and focused.
Both Lord of a Shattered Land and The Doom of
Odin blend history with fantasy but each provides significant doses of
myth/sorcery, so these are not alternate history novels. Each
protagonist is motivated by their respective family too: HAJ's Hanuvar is
human, and since he is a displaced general managing to survive as his society
is destroyed by Derva (Rome), he operates like a secret agent going rogue
behind enemy lines to rescue other stragglers and family members. Oden's
Grimnir is inhuman, more of a manifestation of Beowulf's Grendel's kin, and
whereas the first two books had Grimnir apart from his estranged family, this
last installment showcases loads of family drama (i.e., think family reunion on
the scale of Ragnarok, aka, the end of the world, with Rome hosting part of the
picnic).
This post provides
brief reviews, book blurbs, and excerpts. Read on and battle Rome and ancient
Gods!
Hanuvar
Series (link)
Hanuvar is a fictionalized general (an incarnation of Hannibal of
Carthage) who tangles with the Roman-like Dervani who have invaded his
homeland. Expect espionage thriller sorties, gladiator battles, and
sorcery-saturated climaxes in each chapter to balance all the melee. Lord of
a Shattered Land (Aug 2023) kicks off a 5 book series from Baen, followed
by City of Marble and Blood (Oct 2023), and Shadow of the
Smoking Mountain (Oct 2024), (#4 and #5 to be revealed later).
Hanuvar is Conan possessed by James Bond!
Lord of a Shattered Land Cover Blurb
When their walls were breached at last, the people of Volanus fought
block by block, house by house, until most fell with sword in hand. Less than a
thousand survivors were led away in chains.
The city’s treasuries were looted, its temples defiled, and then, to sate
their emperor’s thirst for vengeance, the mages of the Dervan Empire cursed
Volanus and sowed its fields with salt. They committed only one error: the
greatest Volani general yet lived.
Against the might of a vast empire, Hanuvar had only an aging sword arm,
a lifetime of wisdom… and the greatest military mind in the world, set upon a
single goal. No matter where they’d been sent, from the festering capital to
the furthest outpost of the Dervan Empire, Hanuvar would find his people. Every
last one of them. And he would set them free.
Worst of all, a magical attack had left Hanuvar with a lingering curse
that might change him forever, or lead him to an early grave…
Lord of a Shattered features fourteen episodes chronicling Hanuvar's
undercover investigations and travels. The settings and delivery are
reminiscent of Richard L Tierney's Simon of Gitta (Black Gate review) who
was posed as an enemy of sorcerous Rome (the character Simon was loosely
modeled after the biblical magus, and was motivated by vengeance.)
Hanuvar is driven more to save his people than to cause further harm, but
bloodshed follows him everywhere. HAJ's delivery is splendidly smooth, whether he is describing body horror or humorous situations--at times evoking Leiber's Lanhmar ambiance. You
likely have seen some of his stories, since seven of the fourteen
episodes/chapters were published in similar form by reappearing here with
slight editing to close out a story arc:
- “The Way of
Serpents,” first published in the Goodman Games Gen Con 2016
Program Guide and then reprinted in Issue "zero" of Tales
From the Magician’s Skull, 2018.
- “Crypt of
Stars,” printed in Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Issue 1,
2018.
- “The Second
Death of Hanuvar,” printed in Tales From the Magician’s Skull,
Issue 3, 2019.
- “A Stone’s
Throw,” printed in Heroic Fiction Quarterly #40, 2019.
- “Course of
Blood,” printed in the anthology Galactic Stew.
- “From the
Darkness Beneath” in Terra Incognita
- “Shroud of
Feathers” appeared in issue 6 of Tales From the Magician’s Skull.
Excerpt: Vivid, clever,
James-Bond-Like Melee
"His opponents were spread out, and while the circumstance was far
from ideal, it might not get better. Hanuvar dashed from the brush and slammed
the antlered man’s head with his spear haft. This knocked his foe’s deer-hood
askew and set him reeling drunkenly. Hanuvar closed and struck him across the
throat with the heel of his hand.
Antler-head sank to his knees, gasping for breath.
Hanuvar grasped his cheeks, pushed the severed finger through his teeth,
and clamped the man’s jaw shut. “Swallow,” he ordered into his ear, the spear
blade against his neck.
The man’s throat moved, he pushed at Hanuvar’s arm with shaking
fingers . . . then swallowed as the spear blade pricked him."
Excerpt: Weird, Sorcerous,
X-Files-Like Predicaments
"Arcella lay there, at least what was left of her. Her dress had
been rent down the front, and her skinless, hairless body lay wet and
glistening, the lidless eyes rendered enormous. Unlike the other bodies, her
internal organs still lay in their places. The reek was overwhelming.
Even Hanuvar was stunned by the scene, for he could think of no ordinary
means by which the woman could have screamed and then been rendered skinless in
the scant moment since they had raced to find her."
The City of Marble and Blood (already out) continues Hanuvar's
grand adventures!
Grimnir Series (link)
Ymir’s balls! Oden's trilogy comes to an end. This was initiated with A Gathering
of Ravens (reviewed by Flecther Vredenburgh on Black Gate)
to be followed by Twilight of
the Gods. Read those first to become a cheerleader of
Grimnir. The milieu is reminiscent of Poul Anderson’s Viking
Age The Broken Sword, being full of Dane’s and Celtic faeries and
Norse myths. Oden's style is more readable than that classic, but is still
saturated with just the right amount of call-outs to geographies and history to
blur the lines between fantasy and history. This is no historical fantasy, but
the foundation of history is so well played the fantasy feels “real.” Equally
balanced are the sorceries of Celtic witches, Norse deities, and Christian
beliefs. All supernatural “sides” of faith conflict here. All are presented as real,
though some are being superseded. So who is the orc protagonist
employed by Scott Oden to redeem the Orc culture? He is Grimnir...Grendel’s
brother, as named by some. The lady ÉtaÃn, a servant of the Christian God, the
Nailed One, and unlikely companion of him describes him:
“He is called Grimnir… the last of his kind, one of the kaunar—known to
your people as fomóraig, to mine as orcnéas, and to the Northmen as skrælingar.
In the time I’ve known him, he has been ever a fomenter of trouble, a murderer,
and as cruel a bastard… I can vouch neither for his honesty nor his morals, as
he is bereft of both. And while he did kidnap me, threaten me with death, mock
my faith, and expose me to the hates of a forgotten world, he also saved my
life …” from A Gathering of Ravens
Grimnir is a monstrous, brutal bastard!
His name suits him since he might as well be
carrying a flagstaff with the contemporary “Grimdark subgenre” splayed upon it.
Yet his predicament and motivations are as compelling as any vigilante hero.
How best to end the series other than (a) meeting Grimnir's estranged family
[i.e., the paternal Bálegyr] while (b) ushering in Ragnarok? This last
installment takes us to mindbending travel between ancient Rome and
Nastrond/Yggdrasil (i.e. Nordic Otherworlds that Oden can explain better than
me). Granted Rome is only part of the landscape here; readers should expect
more time in the Nordic realms.
The Doom of Odin: A Novel (Grimnir
Series Book 3) Blurb:
To the Danes, he is skraelingr; to the English, he is orcnéas;
to the Irish, he is fomoraig. He is Corpse-maker and Life-quencher,
the Bringer of Night, the Son of the Wolf and Brother of the Serpent. He is
Grimnir, and he is the last of his kind—the last in a long line of monsters who
have plagued humanity since the Elder Days.
Drawn from his lair by a thirst for vengeance against the Dane who slew
his brother, Grimnir emerges into a world that’s changed. A new faith has
arisen. The Old Ways are dying, and their followers retreating into the
shadows; even still, Grimnir’s vengeance cannot be denied.
Taking a young Christian hostage to be his guide, Grimnir embarks on a
journey that takes him from the hinterlands of Denmark, where the wisdom of the
ancient dwarves has given way to madness, to the war-torn heart of southern
England, where the spirits of the land make violence on one another. And thence
to the green shores of Ireland and the Viking stronghold of Dubhlinn, where his
enemy awaits.
But, unless Grimnir can set aside his hatreds, his dream of retribution
will come to nothing. For Dubhlinn is set to be the site of a reckoning—the Old
Ways versus the New—and Grimnir, the last of his kind left to plague mankind,
must choose: stand with the Christian King of Ireland and see his vengeance
done or stand against him and see it slip away?
Grimdark Battles Infused with Norse
Mythology
Excerpt 1:
Grimnir hacked slivers from the skrælingr’s club; over his shoulder, he
saw the shuffling kaunr—that straight-legged bastard with a beard like tarry
weeds—moving into his blind side. Snarling, Grimnir deflected another blow from
the skrælingr’s knotty club, then drove the hilt of his long-seax into the
idiot’s teeth. Once. Twice. Blood spurted from the wreckage of his nose and
mouth. A third blow snapped the skrælingr’s head back. The club slipped from
his nerveless fingers. A fourth crushing blow sent him crumpling to the ground
with a broken neck.
Excerpt 2:
Grimnir never let him finish...With a serpentine hiss, the son of Bálegyr
snapped his arm forward, driving the blade of his spear into the point of the
kaunr’s bearded chin. His drawn breath, meant for the boastful recitation of
his deeds, turned into a death-rattle as the spearhead plowed through bone and
teeth; it cut through the muscle of his tongue and the soft flesh of his
palate, splitting his face from jaw to brow. Blood spewed from the spear-cleft
ruin.
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