Review: Anti-Heroic Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 15, 2012
A wager is made between an old priest and his warrior friend, and against the Gods themselves - the priest, tired of waiting for the Hero promised to him in a prophecy, would instead create a Hero to lead their people to glory. Two young warriors are the likely candidates for the job.From that premise, the story takes off.This is basically an Anti-Heroic Fantasy, to coin a phrase. In that, it's slightly reminiscent in approach to G.R.R. Martin's work, just like the other reviewers mentioned, where the reader has to go through literally a thousand pages before encountering a selfless heroic deed. Another characteristic that does make this book similar to the Games of Thrones, is that things just do not work out nicely and smoothly in this story. However, that is where the similarity ends.There are multiple characters in this novel; and there are lots of things that seem to happen simultaneously or close to each other. The storyline, however, is pretty tightly focused. I am not exactly sure what is the line between an Epic Fantasy and Heroic (or Anti-Heroic, as the case may be) Fantasy, but I think this novel falls more into the latter category.The tale is constructed around the character development and decisions the characters make.  The word-building and expositions are done through dialog and inner thoughts of the characters with little description. To my taste, it's a plus, but I can see how some readers would want a bit more exposition.The road to hell is paved with the best intentions - I think this does describe the idea behind the story nicely. A fun read, but not for the squeamish.