Review: Wonderful dark sword and sorcery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2014
Dark fantasy done right. Full of action and adventure, The War of the Moonstone transports readers into a medieval world about to be plunged into war. The Dark Lord has sent an enemy agent to infiltrate the court of the goodly Baron Wesrain. His name is Raugst, and he’s a fascinating character who ends up falling in love with the main character’s true love, the High Priestess Illiana. I normally don’t like love triangles, but this one really worked for me.Our main character, Giorn, goes to war to protect the Moonstone and then gets cut off by the war, unable to return to Niara, while Raugst gains power at home . . . and grows increasingly interested in Niara. Uh-oh! A third of the novel is told from Niara’s point of view, and we get to see the high priestess react and respond to all these various threats, not least of all Raugst. She’s a bold and brave heroine, our light in the growing darkness, and it is her plan that ultimately gives the good guys a chance to win.Giorn is a classic sword and sorcery hero, but this is a gritty novel and when he fights the dark powers they’re actually pretty darned dark. Still, it’s fast and fun and action-packed. But just imagine if J. R. R. Tolkien had shown us what the orcs were “really” up to in their camps and you’ll get the idea. But it makes it all the more meaningful when Giorn chops their heads off!Anyway, I had a great time reading it and can’t wait to read what the author has next.