Review: A great old-school sword and sorcery adventure, mixed with horror!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2014
I had a great time with this book. Atmospheric and action-packed. Think Cthulhu Comes to Rome. The setting is very much Rome-like, or perhaps Egyptian. It feels like something right out of Robert E. Howard’s Hyborean Age, actually. Anyway, the plot starts when Prince Davril is given a choice – sacrifice his fiancé Alyssa to a dread god-thing or face the god-thing’s wrath. Davril chooses the latter, and the consequences are terrible.Terrible forces come down on the kingdom, which begins to unravel, and it’s up to Davril to put the pieces back together again. This isn’t easy when his uncle usurps the throne and tries to kill him. Davril has to go on the run in the middle of the chaos of his city, evading agents of his uncle and of the various cults that are after him. Then the Worm comes, and everything goes to hell.I don’t want to go into any more spoilers, but there are plenty of other-worldly terrors and dread events. The novel is very fast-paced and action-packed, but it is always very character-oriented. The writing is colorful and fluid, and it felt professionally edited.The story does get very dark and violent at times, and there are several graphic sex scenes, so this is not for minors. But if you’re an adult that likes fun, Robert E. Howard-style fantasy adventure and sword and sorcery, with plenty of touches of the Master, H. P. Lovecraft, you will probably find much to enjoy in “Empire of the Worm”.