gbdub's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Sexual content
Minor: Rape
kitvaria_sarene's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this one!
I liked all the characters, and I could not tell you which one is my favorite... They are no nice, shining heroes though, so if you're looking for a happy feel good story with normally sound heroes, this is not for you. If you on the other hand are looking for something a bit more realistic, gritty, and different, look no further! They were all perfectly individual, with different personalities and strengths and weaknesses, no cardboard cutouts.
The pacing was just right to always keep me engaged in the book - and the plot was really interesting and also kept me hooked. It starts of with different POVs who slowly start running together in the course of the story - and they take some paths you would not expect! I like books who are not predictable, so that was a big plus on my side.
I will definitely read more from Hayes in the future!
I liked all the characters, and I could not tell you which one is my favorite... They are no nice, shining heroes though, so if you're looking for a happy feel good story with normally sound heroes, this is not for you. If you on the other hand are looking for something a bit more realistic, gritty, and different, look no further! They were all perfectly individual, with different personalities and strengths and weaknesses, no cardboard cutouts.
The pacing was just right to always keep me engaged in the book - and the plot was really interesting and also kept me hooked. It starts of with different POVs who slowly start running together in the course of the story - and they take some paths you would not expect! I like books who are not predictable, so that was a big plus on my side.
I will definitely read more from Hayes in the future!
lvh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
greyforest's review
4.0
This story was really great with equally great characters, writing, and action scenes.
If you're a fan of Witch Hunters/Inquisitors in fantasy, great action, anti-heroes, and just well written fantasy, you gotta give this a read.
The story is quite complex and follows three separate heroes, all of their paths intertwine in ways you may not imagine, each is equally interesting and well written but my favorite was for sure Arbiter Thanquil Darkheart, a member of an Inquisition who follow a God Emperor. He is given a task to root out heresy within his Inquisition as well as a job over seas by the council of Inquisitors. The other two, the Black Thorn, a notorious sellsword, thug, and killer of Arbiters who is going on a secretive huge final mission with his boss and crew of misfits. And Jezzet Vel'urn, a Blademaster with a dark past and various people who want to kill her, almost equally as roguish as Thorn, but less, well, thorny... Just trying to survive while life deals her a continually shit hand.
If any or all of these characters interest you, try and check this out!
If you're a fan of Witch Hunters/Inquisitors in fantasy, great action, anti-heroes, and just well written fantasy, you gotta give this a read.
The story is quite complex and follows three separate heroes, all of their paths intertwine in ways you may not imagine, each is equally interesting and well written but my favorite was for sure Arbiter Thanquil Darkheart, a member of an Inquisition who follow a God Emperor. He is given a task to root out heresy within his Inquisition as well as a job over seas by the council of Inquisitors. The other two, the Black Thorn, a notorious sellsword, thug, and killer of Arbiters who is going on a secretive huge final mission with his boss and crew of misfits. And Jezzet Vel'urn, a Blademaster with a dark past and various people who want to kill her, almost equally as roguish as Thorn, but less, well, thorny... Just trying to survive while life deals her a continually shit hand.
If any or all of these characters interest you, try and check this out!
krgangi's review
4.0
I was very surprised and how much I enjoyed this book. The characters were complicated, each of them with their own background that defined their actions in the future, and the story was very direct and fun. I can't wait to read the next ones.
patrick6367's review
5.0
It seems I've read a lot of books lately that I just can't get through. I'll make it through 20, 40 even 60% of a book and then decide it's just not doing it for me. This was not one of those books. I loved it! It was a tremendous amount of fun, it hooked me from the opening scene, and I ripped through it quickly and launched myself right into the sequel and from there into the third book. I really needed a book like this, it has been months since I have had this much fun reading a book. I was beginning to despair. Thank you Mr. Hayes for giving such a good time with a book again!
This is definitely a "grimdark" novel, so beware. If you like Joe Abecrombie and Mark Lawrence then you're going to like this book (and series). If you don't like those authors you probably won't care for these novels. These books aren't quite up to the level of the works by Abercrombie and Lawrence, but they're still very good and Rob Hayes is definitely an author I'm going to be following from now on.
This is definitely a "grimdark" novel, so beware. If you like Joe Abecrombie and Mark Lawrence then you're going to like this book (and series). If you don't like those authors you probably won't care for these novels. These books aren't quite up to the level of the works by Abercrombie and Lawrence, but they're still very good and Rob Hayes is definitely an author I'm going to be following from now on.
mel_d's review
3.0
despite the feeling that I have read bits and pieces of this book before, it was not bad at all. good balance of humor and darkness, captivating story, interesting characters. although, admittedly, the characters did seem to try way too hard to sound tough and disillusioned. overall, it was quite a good read or, at least, good enough for me to order the following books of the trilogy.
hostral's review
4.0
Say one thing about The Black Thorn, say he's an awful lot like Logen Ninefingers.
As other reviews have astutely put, The Heresy Within at the time of reading was an indie fantasy that had picked up a lot of momentum over the last few months on Amazon. It sported hundreds of favourable reviews and as a result I came into it with a great wariness. Too often have the books not lived up to the 'hype', naming no names.
Ragnarok have subsequently picked it up and the trilogy is set to be re-released in edited form with brand new covers, so you can expect a few quibbles to be ironed out should you be late to the party.
Hayes is quite open about his influences, and his style of writing is very much in vogue at the minute. Gritty characters with expletives galore and moral ambiguity to the hilt. Depravity is commonplace in his work, and sex is almost profligate in its usage.
So essentially what we have here is the independent version of Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself meeting Glen Cook's The Black Company.
That's a really tough billing to live up to, and while for the most part Hayes manages to ape his influences admirably, he falls just short of proving their equal. Fortunately for him, said influences are masterful, which leaves The Heresy Within miles ahead of your standard independent fantasy release.
The story revolves around three main characters, whose fates are obviously intertwined as the plot progresses. The book does this well, not lamp-shading or forcing them together in an unbelievable fashion.
Betrim Thorn aka The Black Thorn, notorious for killing Arbiters, is your typical man's man. A complete and total rebranding of Logen Ninefingers in the best sense of the word. He drinks, he fucks, he kills people, he has introspection and a world-weariness to him. He's also a pleasure to read, even if his sort is becoming a stereotype. The comparisons to Glen Cook are due to his being part of a company of mercenaries, who stick with us throughout the tale.
Thanquil Darkheart is an Arbiter, an inquisition-type who doesn't particularly like his job of burning heretics. He also has the power to compel people to answer questions and has a few nifty magic tricks up his sleeve when it comes to combat. The clash with Betrim will be obvious, but not to the point where it's irritating.
Jezzet Vel’urn is a blademaster, of whom we are made painfully aware that she has a vagina. When she's not fighting for her life, she's having sex to avoid fighting for her life. This is something that she is keen to repeatedly point out. She also killed a very powerful person's lover and blinded them in one eye, so she has that to contend with too.
Throw in plenty of ancillary characters that are given a vague bit of characterisation and some solid plotting and you've got yourself a quality work.
The Heresy Within threatens to be a five-star work, but falls short as the climax of the book seems to occur prior to its ending. In the usual style of 'first of a trilogy' books it then proceeds to set the stage for the next in the series, but thankfully refuses to end on a cheap cliffhanger.
If you have any remote interest in dark and gritty fantasy, pick this up when it has been properly edited and proofed. It's a solid addition to the morass that has now been branded 'grimdark'.
As other reviews have astutely put, The Heresy Within at the time of reading was an indie fantasy that had picked up a lot of momentum over the last few months on Amazon. It sported hundreds of favourable reviews and as a result I came into it with a great wariness. Too often have the books not lived up to the 'hype', naming no names.
Ragnarok have subsequently picked it up and the trilogy is set to be re-released in edited form with brand new covers, so you can expect a few quibbles to be ironed out should you be late to the party.
Hayes is quite open about his influences, and his style of writing is very much in vogue at the minute. Gritty characters with expletives galore and moral ambiguity to the hilt. Depravity is commonplace in his work, and sex is almost profligate in its usage.
So essentially what we have here is the independent version of Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself meeting Glen Cook's The Black Company.
That's a really tough billing to live up to, and while for the most part Hayes manages to ape his influences admirably, he falls just short of proving their equal. Fortunately for him, said influences are masterful, which leaves The Heresy Within miles ahead of your standard independent fantasy release.
The story revolves around three main characters, whose fates are obviously intertwined as the plot progresses. The book does this well, not lamp-shading or forcing them together in an unbelievable fashion.
Betrim Thorn aka The Black Thorn, notorious for killing Arbiters, is your typical man's man. A complete and total rebranding of Logen Ninefingers in the best sense of the word. He drinks, he fucks, he kills people, he has introspection and a world-weariness to him. He's also a pleasure to read, even if his sort is becoming a stereotype. The comparisons to Glen Cook are due to his being part of a company of mercenaries, who stick with us throughout the tale.
Thanquil Darkheart is an Arbiter, an inquisition-type who doesn't particularly like his job of burning heretics. He also has the power to compel people to answer questions and has a few nifty magic tricks up his sleeve when it comes to combat. The clash with Betrim will be obvious, but not to the point where it's irritating.
Jezzet Vel’urn is a blademaster, of whom we are made painfully aware that she has a vagina. When she's not fighting for her life, she's having sex to avoid fighting for her life. This is something that she is keen to repeatedly point out. She also killed a very powerful person's lover and blinded them in one eye, so she has that to contend with too.
Throw in plenty of ancillary characters that are given a vague bit of characterisation and some solid plotting and you've got yourself a quality work.
The Heresy Within threatens to be a five-star work, but falls short as the climax of the book seems to occur prior to its ending. In the usual style of 'first of a trilogy' books it then proceeds to set the stage for the next in the series, but thankfully refuses to end on a cheap cliffhanger.
If you have any remote interest in dark and gritty fantasy, pick this up when it has been properly edited and proofed. It's a solid addition to the morass that has now been branded 'grimdark'.
ajokli's review
2.0
2.5/5
Rob’s first published novel is a good start - an interesting story with enjoyable characters. I found the execution at times was a bit rough. Rob has since done a solid job honing his craft over numerous novels. This book is just good, where his later works that I’ve read are excellent.
If this was your first Rob Hayes book and you weren’t sure about it, know that this is just a taste of really great things to come. KEEP READING!
Rob’s first published novel is a good start - an interesting story with enjoyable characters. I found the execution at times was a bit rough. Rob has since done a solid job honing his craft over numerous novels. This book is just good, where his later works that I’ve read are excellent.
If this was your first Rob Hayes book and you weren’t sure about it, know that this is just a taste of really great things to come. KEEP READING!
nghia's review
3.0
When I say that this is a competent genre book, that sounds like I'm damning it with faint praise. But I don't really mean it that way. I enjoyed it and read it quickly. If this is the kind of book you're looking for then you'll probably enjoy it, too. But it also probably won't win over any converts or appeal to anyone who isn't specifically looking for a grimdark fantasy.
I think what helps elevate it slightly is that Hayes constructs a cast of surprisingly likable characters. I say surprising because they're all terrible human beings. But even the secondary characters in The Black Thorn's gang have something to them. It reminded me a bit of Joe Abercrombie's group of Named Men with the likes of the Black Dow, Logen Ninefingers, and Dogman.
It suffers from a lot of "typical fantasy" flaws. It has an over-large cast and it spends an inexcusable amount of time "setting things up". There are three different groups that are, obviously, going to come together but it takes well over half the book to get to that point. Only one of the three groups has any kind of real overarching "plot" so all of the scenes with the other two are going to feel superfluous to many readers. I found them generally enjoyable in and of themselves, though when I finished the book I did look back and go "hm, actually not all that much happened in 500+ pages". It also isn't especially clear why this needed to be a trilogy other than "that's what you do in fantasy"; things are reasonably well wrapped up in this single book and I'm not even sure what the sequel is going to be about.
Overall while I found flaws in this, I also feel that with experience (and possibly a firm editor's guiding hand) Hayes has potential, so I'll continue with some of his other works and see how he grows as an author.
I think what helps elevate it slightly is that Hayes constructs a cast of surprisingly likable characters. I say surprising because they're all terrible human beings. But even the secondary characters in The Black Thorn's gang have something to them. It reminded me a bit of Joe Abercrombie's group of Named Men with the likes of the Black Dow, Logen Ninefingers, and Dogman.
It suffers from a lot of "typical fantasy" flaws. It has an over-large cast and it spends an inexcusable amount of time "setting things up". There are three different groups that are, obviously, going to come together but it takes well over half the book to get to that point. Only one of the three groups has any kind of real overarching "plot" so all of the scenes with the other two are going to feel superfluous to many readers. I found them generally enjoyable in and of themselves, though when I finished the book I did look back and go "hm, actually not all that much happened in 500+ pages". It also isn't especially clear why this needed to be a trilogy other than "that's what you do in fantasy"; things are reasonably well wrapped up in this single book and I'm not even sure what the sequel is going to be about.
Overall while I found flaws in this, I also feel that with experience (and possibly a firm editor's guiding hand) Hayes has potential, so I'll continue with some of his other works and see how he grows as an author.