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A review by hostral
Knight in the Nighttime by J.S. Morin
4.0
Right from the get go you realise that J.S. Morin draws from some classic fantasy influences to craft this epic tale. While there's no orphan farm boys in sight, we have an excellent cast of characters to work with.
Brannis Solaran has already been introduced to us by the prequel novella War-Bringer. He's a tough son of a gun who stems from a magical family without having any inherent magic of his own. He's your classic military tactician who has earned his stripes through numerous battles for the empire.
His childhood friend and partner in crime, Iridan is a sorcerer very much on the up with a tremendous offensive arsenal that is quite quickly displayed.
Both their lives are irrevocably altered when they run into a mysterious hermit, the sort of character that I'm an absolute sucker for.
Kyrus is a scribe and is about as vanilla as can be until he starts discovering things about himself he didn't previously realise. The start of his particular character arch reads very much like a coming-of-age tale, but is quickly altered.
Denrik Zayne is a classic pirate of the high seas, taking no prisoners and making no apologies for his chequered past. What's refreshing is that while his actions indicate someone that could very well become the antagonist for the series as a whole, he's not some cackling mad-man stereotype.
The entire premise of the book hinges upon a spoiler, one that is detailed in the book description but also one that I quite thankfully forgot prior to reading. Authors like Sanderson are constantly praised for their unique world-building, and Morin proves to be of a similar calibre with this particular plot device.
While there is a degree of moral ambiguity about the characters involved, it's very apparent who the 'good' guys are in the tale. There's also no swearing that I saw and no bloody massacre of leads for shock value. This is in line with the story's traditional fantasy influences, and is a breath of fresh air in an age where everything must be gritty.
While there are female characters they are largely peripheral until the final third of the book. Some might consider this sexist, I consider it a sensible choice given the world that J.S. Morin has constructed.
The book is self-published, and there are a handful of typos to highlight that, as well as the authorial style starting a little rough around the edges at the beginning. This is easily forgiven though thanks to a plot that is deftly woven over the first few hundred pages.
The one pitfall that Firehurler did not escape is that it is very much the first part of a trilogy, and the ending did seem to linger excessively in an attempt to set up the second book in the series.
With a more modern audience than the of the 80's and 90's, I can understand how a book like this could be seen as a little vanilla compared to the controversial and often violent peers of modern day fantasy. Morin writes in a style that isn't exactly in vogue of late, but he does so with such a degree of capability that had this been released thirty or forty years ago it would have stood toe to toe with the likes of Brooks and Feist and Eddings.
If you're looking for a quality epic high fantasy in the vein of the masters from yesteryear, Firehurler is an exciting prospect well worth your time. I've already purchased the rest of the trilogy and the other books from the author's catalogue, and eagerly await further material. I paid for this initial volume as well but it has since been released for free, at that price point it'd be absolute madness not to give it a go!
Brannis Solaran has already been introduced to us by the prequel novella War-Bringer. He's a tough son of a gun who stems from a magical family without having any inherent magic of his own. He's your classic military tactician who has earned his stripes through numerous battles for the empire.
His childhood friend and partner in crime, Iridan is a sorcerer very much on the up with a tremendous offensive arsenal that is quite quickly displayed.
Both their lives are irrevocably altered when they run into a mysterious hermit, the sort of character that I'm an absolute sucker for.
Kyrus is a scribe and is about as vanilla as can be until he starts discovering things about himself he didn't previously realise. The start of his particular character arch reads very much like a coming-of-age tale, but is quickly altered.
Denrik Zayne is a classic pirate of the high seas, taking no prisoners and making no apologies for his chequered past. What's refreshing is that while his actions indicate someone that could very well become the antagonist for the series as a whole, he's not some cackling mad-man stereotype.
The entire premise of the book hinges upon a spoiler, one that is detailed in the book description but also one that I quite thankfully forgot prior to reading. Authors like Sanderson are constantly praised for their unique world-building, and Morin proves to be of a similar calibre with this particular plot device.
While there is a degree of moral ambiguity about the characters involved, it's very apparent who the 'good' guys are in the tale. There's also no swearing that I saw and no bloody massacre of leads for shock value. This is in line with the story's traditional fantasy influences, and is a breath of fresh air in an age where everything must be gritty.
While there are female characters they are largely peripheral until the final third of the book. Some might consider this sexist, I consider it a sensible choice given the world that J.S. Morin has constructed.
The book is self-published, and there are a handful of typos to highlight that, as well as the authorial style starting a little rough around the edges at the beginning. This is easily forgiven though thanks to a plot that is deftly woven over the first few hundred pages.
The one pitfall that Firehurler did not escape is that it is very much the first part of a trilogy, and the ending did seem to linger excessively in an attempt to set up the second book in the series.
With a more modern audience than the of the 80's and 90's, I can understand how a book like this could be seen as a little vanilla compared to the controversial and often violent peers of modern day fantasy. Morin writes in a style that isn't exactly in vogue of late, but he does so with such a degree of capability that had this been released thirty or forty years ago it would have stood toe to toe with the likes of Brooks and Feist and Eddings.
If you're looking for a quality epic high fantasy in the vein of the masters from yesteryear, Firehurler is an exciting prospect well worth your time. I've already purchased the rest of the trilogy and the other books from the author's catalogue, and eagerly await further material. I paid for this initial volume as well but it has since been released for free, at that price point it'd be absolute madness not to give it a go!