Unlike my previously reviewed series, this one is fantasy, not SF…which makes it a rarity in two aspects.
The first rare aspect of it is that I haven’t been reading much fantasy in the last few years…my interest has gone more and more towards military SF (as you have probably guessed by now :) than the fantasy side of fiction.
The second, and actually more important, rare aspect of this is that the writer, David Weber, is mostly known by being one of the best military SF writers of the last 10 years. As far as I know, the three books that make this series (at least so far) are the only fantasy he has written…and it rocks! :)
The War God Series is, as I already mentioned, made up of three books:
We get to meet Bahzell Bahnakson, son of Prince Bahnak of the Horse Stealers clan of the hrandani, a race of humanoids very much like you and me…except way taller than us and with fox-like ears…and nobody could ever confuse a Horse Stealer with a knight in shining armor. We first find him as the peace-hostage that his father had given to Churnazh, price of the city of Navahk, of the Bloody Sword clan, after the last war between the two of them.
We get to follow him as he goes through the adventures that will turn him from a barbarian son of a barbarian chieftain into a Champion of Tomanak, the God of War and Justice…and let me tell you, Tomanak had one hell of a fight to get him to sign up :)
On the other hand, we also meet Brandark Brandarkson, son of one of Churnazh nobles, the only Bloody Sword Bahzell considers worth the air he breaths. Brandark is a warrior, a dandy and a wannabe-bard…and he’s one of the most fun characters ever found in a fantasy book, IMNSHO :) His voice sucks, his writing too…but he does have the right spirit, and he’s probably the only erudite there has ever been among the hrandani, as he has self-educated himself for most of his life, reading anything and everything he can get his hands on.
And, of course, we get a few glimpses of Tomanak, the War God…and he seems to have the same wicked sense of humour that makes Bahzell want to twist Brandark’s neck every few pages :)
Another very important, and interesting, character of this series is Wencit of Rum, a wild wizard who survived the Fall of Kontovar over 1200 years before we meet him. He was also the last Lord of the Council of Ottovar, which enforced the Strictures that meant to control the use of magic in the world.
The characters that we meet through the series are always interesting, the races well developed, the battles fun to read (as it always happens with Weber), and the story is always pulling you to read “just one more page before sleeping”…Weber at his best, absolutely addictive :)
I’m pretty sure that Weber is going to write more in this series…there’s a whole lot of world for him to have adventures in…and if not Bahzell, one can only hope that we’ll get to see at least a book about the adventures of Kaeritha, an orphan girl who became a Champion of Tomanak after having a very hard life.
The three books make for a fun read, very much covering all the bases of a good fantasy series, in a world populated by several different races. If you like fantasy, or if you like Weber’s writing, you won’t be disappointed with this series.
Technorati Tags: fantasy, books, baen, david weber, war god
Tags: Books, Reviews
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!!
