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Gods of the Caravan Road #1
Blackdog
Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils...
And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods...
And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…
In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.
Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.
And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods...
And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…
In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.
Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.
547 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2011
141 people are currently reading
3500 people want to read
About the author
K.V. Johansen
28 books139 followersMostly, I write secondary world fantasy about people on the edges, with shapeshifters, demons, gods, and occasionally dragons. These days, I largely write for adults, though I've written many children's and YA fantasy novels and some children's science fiction, as well as picture books, plus I've been known to perpetrate literary criticism. I also write as Kris Jamison -- a contemporary lit book, Love/Rock/Compost.
My main scholarly interests are ancient and medieval history and languages, and the history of children's fantasy literature. What else can I say? My life is unexciting. I'm acquiring more guitars as I get older; music is very important to me even though I'm no good at it. I'm also, occasionally, an artist.
Here on Goodreads, I'm only rating/reviewing books I've really liked a lot. Sometimes I rate with stars, sometimes I don't, but a book is only on my Goodreads shelves if I liked it. For serious critical analysis from me, you'll have to turn to Quests and Kingdoms or Beyond Window-Dressing.
My main scholarly interests are ancient and medieval history and languages, and the history of children's fantasy literature. What else can I say? My life is unexciting. I'm acquiring more guitars as I get older; music is very important to me even though I'm no good at it. I'm also, occasionally, an artist.
Here on Goodreads, I'm only rating/reviewing books I've really liked a lot. Sometimes I rate with stars, sometimes I don't, but a book is only on my Goodreads shelves if I liked it. For serious critical analysis from me, you'll have to turn to Quests and Kingdoms or Beyond Window-Dressing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
October 4, 2021
Hey, I have a booktube channel (youtube for book reviews, etc.), and I include Blackdog in my Top 10 Standalone books list here. Please subscribe if I've earned it!
I've spent a good amount of time on online fantasy forums (you know, with all my free time) where I can geek out about fantasy books and authors and discuss the important questions like who would win in a fight, Ser Loras Tyrell or Aragorn (Sorry Loras, Elf training wins!). Be it sffworld (where I found Goodreads actually), r/fantasy on reddit, or a number of other places such as blogs.
Often, they are filled with jaded readers who've read all the traditional stuff, and they're always looking for something new and unique. More specifically, people are tired of the Medieval Europe setting.
The other question that also comes up quite often is what are the best stand-alone books. I love a great, long series, but I understand the desire to avoid the commitment a long series brings.
All that is to say, Blackdog is both of these. A unique stand-alone book in non-Eurocentric setting.
In a world where gods walk among men, where their rule is limited to streams or lakes or mountains, one is the target of a great evil. She has made herself vulnerable in order to get closer to her people and she is only a child, not yet grown to her full power.
Her protector is the Blackdog, whom some think is a devil himself. A man with the uncontrollable power inside him who only thinks of the protection of the god of Lissavakail.
I had heard this book was good and yet I was still weary going into it. Don't ask me why, that Reymond Swanland artwork alone shouts "read me!" However, I enjoyed every moment of this book. It's insanely good, insanely rich, and the details are wonderful.
It's a thick book, but remember, it's stand-alone! There's no more commitment after this. Plus, it's a unique fantasy world, built all in one book around a compelling plot. That takes some time to develop and it's all worth it.
I can easily say Blackdog is highly recommended. And even though it's stand-alone, I just got a copy of The Leopard, which is the start of a new duology set in the same world surrounding a place referred to a number of times in Blackdog. I'm looking forward to this one. I'm not 100% sure, but I doubt you have to have read Blackdog first. I'll let you know. :)
4.5 out of 5 Stars (very highly recommended)
I've spent a good amount of time on online fantasy forums (you know, with all my free time) where I can geek out about fantasy books and authors and discuss the important questions like who would win in a fight, Ser Loras Tyrell or Aragorn (Sorry Loras, Elf training wins!). Be it sffworld (where I found Goodreads actually), r/fantasy on reddit, or a number of other places such as blogs.
Often, they are filled with jaded readers who've read all the traditional stuff, and they're always looking for something new and unique. More specifically, people are tired of the Medieval Europe setting.
The other question that also comes up quite often is what are the best stand-alone books. I love a great, long series, but I understand the desire to avoid the commitment a long series brings.
All that is to say, Blackdog is both of these. A unique stand-alone book in non-Eurocentric setting.
In a world where gods walk among men, where their rule is limited to streams or lakes or mountains, one is the target of a great evil. She has made herself vulnerable in order to get closer to her people and she is only a child, not yet grown to her full power.
Her protector is the Blackdog, whom some think is a devil himself. A man with the uncontrollable power inside him who only thinks of the protection of the god of Lissavakail.
I had heard this book was good and yet I was still weary going into it. Don't ask me why, that Reymond Swanland artwork alone shouts "read me!" However, I enjoyed every moment of this book. It's insanely good, insanely rich, and the details are wonderful.
It's a thick book, but remember, it's stand-alone! There's no more commitment after this. Plus, it's a unique fantasy world, built all in one book around a compelling plot. That takes some time to develop and it's all worth it.
I can easily say Blackdog is highly recommended. And even though it's stand-alone, I just got a copy of The Leopard, which is the start of a new duology set in the same world surrounding a place referred to a number of times in Blackdog. I'm looking forward to this one. I'm not 100% sure, but I doubt you have to have read Blackdog first. I'll let you know. :)
4.5 out of 5 Stars (very highly recommended)
December 23, 2017
In The Marakand Road series KV Johansen has crafted a captivating world of gods, demons, wizards and warriors. Enriched by a keen eye for character and masterly, lyrical prose this is an insightful look at the corrosive nature of power on the human soul, not to mention featuring some of the best swordfights I've ever read.
April 17, 2018
This book feels traditional and modern at the same because it’s epic fantasy with its share of gods and goddesses, spirits, devils, wizards, lots of world building and magic, but it also features mature protagonists and rounded moral issues, harrowing straits and well, a "surly, devoted, one-man dog”.
The result is both refreshing and well-grounded in the canons of the genre; I particularly liked the idea of supernatural entities sharing the body and cohabiting with the souls of their human hosts, with the resulting effect of blurring the lines between personal memories, emotions, attitudes and choices.
The beautiful cover matches the story inside and it was a pleasure reading it. The tale and its desert setting grabbed me from the start and didn't let me go, even if the pace is uneven at times. The tension, once raised, was superb... My first K.V. Johansen book, and far from the last.
She did not know the way back; she could not see it; she was trapped in her humanity till death freed her, only for the pattern she had laid so long ago to begin again.
The result is both refreshing and well-grounded in the canons of the genre; I particularly liked the idea of supernatural entities sharing the body and cohabiting with the souls of their human hosts, with the resulting effect of blurring the lines between personal memories, emotions, attitudes and choices.
The beautiful cover matches the story inside and it was a pleasure reading it. The tale and its desert setting grabbed me from the start and didn't let me go, even if the pace is uneven at times. The tension, once raised, was superb... My first K.V. Johansen book, and far from the last.
She did not know the way back; she could not see it; she was trapped in her humanity till death freed her, only for the pattern she had laid so long ago to begin again.
February 15, 2012
I appreciate an author who isn't afraid to be cruel to her characters. Even more, I appreciate an author able to create a fresh, memorable fantasy setting without following the current fads of the market (urban/steampunk/etc). Most of all, the blessings of the Old Great Gods themselves on K.V. Johansen for telling her story in a single, complete volume as opposed to the standard 7-book epic we've come to expect.
The story is simple: bad guy drives good guys from home, good guys go on a journey of personal growth, then return to kick ass. It's the world and characters of Blackdog that make it shine. The author seems to take her cues not from European romance, but from the geography and peoples of central Asia. There are gods of the earth and goddesses of lakes and rivers, but unlike most fantasy there is no royalty. Instead, the book is populated by a plethora of well-drawn characters who actually work for a living, who have to overcome the struggle of surviving day-to-day on top of rising against a demonic overlord, and who have no great crowning glory to return to once all the battles are over.
My only complaints, and they're minor, would be that there are so many little characters that by the end they start to bleed into each other, that the book sprawls maybe a little more than it has to, and that some of the names are extremely hard to pronounce even in your head (Gods forbid you try to say them out loud). Nevertheless, I have a feeling that this book and its world will be sticking around in the back of my head for quite a while. Nicely done.
The story is simple: bad guy drives good guys from home, good guys go on a journey of personal growth, then return to kick ass. It's the world and characters of Blackdog that make it shine. The author seems to take her cues not from European romance, but from the geography and peoples of central Asia. There are gods of the earth and goddesses of lakes and rivers, but unlike most fantasy there is no royalty. Instead, the book is populated by a plethora of well-drawn characters who actually work for a living, who have to overcome the struggle of surviving day-to-day on top of rising against a demonic overlord, and who have no great crowning glory to return to once all the battles are over.
My only complaints, and they're minor, would be that there are so many little characters that by the end they start to bleed into each other, that the book sprawls maybe a little more than it has to, and that some of the names are extremely hard to pronounce even in your head (Gods forbid you try to say them out loud). Nevertheless, I have a feeling that this book and its world will be sticking around in the back of my head for quite a while. Nicely done.
Want to read
April 29, 2019So, checking this out from the library was an experiment--should it or should it not stay on the TBR?
It is indeed worth reading. The story is set in a multi-deistic world (which reminds me slightly of Bennett's Divine Cities) where one of the goddesses has chosen to become embodied, lifetime after lifetime. She's accompanied and protected by The Black Dog. The dog is an avatar, more or less, and ends up being passed to a mercenary soldier who wants to be kind to a young, helpless child.
At page 170, it's vivid, well done, with an interesting mix of male and female characters that defy traditional stereotypes. Cultural setting feels solid, pre-industrial with vaguely nomadic mercenaries on one side, with mountain village-dwellers on the other side. Writing is solid, a good mix of reflection and dialogue. The involvement of the gods with their followers seems intriguing, as does the set up.
I'm just not into epic fantasy right now. Though it is billed as a stand-alone, it sounds like there may be other books in this world. When I want a solid epic fantasy, this should be near the top.
It is indeed worth reading. The story is set in a multi-deistic world (which reminds me slightly of Bennett's Divine Cities) where one of the goddesses has chosen to become embodied, lifetime after lifetime. She's accompanied and protected by The Black Dog. The dog is an avatar, more or less, and ends up being passed to a mercenary soldier who wants to be kind to a young, helpless child.
At page 170, it's vivid, well done, with an interesting mix of male and female characters that defy traditional stereotypes. Cultural setting feels solid, pre-industrial with vaguely nomadic mercenaries on one side, with mountain village-dwellers on the other side. Writing is solid, a good mix of reflection and dialogue. The involvement of the gods with their followers seems intriguing, as does the set up.
I'm just not into epic fantasy right now. Though it is billed as a stand-alone, it sounds like there may be other books in this world. When I want a solid epic fantasy, this should be near the top.
December 25, 2018
This one starts with kind of a bang. The world is one of those where many relatively small gods are manifest or incarnate in various geographical features (various streams, hills, etc.) and/or their worshippers. To begin with, a ... well, let's call him "wizard" for expediency's sake, leads a force attaking the sacred precincts of Lissavakail, home of the human-embodied goddess Attalissa, and her bound spirit guardian (also human-embodied), the Blackdog. Attalissa herself (currently embodied in quite a young girl), and the Blackdog, escape barely and after a fashion, and find themselves taken in by a trading caravan, amongst whom they hope to hide until Attalissa can grow into her strength and find allies to assist her in ousting the wizard (who, needless to say, has thoughts of his own on the topic) and reclaiming her home. And, of course, there are other mysterious interlopers on Attalissa's trail ...
An engaging story set in a fascinating world, one which I'll be happy to revisit sooner or later.
An engaging story set in a fascinating world, one which I'll be happy to revisit sooner or later.
August 29, 2011
http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2...
My wife and daughter were out of town this past week so I took the opportunity to really plow through some of my to read pile backlog. K.V. Johansen’s Blackdog coming out this September is hard to justify as "backlog", but it's a title that’s called to me from the first time I laid eyes on it. The cover is another one from Raymond Swanland who has done such good work for James Barclay, Glen Cook, and others. His covers always contain such tangible motion and barely contained violence, which appropriately describes K.V. Johansen's novel.
At first glance Blackdogis a traditional epic fantasy. It has scope, powerful magic, gods, and demons. There is a central villain and an obvious and vulnerable yet strong willed heroine surrounded by her stalwart cadre of allies. Soon though, as the pages go by, things become more robust. Johansen's world expands and what appears to be another hero's journey is instead a journey to humanity, an evaluation of the bonds of family, and an examination of divinity.
Blackdog's world is lush, in a cognitive sense, barren and arid in truth. Shown only a fraction of the larger spectrum, the novel focuses on a caravan route through the desert to the mountain steppes. Each city, or culture, is founded around a god of the earth who appears in both human and incorporeal forms. Similar to novels like The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Jemisin) or Malazan Book of the Fallen (Erikson), gods are very much active in the world, interacting with their followers and enemies alike.
Where Erikson is overly esoteric at times, Johansen has a knack for not getting off kilter. Opportunities arise to wax on a philosophical leaning or delve unnecessarily into a facet of her world not relevant to her story and each time she resists the urge to be diverted. In doing she captures some of the scope and majesty that Erikson so often does, but manages to avoid the trap of self indulgence. While Blackdog lacks the genre commentary and philosophical meandering that Malazan excels at, I can't help be feel some kinship between the two works.
My only real complaint stems from complex naming conventions that often led to a sensation of reading one of the Russian greats. Everyone has at least two names, and the devil/wizards have a minimum of three. Cities tend to be 10-12 letters or more, and many of them have similar sounds. Main characters even have names that run together with each other at times. Given Johansen's education background (MA in Medieval Studies), I'm confident that phonetically and historically speaking all the naming conventions make sense. For example, a woman raised in Attalissa's lands is likely to have a similar sounding name to honor her goddess. However, for readability, I found it all a bit distracting; often pulling me out of the story to reevaluate who the hell she was talking about.
If I was pulled out of things occasionally by confusing names, I was more often sucked in completely (I finished the novel at 2 AM). Blackdog possesses a dreamlike quality that lends itself to distorting time. Divination and soothsaying, inherently intangible pursuits, are prevalent themes in the novel. Magic in general is abstract with little no explanation as to why or how it works (Malazan again, anyone?) relying on deep concentration and meticulous preparation. Combined with the notion of body sharing demons, this all leads to long periods of time where Johansen finds herself describing non-visual events like meditation and internal battling. This would normally lead to periods of boredom, but instead she rescues the slower pace with often lyrical prose that shows and directs, but never tells.
Early on I felt myself digesting Blackdog in small chunks. A chapter here, a chapter there, I wrapped my mind around Johansen's complex world building. Like a runner in a 5K, I found my pace, easing into a rhythm before unleashing my Usain Bolt like speed in the stretch run. By the novels end I was breathless, winding down from a tremendous dénouement, and a heartfelt ending.
It's unclear whether or not Johansen has a sequel in store, if so, there's no indication on the copy I received to review. The final pages complete the story, but leave enough hanging to warrant future installments. The world building alone surely invites future exploration. In either case, I should think lovers of epic fantasy, particularly Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, will devour Blackdog with vigor. I definitely did.
My wife and daughter were out of town this past week so I took the opportunity to really plow through some of my to read pile backlog. K.V. Johansen’s Blackdog coming out this September is hard to justify as "backlog", but it's a title that’s called to me from the first time I laid eyes on it. The cover is another one from Raymond Swanland who has done such good work for James Barclay, Glen Cook, and others. His covers always contain such tangible motion and barely contained violence, which appropriately describes K.V. Johansen's novel.
At first glance Blackdogis a traditional epic fantasy. It has scope, powerful magic, gods, and demons. There is a central villain and an obvious and vulnerable yet strong willed heroine surrounded by her stalwart cadre of allies. Soon though, as the pages go by, things become more robust. Johansen's world expands and what appears to be another hero's journey is instead a journey to humanity, an evaluation of the bonds of family, and an examination of divinity.
Blackdog's world is lush, in a cognitive sense, barren and arid in truth. Shown only a fraction of the larger spectrum, the novel focuses on a caravan route through the desert to the mountain steppes. Each city, or culture, is founded around a god of the earth who appears in both human and incorporeal forms. Similar to novels like The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Jemisin) or Malazan Book of the Fallen (Erikson), gods are very much active in the world, interacting with their followers and enemies alike.
Where Erikson is overly esoteric at times, Johansen has a knack for not getting off kilter. Opportunities arise to wax on a philosophical leaning or delve unnecessarily into a facet of her world not relevant to her story and each time she resists the urge to be diverted. In doing she captures some of the scope and majesty that Erikson so often does, but manages to avoid the trap of self indulgence. While Blackdog lacks the genre commentary and philosophical meandering that Malazan excels at, I can't help be feel some kinship between the two works.
My only real complaint stems from complex naming conventions that often led to a sensation of reading one of the Russian greats. Everyone has at least two names, and the devil/wizards have a minimum of three. Cities tend to be 10-12 letters or more, and many of them have similar sounds. Main characters even have names that run together with each other at times. Given Johansen's education background (MA in Medieval Studies), I'm confident that phonetically and historically speaking all the naming conventions make sense. For example, a woman raised in Attalissa's lands is likely to have a similar sounding name to honor her goddess. However, for readability, I found it all a bit distracting; often pulling me out of the story to reevaluate who the hell she was talking about.
If I was pulled out of things occasionally by confusing names, I was more often sucked in completely (I finished the novel at 2 AM). Blackdog possesses a dreamlike quality that lends itself to distorting time. Divination and soothsaying, inherently intangible pursuits, are prevalent themes in the novel. Magic in general is abstract with little no explanation as to why or how it works (Malazan again, anyone?) relying on deep concentration and meticulous preparation. Combined with the notion of body sharing demons, this all leads to long periods of time where Johansen finds herself describing non-visual events like meditation and internal battling. This would normally lead to periods of boredom, but instead she rescues the slower pace with often lyrical prose that shows and directs, but never tells.
Early on I felt myself digesting Blackdog in small chunks. A chapter here, a chapter there, I wrapped my mind around Johansen's complex world building. Like a runner in a 5K, I found my pace, easing into a rhythm before unleashing my Usain Bolt like speed in the stretch run. By the novels end I was breathless, winding down from a tremendous dénouement, and a heartfelt ending.
It's unclear whether or not Johansen has a sequel in store, if so, there's no indication on the copy I received to review. The final pages complete the story, but leave enough hanging to warrant future installments. The world building alone surely invites future exploration. In either case, I should think lovers of epic fantasy, particularly Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, will devour Blackdog with vigor. I definitely did.
September 9, 2011
NOTE: This review first appeared at
The King of Elfland's 2nd Cousin
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It is tough to write an epic fantasy that adheres to the sub-genre's conventions while still offering something new and innovative. Different authors use different techniques: Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn: The Final Empire subverts the idea that the hero always wins, Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon expands the scope of epic fantasy (see my earlier review), and N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms undermines the trope of the perfect hero (see my earlier review). In her US adult debut Blackdog , K.V. Johansen builds a sense of narrow-focused hyper-locality embedded within a larger epic structure. By going small, Johansen is able to make her perspective characters, their struggles with madness and redemption, and the world they populate particularly compelling.
Blackdog opens from the perspective of Otakas, the protector of a remote mountain goddess named Attalissa. Otokas is an aging warrior, possessed by the mad spirit of the Blackdog. The Blackdog is crazy – utterly and implacably obsessed with protecting its goddess. It has gone centuries possessing one warrior after another, willing or not. From the opening pages we get the sense that Otokas and his predecessors walk a thin line between sanity and madness, constantly struggling against the Blackdog’s violent obsession.
Right away, we are given an interesting, compelling character whose perspective establishes the basics of Johansen’s world. In this world, gods are fundamentally tied to a particular place. Attalissa is not an all-powerful (or even moderately-powerful) goddess. While she may be the most powerful deity in her neighborhood, that neighborhood is still a backwater. Far away, there are empires and grand cities…but neither Otokas nor his goddess are interested in those places. They have one small corner of Johansen’s world, and the rest can go hang. Otokas’ mild irreverence and his dry, cynical sense of humor are put to good effect establishing this attitude. It immediately tells us that Blackdog is concerned with local matters, not the fate of the world. But while Attalissa and Otokas may be uninterested in the wider world, within the first chapter that world decides that it is interested in them. A warlord appears (literally) with an army on their doorstep, and Attalissa – an immortal goddess incarnated as a mortal child – and Otokas must flee to keep the goddess from being devoured. Otokas is able to get Attalissa out of her temple, but he is badly wounded. When he dies, the spirit of the Blackdog possesses Holla-Sayan, a foreign warrior traveling through Attalissa’s domain.
That first chapter is quite an action-packed opener, as within the first couple of pages we meet a compelling protagonist (Otokas), and right away find ourselves under siege. Despite the hard-hitting action, Johansen does an excellent job of keeping her world-building accessible, sliding it in between the arrows and sword fights. By adhering closely to her perspective character’s perception of the world, she gradually lays her world-building blocks. She manages this so subtly that the devices she utilizes are almost transparent: I had to look for them to find them hidden in the text. My first time through the book, I just got caught up in the adventure.
By the time we meet Holla-Sayan (and having read the back cover copy), I pretty much thought I knew what to expect from the plot: Holla-Sayan would be the hero, keep the goddess safe, wait for her to mature into her full power, try and organize some sort of resistance, come back and kick the warlord’s butt. And while in the loosest possible sense the book does follow this framework, the way in which Johansen executes it is particularly interesting.
This is not a standard "savior returns" fantasy: our "hero" is concerned first with keeping his own sanity, and only secondly with a warlord who did him personally little harm. Instead of focusing on the warrior/mentor/hero dynamic, Johansen builds a believable assemblage of secondary perspective characters who all act under their own agency. Since it will take years for the goddess to mature into her powers, she will need some sort of nascent resistance organization in place. But with Holla-Sayan too busy struggling with the Blackdog, this task is told from the perspective of one of Attalissa’s warrior priestesses. Holla-Sayan and the goddess actually spend most of the book completely ignorant of the goddesses’ supporters back home.
Each of the book’s six or seven perspective characters – including the warlord Tamghat and the goddess Attalissa – has a dark history that they are (in one way or another) trying to get through. Holla-Sayan is the only relative innocent among the lot of them, though his innocence is pointedly juxtaposed against the Blackdog’s animal savagery. While dealing with the superficial objective of defeating Tamghat or capturing Attalissa, each of the book’s key characters has to come to terms with themselves and their past choices. Johansen handles this emotionally fraught territory skillfully, offering a distinct flavor and different resolution to each of their stories. Where the resolutions do not satisfy, it is solely because some true conclusions are by their very natures unsatisfying: that is their point.
If there were a cheap "How to Write Epic Fantasy" book out there (and I'm sure there is somewhere) I suspect it would have at least one chapter on the value of epigraphs for world-building. Epic fantasy titles routinely get mocked for starting each chapter with a fragment of epic poetry, or a legend, or a piece of a history book, etc. from the book’s universe. As a reader, I’m always a little leery of epigraphs. Sometimes, I find them useful and insightful, but mostly I find they just take up space and add little to either the world-building or the story. I admit, after reading the first or second epigraph in a book, I’ll usually just skip the rest until after I’ve read through the text at least once. K.V. Johansen, however, eschewed epigraphs in Blackdog . Instead, she concluded certain chapters (particularly the early chapters) with a brief paragraph from an old-fashioned storyteller's tale.
At first glance, one might be tempted to ask who cares? But by placing her epigraphs at the end of her chapters, Johansen is able to more effectively manage her pacing and the reader's insight into the plot. The early chapters of Blackdog were particularly fast-paced and action-packed, and the epigraph at the end of the chapter gave much needed breathing room, an opportunity to pause and absorb the preceding events before diving into the next frenetic chapter.
Furthermore, the epigraphs adequately serve the function Diana Wynne Jones lampooned with her "Legends" entry in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland : they take us out of the perspective character's head, and provide the reader with a brief glimpse into omniscient perspective. By carefully controlling what information is disclosed, we can put a number of facts together before our perspective characters do, which makes it that much more satisfying when our heroes catch up to us and figure it out. It's a tried-and-true device frequently found in epic fantasy, and executing it deftly requires a careful balancing act: too much information, and the book yields no surprises. Too little, and the epigraphs offer no value. Johansen's epigraphs – which only appear at the start of the book – manage this tightrope very effectively.
Johansen also uses creative dialogue markers to support her storytelling. Many of the perspective characters wrestle with madness and possession, which means that they have a lot of conversations with themselves. For those characters who are deeper in the throes of madness, or when the lines between their personalities grow more blurry, internal dialogue shifts from conventional form to more of a European fashion: Roman (straight, non-italicized) text, preceded by em-dashes, and lacking any “he said / she said” markers. This is particularly effective in the latter half of the book, where it amplifies the blurred and swirling wash of personalities within some characters’ heads. The overall effect is one that allows the reader to enjoy the whirlwind of madness and identity while still keeping characters and their diverging personalities straight.
Of the book’s perspective characters, only Attalissa did not appeal to me: this is the book’s primary weakness, and the reason why I’m giving it three stars. The goddess is one of the book’s most central characters, yet she has the least agency of them all. At the beginning of the book, when she is a little child, this is understandable and acceptable. But as she grows up, she continues to be passive and let events happen to her rather than take charge of them. This is understandable, given the character’s psychological make-up and history, yet nonetheless, it noticeably slows the pacing significantly in the chapters told from her perspective. It is not until the book's climax that she becomes an active force, at which point her chapters accelerate to match the rest of the book.
Barring this one weakness, I quite enjoyed Blackdog . I felt that all of the characters were competently executed, even if Attalissa’s passivity throughout the book's middle third bothered me. The world-building and the textual devices employed particularly stood out as interesting and of noticeable quality in the story. I would recommend Blackdog to people who have been exposed to epic fantasy before: this is not as accessible as (for example) David Eddings' work for new epic fantasy readers, but it is much more accessible than a lot of the hardcore epic fantasy out there. I believe fans of Brandon Sanderson or Brent Weeks in particular will enjoy this book.
It is tough to write an epic fantasy that adheres to the sub-genre's conventions while still offering something new and innovative. Different authors use different techniques: Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn: The Final Empire subverts the idea that the hero always wins, Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon expands the scope of epic fantasy (see my earlier review), and N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms undermines the trope of the perfect hero (see my earlier review). In her US adult debut Blackdog , K.V. Johansen builds a sense of narrow-focused hyper-locality embedded within a larger epic structure. By going small, Johansen is able to make her perspective characters, their struggles with madness and redemption, and the world they populate particularly compelling.
Blackdog opens from the perspective of Otakas, the protector of a remote mountain goddess named Attalissa. Otokas is an aging warrior, possessed by the mad spirit of the Blackdog. The Blackdog is crazy – utterly and implacably obsessed with protecting its goddess. It has gone centuries possessing one warrior after another, willing or not. From the opening pages we get the sense that Otokas and his predecessors walk a thin line between sanity and madness, constantly struggling against the Blackdog’s violent obsession.
Right away, we are given an interesting, compelling character whose perspective establishes the basics of Johansen’s world. In this world, gods are fundamentally tied to a particular place. Attalissa is not an all-powerful (or even moderately-powerful) goddess. While she may be the most powerful deity in her neighborhood, that neighborhood is still a backwater. Far away, there are empires and grand cities…but neither Otokas nor his goddess are interested in those places. They have one small corner of Johansen’s world, and the rest can go hang. Otokas’ mild irreverence and his dry, cynical sense of humor are put to good effect establishing this attitude. It immediately tells us that Blackdog is concerned with local matters, not the fate of the world. But while Attalissa and Otokas may be uninterested in the wider world, within the first chapter that world decides that it is interested in them. A warlord appears (literally) with an army on their doorstep, and Attalissa – an immortal goddess incarnated as a mortal child – and Otokas must flee to keep the goddess from being devoured. Otokas is able to get Attalissa out of her temple, but he is badly wounded. When he dies, the spirit of the Blackdog possesses Holla-Sayan, a foreign warrior traveling through Attalissa’s domain.
That first chapter is quite an action-packed opener, as within the first couple of pages we meet a compelling protagonist (Otokas), and right away find ourselves under siege. Despite the hard-hitting action, Johansen does an excellent job of keeping her world-building accessible, sliding it in between the arrows and sword fights. By adhering closely to her perspective character’s perception of the world, she gradually lays her world-building blocks. She manages this so subtly that the devices she utilizes are almost transparent: I had to look for them to find them hidden in the text. My first time through the book, I just got caught up in the adventure.
By the time we meet Holla-Sayan (and having read the back cover copy), I pretty much thought I knew what to expect from the plot: Holla-Sayan would be the hero, keep the goddess safe, wait for her to mature into her full power, try and organize some sort of resistance, come back and kick the warlord’s butt. And while in the loosest possible sense the book does follow this framework, the way in which Johansen executes it is particularly interesting.
This is not a standard "savior returns" fantasy: our "hero" is concerned first with keeping his own sanity, and only secondly with a warlord who did him personally little harm. Instead of focusing on the warrior/mentor/hero dynamic, Johansen builds a believable assemblage of secondary perspective characters who all act under their own agency. Since it will take years for the goddess to mature into her powers, she will need some sort of nascent resistance organization in place. But with Holla-Sayan too busy struggling with the Blackdog, this task is told from the perspective of one of Attalissa’s warrior priestesses. Holla-Sayan and the goddess actually spend most of the book completely ignorant of the goddesses’ supporters back home.
Each of the book’s six or seven perspective characters – including the warlord Tamghat and the goddess Attalissa – has a dark history that they are (in one way or another) trying to get through. Holla-Sayan is the only relative innocent among the lot of them, though his innocence is pointedly juxtaposed against the Blackdog’s animal savagery. While dealing with the superficial objective of defeating Tamghat or capturing Attalissa, each of the book’s key characters has to come to terms with themselves and their past choices. Johansen handles this emotionally fraught territory skillfully, offering a distinct flavor and different resolution to each of their stories. Where the resolutions do not satisfy, it is solely because some true conclusions are by their very natures unsatisfying: that is their point.
If there were a cheap "How to Write Epic Fantasy" book out there (and I'm sure there is somewhere) I suspect it would have at least one chapter on the value of epigraphs for world-building. Epic fantasy titles routinely get mocked for starting each chapter with a fragment of epic poetry, or a legend, or a piece of a history book, etc. from the book’s universe. As a reader, I’m always a little leery of epigraphs. Sometimes, I find them useful and insightful, but mostly I find they just take up space and add little to either the world-building or the story. I admit, after reading the first or second epigraph in a book, I’ll usually just skip the rest until after I’ve read through the text at least once. K.V. Johansen, however, eschewed epigraphs in Blackdog . Instead, she concluded certain chapters (particularly the early chapters) with a brief paragraph from an old-fashioned storyteller's tale.
At first glance, one might be tempted to ask who cares? But by placing her epigraphs at the end of her chapters, Johansen is able to more effectively manage her pacing and the reader's insight into the plot. The early chapters of Blackdog were particularly fast-paced and action-packed, and the epigraph at the end of the chapter gave much needed breathing room, an opportunity to pause and absorb the preceding events before diving into the next frenetic chapter.
Furthermore, the epigraphs adequately serve the function Diana Wynne Jones lampooned with her "Legends" entry in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland : they take us out of the perspective character's head, and provide the reader with a brief glimpse into omniscient perspective. By carefully controlling what information is disclosed, we can put a number of facts together before our perspective characters do, which makes it that much more satisfying when our heroes catch up to us and figure it out. It's a tried-and-true device frequently found in epic fantasy, and executing it deftly requires a careful balancing act: too much information, and the book yields no surprises. Too little, and the epigraphs offer no value. Johansen's epigraphs – which only appear at the start of the book – manage this tightrope very effectively.
Johansen also uses creative dialogue markers to support her storytelling. Many of the perspective characters wrestle with madness and possession, which means that they have a lot of conversations with themselves. For those characters who are deeper in the throes of madness, or when the lines between their personalities grow more blurry, internal dialogue shifts from conventional form to more of a European fashion: Roman (straight, non-italicized) text, preceded by em-dashes, and lacking any “he said / she said” markers. This is particularly effective in the latter half of the book, where it amplifies the blurred and swirling wash of personalities within some characters’ heads. The overall effect is one that allows the reader to enjoy the whirlwind of madness and identity while still keeping characters and their diverging personalities straight.
Of the book’s perspective characters, only Attalissa did not appeal to me: this is the book’s primary weakness, and the reason why I’m giving it three stars. The goddess is one of the book’s most central characters, yet she has the least agency of them all. At the beginning of the book, when she is a little child, this is understandable and acceptable. But as she grows up, she continues to be passive and let events happen to her rather than take charge of them. This is understandable, given the character’s psychological make-up and history, yet nonetheless, it noticeably slows the pacing significantly in the chapters told from her perspective. It is not until the book's climax that she becomes an active force, at which point her chapters accelerate to match the rest of the book.
Barring this one weakness, I quite enjoyed Blackdog . I felt that all of the characters were competently executed, even if Attalissa’s passivity throughout the book's middle third bothered me. The world-building and the textual devices employed particularly stood out as interesting and of noticeable quality in the story. I would recommend Blackdog to people who have been exposed to epic fantasy before: this is not as accessible as (for example) David Eddings' work for new epic fantasy readers, but it is much more accessible than a lot of the hardcore epic fantasy out there. I believe fans of Brandon Sanderson or Brent Weeks in particular will enjoy this book.
October 14, 2011
While I rarely mention cover art in a review, I feel like the cover art of Blackdog particularly supports the book. It’s artistic, ethereal and mysterious without being over-the-top. It causes potential readers to wonder what it’s all about, setting the perfect tone and attitude before the reader even cracks the spine and Johansen carries that through to the last page. Everything about Blackdog is measured, deep, planned and thought out. An incredible world and wonderful characters are created in this tome, which I woud love the author to expand on in the future. Despite some abrupt character entries and exits and some confusing names, Blackdog is a real gem fans of epic fantasy should check out.
Read my full review here:
http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/201...
Read my full review here:
http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/201...
October 19, 2017
Sadly, I'm done, I really tried. At something like 550 pages and a protagonist that I haven't seen for over 200 pages, the writer owes me my money and time back. Its more like a series of connected novelettes than a novel. That isn't so good for pacing. Beautiful opening, great cover. Completely self indulgent. I'd read a sample and was so ready to love this book. This is very disappointing.
January 9, 2018
A beautiful, passionate, and lyrical epic fantasy, which reads like a lettre d'amour to Steven Erikson. Told in a fluid style that is reminiscent of the great myths and folklores told around native cultures across the world. K.V. Johansen has produced a amazing story filled with gods, devils, demons and mortals, which has a humane spirit. This is a story of desert sands and wild grasses, flowing rivers and cataracts, lakes and springs, of ice and mountains, and magic of the earth and the stars.
The most significant aspect of 'Blackdog' is the intricate worldbuilding, characters, and mythology. The world has some of an exotic orient feel to it, mostly in the manner of silk-road fantasy tales. The reader might take some time while getting into the story, but, if one reads past the first 100 pages, the effort will be rewarded. The mythology is mostly pagan in spirit, and is influenced mostly by the Celts and the Nordic sagas. This can be discerned by the way Johansen portrays the gods, goddesses and spirits, in relation to natural world of mountains, rivers, lakes, and springs. The mythos is not that elaborate in this novel, and, is a little vague on the lores and history. But, it carries strong promises of a wonderful setting for further awesome stories.
Johansen's love for nature and landscape finds beautiful expression in her narrative. The prose is poetic and carries the weight of the story with a sombre grace. There are philosophical utterances, but, not in a esoteric and meandering way like Erikson. Johansen manages to capture the poignant and melancholic mood of the story through her vivid writing.
The story of 'Blackdog' is nothing extraordinary, but, it is very closely humane in nature. Even the gods, demons, and devils are caught in the ensaring enigma and beauty, and sorrows of the mortal world. Johansen makes us care for her characters, be it the human incarnate goddess Attalisa, the shape-shifter guardian, demons and devils or the gods themselves.
I loved reading about Attalisa who from a frightened goddess grows into her true form, realizing her flaws, mistakes, the love and loss in the endless cycle of life as an immortal. And, the shape-shifter guardian Holla Sayan who is conflicted with love and devotion, and wary of his soul reflects the ever agonizing aspect of the human heart. However, the most intriguing pair was Moth and Mikki. One a devil-wizard hunting her kin, and the other a half-breed demon. The chemistry between them has a sad beauty to it. Others like Gaagush, the woman with a rough attitude but with a tender heart, Bikkim, whose fondess and love for a goddess brings him back from death's door, Jerusha the young and clever caravan-mistress...these are all characters whom we have come across at some point in our life. And, this is the greatest strength of the book apart from the bittersweet tale of love, ambition, and loss.
"Blackdog' isn't a action-oriented story however. There of course fights and skirmishes, and some bloodshed, which I think wouldn't turn off a reader who is looking for a tale with an intricate mythology, relatable characters, and a grace that is found only in the folktales of long ago. Read it, it is beautiful.
The most significant aspect of 'Blackdog' is the intricate worldbuilding, characters, and mythology. The world has some of an exotic orient feel to it, mostly in the manner of silk-road fantasy tales. The reader might take some time while getting into the story, but, if one reads past the first 100 pages, the effort will be rewarded. The mythology is mostly pagan in spirit, and is influenced mostly by the Celts and the Nordic sagas. This can be discerned by the way Johansen portrays the gods, goddesses and spirits, in relation to natural world of mountains, rivers, lakes, and springs. The mythos is not that elaborate in this novel, and, is a little vague on the lores and history. But, it carries strong promises of a wonderful setting for further awesome stories.
Johansen's love for nature and landscape finds beautiful expression in her narrative. The prose is poetic and carries the weight of the story with a sombre grace. There are philosophical utterances, but, not in a esoteric and meandering way like Erikson. Johansen manages to capture the poignant and melancholic mood of the story through her vivid writing.
The story of 'Blackdog' is nothing extraordinary, but, it is very closely humane in nature. Even the gods, demons, and devils are caught in the ensaring enigma and beauty, and sorrows of the mortal world. Johansen makes us care for her characters, be it the human incarnate goddess Attalisa, the shape-shifter guardian, demons and devils or the gods themselves.
I loved reading about Attalisa who from a frightened goddess grows into her true form, realizing her flaws, mistakes, the love and loss in the endless cycle of life as an immortal. And, the shape-shifter guardian Holla Sayan who is conflicted with love and devotion, and wary of his soul reflects the ever agonizing aspect of the human heart. However, the most intriguing pair was Moth and Mikki. One a devil-wizard hunting her kin, and the other a half-breed demon. The chemistry between them has a sad beauty to it. Others like Gaagush, the woman with a rough attitude but with a tender heart, Bikkim, whose fondess and love for a goddess brings him back from death's door, Jerusha the young and clever caravan-mistress...these are all characters whom we have come across at some point in our life. And, this is the greatest strength of the book apart from the bittersweet tale of love, ambition, and loss.
"Blackdog' isn't a action-oriented story however. There of course fights and skirmishes, and some bloodshed, which I think wouldn't turn off a reader who is looking for a tale with an intricate mythology, relatable characters, and a grace that is found only in the folktales of long ago. Read it, it is beautiful.
January 14, 2014
So after a couple of months away from this beauty, I have come to appreciate Johansen's work more and more when I think about it. The stylistic blend of stream of consciousness and third limited lend itself very well to the characters she has built in this East Asian Steppes-world of truly high magic and blindingly smart action. From top to bottom, the characters breath on their own, which is something very hard to do when one considers how many different POV characters there are in this book. Generally speaking, it is often better to have fewer than more, but the strength of each individual voice more than allows for it.
Holla-Sayan relationship with Black Dog and with the mortal-goddess Attalissa really pull through into a believable, fresh, and correct fatherly expression, but this is one a small taste. Where Johansen really succeeds with this book is the sensual aspects, being able to blend texture into her storytelling so it allows the reader to feel what the point-of-view character is feeling. It is really quite masterful, and her depiction of naturalistic gods is equally so.
However, not everything about the book is perfect, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. One of the key weaknesses of the entire book is the setting and her portrayal of combat. While I previously mentioned that Johansen is does some really exemplar work with texture and character voice, there are times where the action scenes are a little out of focus. One can only guess that this may be due to the stream of consciousness aspect of her style, but for this particular reader, I often want a clearer picture of a fight than the mish-mash chaos. There is some places where the exposition is either too little or too much, and this relates back to the setting. There is never a moment where I feel the setting is very distinct and considering the steppe-culture she sets us in, I really wanted to see more of that. The book does very well with the characters and their interactions, but on these two points some work could be done.
Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for who wants classic fantasy but wants to stay away from the overused medieval settings. This is really great work on KV Johansen's part, and for its length, you can't find better.
Holla-Sayan relationship with Black Dog and with the mortal-goddess Attalissa really pull through into a believable, fresh, and correct fatherly expression, but this is one a small taste. Where Johansen really succeeds with this book is the sensual aspects, being able to blend texture into her storytelling so it allows the reader to feel what the point-of-view character is feeling. It is really quite masterful, and her depiction of naturalistic gods is equally so.
However, not everything about the book is perfect, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. One of the key weaknesses of the entire book is the setting and her portrayal of combat. While I previously mentioned that Johansen is does some really exemplar work with texture and character voice, there are times where the action scenes are a little out of focus. One can only guess that this may be due to the stream of consciousness aspect of her style, but for this particular reader, I often want a clearer picture of a fight than the mish-mash chaos. There is some places where the exposition is either too little or too much, and this relates back to the setting. There is never a moment where I feel the setting is very distinct and considering the steppe-culture she sets us in, I really wanted to see more of that. The book does very well with the characters and their interactions, but on these two points some work could be done.
Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for who wants classic fantasy but wants to stay away from the overused medieval settings. This is really great work on KV Johansen's part, and for its length, you can't find better.
June 26, 2015
This is going right into the list of my ten favorite fantasy books.
First of all, the setting and mythology are GORGEOUS and AWESOME and INTERESTING. Mostly the vibe was Central Asian steppes/desert, with some Northern European and Baltic flavors. I love books with tons of gods and spirits and demons, and I love books with gods interacting with humans, so basically I LOVED THIS BOOK.
I fully enjoyed all the povs, from Attalissa and Holla-Sayan to Ivah, the daughter of the novel's ~big bad~, Tamghat. My favorites, though, were Moth and Mikki. Loved them, and so glad they will apparently be back for the Marakand books later this year. If you can't love a hard-nosed, sword-and-magic-wielding Northron woman and her jovial bear-demon lover, then get the hell out.
The writing was excellent, and sometimes reminded me of Catherynne Valente (at her more lucid and less meandering) for some reason.
All in all, plenty of action, great world-building, beautiful settings, and well-drawn characters (most of whom were bad-ass and female).
First of all, the setting and mythology are GORGEOUS and AWESOME and INTERESTING. Mostly the vibe was Central Asian steppes/desert, with some Northern European and Baltic flavors. I love books with tons of gods and spirits and demons, and I love books with gods interacting with humans, so basically I LOVED THIS BOOK.
I fully enjoyed all the povs, from Attalissa and Holla-Sayan to Ivah, the daughter of the novel's ~big bad~, Tamghat. My favorites, though, were Moth and Mikki. Loved them, and so glad they will apparently be back for the Marakand books later this year. If you can't love a hard-nosed, sword-and-magic-wielding Northron woman and her jovial bear-demon lover, then get the hell out.
The writing was excellent, and sometimes reminded me of Catherynne Valente (at her more lucid and less meandering) for some reason.
All in all, plenty of action, great world-building, beautiful settings, and well-drawn characters (most of whom were bad-ass and female).
May 1, 2020
Gods and devils and magic, oh my!
This book had everything I love about epic fantasy, without a castle in sight. This is warlords and warrior-priestesses, in a near-east/silk road inspired setting, rich with character and magics and myth. And camels. And otherworldly swords, ancient hatreds, old sins and new forgiveness.
This world lives and breathes; it was so evocative I could almost smell the steppe winds, and a hint of spices. It also feels much, much larger than the confines of this story, and I am very much looking forward to exploring more of it.
This book had everything I love about epic fantasy, without a castle in sight. This is warlords and warrior-priestesses, in a near-east/silk road inspired setting, rich with character and magics and myth. And camels. And otherworldly swords, ancient hatreds, old sins and new forgiveness.
This world lives and breathes; it was so evocative I could almost smell the steppe winds, and a hint of spices. It also feels much, much larger than the confines of this story, and I am very much looking forward to exploring more of it.
December 28, 2021
Ahoy there mateys! I had accidentally read book two in the Gods of the Caravan Road series first. I really enjoyed that book which dealt with an undying assassin. So I read book one with the intent of seeing if I wanted to read more of the series. I ended up not liking this book nearly as much. I did love the guardian Blackdog who is a shape-changing spirit. I did love the idea of the goddess incarnated into the body of a human. I have no regrets about reading this but don't feel like I will pick up more of the series at this point. Arrrr!
July 7, 2016
I like the story idea and the main characters but the author gets bogged down in character details (pages of writing that gets boring/repetitious). I think it would be better as a shorter novel so the pacing would keep me more intersted. I unfortunately did not finish this book. I will try K. V. Johansen's short story collection though.
October 25, 2011
Overall, I loved this book. The characters were fantastic, the setting excellent, the plot fluid and the prose beautiful. The ideas behind the story are very original, and I love that in a fantasy.
The story starts when a wizard named Tamghat attacks the temple of mortal-born goddess Attalissa, who is only eight years old and hasn't come into her powers yet. She's protected by a demon called Blackdog, who has possessed the bodies of different male hosts over the millennia, always at her side. Tamghat is too strong, and Attalissa must flee. But the further Attalissa gets from the temple and her lake, the weaker she becomes, and the Blackdog suffers fatal injuries to help her escape.
Cue Holla-Sayan, a caraveener of a completely different race, culture, and god, who can't walk by a dying girl and her dog on the side of the road without lending a hand. Unfortunately for him, the Blackdog bites, making him the new host.
That's where the story starts, and it grows into a true epic. There were characters and subplots in the story that I hadn't expected--the tale is much larger than the back cover would have you believe. Gods seem to be the new thing in fantasies nowadays, but Johansen does hers very, very well. Each one is interesting, especially Narva. (Want to know why? Read the book!)
Again, there wasn't a single character I didn't like (other than the bad guy, but I'm not supposed to like him, right?). Characters drive a story, and these ones drove it home for me.
There were a few downsides to the book. Johansen, on occasion, can get very vague with her descriptions to the point where I have to re-read everything again to try to understand what's going on. This happened in a crucial scene toward the end of the novel, and it left me confused. The ending also surprised me--not the ending I expected, not the champion I wanted. But the overall character resolution satisfied me.
Because of that, I give this book 4.5 stars instead of five. I definitely recommend it to any lover of fantasy. It's very smart reading and tasteful where it needs to be. There's always a new piece of story to surprise you. All-in-all, this is one of the best books I've read in a while.
The story starts when a wizard named Tamghat attacks the temple of mortal-born goddess Attalissa, who is only eight years old and hasn't come into her powers yet. She's protected by a demon called Blackdog, who has possessed the bodies of different male hosts over the millennia, always at her side. Tamghat is too strong, and Attalissa must flee. But the further Attalissa gets from the temple and her lake, the weaker she becomes, and the Blackdog suffers fatal injuries to help her escape.
Cue Holla-Sayan, a caraveener of a completely different race, culture, and god, who can't walk by a dying girl and her dog on the side of the road without lending a hand. Unfortunately for him, the Blackdog bites, making him the new host.
That's where the story starts, and it grows into a true epic. There were characters and subplots in the story that I hadn't expected--the tale is much larger than the back cover would have you believe. Gods seem to be the new thing in fantasies nowadays, but Johansen does hers very, very well. Each one is interesting, especially Narva. (Want to know why? Read the book!)
Again, there wasn't a single character I didn't like (other than the bad guy, but I'm not supposed to like him, right?). Characters drive a story, and these ones drove it home for me.
There were a few downsides to the book. Johansen, on occasion, can get very vague with her descriptions to the point where I have to re-read everything again to try to understand what's going on. This happened in a crucial scene toward the end of the novel, and it left me confused. The ending also surprised me--not the ending I expected, not the champion I wanted. But the overall character resolution satisfied me.
Because of that, I give this book 4.5 stars instead of five. I definitely recommend it to any lover of fantasy. It's very smart reading and tasteful where it needs to be. There's always a new piece of story to surprise you. All-in-all, this is one of the best books I've read in a while.
February 20, 2014
Gods are becoming an approachable subject for books more and more. I'm glad, for out of those came Blackdog. Blackdog is the name of a spirit that inhabits a man's body in order to be a guardian of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail. Attalissa has for many lifetimes, reincarnated in a human body, much like the Dali Lama. Inn this world the old mighty Gods have been fought and have backed away from humanity either by choice or by force. to keep some connection there are smaller Gods, gods of springs and lakes and mountains. Attalissa is the Goddess of a lake. With her protector Blackdog, she watches as the priestesses do their nightly prayers Attalissa is still a child in this reincarnation, yet to grow into herself or her powers. That night a wizard comes with hundreds of men to take the village and the temple.
Both the goddess and Blackdog make it out a back way but blackdog's human side, a man named Otakas, dies. Leaving the Blackdog spirit to inhabit another in order to protect the Goddess.
Knowing they cannot stay near the lake or be found, yet the goddess should become weak away from her source. \this is their story.
A great book. a really phenomenal group of characters, amazing world building. Not a lot more you need in a good book but it's all here.
Both the goddess and Blackdog make it out a back way but blackdog's human side, a man named Otakas, dies. Leaving the Blackdog spirit to inhabit another in order to protect the Goddess.
Knowing they cannot stay near the lake or be found, yet the goddess should become weak away from her source. \this is their story.
A great book. a really phenomenal group of characters, amazing world building. Not a lot more you need in a good book but it's all here.
November 16, 2012
ok then lets start reviewing, I liked the idea that this writer presented, it was different especially cause after a long time I read a book in which the plot didnt involve the fate of the whole world, but rather only a small town.
But besides that I was pretty disappointed with the blackdog character, he started off well, but as the story progresses and he gets a new host, well nothing big happens after that for a while. Even the goddess in question, who wants to fight back to save her town, doesnt do anything in the planning process, ok fine she's a little kid, but she does grow up, why doesnt she start planning something once she starts getting older. The only time she actually takes part in taking back the town is almost the end of the book, which for me was kind of late.
So overall in my eyes the book is way too slow and the main characters dont really captivate you, so I give the book a 1 star rating.
But besides that I was pretty disappointed with the blackdog character, he started off well, but as the story progresses and he gets a new host, well nothing big happens after that for a while. Even the goddess in question, who wants to fight back to save her town, doesnt do anything in the planning process, ok fine she's a little kid, but she does grow up, why doesnt she start planning something once she starts getting older. The only time she actually takes part in taking back the town is almost the end of the book, which for me was kind of late.
So overall in my eyes the book is way too slow and the main characters dont really captivate you, so I give the book a 1 star rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2013
The first 50 pages of this book really pulled me in: it starts with a great action sequence and an interesting mythology. But after that, it just plodded. The book is called Blackdog, yet pages 100–200 focus on other characters entirely, none of them interesting. There are four different narrative threads through this book, but they don't begin to weave together until the last 100 pages. And despite everything happening slowly, the author's love of commas makes for some very long, dense sentences, as if everything that can be said must be said.
After seeing the book through to its lengthy end, I expected an exciting, dramatic climax. But the final battle is over in a heartbeat, and the repercussions seem trivial and vague, offering little payoff on my investment. I can't recommend this book.
After seeing the book through to its lengthy end, I expected an exciting, dramatic climax. But the final battle is over in a heartbeat, and the repercussions seem trivial and vague, offering little payoff on my investment. I can't recommend this book.
November 16, 2012
A goddess incarnated as a child is forced to flee a powerful devil who wants to absorb her as part of his campaign to attack the remote Older Gods, and grows into a teenager who returns--with some doughty allies--to reclaim her demesne. This is a good, sturdy YA fantasy in a fat book with a cast of marvelously distinct characters and only a few passages that wax too wordy (a rarity these days). In some parts it reminds me strongly in prose, relationships and general tone of C.J. Cherryh's Morgaine series, and in others of P.C. Hodgell's GODSTALK. Pretty good models. Sequels possible, but this stands alone.
November 19, 2012
This book was an interesting and enjoyable read. I read it on the recommendation/positive review by io9, where it was presented as a stand-alone (yay!) epic fantasy that asks interesting questions about self and godhood, in a similar vein to NK Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Loving those books, this was an irresistible endorsement, and it does deliver on those things (though not quite as developed as Jemisin's series). A few thoughts:
I love books with a well thought out mythology of gods that only gets deeper the more we learn. Everything starts so nice and tidy at the beginning, you don't even realize there is more to know until you get tantalizing hints. The mystery was excellently done, dolling out little bits of understanding as you read on, which made the knowledge at the end very satisfying.
I also really enjoyed the characters and their development. I enjoyed reading and being with these people, which isn't always the case. I liked Attalissa and her growth in this incarnation. I enjoyed the Holla-Syan's struggles with the Blackdog's spirit.
That being said, two things keep this from being 5 stars:
The pacing was a bit weird at times- I assumed from the title that the Blackdog would be the main character, but there is a period of 7 years (100+ pages) where we follow other characters and see nothing of the Blackdog and Attalissa. While following these other characters was important for the plot development and all the pieces coming together at the end, it was a really long time to be away from, who I felt, were the main characters, and really detracted from the sense of urgency a book like this should have. I feel like if the story were even 20-50 pages more, we could have checked in on the Blackdog periodically and made the book feel much more developed, more like a third person omniscient should be.
Also, I felt like the final act of the book was rushed. The confrontation that had been 7 years and a few hundred pages in the making was resolved rather quickly. I agree with the io9 review that it could have stood to be about 20 pages longer, just to be a more satisfying ending after the whole book spent time getting us there.
Final thoughts:
While it works as a stand-alone, I am excited because the possibility exists for a sequel, which I will definitely read, should the author write it.
There is a moment of brilliance by the author that I want to highlight here because it made me giddy with awe and, since it was so unexpected, it was almost lost in the final act's shuffle of chaos- Moth mentions why she goes by that name now. I wasn't even looking for a reason, I just took for granted her name was Moth. Watch for it, it's a lovely and artful bit of character development on the author's part that could go completely unnoticed.
I love books with a well thought out mythology of gods that only gets deeper the more we learn. Everything starts so nice and tidy at the beginning, you don't even realize there is more to know until you get tantalizing hints. The mystery was excellently done, dolling out little bits of understanding as you read on, which made the knowledge at the end very satisfying.
I also really enjoyed the characters and their development. I enjoyed reading and being with these people, which isn't always the case. I liked Attalissa and her growth in this incarnation. I enjoyed the Holla-Syan's struggles with the Blackdog's spirit.
That being said, two things keep this from being 5 stars:
The pacing was a bit weird at times- I assumed from the title that the Blackdog would be the main character, but there is a period of 7 years (100+ pages) where we follow other characters and see nothing of the Blackdog and Attalissa. While following these other characters was important for the plot development and all the pieces coming together at the end, it was a really long time to be away from, who I felt, were the main characters, and really detracted from the sense of urgency a book like this should have. I feel like if the story were even 20-50 pages more, we could have checked in on the Blackdog periodically and made the book feel much more developed, more like a third person omniscient should be.
Also, I felt like the final act of the book was rushed. The confrontation that had been 7 years and a few hundred pages in the making was resolved rather quickly. I agree with the io9 review that it could have stood to be about 20 pages longer, just to be a more satisfying ending after the whole book spent time getting us there.
Final thoughts:
While it works as a stand-alone, I am excited because the possibility exists for a sequel, which I will definitely read, should the author write it.
There is a moment of brilliance by the author that I want to highlight here because it made me giddy with awe and, since it was so unexpected, it was almost lost in the final act's shuffle of chaos- Moth mentions why she goes by that name now. I wasn't even looking for a reason, I just took for granted her name was Moth. Watch for it, it's a lovely and artful bit of character development on the author's part that could go completely unnoticed.
November 29, 2011
Synopsis: Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils…
And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods…
And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…
In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.
Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad follow hard on their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.
Setting: In physical features, Blackdog takes place in a world much like our own. Each physical region is accompanied by its own God. The land Ms. Johansen creates in Blackdog is in many ways pivotal to the story and she crafts a landscape that becomes vivid as the reader progresses through this fairly large novel.
Plot: Blackdog is a multilayered story with all threads built around the central character of the Blackdog and his goddess mistress. Each thread is intelligently written and allows the reader to become a sympathetic co-traveller. The plot is complex and a bit different from each characters point of view. Some just want to survive and be happy. Others have agendas that wou.d make a megalomaniac look boring in comparison.
Characters: Naturally, some characters will appeal to you more than others. My personal favorite was the title character, the Blackdog. The Blackdog is enlisted to help the goddess completely without his acquiescence. He remains a reluctant guardian of the goddess while becoming increasingly fond of the child incarnation that he rescued on the side of the road. This kind of complex characterization was well done throughout the book and I expect many readers will become enamoured with one or more characters.
Odin’s recommendation: I like large books when the story is well told. The better the story, the longer I want the book to be. Blackdog was almost 600 pages long. It was much too short.
And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods…
And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…
In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.
Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad follow hard on their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.
Setting: In physical features, Blackdog takes place in a world much like our own. Each physical region is accompanied by its own God. The land Ms. Johansen creates in Blackdog is in many ways pivotal to the story and she crafts a landscape that becomes vivid as the reader progresses through this fairly large novel.
Plot: Blackdog is a multilayered story with all threads built around the central character of the Blackdog and his goddess mistress. Each thread is intelligently written and allows the reader to become a sympathetic co-traveller. The plot is complex and a bit different from each characters point of view. Some just want to survive and be happy. Others have agendas that wou.d make a megalomaniac look boring in comparison.
Characters: Naturally, some characters will appeal to you more than others. My personal favorite was the title character, the Blackdog. The Blackdog is enlisted to help the goddess completely without his acquiescence. He remains a reluctant guardian of the goddess while becoming increasingly fond of the child incarnation that he rescued on the side of the road. This kind of complex characterization was well done throughout the book and I expect many readers will become enamoured with one or more characters.
Odin’s recommendation: I like large books when the story is well told. The better the story, the longer I want the book to be. Blackdog was almost 600 pages long. It was much too short.
January 11, 2013
I've loved fantasy in general, but lately I've not been reading a lot of fantasy, for two big reasons: One, there seem to be a lot of highly derivative "mechanically produced fantasy filler" books these days, and without being more on top of the genre than I am it's hard to separate those out from the good stuff; and two, with a busy life and a relatively slow reading pace, it's hard to commit to "book one of three of the first cycle of six".
Blackdog both provides a unique take on standard fantasy and stands alone as a self-contained novel. It has all the feeling and vibe of epic fantasy, but its world has a lot of fantastic world-building elements, and the religion and mythos and the take on Gods and Goddesses is particularly well-done and shot through with well-considered differences from the standard fare. Add to that a whole ensemble of well-rendered characters (there are at least half a dozen characters who I'd read a spinoff novel about, either detailing their history or their future) and this novel really knocked it out of the park for me. It did take some effort near the beginning -- after hitting the ground running, it seems to slow down for a bit -- but then I started to feel the edges of the gravity well no later than half way through the book, which is earlier than most for me.
I'm not sure that I'd say that this book changed my life or caused me to rethink my personal philosophy, but it was a compelling page-turner that felt smarter and more textured than most, and that's a good thing.
Blackdog both provides a unique take on standard fantasy and stands alone as a self-contained novel. It has all the feeling and vibe of epic fantasy, but its world has a lot of fantastic world-building elements, and the religion and mythos and the take on Gods and Goddesses is particularly well-done and shot through with well-considered differences from the standard fare. Add to that a whole ensemble of well-rendered characters (there are at least half a dozen characters who I'd read a spinoff novel about, either detailing their history or their future) and this novel really knocked it out of the park for me. It did take some effort near the beginning -- after hitting the ground running, it seems to slow down for a bit -- but then I started to feel the edges of the gravity well no later than half way through the book, which is earlier than most for me.
I'm not sure that I'd say that this book changed my life or caused me to rethink my personal philosophy, but it was a compelling page-turner that felt smarter and more textured than most, and that's a good thing.
March 19, 2013
I tend to read a lot of epic fantasy, and I do have to wade through a lot of chaff to find the wheat. This book was recommended to me because it was a rarity: an epic fantasy that was a stand-alone story, and not "part one of eight." Don't get me wrong: I love multi-volume series, but it's really refreshing to read a book that's just a self-contained story.
The world is rich and interesting, and the characters consistently engaging, and the plot although simple (man gains great power; challenges gods) nonetheless has some complex ramifications. The story is political, spiritual, and personal all at once, and the characters are both divinely-inspired and larger-than-life and at the same time intensely real and very human.
I enjoyed this immensely, and will certainly check out more of K.V. Johansen's books.
The world is rich and interesting, and the characters consistently engaging, and the plot although simple (man gains great power; challenges gods) nonetheless has some complex ramifications. The story is political, spiritual, and personal all at once, and the characters are both divinely-inspired and larger-than-life and at the same time intensely real and very human.
I enjoyed this immensely, and will certainly check out more of K.V. Johansen's books.
December 31, 2013
Like pretty much everyone else who read this, I picked it up because it was billed as an epic tale in a single book. Like most other folks, I found it lacking in terms of storytelling and characterization, which may well be unavoidable in a single-book epic tale.
There are some interesting ideas here, particularly regarding the world's gods, but the plotting lags. Midway through the book, I really had to push myself to finish. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't holding my interest. I did push on, but the ending doesn't really make sense and I didn't feel adequately rewarded for the effort I put into it.
There are some interesting ideas here, particularly regarding the world's gods, but the plotting lags. Midway through the book, I really had to push myself to finish. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't holding my interest. I did push on, but the ending doesn't really make sense and I didn't feel adequately rewarded for the effort I put into it.
February 18, 2012
Epic? Intricate? Rich? Yes, Yes, Yes
Long? Certainly . . . but if you stick with it you won’t be disappointed.
Not the traditional type of fantasy. So if you’re looking for something different. Something found in the slush pile which actually caught someone’s attention because it stood out from the rest, then give this a try.
My only complaints: I wish Atalissa had kicked butt a little more, a little earlier. And maybe it could have been a few pages shorter with less exposition.
But as a whole, I enjoyed it.
Long? Certainly . . . but if you stick with it you won’t be disappointed.
Not the traditional type of fantasy. So if you’re looking for something different. Something found in the slush pile which actually caught someone’s attention because it stood out from the rest, then give this a try.
My only complaints: I wish Atalissa had kicked butt a little more, a little earlier. And maybe it could have been a few pages shorter with less exposition.
But as a whole, I enjoyed it.
November 3, 2011
It took me a little more than a few chapters to really become immersed into this book, but once I did, it was hard to put this read down. Love the religion, love the characters, and I am eager to see more of this fabulous world; I do so very much want a sequel!
December 27, 2012
I appreciate that rarest of fantasy novels: the standalone volume. Unfortunately, I never really became invested in any of the characters. The writing and the story reminded me a lot of Elizabeth Bear, who does it so very much better.
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