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Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf #1-3

The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus

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The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus contains the first three books of the highly acclaimed Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf:

The Ant-Man of Malfen
The Axe of the Dwarf Lords
The Scout and the Serpent

Following the massacre of the dwarves in their ravine city, the Nameless Dwarf pursues the survivors to the brigand town of Malfen, where he learns they have crossed the mountains into the lands of nightmare. His only intention is to save his people from extinction, but he's the last person they'd want to find them.


“The Ant-Man of Malfen's story drew me in quickly, captivated me with its characters and kept me reading feverishly until the very end.” -- Media Man

“ … fantasy adventure at its most pure. In a short novella Prior packs in a massive amount of world-building and history.” -- T. Edmund Jenkin

“If you like Moorcock, Melville or Hobb, read this.” -- Kristan Dawkins

“All of the characters were skillfully drawn by the author so that they came off the page fully developed and ready for action.” -- Red Adept Reviews

“The Ant-Man of Malfen is steeped in the tradition of good old-fashioned swashbuckling fantasy, reminiscent of Robert E. Howard.” -- Valmore Daniels, author of Forbidden the Stars

“All authors have a tale to tell, but only a few can really tell a tale...and Derek Prior belongs in the latter category.” -- Ray Nicholson

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First published February 7, 2012

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About the author

Derek Prior

79 books211 followers
Internationally bestselling and award winning author Derek Prior excels in fast-paced, high stakes epic fantasy adventure stories in which good ultimately triumphs, but always at a cost.

Taking familiar fantasy tropes as a point of departure, Prior expands upon them to explore friendship, betrayal, loyalty and heroism in worlds where evil is an ever-present reality, magic is both a curse and a blessing, and characters are tempered in battle.

Winner of best fantasy novel 2012 (The Nameless Dwarf: The Complete Chronicles)

Fantasy Faction semifinalist for the SPFBO 2018 (Ravine of Blood and Shadow)


Website: www.derekprior.us

Twitter: @NamelessDwarf

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dpprior

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5 stars
15 (25%)
4 stars
21 (35%)
3 stars
15 (25%)
2 stars
3 (5%)
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6 (10%)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Eric.
642 reviews32 followers
September 18, 2017
There were four books in the Kindle series I downloaded. D. P. Prior is an imaginative author with good use of not often used vocabulary. The Dwarf tales are violent, but there is plenty of humor tossed in. As with many series, fewer books would have accomplished the same thing. An entertaining romp through fantasy, but slow in some spots.
Profile Image for Virginia Ripple.
Author 22 books65 followers
October 3, 2012
The Good...

These stories are fast-paced and reminded me of the movie The Lord of the Rings. The epic scale of the story itself drew me in until I was rooting for each character to find the courage to face their inner demons and reach their hidden potential.

Although the title suggests this is a much larger book, I would compare it to a collection of four novellas. This makes it perfect for those short periods of time when we want to be entertained, but may not have the time to devote to a larger novel.

The Not-so-good...

The fight scenes were often more graphic than I enjoy, though not enough for me to want to stop reading. The descriptions of gore splashing on a character, as well as descriptions of sounds and physical sensations, were enough to make me shudder. However, I must note that they were not gratuitous nor did they seem written in for the sake of shock value.

My biggest disappointment was that the overall story wasn't finished at the end of the book. In order to find out what happens to the characters after the cliff hanger ending, one must purchase the next book. It reminds me of watching a soap opera rather than a good movie.

The Overall...

The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus (Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf) by D.P. Prior is a wonderful epic-style tale with larger-than-life, flawed characters that will draw you in, but beware that you may need to buy more books if you want to find out how the story ends.
Profile Image for Mommasaysread.
78 reviews53 followers
June 18, 2013

By The Bros on June 18, 2013

When Momma came downstairs brandishing The Nameless Dwarf I knew I HAD to have it. I was sucked in so fast. The author really knows how to push the envelope and describe the gore with enough detail that you feel like you’re there or watching a movie, but pulls back right before it’s too much.

The plot itself is really quite masterful and aside from the questing/looking for something aspect of the fantasy this story felt fresh! I know that if I were reading each individual book I would have had to go and get the next one right away. Don’t fool around with one book at a time, just get the omnibus. I promise you are going to love this book.

The twists and turns that unfold are incredibly cool. The companions, all being complete opposites really play well off of each other and the authors depiction and development of their relationships is very rewarding as a reader. I loved all of them in their own right Ilesa was one of my favorites and I definitely found myself able to relate to Silas in a sort of unsettling way, but hey I am a teenager. If I can learn his lessons now, then I’m doing ok.

I have and totally will recommend this book to my friends so I recommend it to you! Like Momma would say “Read This Book!”
What do The Bros Think?

The Bros give The Nameless Dwarf: The Complete Chronicles by D P Prior 5 cookies!
Profile Image for Scott.
282 reviews49 followers
May 18, 2012
4.5 stars

The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus contains the first three stories following the dwarf known only as Nameless. If you have read some of Derek's other work than you may be familiar with him as he has been a companion of Shadrak the Unseen and Deacon Shader.

The book starts out with Nameless being a very mysterious figure who has hired a boy from the Night Hawks (a criminal group) to help him find information on where his people have fled to. Nils, his companion, is the son of the leader of the guild out to prove his worth as a man. During the journey they meet up with Silas, a magic user, who is studying the stolen grimoire of the Liche Lord Otto Blightey. At the end of Ant-Man Ilesa joins up with the group as well. She is a woman who seems to have some level of skill with shapeshifting/illusion magic. As the stories progress the characters true natures are revealed as their stories are unraveled. Derek has done a wonderful job keeping the main story on point while gradually revealing the backgrounds of all the people involved.

The book starts out with a lot of information and someone who is unfamiliar with the world Derek has created might struggle a bit at first. As the book progresses everything comes together beautifully and by the end I didn't want to stop reading for any reason. I will also be checking out the next story in the series, The Ebon Staff as soon as possible to see what will happen.
Profile Image for Daniel Beazley.
Author 10 books22 followers
March 7, 2013
The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus is a collection of three works by D.P. Prior, focussing on the travels and woe's of the Nameless Dwarf and his companions.

This is the first work I've read of Prior and I really, really enjoyed it. Being completely new to the World where it's set, I had no background knowledge or previous experience of the history of events, or geography; however I didn't find this a problem in the slightest. He has a great style of writing that kept me captivated from beginning to end, and the three stories fit together well, making you want more.

There were four main characters in my mind and they proved that opposites do attract. Nameless and Nils reminded me a little of the relationship between the famous Gotrek and Felix, and I loved the addition of the faltering shape-shifter Ilesa, and the grimoire-afflicted Silas - pure brilliance.

All in all, you'll really enjoy this with its great character portrayal, fast paced action and finely crafted relationships. My only complaint is I wanted more pages!
Profile Image for Ben.
1,114 reviews
June 26, 2016
This book, or books in the Omnibus, was on sale at Amazon for 99¢. There were many 4 and 5 star reviews lauding the author's world building and his characters' depth and diversity. So, I thought I would give it a try. Why not, all I could lose was 99¢ , right? Well, I lost it.
I tried to like the first book in the series, "Carnifex". I slogged through page after page devoted to swilling down kegs of beer and ale. Of "authentic" dwarf lingo and culture. Of mysterious , ancient texts full of misty history and dim forebodings. There was even a bit of action against a golem in the deep mines whose headband was emblazoned with runes that looked mysteriously like Hebrew. A bit of action, but not enough. But it was mostly just talk, blather and bluster.
Maybe you might like all the "Arrgs" and "laddies" , and "Pull me another flagon of Blackbottom ale, wench" talk. I got tired of this poor imitation of stupid pirate movies.
I could not imagine forcing myself to slog through a thousand more pages of this....stuff. I had to give it a star as there was nothing lower.

Profile Image for Bianca.
102 reviews19 followers
August 18, 2012
This was an ok read, I just kept feeling I was missing things which must have happened in DP Prior's other series. So I didn't really feel connected to the story. The 3 books felt like more like short stories as well, though they did happen one after the other there was no real 'end' to every book and the next one would pick up with a gap between the two.

They were definitely not bad books, not at all, the writing style was very pleasant to read. I liked Nameless quite a bit, but there wasn't the magic 'click' that I like to have with books that always makes me want to keep reading.
Profile Image for Leanne Micciche.
2 reviews
February 17, 2014
An enjoyable read. I do feel that I missed something by not having read any of the author's other books. Once I got past the background events, it was a fun story.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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