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Twixt Heaven and Hell
When the wizard Darius and his elite soldiers, the Gryphons, come across a devastated village deep within their own lands, they do not hesitate to pursue the soldiers who slaughtered their people. Before they are caught, the murderers disappear in a night of fire – leaving only ash in their wake. The power of the Enemy had grown.
Darius rushes back to the mighty city of Bastion to warn his leaders. However, the High Council - "wisest" of the wizards in Bastion - are more concerned with keeping Darius in line than heeding his warnings. They constantly check him with orders meant to keep him out of trouble - but Darius has never been one to let orders get in his way.
As the War grows ever more destructive, Darius must prevail not only against his own leaders but also against the machinations of the enemy Warlord, Mertoris Traigan - a former soldier whose cruel genius has given him control over a society dominated by sorcerers and Demons. Now the Warlord has turned that genius against Bastion, and prepares to unleash an assault that will destroy Bastion's strength forever.
Darius must tread a careful path between disobedience and betrayal as he seeks to unravel the secret of the Enemy's new power, enlisting the help of Angels and men alike. For though Angel and Demon may be doomed to strive against each other for all eternity, Darius dreams of a future without the War. Darius dreams of a day when his people need no longer give their lives to the ancient conflict, or suffer at the hands of their enemy.
Darius dreams of victory - and of peace.
Darius rushes back to the mighty city of Bastion to warn his leaders. However, the High Council - "wisest" of the wizards in Bastion - are more concerned with keeping Darius in line than heeding his warnings. They constantly check him with orders meant to keep him out of trouble - but Darius has never been one to let orders get in his way.
As the War grows ever more destructive, Darius must prevail not only against his own leaders but also against the machinations of the enemy Warlord, Mertoris Traigan - a former soldier whose cruel genius has given him control over a society dominated by sorcerers and Demons. Now the Warlord has turned that genius against Bastion, and prepares to unleash an assault that will destroy Bastion's strength forever.
Darius must tread a careful path between disobedience and betrayal as he seeks to unravel the secret of the Enemy's new power, enlisting the help of Angels and men alike. For though Angel and Demon may be doomed to strive against each other for all eternity, Darius dreams of a future without the War. Darius dreams of a day when his people need no longer give their lives to the ancient conflict, or suffer at the hands of their enemy.
Darius dreams of victory - and of peace.
411 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2012
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 6, 2016
Twixt Heaven and Hell is a solid military fantasy that primarily focuses on a wizard named Darius.
Darius is the leader of a group of semi-rogue soldiers called the Gryphons, who fight in the war and go where they're needed in order to give the supposed good guys the upper hand.
Arric, the leader of Bastion, their capital, is at odds with Darius's methods, and much of the conflict of the book stems from this familiar argument between a man who defies authority for the greater good and a man who struggles with an effective rogue element working outside the confines of his control.
In addition to this we have Robert, the stalwart soldier friend of our wizard and Kray, who lends perspective of the enemy to the story.
Balkan rounds off the perspectives, a meddling wizardly researcher that is often the voice of reason to Darius's brash approach.
The primary antagonist of the tale is a militaristic emperor with no magical powers of his own. He is in charge of a group of sorcerers, which are essentially wizards with different names and more offensive magic.
This alone would make for a good story, well told. What really takes it over the edge is the unending conflict between angels and demons that rages on above that of humanity itself.
In Twixt Heaven and Hell, angels are real beings of unimaginable power who lend their strength to help oppose the demons that have themselves sided with another group of humans. In essence, these powers fight a war by proxy through their human soldiers in the hopes of resolution.
What threatens to turn into a cliche good vs evil debacle is saved by some clever story telling, with a satisfying resolution to boot. I'll not add spoilers to this review though and instead talk about Tristan Gregory as a writer.
The man is talented, of that there is no doubt, but ultimately this is a self published work and there are a few gripes here and there which need to be addressed.
There's a wide variety of characters in terms of cast, various wizards and warriors whose own definition is less fleshed out than the principals. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, but so fleeting is some of their appearances that you forget who is what, and Gregory fails to jog your memory.
Some of the emotional scenes would have had more weight to them had we spent more time with the characters involved. I felt it hard to invest in certain parts because the players in question hadn't been a major part of the story up until that point. It was also a bit heavy-handed at times with characters we did care about, when the fact we cared about them enough already meant it didn't need to be.
The resolution at the end of the book was satisfying as previously mentioned, but it did leave a few loose ends that could have been sewn up with an additional chapter or two. In spite of this, I understand why it was left as it was, and I respect the decision of the author.
There are a few typos, but that is to be expected in a self-published work. Another round of editing wouldn't have hurt, but for the most part the few errors that did crop up didn't diminish the story.
Overall I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in fantasy, military or otherwise. The tale focuses more upon the relationships with the characters than the actual battles at hand, and it's a well-written story with an exceptional plot. I've already bought more material from Mr. Gregory and will be eagerly awaiting his next full-length release.
Darius is the leader of a group of semi-rogue soldiers called the Gryphons, who fight in the war and go where they're needed in order to give the supposed good guys the upper hand.
Arric, the leader of Bastion, their capital, is at odds with Darius's methods, and much of the conflict of the book stems from this familiar argument between a man who defies authority for the greater good and a man who struggles with an effective rogue element working outside the confines of his control.
In addition to this we have Robert, the stalwart soldier friend of our wizard and Kray, who lends perspective of the enemy to the story.
Balkan rounds off the perspectives, a meddling wizardly researcher that is often the voice of reason to Darius's brash approach.
The primary antagonist of the tale is a militaristic emperor with no magical powers of his own. He is in charge of a group of sorcerers, which are essentially wizards with different names and more offensive magic.
This alone would make for a good story, well told. What really takes it over the edge is the unending conflict between angels and demons that rages on above that of humanity itself.
In Twixt Heaven and Hell, angels are real beings of unimaginable power who lend their strength to help oppose the demons that have themselves sided with another group of humans. In essence, these powers fight a war by proxy through their human soldiers in the hopes of resolution.
What threatens to turn into a cliche good vs evil debacle is saved by some clever story telling, with a satisfying resolution to boot. I'll not add spoilers to this review though and instead talk about Tristan Gregory as a writer.
The man is talented, of that there is no doubt, but ultimately this is a self published work and there are a few gripes here and there which need to be addressed.
There's a wide variety of characters in terms of cast, various wizards and warriors whose own definition is less fleshed out than the principals. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, but so fleeting is some of their appearances that you forget who is what, and Gregory fails to jog your memory.
Some of the emotional scenes would have had more weight to them had we spent more time with the characters involved. I felt it hard to invest in certain parts because the players in question hadn't been a major part of the story up until that point. It was also a bit heavy-handed at times with characters we did care about, when the fact we cared about them enough already meant it didn't need to be.
The resolution at the end of the book was satisfying as previously mentioned, but it did leave a few loose ends that could have been sewn up with an additional chapter or two. In spite of this, I understand why it was left as it was, and I respect the decision of the author.
There are a few typos, but that is to be expected in a self-published work. Another round of editing wouldn't have hurt, but for the most part the few errors that did crop up didn't diminish the story.
Overall I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in fantasy, military or otherwise. The tale focuses more upon the relationships with the characters than the actual battles at hand, and it's a well-written story with an exceptional plot. I've already bought more material from Mr. Gregory and will be eagerly awaiting his next full-length release.
September 19, 2012
The beauty of fantasy is that you just never know what you’re going to get. Even when it sounds like a conventional plot theme, an accomplished author can put a new spin on it and produce something special. I was nervous about this one - a war between Angels and Demons, waged with the help of humans? It sounded trite - but as I read on, it turned into an absorbing study of magic, and an unexpectedly thought-provoking analysis of war.
The central character is Darius, a wizard who has built an elite troop of soldiers around him, a sort of special-ops with magic. There are numerous other characters in his world - his fellow wizards in the city of Bastion, some of his soldiers, and, on the opposing side, the warlord and his sorcerors. And a few angels and demons put in an appearance, too. Although Darius is the main point of view character, several other characters have point of view chapters too, partly to fill in details of events in other places and partly to fill in background. Of course, this also serves to give them more depth. I’m very much a fan of this way of writing which is nicely fluid and works well to keep the action moving. Having a single POV protagonist is very restrictive, and having equal rights always feels artificial to me.
The world-building is rather well done. The field of conflict between the two warring sides seems rather small and empty - a city or two, some fortresses and not much else. But it becomes clear that there’s a reason for this, and there are other settlements and cultures existing around the fringes and beyond the immediate range, and in the past there were more. The history of this war, in fact, is very much a central part of the story and the author draws out the strands of the past very elegantly. And then there’s the magic. The real meat of the story, for me, is the growing realisation (on both sides) that magic is not just a static ability, it can grow and be developed in all sorts of new and ingenious ways. The way that Balkan, for instance, researches and then experiments with new forms of magic, and even a sort of magical technology, is fascinating to watch. Even wizards, it seems, must adapt and change with the times.
Ultimately Darius is forced to face up to the consequences of the current war and its escalation, and decide whether having the angels on your side is sufficient reward for the constant battles and deaths caused by the demon-supported enemy. This is a fascinating train of thought - is it really such a great idea to have angels bringing you healing and other gifts, or are you better off on your own? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered this argument before, or at least not so explicitly. And so, eventually, the story reaches its own answer to the question, or at least sets events in train for it to be discovered (in a future book, presumably). The final conflict is huge, an earth-shattering experience which changes everything. It should be an emotional overload, but somehow it just - isn’t. If I have one complaint about the book, it’s that somehow there isn’t enough emotional engagement with the characters and their respective fates. Even when named characters died, I didn’t feel it. The author sets everything in place and pushes all the right buttons, but for me it simply didn’t work. I don’t know why that should be, it’s a complete mystery to me, and I can only assume it’s just a matter of mood.
I had some minor quibbles along the way. I felt there were too many important new characters introduced late in the day. Sometimes the attempts to humanise characters were a little clunky (the family lives of Balkan and Pendrick in particular). I would also have liked to have Traigan, the enemy warlord, make an appearance at the end, since he had been such an important part of the plot, and I wondered what happened to the thralls at the end. I’m not mad keen on angels and demons in fantasy, since inherently good or evil characters are a bit dull, but in this case the author showed a much more complicated and interesting side of the angels, at least (the demons were - well, just demons, on the whole). But on the plus side, the characters all behaved sensibly and intelligently, and I very much liked the way that Arric (the council leader) and Darius overcame their initial hostility and reached a working accommodation. In fact, the whole story simply oozes intelligence, and easily overcame the modest amount of clunkiness here and there in the writing, or the very small number of typos. An enjoyable and thought-provoking story, notable for the well-developed world-building and constantly evolving magic system. And a map - always extra brownie points for a map. Four stars.
The central character is Darius, a wizard who has built an elite troop of soldiers around him, a sort of special-ops with magic. There are numerous other characters in his world - his fellow wizards in the city of Bastion, some of his soldiers, and, on the opposing side, the warlord and his sorcerors. And a few angels and demons put in an appearance, too. Although Darius is the main point of view character, several other characters have point of view chapters too, partly to fill in details of events in other places and partly to fill in background. Of course, this also serves to give them more depth. I’m very much a fan of this way of writing which is nicely fluid and works well to keep the action moving. Having a single POV protagonist is very restrictive, and having equal rights always feels artificial to me.
The world-building is rather well done. The field of conflict between the two warring sides seems rather small and empty - a city or two, some fortresses and not much else. But it becomes clear that there’s a reason for this, and there are other settlements and cultures existing around the fringes and beyond the immediate range, and in the past there were more. The history of this war, in fact, is very much a central part of the story and the author draws out the strands of the past very elegantly. And then there’s the magic. The real meat of the story, for me, is the growing realisation (on both sides) that magic is not just a static ability, it can grow and be developed in all sorts of new and ingenious ways. The way that Balkan, for instance, researches and then experiments with new forms of magic, and even a sort of magical technology, is fascinating to watch. Even wizards, it seems, must adapt and change with the times.
Ultimately Darius is forced to face up to the consequences of the current war and its escalation, and decide whether having the angels on your side is sufficient reward for the constant battles and deaths caused by the demon-supported enemy. This is a fascinating train of thought - is it really such a great idea to have angels bringing you healing and other gifts, or are you better off on your own? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered this argument before, or at least not so explicitly. And so, eventually, the story reaches its own answer to the question, or at least sets events in train for it to be discovered (in a future book, presumably). The final conflict is huge, an earth-shattering experience which changes everything. It should be an emotional overload, but somehow it just - isn’t. If I have one complaint about the book, it’s that somehow there isn’t enough emotional engagement with the characters and their respective fates. Even when named characters died, I didn’t feel it. The author sets everything in place and pushes all the right buttons, but for me it simply didn’t work. I don’t know why that should be, it’s a complete mystery to me, and I can only assume it’s just a matter of mood.
I had some minor quibbles along the way. I felt there were too many important new characters introduced late in the day. Sometimes the attempts to humanise characters were a little clunky (the family lives of Balkan and Pendrick in particular). I would also have liked to have Traigan, the enemy warlord, make an appearance at the end, since he had been such an important part of the plot, and I wondered what happened to the thralls at the end. I’m not mad keen on angels and demons in fantasy, since inherently good or evil characters are a bit dull, but in this case the author showed a much more complicated and interesting side of the angels, at least (the demons were - well, just demons, on the whole). But on the plus side, the characters all behaved sensibly and intelligently, and I very much liked the way that Arric (the council leader) and Darius overcame their initial hostility and reached a working accommodation. In fact, the whole story simply oozes intelligence, and easily overcame the modest amount of clunkiness here and there in the writing, or the very small number of typos. An enjoyable and thought-provoking story, notable for the well-developed world-building and constantly evolving magic system. And a map - always extra brownie points for a map. Four stars.
November 8, 2012
To see all of my book reviews check out my blog at Kenn's Reviews
I would call this novel a stand-alone epic. Most people consider series such as Wheel of Time and Ice and Fire as Epics, but I chose to use the word Epic in a different way. Some of you may agree, some of you may not. Oh Well. Epic to me is something that will stand the test of time. I know I will always remember\reread the books by Jordan and Martin and I will enjoy every time as if it were my first. The same falls true with Twixt Heaven and Hell. Tristan, unfortunately considers it a “one and done” novel. Personally I would love for him to expand this world (as he may have done in The Wandering Tale, but I have yet to read that) and extend this into a series of “one and done” within the same world with the same characters. Sorry, had to be said…. Here’s the review….
Tristan did an amazing job creating the world in the novel. The magic used by humans is the standard wizard\sorcerer wave of the hand magic, nothing special there, however the magic used with the symbols is ingenious. Excellent idea of engraving the Angelic symbols on to different mediums.
I feel he also did an excellent job with character growth. When we first meet Darius he is a battle hardened wizard; he goes out with his regiment, the Gryphons , and makes amazing advancements for his side in the perpetual war between Heaven and Hell. During the novel Darius starts to see the follies of their ways leading to his ultimate decision near the end of the book. Tristan also portrayed the feelings of pain and loss perfectly. I almost wept with Darius over the loss of a close friend.
The supporting characters are yet another reason I would like to have more from this world. Balkan, Arric and Robert are, I feel, the three biggest supporting characters in the book. Balkan represents the family that Darius could have had, as well as the lab based research that offsets Darius’ more practical field tests. Arric is the essential barrier to Darius’ wishes for autonomy concerning decisions affecting the war. Robert is Darius’ grounding rod on the battle field, 2nd in command and best friend.
The plot is a twist on the ageless battle between good and evil, with Angles and Demons fighting openly and visually in the realm of men. Humans have been recruited by both sides in the holy war and kill each other with the magic granted them by their overseers. Darius is the one who eventually tires of the war’s losses and finds a way to change it forever.
Excellent read\reread\reread… I stick to the term Epic to describe this style of book, type of writing and the feeling it inspires in its readers, not the ‘politically correct’ term for series containing multiple novels. Great job Tristan, keep it up and give us more.
I would call this novel a stand-alone epic. Most people consider series such as Wheel of Time and Ice and Fire as Epics, but I chose to use the word Epic in a different way. Some of you may agree, some of you may not. Oh Well. Epic to me is something that will stand the test of time. I know I will always remember\reread the books by Jordan and Martin and I will enjoy every time as if it were my first. The same falls true with Twixt Heaven and Hell. Tristan, unfortunately considers it a “one and done” novel. Personally I would love for him to expand this world (as he may have done in The Wandering Tale, but I have yet to read that) and extend this into a series of “one and done” within the same world with the same characters. Sorry, had to be said…. Here’s the review….
Tristan did an amazing job creating the world in the novel. The magic used by humans is the standard wizard\sorcerer wave of the hand magic, nothing special there, however the magic used with the symbols is ingenious. Excellent idea of engraving the Angelic symbols on to different mediums.
I feel he also did an excellent job with character growth. When we first meet Darius he is a battle hardened wizard; he goes out with his regiment, the Gryphons , and makes amazing advancements for his side in the perpetual war between Heaven and Hell. During the novel Darius starts to see the follies of their ways leading to his ultimate decision near the end of the book. Tristan also portrayed the feelings of pain and loss perfectly. I almost wept with Darius over the loss of a close friend.
The supporting characters are yet another reason I would like to have more from this world. Balkan, Arric and Robert are, I feel, the three biggest supporting characters in the book. Balkan represents the family that Darius could have had, as well as the lab based research that offsets Darius’ more practical field tests. Arric is the essential barrier to Darius’ wishes for autonomy concerning decisions affecting the war. Robert is Darius’ grounding rod on the battle field, 2nd in command and best friend.
The plot is a twist on the ageless battle between good and evil, with Angles and Demons fighting openly and visually in the realm of men. Humans have been recruited by both sides in the holy war and kill each other with the magic granted them by their overseers. Darius is the one who eventually tires of the war’s losses and finds a way to change it forever.
Excellent read\reread\reread… I stick to the term Epic to describe this style of book, type of writing and the feeling it inspires in its readers, not the ‘politically correct’ term for series containing multiple novels. Great job Tristan, keep it up and give us more.
September 2, 2012
When I read fantasy stories I often think about where the magic in the world went. Where are the dragons, wizards, elves, orcs, and hobbits? Tolkien gives an answer to the elves by putting them on a ship out of Middle Earth. In Twixt Heaven and Hell, Gregory gives another take on the complicated relationship between demons and angels, wizards and sorcerers and, ultimately, good and evil.
While I didn't get through it as quickly as I expected to, I found it to be an interesting story with characters that I could relate to along with the tragedies that too frequently accompany great events.
While I didn't get through it as quickly as I expected to, I found it to be an interesting story with characters that I could relate to along with the tragedies that too frequently accompany great events.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews