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Arts of Dark and Light #0.3
The Last Witchking
The Last Witchking consists of three stories set in the epic fantasy world of A Throne of Bones. The title story concerns the hidden heir to a fallen race of magicians, who learns his father's dark lore as he pursues vengeance against those who destroyed his people. The second story, The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro, is a tale of survival and the triumph of simple human decency in the face of brutality and defeat. The third story, Opera Vita Aeterna, tells the story of an elven sorcerer and a religious monk, and how they discover that the transformational power of friendship can be the highest and most potent magic of all.
105 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 30, 2013
18 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Vox Day
79 books453 followers Theodore Beale does much of his writing under the pseudonym Vox Day. Three-time Hugo Award nominee Vox Day writes epic fantasy as well as non-fiction about religion, philosophy, and economics. His literary focus is military realism, historical verisimilitude, and plausible characters who represent the full spectrum of human behavior. He is a professional game designer who speaks four languages and a three-time Billboard top 40 recording artist.
He maintains a pair of popular blogs, Vox Popoli and Alpha Game, which between them average over 20 million annual pageviews. He is a Native American and his books have been translated into ten languages.
He is the Lead Editor of Castalia House, and is also, with Tom Kratman, the co-creator of the military science fiction anthology series, RIDING THE RED HORSE.
He maintains a pair of popular blogs, Vox Popoli and Alpha Game, which between them average over 20 million annual pageviews. He is a Native American and his books have been translated into ten languages.
He is the Lead Editor of Castalia House, and is also, with Tom Kratman, the co-creator of the military science fiction anthology series, RIDING THE RED HORSE.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 4, 2015
This ebook consists of three short stories from the author's epic fantasy universe. I found them as entertaining as the other fantasy collections by Vox Day, though the writing was rather rough at times.
The title story, The Last Witchking, is yet another iteration of the Chosen One trope. This time, the main character is the son of a Witchking, once fearsome sorcerers who plagued the land without mercy until they were destroyed. When he learns of his true paternity and legacy, the protagonist assumes the mantle of his father and proves himself quite adept at ruthless power games and sorcery, growing ever more powerful and egotistical.
Well, let's just say the path of the Chosen One is not easy, especially when you let it go to your head. The kid gets schooled in a big way.
The second story, The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro, was a rather heavy-handed allegory, obvious even before I reached the author's notes at the end. A goblin village is occupied by an army of ostensibly allied orcs, who have a seething hatred of "hoblets" (hobbits), who have lived peacefully if begrudgingly among the goblins for generations. The orcs want to slaughter any hoblets they find; the protagonist, a reluctant goblin, goes about trying to keep his village from being slaughtered and his neighbors from being sent off to die with the orcs while at the same time doing his best to keep the hoblets out of their grasp.
This was the weakest story of the trio, and the author even admits that it doesn't fit perfectly into his world's canon. The behavior of fantasy races being stretched to make a point rather pulled me out of the fantasy world, but it was still not a bad yarn.
The last story is Opera Vita Aeterna. Here, religious themes become overt; the world of Selenoth apparently has a Christian Church. Not just a "fantasy Christian equivalent," but actual Christianity.
Mixing real religions with fantasy worlds has been done before, but not often, and the author explores it a bit, interestingly if not deeply, with this tale of an elven sorcerer, one of the greatest of his kind, who was so impressed by the bravery and faith of a human monk that he comes to a monastery to learn more about this "dead god" that the humans revere so.
The philosophical debates between the abbot and the elf set a tone more than showcasing any deep cleverness on the part of the author. When the elf's irate peers take violent action to try to bring him back home, the story pretty much ends, except for a coda set centuries later, letting us know that the elf was profoundly affected by his experience, even if we don't know precisely what he eventually decided about the carved wooden figure on the cross.
These stories were reasonably entertaining, but I can't give a lot of credit to Vox Day's writing, which often wallowed in shades of purple. It's a testament to the pace and interest level in the stories themselves that I still finished them and liked them. 4 stars for the stories, 3 stars for the writing. Not something I'd go out and buy in print version, but I'd consider more fantasy shorts from this author worth downloading.
The title story, The Last Witchking, is yet another iteration of the Chosen One trope. This time, the main character is the son of a Witchking, once fearsome sorcerers who plagued the land without mercy until they were destroyed. When he learns of his true paternity and legacy, the protagonist assumes the mantle of his father and proves himself quite adept at ruthless power games and sorcery, growing ever more powerful and egotistical.
Well, let's just say the path of the Chosen One is not easy, especially when you let it go to your head. The kid gets schooled in a big way.
The second story, The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro, was a rather heavy-handed allegory, obvious even before I reached the author's notes at the end. A goblin village is occupied by an army of ostensibly allied orcs, who have a seething hatred of "hoblets" (hobbits), who have lived peacefully if begrudgingly among the goblins for generations. The orcs want to slaughter any hoblets they find; the protagonist, a reluctant goblin, goes about trying to keep his village from being slaughtered and his neighbors from being sent off to die with the orcs while at the same time doing his best to keep the hoblets out of their grasp.
This was the weakest story of the trio, and the author even admits that it doesn't fit perfectly into his world's canon. The behavior of fantasy races being stretched to make a point rather pulled me out of the fantasy world, but it was still not a bad yarn.
The last story is Opera Vita Aeterna. Here, religious themes become overt; the world of Selenoth apparently has a Christian Church. Not just a "fantasy Christian equivalent," but actual Christianity.
Mixing real religions with fantasy worlds has been done before, but not often, and the author explores it a bit, interestingly if not deeply, with this tale of an elven sorcerer, one of the greatest of his kind, who was so impressed by the bravery and faith of a human monk that he comes to a monastery to learn more about this "dead god" that the humans revere so.
The philosophical debates between the abbot and the elf set a tone more than showcasing any deep cleverness on the part of the author. When the elf's irate peers take violent action to try to bring him back home, the story pretty much ends, except for a coda set centuries later, letting us know that the elf was profoundly affected by his experience, even if we don't know precisely what he eventually decided about the carved wooden figure on the cross.
These stories were reasonably entertaining, but I can't give a lot of credit to Vox Day's writing, which often wallowed in shades of purple. It's a testament to the pace and interest level in the stories themselves that I still finished them and liked them. 4 stars for the stories, 3 stars for the writing. Not something I'd go out and buy in print version, but I'd consider more fantasy shorts from this author worth downloading.
April 27, 2014
I read the third story in this book, Opera Vita Aeterna because it was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2014 for Best Novelette. I read an epub document provided by the author on his website. This was not a great story, not by any stretch of the imagination. I couldn't imagine how it got nominated, it's just extremely derivative fantasy and heavy handed storytelling, not in the least bit exceptional. It starting annoying me from the first page when the quotes about the author's books told me four times how much better he was than George R.R. Martin, including this quote, "If you are a fan of George R.R. Martin, then give A THRONE OF BONES a read. It is what you wished Martin had done, except even better.... one of the best SF/F novels of the past decade, if not longer.” Talk about setting up expectations, I thought it had to be a joke, no one was that obnoxious. Maybe it was going to be a fun satire. Nope. It wasn't a joke. Fine, so maybe it was really good, right? Nope again, unfortunately it just wasn't good.
It was annoying how many derivative terms and ideas the author just threw in and jumbled up. They're on another world, but they have Vespers at the abbey, the tall, beautiful, long-haired elf has a green cloak and pointy ears, the Abbot's father was a plebeian (although a wealthy one of the equestrian class). Partway through the very typical fantasy story it suddenly fishtailed into a unbelievably heavy-handed dry religious debate. I like my philosophy in fantasy and sci-fi to be worked into the story, not just laid out like religion or philosophy class. Then some bad crap happens. And then it abruptly jumps three hundred years with no transition. Everyone suddenly has Latin names, even the historical figures. Their famous Philospher is Aristoteles, another one has another famous Latin name just barely changed, etc., Here's the best one, the kid in the last section is Marcus and the librarian is Aurelius, of all the ridiculous things. If it was satire it would have been funny but it was serious, I was supposed to be moved by this part of the story. And then it just ends. I've read a lot of short stories lately, and a lot of award nominated stories, and I didn't always like some of them but at least I could see why the judges did like them. I really fail to see how this got enough votes to get nominated for a Hugo Award. It's really mediocre. It seems pretty clear that this one was all about politics and not about the writing.
It was annoying how many derivative terms and ideas the author just threw in and jumbled up. They're on another world, but they have Vespers at the abbey, the tall, beautiful, long-haired elf has a green cloak and pointy ears, the Abbot's father was a plebeian (although a wealthy one of the equestrian class). Partway through the very typical fantasy story it suddenly fishtailed into a unbelievably heavy-handed dry religious debate. I like my philosophy in fantasy and sci-fi to be worked into the story, not just laid out like religion or philosophy class. Then some bad crap happens. And then it abruptly jumps three hundred years with no transition. Everyone suddenly has Latin names, even the historical figures. Their famous Philospher is Aristoteles, another one has another famous Latin name just barely changed, etc., Here's the best one, the kid in the last section is Marcus and the librarian is Aurelius, of all the ridiculous things. If it was satire it would have been funny but it was serious, I was supposed to be moved by this part of the story. And then it just ends. I've read a lot of short stories lately, and a lot of award nominated stories, and I didn't always like some of them but at least I could see why the judges did like them. I really fail to see how this got enough votes to get nominated for a Hugo Award. It's really mediocre. It seems pretty clear that this one was all about politics and not about the writing.
January 30, 2014
Vox Day continues to flesh out his epic fantasy world of Selenoth with this collection of three short stories.
I really enjoy the world setting. Day's writing has a larger range than I first assumed based off of "A Throne of Bones". His prose is solid and serviceable. He won't be accused of being the Thomas Hardy of fantasy literature but he does tell stories that hold my interest.
The first short story starts in a completely different manner than I had expected and even if the shape of the ending wasn't surprising, the details certainly were. It's a cautionary tale, to be sure, well executed and enjoyable to read.
The second short story was, as the author notes, a thinly veiled reference to WWII and the Nazi's treatment of the Jews. The goblins are the stand in for the Italians, the Orcs are 'helped' into finding as few of the Hoblets as possible through the efforts of the Goblins. Day doesn't consider this story to strictly canon, having written it before he really started the epic novels. Nevertheless, I was entertained and found myself rooting for the Goblins.
The last short story was by far the best. Day wove subtleties into the story line; the ending is tied to the beginning but transmitted from the past imperfectly, an ingenious way of reflecting reality. That sounded pretentious, let me try that again. The end of the short story is placed in the current time of "A Throne of Bones", with two men looking at the superbly illuminated book known as the Summa by an unknown author. One of these men is Marcus Valerius, a major character in Selenoth. The book he and the priest are looking at, a relic of many years, was the result of the activities of a humble abbot in a small monastery on the outskirts of the human world where an Elf sought salvation unknowingly. The abbot and Elf's story is one of forging friendship between a man of the faith and heathen Elven mage seeking to understand something that all his knowledge and training in the magic arts and body Elven knowledge cannot supply. Out of that emerges a book of brilliant craftsmanship from the Elf and content concerning the nature of faith and knowledge from the abbot and the Elf. The origins of this book are lost to Marcus's time. We the readers can see the whole, Marcus and the elder priest cannot, they are seeing through a glass darkly and doing their best to piece together a puzzle without all the parts available. Day packs a lot into just this short story alone, referencing his own world and writings and doing so such in a way that is analogous to how history works for us, tying his fictional creations to real world counterparts. I found it to be a brilliant short story, well worth it just by itself. I thought it revealed the sharpness and depth of Day's mind and skills in a way other works of his had not quite captured.
I highly recommend this collection for fans of fantasy epics.
I really enjoy the world setting. Day's writing has a larger range than I first assumed based off of "A Throne of Bones". His prose is solid and serviceable. He won't be accused of being the Thomas Hardy of fantasy literature but he does tell stories that hold my interest.
The first short story starts in a completely different manner than I had expected and even if the shape of the ending wasn't surprising, the details certainly were. It's a cautionary tale, to be sure, well executed and enjoyable to read.
The second short story was, as the author notes, a thinly veiled reference to WWII and the Nazi's treatment of the Jews. The goblins are the stand in for the Italians, the Orcs are 'helped' into finding as few of the Hoblets as possible through the efforts of the Goblins. Day doesn't consider this story to strictly canon, having written it before he really started the epic novels. Nevertheless, I was entertained and found myself rooting for the Goblins.
The last short story was by far the best. Day wove subtleties into the story line; the ending is tied to the beginning but transmitted from the past imperfectly, an ingenious way of reflecting reality. That sounded pretentious, let me try that again. The end of the short story is placed in the current time of "A Throne of Bones", with two men looking at the superbly illuminated book known as the Summa by an unknown author. One of these men is Marcus Valerius, a major character in Selenoth. The book he and the priest are looking at, a relic of many years, was the result of the activities of a humble abbot in a small monastery on the outskirts of the human world where an Elf sought salvation unknowingly. The abbot and Elf's story is one of forging friendship between a man of the faith and heathen Elven mage seeking to understand something that all his knowledge and training in the magic arts and body Elven knowledge cannot supply. Out of that emerges a book of brilliant craftsmanship from the Elf and content concerning the nature of faith and knowledge from the abbot and the Elf. The origins of this book are lost to Marcus's time. We the readers can see the whole, Marcus and the elder priest cannot, they are seeing through a glass darkly and doing their best to piece together a puzzle without all the parts available. Day packs a lot into just this short story alone, referencing his own world and writings and doing so such in a way that is analogous to how history works for us, tying his fictional creations to real world counterparts. I found it to be a brilliant short story, well worth it just by itself. I thought it revealed the sharpness and depth of Day's mind and skills in a way other works of his had not quite captured.
I highly recommend this collection for fans of fantasy epics.
September 12, 2020
Three short stories:
The Last Witchking: provides backstory for the author's main series. Interesting, but nothing revelatory for an attentive reader. 3.5/5.
The Hoblets: A goblin village harboring hoblets is occupied by an orc army while they're at war with trolls and men. I see two possible interpretations: the Orcs are blacks in a state given up to black rule, the goblins are mulattoes and/or collaborators, and the Hoblets are Whites. Given that interpretation, 4/5. The second is that the orcs are Jews, the goblins are the majority of people, and the Hoblets are based Whites. This doesn't make as much sense because the orcs rule by idiocy, naked violence, and intimidation, not by control of intellectual discourse, finance, and media; nor do Jews tend to violently exterminate the based Whites, preferring to convince them to do it themselves with their cultural Marxism and critical theory.
However, the author interprets his own story in a note at the end: the orcs are National Socialists, the goblins are Italian resistors, and the hoblets are Jews that they're hiding, and love, because they're abetting their own dispossession. Given the author's interpretation, -1/5.
Opera Vita Aeterna. An amazing story about the greatest of the elven mages, Bessarias, who seeks out the God of men after seeing a monk defeat an elven master-mage with power that he can not see or comprehend. This fills in one of the most interesting gaps in the main series at the same time. Bessarias is basically Arts of Dark and Light>'s Tom Bombadil. 5/5.
The Last Witchking: provides backstory for the author's main series. Interesting, but nothing revelatory for an attentive reader. 3.5/5.
The Hoblets: A goblin village harboring hoblets is occupied by an orc army while they're at war with trolls and men. I see two possible interpretations: the Orcs are blacks in a state given up to black rule, the goblins are mulattoes and/or collaborators, and the Hoblets are Whites. Given that interpretation, 4/5. The second is that the orcs are Jews, the goblins are the majority of people, and the Hoblets are based Whites. This doesn't make as much sense because the orcs rule by idiocy, naked violence, and intimidation, not by control of intellectual discourse, finance, and media; nor do Jews tend to violently exterminate the based Whites, preferring to convince them to do it themselves with their cultural Marxism and critical theory.
However, the author interprets his own story in a note at the end: the orcs are National Socialists, the goblins are Italian resistors, and the hoblets are Jews that they're hiding, and love, because they're abetting their own dispossession. Given the author's interpretation, -1/5.
Opera Vita Aeterna. An amazing story about the greatest of the elven mages, Bessarias, who seeks out the God of men after seeing a monk defeat an elven master-mage with power that he can not see or comprehend. This fills in one of the most interesting gaps in the main series at the same time. Bessarias is basically Arts of Dark and Light>'s Tom Bombadil. 5/5.
April 27, 2014
The Last Witchking is comprised of three novelette length works from Vox Day’s fantasy world called Selenoth. I was impressed by this volume and can see why one of the novelettes was nominated for the Hugo Award—the highest literary award in science fiction and fantasy.
This is my first introduction to Day’s fiction writing. All three stories have astonishing depth for short fiction but can be enjoyed on a superficial level depending on the personal preferences of the reader. However, these tales are not for the faint of heart. All the stories have some darkness in them, although not to the extent of George RR Martin’s Westeros.
The first novelette is titled “The Last Witchking” and is easily the darkest of the three. Day asks the question, “What happens when a young man receives immense power?” We see the changes in the young man as he grows into his new strength and watch as a lack of moral guidance leads to predictable consequences.
Do not let the word ‘predictable’ fool you. I thought I had the ending figured out but Day had a twist waiting in the dark. It was well foreshadowed and definitely encourages the reader to go back and reread the tale again.
“The Last Witchking” touches on a number of other topics including the danger of knowledge without experience and the perils of absolute power. This was not the best of the three, but it was still a strong opening.
Next is a story called “The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro”. This is the only tale not told from the point of view of a human, instead taking us into the point of view of a goblin facing a quasi occupation by orcs. The goblins and orcs are uneasy allies, and the goblins share their village with small humanoids called hoblets who the orcs see as nothing more than vermin to be exterminated. The goblins need to decide what to do with the hoblets while trying not to anger the much more powerful orcs.
This novelette gives us an exploration of sacrifice, duty, and doing the right thing in the face of potential annihilation. We also had a historically ‘evil’ race as protagonists. In addition, an Author’s Note gives us a real world backstory along with a history lesson about World War II.
Finally we get to Opera Vita Aeterna—the strongest story of the bunch and the Hugo Award Nominee. Day explores an array of topics here. The nature of friendship, religious conversion, the purpose of faith in spite of trials, and the quest for knowledge are all touched upon.
However, the strongest statement is made on the tolerance and hatred of ‘Other’. The two main characters have a warm and genuine friendship despite differences that should alienate them from one another. A third character makes a decision on the basis of hatred and brings us to our emotional climax. This is a powerful tale and is deserving of the honors bestowed upon it. It may even be a good story to give a deep thinking or religious friend who does not yet have an interest in fantasy.
Overall the writing style ranged from rich to utilitarian depending on what the narrative called for. By and large this is a serious book talking about serious issues that impact the human condition. “The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro” was the only story to attempt real humor and it was modestly successful in places. Day’s serious is much better than his humor, but he’s not bad at either. He managed to make me chuckle a few times.
I do have some minor issues with the book. In my opinion, it took some time for Day to ‘get in the groove’ in each novelette. There were also a few clunky sentences and two or three editing mistakes. Given the quality of the overall work, I am more than willing to forgive these concerns.
On a 10 point scale I would rank The Last Witchking a 9 overall, but since Goodreads only gives us 5 stars to work with I am willing to round up. This is not a perfect series but it is a very good one. Serious fantasy fans should not miss it.
This is my first introduction to Day’s fiction writing. All three stories have astonishing depth for short fiction but can be enjoyed on a superficial level depending on the personal preferences of the reader. However, these tales are not for the faint of heart. All the stories have some darkness in them, although not to the extent of George RR Martin’s Westeros.
The first novelette is titled “The Last Witchking” and is easily the darkest of the three. Day asks the question, “What happens when a young man receives immense power?” We see the changes in the young man as he grows into his new strength and watch as a lack of moral guidance leads to predictable consequences.
Do not let the word ‘predictable’ fool you. I thought I had the ending figured out but Day had a twist waiting in the dark. It was well foreshadowed and definitely encourages the reader to go back and reread the tale again.
“The Last Witchking” touches on a number of other topics including the danger of knowledge without experience and the perils of absolute power. This was not the best of the three, but it was still a strong opening.
Next is a story called “The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro”. This is the only tale not told from the point of view of a human, instead taking us into the point of view of a goblin facing a quasi occupation by orcs. The goblins and orcs are uneasy allies, and the goblins share their village with small humanoids called hoblets who the orcs see as nothing more than vermin to be exterminated. The goblins need to decide what to do with the hoblets while trying not to anger the much more powerful orcs.
This novelette gives us an exploration of sacrifice, duty, and doing the right thing in the face of potential annihilation. We also had a historically ‘evil’ race as protagonists. In addition, an Author’s Note gives us a real world backstory along with a history lesson about World War II.
Finally we get to Opera Vita Aeterna—the strongest story of the bunch and the Hugo Award Nominee. Day explores an array of topics here. The nature of friendship, religious conversion, the purpose of faith in spite of trials, and the quest for knowledge are all touched upon.
However, the strongest statement is made on the tolerance and hatred of ‘Other’. The two main characters have a warm and genuine friendship despite differences that should alienate them from one another. A third character makes a decision on the basis of hatred and brings us to our emotional climax. This is a powerful tale and is deserving of the honors bestowed upon it. It may even be a good story to give a deep thinking or religious friend who does not yet have an interest in fantasy.
Overall the writing style ranged from rich to utilitarian depending on what the narrative called for. By and large this is a serious book talking about serious issues that impact the human condition. “The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro” was the only story to attempt real humor and it was modestly successful in places. Day’s serious is much better than his humor, but he’s not bad at either. He managed to make me chuckle a few times.
I do have some minor issues with the book. In my opinion, it took some time for Day to ‘get in the groove’ in each novelette. There were also a few clunky sentences and two or three editing mistakes. Given the quality of the overall work, I am more than willing to forgive these concerns.
On a 10 point scale I would rank The Last Witchking a 9 overall, but since Goodreads only gives us 5 stars to work with I am willing to round up. This is not a perfect series but it is a very good one. Serious fantasy fans should not miss it.
May 9, 2013
Full Disclosure:
I received a preview copy of this ebook in exchange for my fair and honest review.
I also hate short stories.
So why would I review short stories when I hate them? Well, because I do like Vox Day's first novel. So I decided I would give these a chance, and honestly, I'm glad I did.
The Witch King
-this story is almost impossible to review without spoiling it. So, I'll just say this: it is a creepy, grim exploration of the nature of evil, and it does a great job of turning a classic fantasy cliche upside down. This one is definitely not for young children. This novella is really dark fantasy at its finest.
The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro
-this story is just good fun and it really is some much needed comic relief after the Witch King. You really do end up rooting for the Goblins. This story made me really wish for a full length Goblin novel.
Opera Vita Aeterna
-this one I almost didn't read, it starts with something I loathe in fantasy, the dreaded weather report. But persevere! It starts a little slowly, but the climax of this story is better than either of the first two, and it gives you some great background in the world if you are reading or plan to read Throne of Bones.
I would happily recommend this story collection to any adult who enjoys fantasy, although those of a more tender persuasion may wish to skip the first story; it's really grim.
I received a preview copy of this ebook in exchange for my fair and honest review.
I also hate short stories.
So why would I review short stories when I hate them? Well, because I do like Vox Day's first novel. So I decided I would give these a chance, and honestly, I'm glad I did.
The Witch King
-this story is almost impossible to review without spoiling it. So, I'll just say this: it is a creepy, grim exploration of the nature of evil, and it does a great job of turning a classic fantasy cliche upside down. This one is definitely not for young children. This novella is really dark fantasy at its finest.
The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro
-this story is just good fun and it really is some much needed comic relief after the Witch King. You really do end up rooting for the Goblins. This story made me really wish for a full length Goblin novel.
Opera Vita Aeterna
-this one I almost didn't read, it starts with something I loathe in fantasy, the dreaded weather report. But persevere! It starts a little slowly, but the climax of this story is better than either of the first two, and it gives you some great background in the world if you are reading or plan to read Throne of Bones.
I would happily recommend this story collection to any adult who enjoys fantasy, although those of a more tender persuasion may wish to skip the first story; it's really grim.
April 28, 2014
Update 04/27/2014: Man, I must have been in a crappy mood when I quit reading this book last year. After returning to it and finishing the final two stories, I'm raising the rating to 3.5 stars. This sort of dark fantasy still isn't my favorite, but it certainly deserves better than it received from me.
I read these stories in the order 1-3-2, because I had a difficult time getting into the second one. The first, title story is truly dark and it left me with the feeling I'd missed something in the reading; the third story has a lighter touch, with a thread of hope in the ending. Interestingly, despite the original difficulty, the second story, "The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro," is easily my favorite, and the author's note at the story's conclusion helped pull it together.
My apologies to the author and his fans for the original two-star review.
Original review 08/23/2013: Finished the first story, started the second. But this dark and dreary sort of fantasy just isn't for me. In the book's favor, it's well written, decently plotted, with mostly believable characterization. But the story I read was rather ugly, and I saw nothing in the first few pages of the second to hold me. Certainly there are readers who will enjoy it (feel free to consider me squeamish or prudish) and I wish the author well.
I read these stories in the order 1-3-2, because I had a difficult time getting into the second one. The first, title story is truly dark and it left me with the feeling I'd missed something in the reading; the third story has a lighter touch, with a thread of hope in the ending. Interestingly, despite the original difficulty, the second story, "The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro," is easily my favorite, and the author's note at the story's conclusion helped pull it together.
My apologies to the author and his fans for the original two-star review.
Original review 08/23/2013: Finished the first story, started the second. But this dark and dreary sort of fantasy just isn't for me. In the book's favor, it's well written, decently plotted, with mostly believable characterization. But the story I read was rather ugly, and I saw nothing in the first few pages of the second to hold me. Certainly there are readers who will enjoy it (feel free to consider me squeamish or prudish) and I wish the author well.
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January 4, 2016From my Amazon Review: I purchased "the Last Witchking" after reading "A Throne of Bones". I consider my first book from Vox Day to be one of the best fantasy books written in recent times.
The Last Witchking contains three novellas. Each could be and should be expanded into a novel. I found this book true to past stories written by legends such as Tolkien or Lewis.
There are quality reviews of each novella so I will not bore readers with my versions but if you are looking for exciting and thought provoking stores and books, you could not go wrong by purchasing any of Vox Day's books.
I would like to ask a question to the few negative reviews(especially on blogs I Googled). Have any of you actually read these novellas or is your hatred based on ideology blinded you?
The Last Witchking contains three novellas. Each could be and should be expanded into a novel. I found this book true to past stories written by legends such as Tolkien or Lewis.
There are quality reviews of each novella so I will not bore readers with my versions but if you are looking for exciting and thought provoking stores and books, you could not go wrong by purchasing any of Vox Day's books.
I would like to ask a question to the few negative reviews(especially on blogs I Googled). Have any of you actually read these novellas or is your hatred based on ideology blinded you?
May 6, 2014
I would rate the first story, "The Last Witchking" three stars. Enjoyable, well written, but a little typical. "The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro" is four stars; I especially liked that it focused on Goblins and so took the typical villains and made them the heroes. Hugo nominated "Opera Vita Aeterna" is a great little short story that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I rate it five stars. The favorable portrayal of the monks was a breath of fresh air, and despite it being a short story I was impressed with the world building. I meant to get around to reading Vox Day's longer works anyway, but this short story made me even more interested in them.
May 27, 2014
The book was a free down load and I had a long boring fight ahead of me. My expectations were low and I had little idea that Vox Day was soon to be called Satan himself. He is being called pure evil by the sort of progressive whiners who I admit I simply hate. I may be over rating it because all the stores came through for me on a long flight with noting else to read. They were fun reads. I will be reading more from Vox Day. One last thing, I do not care what an authors politics are. Those who do are not recommending books based on the quality of the book. Their recommendations are totally useless
January 2, 2016
While I wasn't terribly impressed by the Witchking story, I really enjoyed Hoblets and Opera.
No story is ever entirely original. If it were, then no reader would be able to relate to it. Day takes familiar elements from history and literature (fiction and non-fiction) and then twists them around a bit to get the reader to see things from a new perspective.
You'll appreciate these stories most if you are a fantasy-reading history and theology buff, especially if you wish that Tolkein had made his high elves a little grittier or that he had written a theological roundtable dialog featuring Aragorn, Gandalf, and Gimli.
No story is ever entirely original. If it were, then no reader would be able to relate to it. Day takes familiar elements from history and literature (fiction and non-fiction) and then twists them around a bit to get the reader to see things from a new perspective.
You'll appreciate these stories most if you are a fantasy-reading history and theology buff, especially if you wish that Tolkein had made his high elves a little grittier or that he had written a theological roundtable dialog featuring Aragorn, Gandalf, and Gimli.
July 30, 2013
The Last Witchking
An unusual take on an old plot. It manages to pull off a satisfying conclusion by making the protagonist into a despicable and utterly foolish man chasing someone else's dream. I didn't dislike the story, but it did come across as a suped-up Grimms' Fairy Tale.
Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro
I enjoyed this little Holocaust story, even with the idiot syntax one always finds in goblin stories.
Opera Vita Aeterna is the absolute gem of this small collection.
An unusual take on an old plot. It manages to pull off a satisfying conclusion by making the protagonist into a despicable and utterly foolish man chasing someone else's dream. I didn't dislike the story, but it did come across as a suped-up Grimms' Fairy Tale.
Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro
I enjoyed this little Holocaust story, even with the idiot syntax one always finds in goblin stories.
Opera Vita Aeterna is the absolute gem of this small collection.
June 12, 2014
Didn't like the first of these three stories at all - I was cheering for the main character to die a horrible death, but it still managed to feel rushed: as if the author realised that they were about to fall into the wrong pagecount. Did enjoy the second one, with a different look at goblins. The third one - the actual Hugo nominee - was very different. Much more about "human" interraction and thinking.
October 8, 2014
Again I didn´t realise this was 3 short stories (ordering in a hurry again, because it says it clearly on the blurb) They were well put together and I may now try one of the novels I think belong to the same world described in these three.
April 6, 2015
I really like the back-story and would love to read a more complete story, I understand they were powerful and ruthless, but he was greatly loved and this type of love is not given unless deserved. I hope Mr. Day goes back to the story and gives us an epic fantasy novel I think it deserves.
August 30, 2013
Important stories to understand the world of Selenoth.
dnf
June 28, 2014I can't comment about the story but I quickly decided this would be DNF because the writing was so melodramatic.
January 3, 2016
Good not great, lots of substance in the characters. Author shows potential for greatness if he applies himself to the craft of writing.
January 6, 2016
I enjoyed all three stories, with the Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro being my favourite.
Each had a very different feel to it, and I felt they worked together very well.
Each had a very different feel to it, and I felt they worked together very well.
June 15, 2018
Extremely slow, boring, and exhausting.
December 23, 2019
Thought-Provoking
Each of the three stories found within this book delivered impactful allegories of revenge, war, and theology. I thoroughly enjoyed this deep read and will make it discussion piece with my family.
Each of the three stories found within this book delivered impactful allegories of revenge, war, and theology. I thoroughly enjoyed this deep read and will make it discussion piece with my family.
September 29, 2020
Short story in the same universe as in Summa Elvetica. It gave a little extra info about who the Witchkings were, but it didn't really blow my mind or tell me anything I couldn't guess. A pretty smooth read.
October 15, 2019
Excellent addition to the world of Selenoth. Every character's story is truly captivating.
September 10, 2016
This is almost really great fiction. It is a little wordy in some places.
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