The Crimson Shield

Gallow #1

by Nathan Hawke

Fantasy needs a new hero. Meet Gallow - Truesword, Griefbringer and trouble for anyone who crosses him.

I have been Truesword to my friends, Griefbringer to my enemies. To most of you I am just another Northlander bastard here to take your women and drink your mead, but to those who know me, my name is Gallow. I fought for my king for seven long years. I have served lords and held my shield beside common men. I have fled in defeat and I have tasted victory and I will tell you which is sweeter. Despise me then, for I have slain more of your kin than I can count, though I remember every single face.

For my king I will travel to the end of the world. I will find the fabled Crimson Shield so that his legions may carry it to battle, and when Sword and Shield must finally clash, there you will find me. I will not make pacts with devils or bargains with demons for I do not believe in such things, and yet I will see them all around me, in men and in their deeds. Remember me then, for I will not suffer such monsters to live.

Even if they are the ones I serve.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy, Low Fantasy

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 2013

About the author

Nathan Hawke is the pseudonym of fantasy author Stephen Deas.

Reviews

[Patremagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. Wow. Hell of an ending. Definitely one of the better books I've read this year.

Several months back I was looking through the catalogue for Gollancz and one book in particular caught my eye, and it was Nathan Hawke’s The Crimson Shield. Notice anything different about the cover when compared to others? The title and author aren’t there – they’re on the binding. And with a cover that beautiful, it’s both a bold strategy and a no-brainer. Hawke, the pseudonym of Stephen Deas, author of The Memory of Flames, Thief-Taker’s Apprentice, and Silver Kings series, claims inspiration from the legendary David Gemmell in writing the Gallow trilogy. The inspiration is clearly visible, as it feels much look a story Gemmell would write – but it’s got its own identity and something that I can’t quite point out that, while it does feel like a Gemmell story, gives it its own distinct feel as well.

The book’s inside cover is a beautifully detailed map (it’s red in the book), allowing the tracking of Gallow’s progress with ease as well as look for historical events such as Selleuk’s Bridge that are mentioned often enough to attract curiosity. As I read the story, I got a strong feeling that Hawke created this world with a great deal of backstory in mind.

Read the rest on my blog:
http://abitterdraft.com/2013/08/the-c...

[Robin Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review
I literally begged to get my hands on this book, if you’re not sure why then look again at the cover art. Art in every sense of the word, so much so that Gollanzc have taken the brave and innovative step to not have the authors name or book title on the front cover. This truly is one of the finest book covers I have ever seen, I only wish this was a hardback, and I could buy the original art work.
So is this new book any good?
Oh yes! Its a fantastic blending of fantasy and historical fiction, and for once the announcement does not lead you astray “The new series will features a hero that will appeal to fans of David Gemmell” . Gallow is a character Gemmell would have been (I think) very pleased with. He is, as per Gemmells best, a flawed man, not a hero but heroic, a man with a code of his own. Someone who swims against the pack, struggling to appease the differing sides of his life and his past.
I was reminded so many times during the book of Gemmells Rigante, a mixture of Connavar and Bane the Bastard. As this is possibly Gemmells finest work, in my view that’s the biggest compliment I could give this book or any book. (Gemmell is my all time favourite author)
The world is very Norse, attacking the Saxon shore, Saxons settled and gone soft, become sheep. That is the Lhosir and the Maroc, I had not decided who to peg as the Vathan and look forward to the speculation of others, they are very Hun like, horse warriors with a dark god, tribal and warlike. The simple fact the book has me guessing and speculating rather than ploughing into the next read is again testament to its quality of plot and story telling.
I really do recommend this book, to fantasy or Historical Fiction fans
(Parm)

[Tom Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, uncomplicated Viking-ish fantasy - A great mix of bloodied axes and brave warriors, an honest hero and the war that gets in his way, so all good stuff! You've got a good hero who's moving on from his violent past, three opposing sides to ensure the mayhem keeps going apace and some engaging side characters inspired by Gemmell or Erikson to add to the fun. It wasn't perfect - Arda, one of the few women, gets relegated to a voice in Gallow's head for most of the book, the world building is perfunctory (but as Abercrombie's shown, limited world building is no obstacle to a good book that sells by the cartload) and magic is almost non-existent but there are a couple of magic weapons to complicate matters, but nothing that stood in the way of me rattling through the book with great enjoyment. At the heart, Gallow's a good hero and not quite the cynical antihero we've had a lot of recently, and that's what carries a book like this.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cant decide if I like this book or not.

In some ways it was sooo good, the battle scenes were just epic and gory.

And yet the worldbuilding just doesnt seem that great.

My main issue, where are all the women?!

Arda is the only one we hear of, and even she is only in the book for a shory span of time, the rest is in Gallow's thoughts of her.

I honestly dont know how the forkbeards, vathan or marroc procreate, I mean the lack of women is just astonishing.

Oh wait ive just remembered there are two more marroc women mentioned at one point. But they literally only get a sentence mention, and then theyre killed by a kinsman, caus its better for them to die than to be raped or have sex with a forkbeard. We dont actually know if they were going to be raped, as we read this scene through the thoughts of a marroc who wants every forkbeard dead.

So basically in this book women are only important when it affects the men, and even then only a little bit. oh and rape or sex with a different race of people equals death. Sure thats not discrimatory at all!

I get this is a fantasy novel, but still its not that hard to create a believeable culture, plenty of other fantasy writers have done it. The reason the lack of women is so noticable as well is that a lot of it takes place in a city, in which you would expect half the population to be women!

Plus Hawke had a great oppurtunity with the forkbeards! Gallow mentions how ferocious their women are but that it, if theyre so ferocious then how comes they are not fighting alongside the men?! They are a race that does not run from a fight, you would expect their women to have the same mentality.

The annoying thing is this book could have been so amazing. I mean theres a really interesting premise, some cool races of people, and oppurtunity for an amazing story, but it just falls flat.

It seems Hawke cant write women, or just completely forget about them.

Oh and Arda being a massive nag?! What the hells with that?! The only proper woman character we have nags her husband so much, just to nag, even when theres nothing to nag about, and then later gets punched in the face by her husband. I guess by his point though, you supposed to think she deserves it, even though he knocks her to the floor. Oh and he was supposed to kill her for "betraying" him. What a wonderful example of women and their relationships with men!

Eh im just super annoyed this book wasnt as good as it could have been.

And come on, women do more than just nag (actually a lot of us dont even do that, its just a stereotype of a married woman) Come on hawke, write some interesting women, some warrior women, traitor women, some sneaky women, etc. just dont forget about women and give us one very minor character whose characterisation is crap and expect us to not notice!

[Jay The Crippled God · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third star is awarded for the book belonging to the Fantasy genre "my Fav" and not for how good it was for it wasn't gripping (story nor otherwise,) lacking in humor, or epicness and mainly, the ending was just ugh.

The most interesting part about the book is the concept/idea of the Weeping God. I always had a feeling within me about the existence of such a deity and guess what, my feelings got embodied.

save your harsh comments for This review sucked just as bad as this book did xD ahahahahah

a lovely day to the hole lots of you << an exercise, how many grammar mistakes in this frase ? "phrase" Opps, I did it again XD

[Liviu]

this seems to be S. Deas as N. hawke so it is a must when in the mood for it

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really quite brilliant in many different ways: It ticks all the boxes for a vivid, exciting Viking story but it does this without ever mentioning Vikings, How?

Our protagonist, Gallow, travelled to the land in which we find him as part of a raiding party/invasion force. His people are known among themselves as Lohsir and to the people they are invading as forkbeards. So, a rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but a bearded, axe wielding, longboat riding force of men who raid for fun and think that dying in battle is the ultimate death is so redolent of Viking that it can be nothing else.

By never naming the land in any way we can identify and by not mentioning the V-word ever, the author does something quite clever. There is no chance of history nerds nit picking the story, the characters or anything else. No Facebook page is going to whine about the cut of the chain mail because it is fantasy not historical. At least I hope no one whines about it, it would be truly mean spirited to do so.

In this story Gallow leaves the life he has built for himself as a town smith, the wife he has married and his children. he felt compelled to go fight against invaders, beside his old people and his new against yet another group the Vathen. The book starts in a battle and ends in one and the descriptions of fighting in general and larger scale battles in particular is absolutely brilliant!

I like reading battle scenes, and I especially like older style battles, not to heavy on the fantasy and magic. The high points of 'Gallow' are fighting and I will definitely be reading the next book as soon as I can get it. It might take me a while to read though; after all it took me about a month to read this one and that is a long time for me.

Why did it take me so long to read? The answer is difficult to describe but it relates to the reason I did not give this book five stars, though it came close.

It was a curious phenomena that while reading this book I could put it down. By every reason and right it should have been a 'oh-my-gods-I-cant-put-this-down' book, and yet it wasn't. I could put it down and I often didn't pick it up again in any hurry after I had. I would spend a lot of time thinking about it, sure but I would not return to it in a hurry.

After much introspection I suspect that it has something to do with Gallow himself. He is a well rounded, realistic character he loves his wife (we are told) and he had good reasons for not returning to his native land (we discover) and he is torn (a little, not too much) between his old people and his new.

He is also an extraordinarily passive character; there seems to be no fire in his personality, no strong feelings and relatively few of his thought process come to life. He feels like a real person, but a bit bland and it is hard to become passionately involved in his story since he, the main character, seems to have no passion for it. Heat and fire creep in whenever there is a battle, and the final battle is exceptional vivid and exciting.

It took me a HELL of a long time to pinpoint this thing, about this book, which makes for slightly odd reading. I suspect that this peculiarity might be why a lot of reviews have been lukewarm about the story.

Having over analysed everything, I'll just add that the writing style is also one of the most successfully descriptive that I have ever encountered; as I read it I found the described images appearing before my eyes. In a few years I might remember this book like I remember movies, as a series of images.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody and intelligent; stunning and emotional,
It does not happen very often that I really hate a character like Prince Medrin Twelvefingers!!

Full review in progress

[Steven Poore · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no secret that Nathan Hawke is Stephen Deas is Nathan Hawke. No secret either that this, the first in a trilogy, owes as great a debt to David Gemmell as it does to our modern image of Vikings. But Gallow does seem to be a name mostly unspoken in fantasy circles, and that's a damned shame - here's a hero who deserves a much wider audience.

Grim and gritty, but not grimdark, The Crimson Shield skates between all-out battles, skirmishes, door-to-door fighting, and siege-and-plunder as it tells the story of our protagonist Gallow's attempts to save a comrade, save his village, and save a whole city. An invader who has gone native, Gallow treads a fine line, distrusted by both sides. He's not looking for a happy ending; he just wants to get through this day and see another.

There's a heck of a lot going on in a relatively small number of pages. Despite spending the majority of time in Gallow's head, taking time to relive old battles, backstory, and arguments with his partner Arda, the story rushes along helped by short chapters and very blunt, concise writing that I suspect early Moorcock would also have been proud of. That's not to say that there isn't detail here - there's plenty of that, the world seeps in through the writing, through the attitudes of Gallow and his fellow forkbeards to it and each other.

There's a hint of magic, laid on as superstition as much as anything else, and some epic rivalries and antagonisms. Oh, and the dialogue - Hawke's characters can't say much to each other without some kind of insult. It works far better here than in, say, The Blade Itself, which does take itself a little less seriously. (On the other hand, it also serves to lighten the mood, which might otherwise never lift itself from Bakker-style cynicism).

A few reviewers have pointed out that there's only one named female character in this book, and that she spends most of her time speaking from Gallow's thoughts. That is a fault, true, especially in the more modern age of fantasy fiction. Arda is still a strong presence however, and even if The Crimson Shield does seem like a step back into the past in its absolute masculinity I don't think Hawke is portraying that masculinity uncritically. I'm certainly going to be continuing with the series, not least because I reckon Arda will have a lot more to say in future volumes.

A strong, under-rated "debut" from Hawke then - not flawless, but certainly a polished and highly entertaining read.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give 3.5 stars if I could, but doesn't rise to a four-star.
I did enjoy this book a lot, and began book two as soon as I finished this one.
This took a while to hook me. I struggled early to identify with and embrace the characters. Once I did, though, it was an easy read. By the end of the book, I was keenly interested in what was happening with these people. Not on the edge of my seat or anything, but interested and concerned.
The world-building was sketchy and lacking. I seldom felt immersed in the setting.
Read more like historical fiction than fantasy, just with fictional locations -- although, the fictional place-names were pretty transparent.
All-in-all, a good book -- not a great one. Entertaining, but not captivating. I'll finish the trilogy, though, as it wound up good enough to hold my attention.

[Craig Slater · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Viking influenced Grim Dark Fantasy tale, reminiscent of David Gemmell, Joe Abercrombie, of the newcomer Snorri Kristjansson.

It's essentially a tale centered around Gallow, who has, for reasons that become obvious as the story progresses, forsaken his fork-beard ways (Vikings) for a more civilized and settled way of life (blacksmith, farmer, father), but is caught between 3 waring factions and has to make some difficult decisions and take some bloody actions.

He's trying to do the tight thing by those around him, for himself and for his wife, and it ain't easy for the poor guy.

It's a good story, nothing too complicated or innovative maybe, but well enough written and definitely worth a look for all who like the Grim Dark (Funny, Blood action-packed) approach to Fantasy.

[Dave Argrave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Very enjoyable.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.25/10
Just barely better than alright. Worth reading the paperback for $5-6. Only recommend it to people who love Vikings.

This book has glimmers of greatness. Its mythology is interesting, its action is superb and flows amazingly, and its battle scenes are top notch. If you love those things then dive in. It’s a Viking action movie in its purest form.

Yet this as at the cost of any real character development and overall world building. For the first time in a long time I’m dying for a fantasy book with more exposition lol.

Not to mention a personal quibble is that the “fantasy names” for locations or cultures either hit or really miss in this book. There are so many fantasy words that just feel awkward with bad mouthfeel: Marroc, Andhun, Yrhun, Lhosir, Vathen, Varyxhun, Nioingr, Witterslet, etc.

The aforementioned lack of exposition makes a lot of these names feel like just fantasy sounding place holders. Which is unfortunate since the places and cultures themselves are neat but Christ what an awful naming scheme. But in its own way that’s part of the charm - it feels clunky but it’s trying lol.

I’ve always been drawn to niche and forgotten things. This book is no exception. A Viking fantasy book from 2013 with 300 reviews? Why not I’ll read it! Nobody who reads this will wonder why people have not spoken about the Crimson shield. In fact I’ll probably be the most recent person to read it for for some.

Yes, it doesn’t take a fine comb to find flaws. Yes, this book is closer to historical fiction than fantasy. Yes, 95% of the characters are forgettable. Yes, I can’t pronounce half the stupid names. Yet I like it. It has ideas that tough but work and I think that deserves praise. Plus its flaws are charming.

[Jim Galford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure when I selected this book as to what I would get, but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a fascinating fantasy with loose historical settings. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and look forward to the next two in the series.

[Blogul · Rating 2 out of 5]

did not enjoy this book: not because it would be badly written - it is quite well-written - but because I expected and looked for fantasy and got historical fiction (with Vikings and Saxons under different names). So, highly recommended to Last Kingdom fans, but not to (high) fantasy ones.

[M Hamed · Rating 2 out of 5]

not as bad as you might think.

[Andrew Garrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very big fan of this book. Straightforward and violent. Not trying to disguise too much in the way of subtext and very entertaining throughout.

[Natalie Rivener · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it hard to related to Gallow, the main character. It coloured me entire experience of the book.

[Dustman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read. Jumps around a lot.

[Scott Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old Fashioned fantasy , Reluctant hero , fighting the fight

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

actual 3.5 rating from me. Enjoyable read!

[Ares · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover has caught my eyes, as it was designed to do i'm sure, I suppose that anyone who've seen it can actually make a pretty good guess at the content of this story, for once you can judge the book from the cover.

So, the setting is pretty simple, We got a good example of a Mêlée à Trois, or three way battle between three armies, three culture and three nations.
The Vathan, tribes of horse men people have united themselves under a single leader and are planning a conquest of Marroc lands, which are currently under the control of the Lhosir kingdom since a good decade.
Our main character, after nine years of peace in Marroc in company of his family, is forced to take part again in the never ending task that is war.

The author does a good job at presenting all the perspectives of the three parties (well less so for the vathan), and the characters that represent the three factions are well made even if their depths is questionable, the story is straight forward, here we do not delve into any meaningless chatter, only the swings of axes and swords do much of the talking, He also does an amazing job at picturing the event and his pacing is fluid.

I liked the realistic part of the battles, no one man army and the advantage of magic item are just bonuses whom the unworthy won't benefit from, as a fan of vikings i liked the forkbeard and their god of course but that didn't do much to my rather low interest in the plot overall.
From skirmish to clash of armies, the book feel action packed to the point of chaos, which i don't mind at all but there was something missing, an ambitious something that would have got the story that much grander.

Since it's the first book and we got a little good cast already rolling, the next step would concentrate on the details, the interactions and their effect of course between the casts and there is opportunity for intrigues in the following books,.

I gotta say i'm a tiny bit disappointed, the cover got me too hyped but the story is solid , the writing is smooth and well balanced and the final promise a good suite.
you just gotta have to try it !

[Jeff Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book on a blind purchase based on the deadly cover art and a look at the map, and I'm glad I did, because it was a really fun read. There are a few flaws, but everything else made up for it. The dialogue is a blast. Cynical, crudely funny, full of life and personality. A lot of backstory and history is doled out in a huge dialogue chunk early in the book, and that info is important all through the series, so you may find yourself flipping back to that section periodically to remind yourself who/what/when/where a character is talking about. The action is full of grit and piss and thunder with well-researched battle tactics. The book drops you right in the center of a blood-slick battlefield which sets the tone for most of the novel.

The book moves fast so you need to pay attention to names and places when they're mentioned. There's hardly any women at all in this book, but the ladies get their kicks in during the 2nd and 3rd installments. The characters live in a violent and bloody world; There is so much action and fighting and warfare that I actually got tired of it in certain points.

If you're looking for a fun and gritty fantasy novel steeped in Nordic influence, you could do a lot worse. I enjoyed myself the most during the points when the more memorable characters got to banter and bicker. A week after I bought this book, I went out and snagged the next two books in the series so that about says it all, really. Go forth and conquer, brothers and sister of the sea!

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think Vikings, then again you only need to see the cover to think that. And they are vikings..in a way. This is a fantasy world after all.

A world where the Forkbeards from the North hold a country across the seas. The Marroc (guess they are England then) who lives there are not happy. But that is not the end, oh no, there is a third army trying to conquer the Marroc and the Lhosir (the vikings) tries to hold them back. Yes you can guess that there is a lot of fighting.

Who to root for? The Lhosir plunder, The Vathan too (oh and I guess they are Hun/Mongols). The Marroc are beaten down and have given up. And the main character, oh Gallow. He is a Lhosir who settled and married a local woman. He hard, a true fighter.

I am more of a epic fantasy reader, you know, adventure, quest (I blame the early books I read). While this one felt, almost historical at times. And I do love historical novels. I feel he should write a fiction book about real vikings too cos he has the words for it.

The ending, oh, yes I had to read the blurb for book 2 cos I was SO curious. It was a cliffhanger.

What to say then, yes at times it was a bit too action filled for me.

[Shane Kiely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though set in a fictional universe, this feels more like historical fiction than heroic fantasy. The Supernatural components never really come to the fore (perhaps that's being saved for future installments). Though it's the first in a trilogy, with a tiny bit of tweeking this story could've worked just as well as a standalone. Essentially it's about vikings. They're never referred to as such but to all intents & purposes Gallow Truesword & his people the Lhoisir are vikings. Well Gallow himself is an ex viking. Called back into action when a new invading force called the Vathen (essentially Turko Mongol steppe horsemen) invade. The character of Gallow presents an interesting dynamic in that he came to the land as a raider but has lived among the conquered people for 10 years & married & raised a family. So he's not particularly popular with any of the various factions. The idea of the old soldier coming out of retirement in an emergency reminded me a little bit of a Western. So if what's essentially a viking war story with light fantasy elements (& a slight Western vibe) is your cup of tea, you cant go wrong giving this a read.

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Starts off at the beginning of a battle and just keeps going. I was a little unsure about this book since there is absolutely no information on the book itself - the front cover is just an illustration, and the back cover just has the title, the author, and the line "A good man when the blood flows ... Gallow"

I actually kept seeing the third book in this trilogy at the library which had a similar cover and lack of information, and finally got the first one to see what it was all about. I had my doubts due to the paucity of details, but I was pleasantly surprised. The protagonist goes from one battle to another, always with the intention of returning home to his wife and children, but then keeps finding himself drawn to one more battle. The characters are fairly interesting, and, like Gallow, we are drawn along with the flow of the action. I have the sequel on hold already.

[Matteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Gemmel is one of my favourite writers and he was the first who made me love the fantasy genre, especially the heroic part of it.
Now the Crimson Shield is really very close to be like a Gemmel's book.
At least it is the closest I read in a few years together with Heroes of Joe Abercrombie.
If you love heroes, far from flawless and with many problems, but which in the end decide to do always the rightest and most honourable thing, this is a book for you.
I am a lover of such characters and I really enjoyed it.
The book is full of action set in a world which is clearly inspired by Europe after the fall the Roman Empire when many other cultures, at that time considered mostly "barbarians", like the Vikings.
The story is gripping and in the end I just could not stop reading until the end and I will start immediately with the second book of the trilogy.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. Deas is one of my favorite writers. His books are difficult to get in the states.

The world building is excellent and the character growth is as good as in his other novels.

I like Gallow and the back story is tied in nicely to where and why the characters are where they are.

This is a fun read. Gallow is one committed guy once makes up his mond.

Interesting story line is how Gallow has to reconcile the changes he has gone through a a person.

Characters are interesting, the battles are well thought out and thorough with a hint of mystery. Read it and you will know what I am talking about.

[Susana789 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*
Slušne napísaný príbeh využívajúci prvky heroickej fantasy, bez explicitnej mágie a bez nalešteného hrdinu. Dej nie je podaný celkom lineárne, teda ho počas čítania postupne rekonštruujeme, čo je na jednej strane zaujímavý nápad, ale vyžaduje aj skúseného autora a podľa mňa je to trochu nedotiahnuté. Hlavný hrdina je zaujímavý, ale nie je (zatiaľ) nijako výrazný, v množstve postáv sa stráca a aj jeho osudovosť je akoby vyblednutá. Najvýraznejším "fantasy" prvkom je práve nedopovedanosť a náznakovosť, ale to je skôr chyba písania ako autorský zámer a skôr ubližuje vnímaniu deja ako posúva príbeh dopredu, mnohé motívy sú tak trochu útržkovité. Ale svižné a dynamické.

[Gilly Pardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

my first inspiration to read this book , was simply the cover- so bold as to have no name or title on the front, the art work outstanding.
perhaps not the right reason to read a book , but enticing all the same.
however on the inside i found the story entertaining enough, if not a little samey in parts , and hard to follow which sub character was which.
although i didn't find myself frenzy driven to finish this book, it was entertaining enough, and indeed i Will read the rest of the series- if only because I simply cannot read 1of 3.