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Frostborn #1
Frostborn: The Gray Knight
From the author of DEMONSOULED and THE GHOSTS, here is a new epic fantasy of high adventure, heroism, and daring deeds. A thousand years ago, the last grandson of Arthur Pendragon led the survivors of Britain through a magical gate to a new world, a world of magic and high elves, of orcs and kobolds and stranger, darker creatures. Now the descendants of the exiles rule a mighty kingdom, peaceful and prosperous under the rule of the High King. But a shadow threatens to devour the kingdom. RIDMARK ARBAN was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor. But he alone sees the danger to come. CALLIANDE awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her. For she alone holds the secret that can save the world...or destroy it utterly. The secret of the Frostborn.
326 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
789 people are currently reading
2044 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Moeller
405 books668 followersStanding over six feet tall, USA Today bestselling author Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.
He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works. His books have sold over one million copies worldwide.
He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works. His books have sold over one million copies worldwide.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
May 16, 2017
Well...a good read. I have for some time been in a slump. I couldn't "get into" a book. Watching TV, playing computer games, D&D...blah. Well not blah as I do enjoy D&D but come on, you can't just "get the group together" whenever you feel like adventuring in a fantasy world.
Then I picked this up. The first of the book almost put me off as it began with a reference to King Arthur. Now I burned out on Camelot, Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad....their horses, the ladies and courtiers the entire Arthurian legend, told and retold story a long, long time ago.
Happily this isn't another retelling. It simply picks up after the disasters of that tale as the "survivors" have gone (fled?) to another world. The story told in that world, or rather begun in that world has drawn me in and while I have other books to get to first I do plan to buy the next book...and I truly hope it stays as good.
So, what do we have here? This is for my money a great read. The The Gray Knight is in many ways a "standard" epic fantasy (if there is such a thing as a "standard" anything) we start out with heroic (yet fallen) knight who is terribly wounded and carries his wounds silently and stoically.
You get the idea.
I suspect that the comparisons with Middle Earth, Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy "tropes" will be somewhat inescapable here. The world these humans have arrived in contains High Elves, Dark Elves, Orcs, Kobolds etc. There are magisters (mages) good and bad, Clerics, shamans there are magic weapons, knightly orders...
Again, you get the idea.
From the story's inception however all these parts come together to form what for me is an enthralling story. I sat up till 2:30 this morning and finished the book today.
So, I'd recommend you grab this one up...I like it. Of course everyone won't, we never all agree, but I'd say give this one a shot.
Enjoy.
Then I picked this up. The first of the book almost put me off as it began with a reference to King Arthur. Now I burned out on Camelot, Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad....their horses, the ladies and courtiers the entire Arthurian legend, told and retold story a long, long time ago.
Happily this isn't another retelling. It simply picks up after the disasters of that tale as the "survivors" have gone (fled?) to another world. The story told in that world, or rather begun in that world has drawn me in and while I have other books to get to first I do plan to buy the next book...and I truly hope it stays as good.
So, what do we have here? This is for my money a great read. The The Gray Knight is in many ways a "standard" epic fantasy (if there is such a thing as a "standard" anything) we start out with heroic (yet fallen) knight who is terribly wounded and carries his wounds silently and stoically.
You get the idea.
I suspect that the comparisons with Middle Earth, Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy "tropes" will be somewhat inescapable here. The world these humans have arrived in contains High Elves, Dark Elves, Orcs, Kobolds etc. There are magisters (mages) good and bad, Clerics, shamans there are magic weapons, knightly orders...
Again, you get the idea.
From the story's inception however all these parts come together to form what for me is an enthralling story. I sat up till 2:30 this morning and finished the book today.
So, I'd recommend you grab this one up...I like it. Of course everyone won't, we never all agree, but I'd say give this one a shot.
Enjoy.
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April 30, 2020
This is Arthurian legend mixed with Middle Earth, executed rather poorly. It is a slog to get through: it wants to be epic like Lord of the Rings, but be quick and punchy like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is instead full of hyperbole and odd turn of phrase, with lashings of stunted conversation.
The main problem is that the protagonist is an overpowered seemingly unkillable man with a big sword and pretend humble nature. He is the best, he wants to be the best, he knows really he is the best. There is no mystery here. He shall prevail and get the girl. What else?
The main problem is that the protagonist is an overpowered seemingly unkillable man with a big sword and pretend humble nature. He is the best, he wants to be the best, he knows really he is the best. There is no mystery here. He shall prevail and get the girl. What else?
May 31, 2020
Warning: The following review is not for the faint of heart. If you are the type to clutch at your pearls and get the vapours over someone saying naughty words on the Internet then I would advise go and look at some pictures of kittens.
Yeeeeaahhhh.....this is going to be one of those reviews.....
I don't usually hate bad books. Bad books to me are books that can be mocked or forgotten about. Their poor quality usually means that I'm not going to lie awake at night, grinding my teeth and cursing the author's name. It's mediocre books that usually get on my tits, because those books show the possibility of quality only to be fucked up by laziness, incompetence or just plain old greed.
But this book.....oh my fucking god, this book.....
Things weren't looking good from the start when the prologue basically functioned as a quick two page infodump to explain the mechanics of the world. Basically Arthurian Legend is real and after Mordred lost the battle to Arthur, him and his remaining knights fled through a portal into a fantasy world where they rebuilt their society. Flash forward a few centuries and the story begins.
I would go into the story and the world at length but the story of The Gray Knight is so riddled with cliches and derivative horseshit that almost nothing about it feels unique or something that wasn't cribbed from better authors from fucking decades ago. In no particular order we have:
- Elves, dwarves, halfings, orcs, kobolds and humans
- Wizards living in high towers
- Savage tribes who worship dark gods
- Prophecies of doom and destruction
- Magic weapons
- Knights, lords, nobles and commoners
- A town siege
- Generic titles (Shadowbearer, Dragonfall etc)
Seriously, the setting and plot of this world feel like they were mashed together from someone's D&D campaign that was based on a derivative retelling of Tolkien. The only thing in this fucking book that is even remotely different is the dominant religion being a deviation of Christianity, which means that some versions of words are spoken in Latin instead. Except this adds nothing to the world at large except that characters are constantly talking about God this, God that. There's not even any variety or creativity involved. It's literally just Christianity for Dummies shoved in to make the world seem spiritual!
There are four characters the book focuses on and barely a personality between them. I'm not kidding; they maybe have one or two attributes to each of them that barely makes them functional as means to push the plot forward.
Caius is a dwarf priest of Christ, whose sole purpose in the plot is to throw out a bunch of platitudes and five dollars words about his faith. That's it. You could barely call him a dwarf, given how little of a character he is.
Kharlacht is an orc who was baptized and as such has accepted Christ as his savior. He's introduced as part of an orc raiding party, among a group of bloodthirsty bastards who worship evil gods. Who wants to guess what he'll do by the end of the novel? If you guessed defect because it was so fucking obvious from the get-go, then congratulations! You have basic common sense and logical thinking skills!
Calliande is the groups token woman and my fucking GOD does this stupid cow need an injection of brain cells. She has barely any agency in this plot whatsoever! She gets kidnapped twice, attacked at least three times, constantly whines and complains about how useless she is while at the same time getting herself into stupid situations that only manage to get resolved because she suddenly manages to pull superpowers out of her arse at the last minute and NOW I CAN'T STOP YELLING!!!!
And then there's Ridmark,our titular Gray Knight. Ridmark is a wood block. That's it. He has barely anything resembling a personality other than being a strong warrior, a tragic backstory and chivalry. No quirks, no personality tics, nothing that offers even a sliver of engaging material. His backstory is a generic tale of a lost sister, old foes and lazy arse horseshit I couldn't even be bothered to fucking remember because his character has zero negative traits! Everyone who meets him adores the ground he walks on, nobody has a bad thing to say about him. He never struggles or loses a fight and Moeller even has the balls to suddenly 2/3rds the way through the plot make Calliande and Arban have sexual tension as if they've suddenly fallen in love!
The thing is, a lot of this could have been excused if the writing was up to snuff. A generic story can be saved by quirky interesting writing. Well that was a big, fat, resounding no! There is SO MUCH infodumping in this book! Infodumps about backstories, infodumps about locations and characters I've never been to or met that I couldn't give a shit about because the world is so painfully generic, infodumps that repeat what a character said several pages ago, infodumps before fights, infodumps in the middle of fights, infodumps in the middle of negotiations.....
AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH FUCK MY LIFE!!!
The dialogue sounds like something out a high school drama performance where all the actors are trying to sound painfully English. It's stilted and awkward and everybody talks in the same manner, meaning that none of the characters have any vibrancy or distinction between them. The fucking orcs sounds like knights sound like the kobolds sound like the dwarf sound like WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE???!!!!
And thanks to the writing being boring to read, the pacing is slow as your mum trying to roll herself out of bed. There's no variation in the speed or length of the sentences, the fights drag on waaaaay longer than needed because every part of the fight choreography has to be carefully described in full detail, the setpieces play out like someone's D&D campaign where it's "talk, fight, talk, fight, talk, fight" until the Siege in the latter 3rd of the book when it becomes "talk, plan, fight, talk, plan, fight." Side characters are introduced only to wank off their entire backstory and then disappear or die and there's no real gravitas to anything that happens because I didn't care about any of the characters or the story or the villains or the world. I actually started skim-reading entire chapters towards the 60% mark because none of it was interesting or unique!
On a hunch, I decided to check when this book was published and discovered that the entire Frostborn series was published from between 2013-2017. That's fifteen books over roughly 5 years! You might call that prolific, I call that quantity over quality!
The Gray Knight rightly irritated the fuck out of me. Not just because it's a badly written mess with boring characters, a boring, derivative world and a boring by-the-numbers plot that you could nick off a plot generator on the Internet. It irritated me, because it reminded me and represents everything I fucking hate about the Epic Fantasy genre. The generic plot, the generic fantasy characters and tropes, the generic setting and mechanics. Everything is so generic and derivative and when you add on the bad dialogue, the boring characters, the lazy writing and the pacing that feels like wading through a septic tank and you have a book I wouldn't recommend to anyone.
Or if you need a simpler explanation:
Yeeeeaahhhh.....this is going to be one of those reviews.....
I don't usually hate bad books. Bad books to me are books that can be mocked or forgotten about. Their poor quality usually means that I'm not going to lie awake at night, grinding my teeth and cursing the author's name. It's mediocre books that usually get on my tits, because those books show the possibility of quality only to be fucked up by laziness, incompetence or just plain old greed.
But this book.....oh my fucking god, this book.....
Things weren't looking good from the start when the prologue basically functioned as a quick two page infodump to explain the mechanics of the world. Basically Arthurian Legend is real and after Mordred lost the battle to Arthur, him and his remaining knights fled through a portal into a fantasy world where they rebuilt their society. Flash forward a few centuries and the story begins.
I would go into the story and the world at length but the story of The Gray Knight is so riddled with cliches and derivative horseshit that almost nothing about it feels unique or something that wasn't cribbed from better authors from fucking decades ago. In no particular order we have:
- Elves, dwarves, halfings, orcs, kobolds and humans
- Wizards living in high towers
- Savage tribes who worship dark gods
- Prophecies of doom and destruction
- Magic weapons
- Knights, lords, nobles and commoners
- A town siege
- Generic titles (Shadowbearer, Dragonfall etc)
Seriously, the setting and plot of this world feel like they were mashed together from someone's D&D campaign that was based on a derivative retelling of Tolkien. The only thing in this fucking book that is even remotely different is the dominant religion being a deviation of Christianity, which means that some versions of words are spoken in Latin instead. Except this adds nothing to the world at large except that characters are constantly talking about God this, God that. There's not even any variety or creativity involved. It's literally just Christianity for Dummies shoved in to make the world seem spiritual!
There are four characters the book focuses on and barely a personality between them. I'm not kidding; they maybe have one or two attributes to each of them that barely makes them functional as means to push the plot forward.
Caius is a dwarf priest of Christ, whose sole purpose in the plot is to throw out a bunch of platitudes and five dollars words about his faith. That's it. You could barely call him a dwarf, given how little of a character he is.
Kharlacht is an orc who was baptized and as such has accepted Christ as his savior. He's introduced as part of an orc raiding party, among a group of bloodthirsty bastards who worship evil gods. Who wants to guess what he'll do by the end of the novel? If you guessed defect because it was so fucking obvious from the get-go, then congratulations! You have basic common sense and logical thinking skills!
Calliande is the groups token woman and my fucking GOD does this stupid cow need an injection of brain cells. She has barely any agency in this plot whatsoever! She gets kidnapped twice, attacked at least three times, constantly whines and complains about how useless she is while at the same time getting herself into stupid situations that only manage to get resolved because she suddenly manages to pull superpowers out of her arse at the last minute and NOW I CAN'T STOP YELLING!!!!
And then there's Ridmark,our titular Gray Knight. Ridmark is a wood block. That's it. He has barely anything resembling a personality other than being a strong warrior, a tragic backstory and chivalry. No quirks, no personality tics, nothing that offers even a sliver of engaging material. His backstory is a generic tale of a lost sister, old foes and lazy arse horseshit I couldn't even be bothered to fucking remember because his character has zero negative traits! Everyone who meets him adores the ground he walks on, nobody has a bad thing to say about him. He never struggles or loses a fight and Moeller even has the balls to suddenly 2/3rds the way through the plot make Calliande and Arban have sexual tension as if they've suddenly fallen in love!
The thing is, a lot of this could have been excused if the writing was up to snuff. A generic story can be saved by quirky interesting writing. Well that was a big, fat, resounding no! There is SO MUCH infodumping in this book! Infodumps about backstories, infodumps about locations and characters I've never been to or met that I couldn't give a shit about because the world is so painfully generic, infodumps that repeat what a character said several pages ago, infodumps before fights, infodumps in the middle of fights, infodumps in the middle of negotiations.....
AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH FUCK MY LIFE!!!
The dialogue sounds like something out a high school drama performance where all the actors are trying to sound painfully English. It's stilted and awkward and everybody talks in the same manner, meaning that none of the characters have any vibrancy or distinction between them. The fucking orcs sounds like knights sound like the kobolds sound like the dwarf sound like WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE???!!!!
And thanks to the writing being boring to read, the pacing is slow as your mum trying to roll herself out of bed. There's no variation in the speed or length of the sentences, the fights drag on waaaaay longer than needed because every part of the fight choreography has to be carefully described in full detail, the setpieces play out like someone's D&D campaign where it's "talk, fight, talk, fight, talk, fight" until the Siege in the latter 3rd of the book when it becomes "talk, plan, fight, talk, plan, fight." Side characters are introduced only to wank off their entire backstory and then disappear or die and there's no real gravitas to anything that happens because I didn't care about any of the characters or the story or the villains or the world. I actually started skim-reading entire chapters towards the 60% mark because none of it was interesting or unique!
On a hunch, I decided to check when this book was published and discovered that the entire Frostborn series was published from between 2013-2017. That's fifteen books over roughly 5 years! You might call that prolific, I call that quantity over quality!
The Gray Knight rightly irritated the fuck out of me. Not just because it's a badly written mess with boring characters, a boring, derivative world and a boring by-the-numbers plot that you could nick off a plot generator on the Internet. It irritated me, because it reminded me and represents everything I fucking hate about the Epic Fantasy genre. The generic plot, the generic fantasy characters and tropes, the generic setting and mechanics. Everything is so generic and derivative and when you add on the bad dialogue, the boring characters, the lazy writing and the pacing that feels like wading through a septic tank and you have a book I wouldn't recommend to anyone.
Or if you need a simpler explanation:
March 12, 2019
1 Shadowbearer Stars
The book started out quite good and I moved into the 20% mark swiftly and parts of me stayed interested and then fizzled out. This is a book you will probably read cover to cover in one sitting but it is also one that if you put it down you will not want to pick it back up at all which wavered my rating from a 3 to a 1. The book oddly feels like you are being excessively told you are actually in a RPG game or some time of dungeons and dragons session.
The overall premise is that Ridmark is an out casted knight marked as the ultimate sin and sent on a mission to find a lost dwarf who is determined to spread the word of another god ( unlike the normal Blood gods.. more so a lord of the light vibe) .
Warning Ridmark is like the best swordbearer of all time literally he cannot lose a battle no matter how ridiculous the odds may be. Calliande … just imagine she is beautiful and she cannot stop saying “I don’t remember” and then you may not hate and be annoyed with her so much. I get that the author wanted to milk this story as everyone of the huge series is about Ridmark. This is a 15 book series.
My ending notes: The book needs serious editing and this may be a case of its me not you as I am new to the genre. The book is free right now so please go and make your own decision.
The book started out quite good and I moved into the 20% mark swiftly and parts of me stayed interested and then fizzled out. This is a book you will probably read cover to cover in one sitting but it is also one that if you put it down you will not want to pick it back up at all which wavered my rating from a 3 to a 1. The book oddly feels like you are being excessively told you are actually in a RPG game or some time of dungeons and dragons session.
The overall premise is that Ridmark is an out casted knight marked as the ultimate sin and sent on a mission to find a lost dwarf who is determined to spread the word of another god ( unlike the normal Blood gods.. more so a lord of the light vibe) .
Warning Ridmark is like the best swordbearer of all time literally he cannot lose a battle no matter how ridiculous the odds may be. Calliande … just imagine she is beautiful and she cannot stop saying “I don’t remember” and then you may not hate and be annoyed with her so much. I get that the author wanted to milk this story as everyone of the huge series is about Ridmark. This is a 15 book series.
My ending notes: The book needs serious editing and this may be a case of its me not you as I am new to the genre. The book is free right now so please go and make your own decision.
March 22, 2024
Excellent world and character building that had me a little confused at the beginning unsure of what had happened between the "First Quest" and this one. But eventually everything was cleared up. And with all Moeller's books there was enough action to keep the pages turning and keeping the reader wanting more.
March 20, 2018
This is the first in the Frostborn series.
Ridmark Arban is a past swordbearer, having once wielding a soulblade which had magical abilities. His prowess with his skills and the blade apparently lead to a successful defence of his realm. But, it also cost him his job, ending up with him relinquishing the soulblade.
It is now some years later, he exists as ‘The Gray Knight’ armed with a quarter staff now he has no soulblade (and is actually banned from using swords in general), searching for signs of the return of the evil Frostborn, dispensing justice along the way.
This is typical sword and sorcery, with quite a bit of both. Fairly well told with good pace. As a more normal, yet skilled, warrior he is a much more approachable character (much better than the prequel story). He collects a few friends as he deals with ever increasing danger across & below the lands.
A good book 3/5
Ridmark Arban is a past swordbearer, having once wielding a soulblade which had magical abilities. His prowess with his skills and the blade apparently lead to a successful defence of his realm. But, it also cost him his job, ending up with him relinquishing the soulblade.
It is now some years later, he exists as ‘The Gray Knight’ armed with a quarter staff now he has no soulblade (and is actually banned from using swords in general), searching for signs of the return of the evil Frostborn, dispensing justice along the way.
This is typical sword and sorcery, with quite a bit of both. Fairly well told with good pace. As a more normal, yet skilled, warrior he is a much more approachable character (much better than the prequel story). He collects a few friends as he deals with ever increasing danger across & below the lands.
A good book 3/5
December 31, 2016
I found this difficult to put down, and easy to pick up. It struck me early on that it's aimed for young adults, but I found the story engaging from the first page. Through a bunch of plot twists, most of which were unexpected, we exploded into a climax, which was equal parts clichéd and awesome. The resolution actually asked more questions than it answered, but I can't wait to read the next in the series.
March 26, 2018
Simply fun
The story started off a bit too simple for me but the authors prose and the slowly evolving background slash world building just sucked me in. Ill be reading more of Moeller.
The story started off a bit too simple for me but the authors prose and the slowly evolving background slash world building just sucked me in. Ill be reading more of Moeller.
March 15, 2016
This review pertains to the series as a whole though book 5
short of it - I enjoyed the story. The writing on the other hand was mediocre to bad.
long version- The books were short and would have been better off bound into larger novels, I felt I was being nickel and dimed for partial story lines. However if they were bundled together then the repetitive writing would have been even more noticeable. how many times must I be told "he went through them like wolf through sheep" or "in the [number changes] of days she has been awake she has never seen a more impressive fighter'. some of the descriptors were used so often I felt it would have made a good book club drinking game.
The characters and plot were interesting and if the books were edited again and packaged as a complete set then I'd suggest people read it. for now though I leave it to the individual to decide if the gain outweighs the pain.
2stars for writing
3-4 for the storyline
The Demonsouled series suffers in the same way for book 1.
short of it - I enjoyed the story. The writing on the other hand was mediocre to bad.
long version- The books were short and would have been better off bound into larger novels, I felt I was being nickel and dimed for partial story lines. However if they were bundled together then the repetitive writing would have been even more noticeable. how many times must I be told "he went through them like wolf through sheep" or "in the [number changes] of days she has been awake she has never seen a more impressive fighter'. some of the descriptors were used so often I felt it would have made a good book club drinking game.
The characters and plot were interesting and if the books were edited again and packaged as a complete set then I'd suggest people read it. for now though I leave it to the individual to decide if the gain outweighs the pain.
2stars for writing
3-4 for the storyline
The Demonsouled series suffers in the same way for book 1.
July 26, 2017
I don't think I was the target market for this book, or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself. This book reads like the story line to a not-so-great video game. If I was a fan of pulp fantasy then maybe it'd be up my aisle. I'm not, having read the Song of Ice & Fire series multiple times as well as at least three times through Lord of the Rings my taste appears to require a bit more meat on the bone. There were some entertaining bits in this novel, I particularly liked the potential of the antagonist but the pacing and the substance of the book just wasn't what I was looking for. Even for a summer read it just wasn't my thing. And I abhor not finishing a book but with a backlog the length of a train I just couldn't justify seeing it through to the end. I have the first four novels in the series unfortunately or maybe fortunately, it gives me the opportunity to pick it up again in the future and 'gut it out'. Who knows, maybe my attitude will change and I'll end up loving it. I'll come back and update my review if that happens.
August 17, 2023
This review is for the whole Frostborn series.
This series caught me from the very beginning (I read the books per the authors reading list so started with some short stories). I loved the characters and their interactions. It is basically non stop action. There are short stories set between the full length novels that set up or give background information for new characters. The Arthurian background is not really involved in the story, just background information. There is a fair amount of reference to the church but it doesn't distract from the series.
All in all I would definitely recommend this series.
**** small spoilers below ****
There are a few things that are annoying - the undead that keep appearing - since everyone knows about the necromancers why do they keep burying people.
The author does repeat explanations about things that are not really necessary - the extra strength and speed from Soulblades, how Ridmark learned to use the staff, Caius being the only baptized dwarf, just small things but doesn't really subtract from enjoying the books
This series caught me from the very beginning (I read the books per the authors reading list so started with some short stories). I loved the characters and their interactions. It is basically non stop action. There are short stories set between the full length novels that set up or give background information for new characters. The Arthurian background is not really involved in the story, just background information. There is a fair amount of reference to the church but it doesn't distract from the series.
All in all I would definitely recommend this series.
**** small spoilers below ****
There are a few things that are annoying - the undead that keep appearing - since everyone knows about the necromancers why do they keep burying people.
The author does repeat explanations about things that are not really necessary - the extra strength and speed from Soulblades, how Ridmark learned to use the staff, Caius being the only baptized dwarf, just small things but doesn't really subtract from enjoying the books
May 21, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyable fantasy in the 'style' of LoTR with a damaged hero who turns out to be a bit of a Marty Sue but I was enjoying this so much I didn't really care.
A tad too much description of the fight scenes, but I skimmed those.
Good fun romp.
A tad too much description of the fight scenes, but I skimmed those.
Good fun romp.
April 13, 2020
Religious but still good
This book is strongly influenced by the Christian religion unlike the authors other fantasy works.
It still has very interesting characters & plenty of action so I definitely want to see how the story progresses
This book is strongly influenced by the Christian religion unlike the authors other fantasy works.
It still has very interesting characters & plenty of action so I definitely want to see how the story progresses
August 31, 2021
A decent fantasy read but I doubt I will be reading the others in the series
June 7, 2016
Frostborn is the first full book in a multi-book series ) I think that the list is more than twelve books so far.) There is a novella which presents a bit of the beginning of the events leading to this novel, but enough of it is revealed in Frostborn so as not to leave the reader clueless.
Mr. Miller has an adept hand at weaving an heroic epic saga type novel. The story and the primary characters fall well into the mode of epic heroes. He has borrowed from everything and everyone from Tolkien to Baldur's gate and done it unashamedly well to write a book, and hopefully, a series to keep the readers happy.
I enjoyed the book for what it is, a thrilling, sword-swinging, spell-casting romp , with dwarf priests, Mighty Orcs, filthy Kobolds, nasty dragons spitting acid and fire, and, of course, a mightily strong, vile and resourceful evil demon lord. Not a dull moment with everything throw into the boiling cauldron.
It is kinda fun, no, it is fun. Just remember it is not a grand saga like "Game of Thrones" but It is neither some fairies and unicorn teen comic.
Recommended for lovers of the genre.
Mr. Miller has an adept hand at weaving an heroic epic saga type novel. The story and the primary characters fall well into the mode of epic heroes. He has borrowed from everything and everyone from Tolkien to Baldur's gate and done it unashamedly well to write a book, and hopefully, a series to keep the readers happy.
I enjoyed the book for what it is, a thrilling, sword-swinging, spell-casting romp , with dwarf priests, Mighty Orcs, filthy Kobolds, nasty dragons spitting acid and fire, and, of course, a mightily strong, vile and resourceful evil demon lord. Not a dull moment with everything throw into the boiling cauldron.
It is kinda fun, no, it is fun. Just remember it is not a grand saga like "Game of Thrones" but It is neither some fairies and unicorn teen comic.
Recommended for lovers of the genre.
August 23, 2016
But a shadow threatens to devour the kingdom. RIDMARK ARBAN was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor. But he alone sees the danger to come. CALLIANDE awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her. For she alone holds the secret that can save the world...or destroy it utterly. The secret of the Frostborn.
Unbelievable!!! I am impressed at the ability of this author to create worlds that are vivid, imaginative, and believable. I was concerned that the Frostborn books would not even come close to meeting expectations. The writing ability of Moeller exceeded any idea I had of what this series would be like. So far, this book did not disappoint, I am anxiously awaiting some free time in the coming days and weeks to continue the quest that Ridmark and Calliande have commenced! On to the next!! Great reading everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable!!! I am impressed at the ability of this author to create worlds that are vivid, imaginative, and believable. I was concerned that the Frostborn books would not even come close to meeting expectations. The writing ability of Moeller exceeded any idea I had of what this series would be like. So far, this book did not disappoint, I am anxiously awaiting some free time in the coming days and weeks to continue the quest that Ridmark and Calliande have commenced! On to the next!! Great reading everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 23, 2017
I'm glad I gave this series a chance. I was skeptical about how much I'd like the first book after reading the prequel to The Gray Knight, which in my opinion was a simple plot. I don't read the books I choose based on reviews and this experience is a good argument for that decision. If I had paid attention to the review of the prequel, I'd have not read it. Ridmark is a layered and tortured character. I also enjoy the orc, Kharlacht, who bears a moral compass which complicates his relationship with his own kind and humanizes him. Quite intriguing. I am going to continue the series, but am taking a break to read some other books on my list. I highly recommend this series. Complaints of too much fighting and too little plot to this series, based on the prequel, are not founded. Subplot exists and is entertaining. Judge for yourselves, but I think Moeller's series is great so far and I know I'm in good company. :-)
July 14, 2017
A short story introducing two of the characters that will be crucial in aiding Ridmark Arban in his determined effort to stop the Frostborn. Ridmark stops at an outlying settlement for supplies and encounters a former comrade at arms. This gentleman is temporarily in charge of the settlement and appears to be in somewhat over his head. He allowed a dwarf monk to set off into the wilderness in a suicidal mission to bring Christianity to a band of orcs. He requests that Ridmark go after the dwarf and convince him to return to safety. Although Ridmark does not encounter the dwarf, Caius, in this book, he will, and they will become fast companions.
Calliande is/was the Keeper who was instrumental in defeating the Frostborn when they made their first attempt to overthrow her world. She knew they would come again and was placed into a magical coma not to be awakened until their imminent return. However, all did not go as planned and she awakens missing most of her memory and purpose.
Calliande is/was the Keeper who was instrumental in defeating the Frostborn when they made their first attempt to overthrow her world. She knew they would come again and was placed into a magical coma not to be awakened until their imminent return. However, all did not go as planned and she awakens missing most of her memory and purpose.
June 11, 2021
After meeting young Ridmark in The First Quest, we now meet an older Ridmark. He no longer bears Heartwarden, the soulstone blade. It has been stripped from him. Instead, he bears the brand of a broken sword on his cheek, the sign of a coward who has betrayed his fellows. We discover that his wife Aelia is dead and he blames himself; hence, he feels he has earned his brand. We get to meet Calliande, a woman who has been in a box under the deserted fortress near the black mountain. She can't remember anything of her past, but she does remember her name. She awakens on the same day as the blue lightning covers the entire sky, the sign that the Frostborn are coming to wipe out all life except themselves. Calliande is discovered by the orcs and chained. The Shadowbearer wants her brought to the standing stones and killed with the huge empty soulstone on her chest. This is a great action book. I enjoyed every minute of it.
September 26, 2017
Very predictable. Ridmark is so hilariously perfect and over powered that I flat out skipped reading any of the detailed fight sequences. After reading so many and him never even really getting a scratch it's just like yeah okay onto the next bit. The chick whose name I can't remember at the moment is op as well.
The writing was also pretty bad. At one point Ridmark talks to the Orc about how the orc was supposed to marry this girl but she died. Ridmark says he's sorry. A couple chapters later they have the exact same conversation. The same thing happens with the girl talking about something. It's like he moved the conversion around when editing and forgot to remove the original version.
I'm in a reading slump right now and these books are really short and easy to read (because there isn't much going on and you can skim) so I'll read the next one anyway but they are pretty meh.
The writing was also pretty bad. At one point Ridmark talks to the Orc about how the orc was supposed to marry this girl but she died. Ridmark says he's sorry. A couple chapters later they have the exact same conversation. The same thing happens with the girl talking about something. It's like he moved the conversion around when editing and forgot to remove the original version.
I'm in a reading slump right now and these books are really short and easy to read (because there isn't much going on and you can skim) so I'll read the next one anyway but they are pretty meh.
August 22, 2020
In the mode of a dungeons and dragons adventure this first book really struck a chord with me. The adventuring aspect was done incredibly well. Filled with dark elves, orcs,kobolds, and many other races and creatures that keep the world imaginative and flowing.this is quest fantasy of the highest order. Disgraced and exiled knight ridmark arban sets out to prevent the inevitable return of the frostborn. Having to do so without his soul blade heartwarden it will prove to be a even bigger challenge. Accompanied by strange combination of allies and bearing a trusty staff ridmark aims to prove him and his cohorts are up for the challenge.
January 12, 2021
A good Story by a good storyteller
As the title says - Jonathan Moeller writes a good story, with enjoyable characters to like and dislike, which is the balance of any good book. The storyline is good, the writing conjure the ambience and feel of the locations as well as the characters. The character that Jonathan creates I often want to support the hero if it were real, to ease his plight of self-recrimenations where they are not deserved. Jonathan offers a good place of escape if you have the time to enjoy the adventures he offers.
As the title says - Jonathan Moeller writes a good story, with enjoyable characters to like and dislike, which is the balance of any good book. The storyline is good, the writing conjure the ambience and feel of the locations as well as the characters. The character that Jonathan creates I often want to support the hero if it were real, to ease his plight of self-recrimenations where they are not deserved. Jonathan offers a good place of escape if you have the time to enjoy the adventures he offers.
September 29, 2016
I was so excited for this series when I first began it.
Adventure and a great world.
But as it went on I grew tired of the very poor editing in places.
When I get past the poor editing I am left with Ridmark... not once was I worried if something was going to happen. He is unrealistically badass.
I'm not sure if I will continue the series... I may give Jonathan one more book because I want to love this series but it's hard to at times.
Adventure and a great world.
But as it went on I grew tired of the very poor editing in places.
When I get past the poor editing I am left with Ridmark... not once was I worried if something was going to happen. He is unrealistically badass.
I'm not sure if I will continue the series... I may give Jonathan one more book because I want to love this series but it's hard to at times.
October 6, 2020
I'm giving this book 3.5 stars because to me the book never really hooked me and I didn't feel a super strong urge to pick it back up, but that might have been due to the fact that I was also in the middle of another book. I like the style of Jonathan Moeller, the way he goes back and forth between two characters. Also some authors make things too wordy and he doesn't do that. Overall I think this is a good book and I recommend it, what I don't recommend is reading two books at once.
May 26, 2021
This is the first book of this genre I have read, except maybe Lord of the Rings. I read it because I saw an interview of him on KDP, and he was a real, smart guy. I read his book on writing, and it was excellent advice about storytelling. So I started with this fiction of his, and definitely got sucked in. It was a fun read. The good guys win and the bad guys get their heads chopped off. Great characters.
February 28, 2025
Moeller offers the vast looming evil and complex schemes of civilisation-threatening epic fantasy without sprawling narratives and cast of characters.
Everyone knows the Frostborn were destroyed centuries ago. Ridmark Arban was one of the most respected knights of his generation—until politics and a choice with no good answer left him branded an outcast, forbidden to even touch a sword; even when he had status no-one listened to his warning that the Frostborn were returning, so how can he get them to listen now? Calliande escaped from a sealed chamber only hours ago with no knowledge of her past save a cryptic message that she will determine whether they return; but is she the key to stopping it or causing it?
The basic framework of Moeller’s world is classic secondary world epic fantasy with powerful magic, elves, dwarves, orcs, and the looming return of civilisation destroying evil. However, Moeller’s “creation story” is that dark elves opened portals to other realms to summon slave races for their wars and, a thousand years ago, the grandson of King Arthur found such a portal and led the survivors of his kingdom through it. Thus, human society is almost exclusively Christian and based around medieval feudalism.
This adds an interesting accessibility to the setting: rather than humans referencing tale and myth the reader knows nothing of, some of the terms and histories are things the reader already knows. Readers who find the “each race has its own god(s)” trope a little flat might also enjoy the complexity added by some non-humans converting to Christianity and some humans questioning or abandoning Christianity in the face of a world unlike that the Bible describes.
However, it also creates some potential dissonances depending on how deeply a reader considers: superficially, Christian knights fit very well into a high fantasy world; but real-world technology changed considerably over the thousand years since knights in shining armour came on the scene even without overt magic and extensive cultural interaction with other races, so human civilisation still being at the level of high Arthurian would need some external limitation. A reader who wishes to suspend disbelief can easily assume there is one, such as the wars against evil which are mentioned happening forcing enough rebuilding that humanity doesn’t quite get the momentum it did in this world, and that this reason is not openly stated simply because the protagonists do not know that they are behind the technological curve compared to their former home; however, readers who are irked by the “generic medieval” trope might find the lack of either technological or magical impact more distracting.
Moeller’s manner of presenting their Christianity is equally vulnerable to reader preference. As with many epic fantasy novels, when believers in a dark god call on their patron, there are tangible results; whereas, calling on the Christian god might stoke hope or courage—and is certainly treated as a cause of good fortune after the event— but does not work overt effects. To readers who have found much of Christian fantasy a little heavy handed when it comes to ascribing victory to faith in the Abrahamic god, this lack of miracles might come as a relief. To other readers the lack of overt miracles compared to the impact of other faiths added to Christianity coming with humans rather than already having a presence in the world might seem like a tacit confirmation that those characters who believe Christianity is a human construct are right.
The main arc and sub-plots are a solid mix of fast-paced action, complex social interaction, and tense investigation, and are skilfully intertwined. As one would expect of the first book of an extended series, Ridmark’s quest to prevent the Frostborn returning has neither achieved clear and obvious progress nor convinced anyone of significance that he is not merely chasing after ghosts; while this does make the ending less uplifting and makes the book as a whole less able to stand alone, it also both adds tangibility to the scale of the endeavour facing him and avoids starting the exponential escalation of threat that can occur in series where the protagonist is more successful.
Ridmark is a sympathetic protagonist who is firmly a troubled hero on the same scale as a civilisation-ending threat. He is one of the most skilled warriors of his generation. He is naturally charismatic. He is selfless and brave. And his belief his past mistake means he deserves the coward’s brand is equally epic. Taken together, these qualities create a character whose great ability is balanced by a seeking of challenges and taking of risks that are equally great—some of which distract him from or even work against his quest—and who is thus written to have a realistic chance of failing. Depending on reader preference, the individual parts—his unassailable belief he deserves his coward’s brand despite not having being a coward in particular—might feel implausible.
Calliande is an equally sympathetic protagonist with an equal sense of having a greater scale balanced by facing greater challenges. Moeller handles her amnesia well, capturing the immense frustration of potentially having the power or knowledge to solve and issue but not being able to access it without either making it an unchanging barrier that removes all but the most trivial agency or having a specific memory or ability happen to jog free every time the situation seems impossible.
The supporting cast are each a good balance of engagingly nuanced and fantasy trope, making this feel like a realistic world without distracting from the epic arc of the main plot. Perhaps of particular positive note is Moeller’s understanding that someone can believe a person is honest and decent without believing they are right; thus, those Ridmark saves do not automatically become supporters of his quest to stop the Frostborn.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I recommend it to readers seeking epic fantasy that features powerful magics and high perils while focusing on a small group of characters.
Everyone knows the Frostborn were destroyed centuries ago. Ridmark Arban was one of the most respected knights of his generation—until politics and a choice with no good answer left him branded an outcast, forbidden to even touch a sword; even when he had status no-one listened to his warning that the Frostborn were returning, so how can he get them to listen now? Calliande escaped from a sealed chamber only hours ago with no knowledge of her past save a cryptic message that she will determine whether they return; but is she the key to stopping it or causing it?
The basic framework of Moeller’s world is classic secondary world epic fantasy with powerful magic, elves, dwarves, orcs, and the looming return of civilisation destroying evil. However, Moeller’s “creation story” is that dark elves opened portals to other realms to summon slave races for their wars and, a thousand years ago, the grandson of King Arthur found such a portal and led the survivors of his kingdom through it. Thus, human society is almost exclusively Christian and based around medieval feudalism.
This adds an interesting accessibility to the setting: rather than humans referencing tale and myth the reader knows nothing of, some of the terms and histories are things the reader already knows. Readers who find the “each race has its own god(s)” trope a little flat might also enjoy the complexity added by some non-humans converting to Christianity and some humans questioning or abandoning Christianity in the face of a world unlike that the Bible describes.
However, it also creates some potential dissonances depending on how deeply a reader considers: superficially, Christian knights fit very well into a high fantasy world; but real-world technology changed considerably over the thousand years since knights in shining armour came on the scene even without overt magic and extensive cultural interaction with other races, so human civilisation still being at the level of high Arthurian would need some external limitation. A reader who wishes to suspend disbelief can easily assume there is one, such as the wars against evil which are mentioned happening forcing enough rebuilding that humanity doesn’t quite get the momentum it did in this world, and that this reason is not openly stated simply because the protagonists do not know that they are behind the technological curve compared to their former home; however, readers who are irked by the “generic medieval” trope might find the lack of either technological or magical impact more distracting.
Moeller’s manner of presenting their Christianity is equally vulnerable to reader preference. As with many epic fantasy novels, when believers in a dark god call on their patron, there are tangible results; whereas, calling on the Christian god might stoke hope or courage—and is certainly treated as a cause of good fortune after the event— but does not work overt effects. To readers who have found much of Christian fantasy a little heavy handed when it comes to ascribing victory to faith in the Abrahamic god, this lack of miracles might come as a relief. To other readers the lack of overt miracles compared to the impact of other faiths added to Christianity coming with humans rather than already having a presence in the world might seem like a tacit confirmation that those characters who believe Christianity is a human construct are right.
The main arc and sub-plots are a solid mix of fast-paced action, complex social interaction, and tense investigation, and are skilfully intertwined. As one would expect of the first book of an extended series, Ridmark’s quest to prevent the Frostborn returning has neither achieved clear and obvious progress nor convinced anyone of significance that he is not merely chasing after ghosts; while this does make the ending less uplifting and makes the book as a whole less able to stand alone, it also both adds tangibility to the scale of the endeavour facing him and avoids starting the exponential escalation of threat that can occur in series where the protagonist is more successful.
Ridmark is a sympathetic protagonist who is firmly a troubled hero on the same scale as a civilisation-ending threat. He is one of the most skilled warriors of his generation. He is naturally charismatic. He is selfless and brave. And his belief his past mistake means he deserves the coward’s brand is equally epic. Taken together, these qualities create a character whose great ability is balanced by a seeking of challenges and taking of risks that are equally great—some of which distract him from or even work against his quest—and who is thus written to have a realistic chance of failing. Depending on reader preference, the individual parts—his unassailable belief he deserves his coward’s brand despite not having being a coward in particular—might feel implausible.
Calliande is an equally sympathetic protagonist with an equal sense of having a greater scale balanced by facing greater challenges. Moeller handles her amnesia well, capturing the immense frustration of potentially having the power or knowledge to solve and issue but not being able to access it without either making it an unchanging barrier that removes all but the most trivial agency or having a specific memory or ability happen to jog free every time the situation seems impossible.
The supporting cast are each a good balance of engagingly nuanced and fantasy trope, making this feel like a realistic world without distracting from the epic arc of the main plot. Perhaps of particular positive note is Moeller’s understanding that someone can believe a person is honest and decent without believing they are right; thus, those Ridmark saves do not automatically become supporters of his quest to stop the Frostborn.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I recommend it to readers seeking epic fantasy that features powerful magics and high perils while focusing on a small group of characters.
February 16, 2018
It took me a while to get into this book, mainly because the main character was so stiff. Thankfully, the secondary characters were very well fleshed out and even made the hero more approachable. I got a little bored with the fight scenes since the hero's main move was to knock his foes in the head with his staff. Still, the plot was fast paced and exciting. I plan to read the next book.
December 12, 2018
My review of FrostBorn
I have read the previous series of Jonathan Moeller, but this one i kind of felt not very interesting.I felt it required a lot of proofreading and checkout the grammar in it. Reason i give 4 star is beacuse of the character plots were handled very well and made me read till the end of the book.Way to go!!
I have read the previous series of Jonathan Moeller, but this one i kind of felt not very interesting.I felt it required a lot of proofreading and checkout the grammar in it. Reason i give 4 star is beacuse of the character plots were handled very well and made me read till the end of the book.Way to go!!
February 4, 2020
Enchanting
From the first introduction of the main characters, Ridmark and Calliande, it is clear that they represent everything that is good in the world and together they will overcome all the evil. It's how they will achieve this and what trials they will encounter on their journey is what makes this a readable series of stories.
From the first introduction of the main characters, Ridmark and Calliande, it is clear that they represent everything that is good in the world and together they will overcome all the evil. It's how they will achieve this and what trials they will encounter on their journey is what makes this a readable series of stories.
December 16, 2013
Kind of reads like a Dungeons and Dragons playing session if you know what I mean. Good stories, characters are sort of fleshed out. Interesting world created. I will read the others in this series and maybe some of his other series, seems to be a prolific writer.
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