The Ninth Forsvar

by Oliver Dyment, Emily An (illustrator)

War cannot describe the ravages of the Umman Manda. When these monsters descend from the mountains, the people of Estrickt have their own word for what Forsvar.

The scars left by the eighth Forsvar run deep. Time passes, seasons turn, walls find their strength anew. Still, terror holds fresh in the mind of every Estrian. In a society molded to fight these vicious beasts, true recovery is a distant dream.

A new empress is crowned, a new hope rises. But already, signs tell of horrors swelling in the land beyond the mountains.

The ninth Forsvar is on its way.

Genres: Fantasy

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 3, 2024

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1/5

This book has probably my favourite map ever and an amazing artwork.

There were a couple of things that made absolutely no sense to me, but going along with it, for the sake of the story, I love how the story was told. Four POVs, you stick to one, few chapters later you jump to another and stay there for a while, and then repeat the experience twice. Feels like you're being told the bulk of the plot from outside, never being part of it.

The characters were good, but nothing life changing, and they were too "white" morally speaking. I actually winced when a character who's basically the hero starts saying he's not a good person.

This book needed some editing cause it feels way longer than it is, probably also cause with another editing it would be over 400 pages instead of near 300.

The world building was incredible, I wish I could see more of it, and there's a lot of suffering, just how I like it.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for book 2.

[Jan-e · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Dear Oliver Dyment, please tell me that the next installment is in the works!

If you like fresh, original fantasy with non-clichéd plotlines and characters, genuinely creative magic systems and the prospect of more to come, this book is for you.

It feels - and I mean this as high praise - like the opening chapters of a Brandon Sanderson tome with >1200 pages.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t usually write reviews, but because this is a local author I must! We stumbled upon this book and the author at a local market and I must say I have enjoyed reading it very much. I’m itching to know the motivation behind the enemies of the throne and revisit the characters from earlier chapters of the book to see where they are. The world building was well done and I enjoyed the variety of characters. It wasn’t my favourite to never get to revisit characters and have the story told through almost disconnected chunks, but then again it felt very purposeful, so I do look forward to the next book! I should clarify I say almost disconnected because the story travelled very well through the different characters, each bringing about the next progression of the enemy hoard. I just haven’t figured out how and where the characters will meet yet and become one story and I missed Ethel once we left her. Perhaps the characters will intersect perhaps they won’t that is the beauty of wanting to read part two! I also really enjoyed the type of magic present in the story and the descriptions of how it was wielded, the imagination of the author is weird and wonderful.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ diverse character (+Ethel and Catoria are the female representations we need in fantasy books!!) ‘Book 1’ was already crazy suspenseful, it had me GLUED to the pages and very quickly immersed in the story (and showed how terrifying the Umman Manda are 😭) so I was already excited to learn more about the world in ‘book 2’. I loved how each ‘book’/part had a different protagonist so we got different perspectives/backgrounds leading up to the forsvar. Need the next book ASAP!

[Camri Kohler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such beautiful maps and illustrations caught my eye but the characters are complex and very real. Fantastic!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this book is evidently the authors first work, I have found that it does not slow down Oliver Dyment or his world at all.

I can see the influence of all our our classic fantasy favourites like Game of Thrones and the Lord of the Rings- Dyment has taken all the best elements of those stories; the dangerous mysterious population from the beyond, ancient deities and sprirtual beings who live in the fringes of the worlds modern religion, and the intricate charaters and relationships; all aspects that give this world the same depth and intrigue that excite us about GoT and LotR.

This book is detailed but not info-dumpy like many high fantasy books; we get a taste of the world’s history and culture, but still leaves much to be desired in the best sort of way. I am so so hoping that there will be another two, or three, or four books in this series so we can have the chance to revisit some of our well known characters, and learn more of the mysteries and complexities of this world.

Like I said, it is evident that this is Dyment’s first book, he has created a world with an introduction that leaves readers hungry for more, with the potential set up of a new epic fantasy favourite.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book and I got to tell ya, it was real hard to do and I think I did a dang fine job. Feeling confident I deserve the five stars.

If even only in my own mind.