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The Sword of Michael
Book One in a new hard-hitting contemporary fantasy saga.
Marius Winter doesn’t walk the road of the shaman-warrior alone. He has powerful allies in the Other Realms and in ordinary reality. His spirit guides are a Lakota war-chief and medicine man, First In Front; Tigre, a powerful feminine spirit who appears as a white tiger; and Burt, a spirit raven who channels an old Jewish bookie from the Bronx.
Now Marius is targeted by a powerful sorcerer. In the battle for the souls of his friends and lover, he must storm the gates of the underworld and fight through the Seven Demi-Demons of Hell to the deepest dungeons to confront Belial himself.
Marius Winter doesn’t walk the road of the shaman-warrior alone. He has powerful allies in the Other Realms and in ordinary reality. His spirit guides are a Lakota war-chief and medicine man, First In Front; Tigre, a powerful feminine spirit who appears as a white tiger; and Burt, a spirit raven who channels an old Jewish bookie from the Bronx.
Now Marius is targeted by a powerful sorcerer. In the battle for the souls of his friends and lover, he must storm the gates of the underworld and fight through the Seven Demi-Demons of Hell to the deepest dungeons to confront Belial himself.
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First published October 15, 2014
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About the author
Marcus Wynne
19 books20 followersMarcus Wynne is a charter member of The Been There, Done That Club. He's got all the T-shirts and knows all the secret handshakes. He enjoys poetry, ballet, knife fighting, and serial monogamy with fierce feminists. He is the author of multiple best-selling thrillers and urban fantasies. When he's not busy telling lies for money as a fictioneer, he runs a research and development company for the Department of Defense. He's honored to provide training and consultation to the finest warriors in the world.
www.marcuswynne.com
www.accentusludus.com
www.marcuswynne.com
www.accentusludus.com
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 18, 2014
2 to 2.5 stars
My thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC, released last week from Baen.
I found myself skimming and skipping most of this book. The first two-thirds seemed your standard urban fantasy with a supernatural flare, demons and angels, the old Holy War, tied into or growing out of the Fall of Atlantis. The dialogue was forced and re-used one-liner cliches poorly. After about the sixth time I'd read a 'one-liner' I just about gave up. I forged on, but the 'pay off' didn't pay as much as just felt off.
Too many shamanic info dumps repeated throughout the book. Once was enough. Don't beat me over the head with your medicine man totem pole. At least one or two entire chapters could have been cut for this reason alone. Another over-used plot device was the nerdy pop culture references to science fiction and fantasy novels, movies and television shows, blatantly stealing those references to ill effect.
Starting in Chapter 25, the story devolves into the standard video game leveling up to the big boss showdown. Again, I about called it quits. But when I agree to review a book for NetGalley, I'm in for the long haul, even if I choke on it. Even a laughing congenially Jesus couldn't save this ending.
My thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC, released last week from Baen.
I found myself skimming and skipping most of this book. The first two-thirds seemed your standard urban fantasy with a supernatural flare, demons and angels, the old Holy War, tied into or growing out of the Fall of Atlantis. The dialogue was forced and re-used one-liner cliches poorly. After about the sixth time I'd read a 'one-liner' I just about gave up. I forged on, but the 'pay off' didn't pay as much as just felt off.
Too many shamanic info dumps repeated throughout the book. Once was enough. Don't beat me over the head with your medicine man totem pole. At least one or two entire chapters could have been cut for this reason alone. Another over-used plot device was the nerdy pop culture references to science fiction and fantasy novels, movies and television shows, blatantly stealing those references to ill effect.
Starting in Chapter 25, the story devolves into the standard video game leveling up to the big boss showdown. Again, I about called it quits. But when I agree to review a book for NetGalley, I'm in for the long haul, even if I choke on it. Even a laughing congenially Jesus couldn't save this ending.
August 11, 2014
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/08/11...
Publisher: Baen
Publishing Date: November 2014
ISBN: 9781476736891
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.0/5
Publisher Description: Marius Winter doesn’t walk the road of the shaman-warrior alone. He has powerful allies in the Other Realms and in ordinary reality. His spirit guides are a Lakota war-chief and medicine man, First In Front; Tigre, a powerful feminine spirit who appears as a white tiger; and Burt, a spirit raven who channels an old Jewish bookie from the Bronx.
Review: I read this author a long time ago, I think it was one of his first novels. I sent him an email at the time, wishing him luck and grafting kudos on a fine novel. He politely told me that my ideas for furthering his first novel into a series was stupid. Then he comes out with another Dale Miller novel. Dick. This is a bizarre departure from the militaristic suspense novel that I recall. It is this melange’ of ribald, tongue n’cheek fantasy with little kernals of life wisdom strewn within. There is the penchant for subtle mockery for most things/events in pop culture. This dry wit (sarcasm) is channeled through the various characters.
Marius is a dichotomous douche. He’s a shaman that channels God’s minions and can give any USPSA action shooter a run for their money while gazing into the eyes of the hottest chick on earth which happens to be his GF. He likes beer and incense, guns and meditation in no particular order. His best friends are spirit guides, Archangels, a Nazi in a spaceship and a thieving gun runner, Dillon Reloading (lol).
There were only a few minor fall downs. All the chicks are hot, Marius is never really in deep shjt (just his friends), Daniel Defense uppers are ok, but I would have gone with a Larue, SRV is/was the best R&B guitarist ever (not Electric rock guitar) and instead of a Dawson precision +5 base pad why not just get the stock Glock 33 round magazine? Not sure if I would have used a wheel gun either, but there is a practical and reliable side to all things that go bang . Dillon uses quite a bit of ammo that is custom reloads. Why? The only reason I can think of is to save money and reduce your power factor for controlled recoil. But still you have to deal with it. When I talked to Robbie Leatham (The Great One) about reloads he said ” I hate reloading. I shoot all factory ammo which runs about 180-190+ power factor”. (165 power factor is the cutoff for USPSA major/limited class).
This novel seemed to take some effort in pulling all this wildly disparate information into a cogent whole and coalescing it into a sustainable, thought provoking and entertaining novel. There is really quite a bit going on and rather than being a creative mind-dump, the novel is fairly succinct and logical….logical in the sense that there is a plot that involves demi-demons and demons whom are out to kill you while your GF’s soul is held hostage in hell.
Publisher: Baen
Publishing Date: November 2014
ISBN: 9781476736891
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.0/5
Publisher Description: Marius Winter doesn’t walk the road of the shaman-warrior alone. He has powerful allies in the Other Realms and in ordinary reality. His spirit guides are a Lakota war-chief and medicine man, First In Front; Tigre, a powerful feminine spirit who appears as a white tiger; and Burt, a spirit raven who channels an old Jewish bookie from the Bronx.
Review: I read this author a long time ago, I think it was one of his first novels. I sent him an email at the time, wishing him luck and grafting kudos on a fine novel. He politely told me that my ideas for furthering his first novel into a series was stupid. Then he comes out with another Dale Miller novel. Dick. This is a bizarre departure from the militaristic suspense novel that I recall. It is this melange’ of ribald, tongue n’cheek fantasy with little kernals of life wisdom strewn within. There is the penchant for subtle mockery for most things/events in pop culture. This dry wit (sarcasm) is channeled through the various characters.
Marius is a dichotomous douche. He’s a shaman that channels God’s minions and can give any USPSA action shooter a run for their money while gazing into the eyes of the hottest chick on earth which happens to be his GF. He likes beer and incense, guns and meditation in no particular order. His best friends are spirit guides, Archangels, a Nazi in a spaceship and a thieving gun runner, Dillon Reloading (lol).
There were only a few minor fall downs. All the chicks are hot, Marius is never really in deep shjt (just his friends), Daniel Defense uppers are ok, but I would have gone with a Larue, SRV is/was the best R&B guitarist ever (not Electric rock guitar) and instead of a Dawson precision +5 base pad why not just get the stock Glock 33 round magazine? Not sure if I would have used a wheel gun either, but there is a practical and reliable side to all things that go bang . Dillon uses quite a bit of ammo that is custom reloads. Why? The only reason I can think of is to save money and reduce your power factor for controlled recoil. But still you have to deal with it. When I talked to Robbie Leatham (The Great One) about reloads he said ” I hate reloading. I shoot all factory ammo which runs about 180-190+ power factor”. (165 power factor is the cutoff for USPSA major/limited class).
This novel seemed to take some effort in pulling all this wildly disparate information into a cogent whole and coalescing it into a sustainable, thought provoking and entertaining novel. There is really quite a bit going on and rather than being a creative mind-dump, the novel is fairly succinct and logical….logical in the sense that there is a plot that involves demi-demons and demons whom are out to kill you while your GF’s soul is held hostage in hell.
November 4, 2014
Sword of Michael
Solid three on a 1-5 scale. On the plus side, if you are a fan of Kevin Hearne, you will probably love this book. It might also help if you are male. Keep in mind that I rant below because there is lots of talent here.
Marcus Wynne can certainly write: "The voice was rich and sweet, cloying really, like an unskilled baker's attempt at a fine pastry, too much sugar and a poor quality flour baked unevenly."
Substitute irritating for cloying, and you have the prophetic self-description of the book. Though the flour is not all poor quality...I read the whole thing, and when I wondered why, I decided it was a mark of respect--to the sincere shamanic lore and the battles of Light and Dark and the entire nerd-boy excitement of the whole thing. I have, after all, read many a comic book and pulp novel. Also--would it get better?
The publisher is partially at fault here: the primary edit on the E-version was evidently done with a cell phone, since the advance copy was riddled with possessive "its" rendered with an apostrophe, and lots of I/me incorrect subject/object usage--colloquial, but majorly irritating, and not at all common in advance editions. Also irritating: fact-checking missed--hawks do flock--Harris' hawks live and hunt in clan groups. That whole soldier/loner analogy fell pretty flat. Like the characters, which are pretty much two-dimensional, matching the comic-book flavor of the plot.
The hero, Marius, is a know-it-all-who-doesn't (witness the hawk statement and the bad grammar). He's a shaman who is trying to be humble--but how can you be humble, really, when your woman is an Avatar of the Goddess, and you have a piece of Michael the Archangel's sword? He isn't. Irritating describes it. All the women are hot and all the good guys are handsome, and there's lots of sex, especially the rape/sacrifice kind. And demons have giant penises, which are evidently quite scary to men.
Hitler's right-hand man as a Servant of Light strikes a huge wrong note, as does the venture to the hell of the giant penises--this is where I finally realized I was reading a comic book--Marvel Avengers, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen--where toned and chiseled bodies and indulgent dialogue are de rigeur. Still, if Marcus Wynne can lift Marius Winter into the real world, this could turn into a series of good novels.
(I received an e-ARC for review from Baen and Netgalley.)
Solid three on a 1-5 scale. On the plus side, if you are a fan of Kevin Hearne, you will probably love this book. It might also help if you are male. Keep in mind that I rant below because there is lots of talent here.
Marcus Wynne can certainly write: "The voice was rich and sweet, cloying really, like an unskilled baker's attempt at a fine pastry, too much sugar and a poor quality flour baked unevenly."
Substitute irritating for cloying, and you have the prophetic self-description of the book. Though the flour is not all poor quality...I read the whole thing, and when I wondered why, I decided it was a mark of respect--to the sincere shamanic lore and the battles of Light and Dark and the entire nerd-boy excitement of the whole thing. I have, after all, read many a comic book and pulp novel. Also--would it get better?
The publisher is partially at fault here: the primary edit on the E-version was evidently done with a cell phone, since the advance copy was riddled with possessive "its" rendered with an apostrophe, and lots of I/me incorrect subject/object usage--colloquial, but majorly irritating, and not at all common in advance editions. Also irritating: fact-checking missed--hawks do flock--Harris' hawks live and hunt in clan groups. That whole soldier/loner analogy fell pretty flat. Like the characters, which are pretty much two-dimensional, matching the comic-book flavor of the plot.
The hero, Marius, is a know-it-all-who-doesn't (witness the hawk statement and the bad grammar). He's a shaman who is trying to be humble--but how can you be humble, really, when your woman is an Avatar of the Goddess, and you have a piece of Michael the Archangel's sword? He isn't. Irritating describes it. All the women are hot and all the good guys are handsome, and there's lots of sex, especially the rape/sacrifice kind. And demons have giant penises, which are evidently quite scary to men.
Hitler's right-hand man as a Servant of Light strikes a huge wrong note, as does the venture to the hell of the giant penises--this is where I finally realized I was reading a comic book--Marvel Avengers, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen--where toned and chiseled bodies and indulgent dialogue are de rigeur. Still, if Marcus Wynne can lift Marius Winter into the real world, this could turn into a series of good novels.
(I received an e-ARC for review from Baen and Netgalley.)
April 20, 2020
I enjoyed this book so much that I bought copies for my parents and brother. This was a fun take on good vs evil.
October 5, 2014
Full disclosure, i was given early access to an ARC, in return for an honest review via netgalley.
Sword of Michael trys hard, and hits a lot of the right notes. Decent enough world, some interesting characters, the UFO driving Nazi was a big help, but the dialogue mostly seemed to fall a bit flat. An occasional chuckleworthy quip or exchange couldn't hide the cracks for long.
The first half is interesting, an urban fantasy with a new age pop, mentions of past lives and a war fought through time since the fall of atlantis, though with heavier Christian mythology influences than i normally prefer, it's still not bad...however, the second half of the book is a nonstop series of encounters, every one of which is succeeded at when the protagonist finds a bit of calm, then screams his version of "As god wills it" and holy fire smites his enemies.
Over and over, I honestly lost count of the number of times this precise formula played out in a book that's not actually all that long. By the time i'd finally trudged to the ninth circle of hell with this book, it was a relief for one last In'shallah to call down the fires of mighty creator god, one last time to smite the baddies so i could move on to something new.
Sword of Michael trys hard, and hits a lot of the right notes. Decent enough world, some interesting characters, the UFO driving Nazi was a big help, but the dialogue mostly seemed to fall a bit flat. An occasional chuckleworthy quip or exchange couldn't hide the cracks for long.
The first half is interesting, an urban fantasy with a new age pop, mentions of past lives and a war fought through time since the fall of atlantis, though with heavier Christian mythology influences than i normally prefer, it's still not bad...however, the second half of the book is a nonstop series of encounters, every one of which is succeeded at when the protagonist finds a bit of calm, then screams his version of "As god wills it" and holy fire smites his enemies.
Over and over, I honestly lost count of the number of times this precise formula played out in a book that's not actually all that long. By the time i'd finally trudged to the ninth circle of hell with this book, it was a relief for one last In'shallah to call down the fires of mighty creator god, one last time to smite the baddies so i could move on to something new.
March 7, 2015
The hero in this book is supposedly in support of strong women. That would lead one to believe that the author is, too. But...he keeps on having the women get into stupid situations where they have to be rescued!
Everyone is all afraid of the monsters, but one girl goes into a back alley to smoke a cigarette! Later, all of them were supposedly staying at the hero's house, to help each other. His girlfriend goes off ALONE to go shopping!
Shades of Friday the 13th.
Of course, then she gets abducted by the devil.
The book was very good at giving me nightmares, though. It is always disturbing to have things happen in ordinary places. I wonder about the hero's neighbours. How did they not notice all of the shooting and weird stuff going on?
Too much gun violence, and war stuff, in general. I find it very puzzling that so many fantasy authors make wars happen. Is it just to have a series, to have some never-ending war happen?
Everyone is all afraid of the monsters, but one girl goes into a back alley to smoke a cigarette! Later, all of them were supposedly staying at the hero's house, to help each other. His girlfriend goes off ALONE to go shopping!
Shades of Friday the 13th.
Of course, then she gets abducted by the devil.
The book was very good at giving me nightmares, though. It is always disturbing to have things happen in ordinary places. I wonder about the hero's neighbours. How did they not notice all of the shooting and weird stuff going on?
Too much gun violence, and war stuff, in general. I find it very puzzling that so many fantasy authors make wars happen. Is it just to have a series, to have some never-ending war happen?
December 5, 2016
The first in a series of urban fantasy novels and yet it feels like we are coming in three or four books into the series. The main character keeps referring to events and a complex back story. The story presented was written well enough that this flaw doesn't derail the story. It does however weaken the reader's investment in the crisis.
September 12, 2014
EARC from Netgalley.
Shamen demon Hunter,old Atlantis,Hitler.Loved it,absolutely brilliant.
Shamen demon Hunter,old Atlantis,Hitler.Loved it,absolutely brilliant.
November 15, 2014
Great ideas and fun characters, but story is pretty straight-forward!
February 14, 2015
A very unique read, can't wait for the follow up.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews