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The Outlaw King #3
Ten Thousand Devils
The fellowship is fractured again when Ross and two others slip through the veil and return to Earth, where they must stop a Silen planning to instigate a school shooting at Blackfield University.
Meanwhile, back on Destin, Noreen fights to survive as Normand's past comes across the ocean to haunt them. In the distant Wildlands of K-Set, Sawyer must contend with the almighty Glass God Obelus and embrace his true calling as a gunslinger.
Meanwhile, back on Destin, Noreen fights to survive as Normand's past comes across the ocean to haunt them. In the distant Wildlands of K-Set, Sawyer must contend with the almighty Glass God Obelus and embrace his true calling as a gunslinger.
- GenresFantasy
766 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2014
13 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
S.A. Hunt
22 books296 followersSamara Abigail Hunt is the Georgia-born author of the Amazon Top 10 Horror Malus Domestica series, and the Outlaw King fantasy series, winner of Reddit.com's /r/Fantasy "Independent Novel of the Year" 2014 Stabby Award. She is also a "Mentor of Poetry, Prose, & Performance" with the National Creative Society.
In 2005 she joined the Army and after an ill-advised stint in the military police (ACAB), she went back to school to be a transportation coordinator in order to deploy to Afghanistan.
Stationed in Camp Arena, Herat, Samara was promoted to Specialist and placed in a Lieutenant position in a joint Italian-Spanish command room, where she coordinated and recorded hundreds of convoys and outreach missions into far-flung parts of RC West, the western quadrant of the Afghanistan theater. She was awarded a Joint Services Achievement Medal for her efforts.
She currently lives in Petoskey, Michigan.
In 2005 she joined the Army and after an ill-advised stint in the military police (ACAB), she went back to school to be a transportation coordinator in order to deploy to Afghanistan.
Stationed in Camp Arena, Herat, Samara was promoted to Specialist and placed in a Lieutenant position in a joint Italian-Spanish command room, where she coordinated and recorded hundreds of convoys and outreach missions into far-flung parts of RC West, the western quadrant of the Afghanistan theater. She was awarded a Joint Services Achievement Medal for her efforts.
She currently lives in Petoskey, Michigan.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 28, 2015
TL;DR: DAMN THIS BOOK IS GOOD.
I was recommended aaaaages ago by a friend to read Hunt's debut novel The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree, but put it off for over a year. By the time I got around to it, book 2 in the series was already out and book 3 was on the way, which meant I was perfectly primed to dive into what I soon discovered was one of the deepest, darkest, most delicious not-quite-fantasy series on the market.
It started as a Dark Tower inspired epic, but has developed into so much more. A trio of regular folk – Ross Brigham, a veteran just returned from deployment, and two fans of Ross’s father’s epic fantasy series The Fiddler and the Fire, are thrown into the world of Destin, the same world that Ross’s deceased father used as the inspiration for Fiddler.
Destin is a bit of a weird-west sort of place. There are gunslingers roaming the desert and locomotives whizzing over the plains, but there are also colossal sea serpents and maybe-monsters wearing robotic animal masks and LSD trips and demon dimensions accessible only through the subconscious and a looming evil and sweet shootouts and mecha-punchups and DAMN, this series goes some crazy places. By halfway through the second novel – and increasingly throughout the third – Hunt expands his world, his characters and his intricate plotting so far beyond the rote Magical Land tropes that it becomes a struggle to really define Ten Thousand Devils. Fantasy? Sure. Science Fiction? Absolutely. Western? In parts, yep. Action thriller? Hell yes, with all the knobs turned up to 11. Metaphysical exploration of parallel universes and the nature of the creative mind? Yep, that too, in buckets.
Does it sound a little schizophrenic? Maybe, man. Maybe. All I know is that Hunt has crafted a balls-to-the-wall, pedal-to-the-floor adventure where a cast of sympathetic, flawed, three-dimensional arse-kicking characters struggle against exceptional odds in a world that never stopped surprising me. Not once. Thirty years of fantasy books under my belt, and Ten Thousand Devils kept taking me to new places, throwing me into new situations. 10KD isn’t a placid, by the numbers fantasy epic. Hell, I knew that going in – book 2 of The Outlaw King, The Law of the Wolf, was white-knuckle from beginning to end, but 10KD strapped a rocket on to the plot, set it on fire and launched it off a ramp into outer space. It’s just… so… good.
Ross is an amazing lead character, compelling and multi-faceted as he explores a world he thought existed only in his father’s novels. But the supporting cast are… well, not really supporting. Their roles and complexity expand until they’re having their own, equally fascinating adventures in Destin, never playing second fiddle to Ross Brigham. The lore of the world, so dense and yet so accessible, is uncovered by the reader at the same pace as the cast. You explore Destin with them. You live their journey. You come to love them.
In short… and it’s way too late to say in short… The Outlaw King series is essential reading for fans of fantasy, westerns, scifi, roadtrip epics, action adventures and supernatural thrillers, and Ten Thousand Devils is the best novel of the bunch. Grab book 1, The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree, and get ready to devour one of the most gripping, tenacious, inventive spec-fic series of the last decade.
Seriously.
Just do it.
Jeez.
I was recommended aaaaages ago by a friend to read Hunt's debut novel The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree, but put it off for over a year. By the time I got around to it, book 2 in the series was already out and book 3 was on the way, which meant I was perfectly primed to dive into what I soon discovered was one of the deepest, darkest, most delicious not-quite-fantasy series on the market.
It started as a Dark Tower inspired epic, but has developed into so much more. A trio of regular folk – Ross Brigham, a veteran just returned from deployment, and two fans of Ross’s father’s epic fantasy series The Fiddler and the Fire, are thrown into the world of Destin, the same world that Ross’s deceased father used as the inspiration for Fiddler.
Destin is a bit of a weird-west sort of place. There are gunslingers roaming the desert and locomotives whizzing over the plains, but there are also colossal sea serpents and maybe-monsters wearing robotic animal masks and LSD trips and demon dimensions accessible only through the subconscious and a looming evil and sweet shootouts and mecha-punchups and DAMN, this series goes some crazy places. By halfway through the second novel – and increasingly throughout the third – Hunt expands his world, his characters and his intricate plotting so far beyond the rote Magical Land tropes that it becomes a struggle to really define Ten Thousand Devils. Fantasy? Sure. Science Fiction? Absolutely. Western? In parts, yep. Action thriller? Hell yes, with all the knobs turned up to 11. Metaphysical exploration of parallel universes and the nature of the creative mind? Yep, that too, in buckets.
Does it sound a little schizophrenic? Maybe, man. Maybe. All I know is that Hunt has crafted a balls-to-the-wall, pedal-to-the-floor adventure where a cast of sympathetic, flawed, three-dimensional arse-kicking characters struggle against exceptional odds in a world that never stopped surprising me. Not once. Thirty years of fantasy books under my belt, and Ten Thousand Devils kept taking me to new places, throwing me into new situations. 10KD isn’t a placid, by the numbers fantasy epic. Hell, I knew that going in – book 2 of The Outlaw King, The Law of the Wolf, was white-knuckle from beginning to end, but 10KD strapped a rocket on to the plot, set it on fire and launched it off a ramp into outer space. It’s just… so… good.
Ross is an amazing lead character, compelling and multi-faceted as he explores a world he thought existed only in his father’s novels. But the supporting cast are… well, not really supporting. Their roles and complexity expand until they’re having their own, equally fascinating adventures in Destin, never playing second fiddle to Ross Brigham. The lore of the world, so dense and yet so accessible, is uncovered by the reader at the same pace as the cast. You explore Destin with them. You live their journey. You come to love them.
In short… and it’s way too late to say in short… The Outlaw King series is essential reading for fans of fantasy, westerns, scifi, roadtrip epics, action adventures and supernatural thrillers, and Ten Thousand Devils is the best novel of the bunch. Grab book 1, The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree, and get ready to devour one of the most gripping, tenacious, inventive spec-fic series of the last decade.
Seriously.
Just do it.
Jeez.
March 2, 2015
The Outlaw King series is nothing if not ambitious. It manages to be in about six genres at once, portal fantasy, post-apocalyptic SF, sixguns-and-sorcery and supernatural horror of a generally Lovecraftian type being the most prominent. And, against the odds, it pulls them all off (and also makes me like them, when out of those four I generally like only the first). It's written in a style that ranges from lush and poetic to wry and coarse, sometimes moving rapidly from one to the other, yet without sounding a sour note.
In Ten Thousand Devils, we get very much a continuation of The Law of the Wolf. The three protagonists from Earth are still separated, each fighting their own battle through landscapes both alien and familiar. If there's a fault, it's perhaps that the threads are separate for so long, not (as far as I noticed) even echoing each other thematically to any great degree, but it does, at least, provide the Two Towers advantage: the ability to cut away at a cliffhanger moment in order to progress one of the other stories.
As with the earlier books, we get excerpts from the fictional novels of Ed Brigham, the father of one of the three cotagonists, and again, I felt that they didn't always (though they did sometimes) have a clear enough connection to the chapters of "new" story that followed them. It is a good, and as far as I know original, way of introducing backstory, though.
Most of the imagery is wonderful, fresh, inventive. Occasionally there's an image that fails for me, that seems like words selected at random that don't, when put together, make any sense to me. It doesn't happen often, though.
Overall, this is a stunning epic fantasy (and other things) that deserves a wide and enthusiastic readership.
I received a copy as a supporter of the author's crowdfunding campaign, and (extremely minor claim to fame) suggested the name of the dog to him through our connection on Google+.
In Ten Thousand Devils, we get very much a continuation of The Law of the Wolf. The three protagonists from Earth are still separated, each fighting their own battle through landscapes both alien and familiar. If there's a fault, it's perhaps that the threads are separate for so long, not (as far as I noticed) even echoing each other thematically to any great degree, but it does, at least, provide the Two Towers advantage: the ability to cut away at a cliffhanger moment in order to progress one of the other stories.
As with the earlier books, we get excerpts from the fictional novels of Ed Brigham, the father of one of the three cotagonists, and again, I felt that they didn't always (though they did sometimes) have a clear enough connection to the chapters of "new" story that followed them. It is a good, and as far as I know original, way of introducing backstory, though.
Most of the imagery is wonderful, fresh, inventive. Occasionally there's an image that fails for me, that seems like words selected at random that don't, when put together, make any sense to me. It doesn't happen often, though.
Overall, this is a stunning epic fantasy (and other things) that deserves a wide and enthusiastic readership.
I received a copy as a supporter of the author's crowdfunding campaign, and (extremely minor claim to fame) suggested the name of the dog to him through our connection on Google+.
August 7, 2015
Reading a book is akin to feeding the brain. Depending on which book is involved, one may find themselves gorging on a fast food meal (a speedy read), or they might find themselves developing a sophisticated appetite (reading classic literature or even literary fiction). And as with those all-you-can-eat buffets, many people find themselves going back for multiple servings.
This is where I find myself with Ten Thousand Devils (Outlaw King 3) by SA Hunt. Usually I am quick to wolf down a book in a matter of days or a week. This particular "feast" has taken me six months to complete, if only because I've wanted to savor the flavor of this author's world for as long as I could. Hunt has developed complex characters, all of which have their flaws and redemptive traits. It's near impossible for me to say that any one of the characters I absolutely hated, unless I love to hate them, which is of course always a good thing. Absolutely realistic characters, every last one of them.
So if the characters have me begging for another serving, what of the world(s) in which the story takes place. Just as succulent. The attention to detail is spot on, and I do not have a difficult time envisioning Destin. In fact, I daresay there have been times where I come out of reading this installment confused for a second, as though part of me is still standing alongside Ross, Noreen, or Sawyer, the story's three protagonists. I may have even had a dream or nightmare of Destin at one point; the author is that powerful in his storytelling.
This brings me to the author's voice. He has a unique style all of his own, and I wouldn't be surprised if future authors tried to emulate what Mr. Hunt has done with the Outlaw King series. It's quite clear that there is a southern-style or western style to the author's story. In fact, I'm less inclined to believe that this is a book rather than it has been an experience of near cinematic proportions. I would not be surprised to find this series made into a movie someday.
I eagerly anticipate the fourth installment and any beyond in the Outlaw King series. Mr. Hunt knows what he is doing as a storyteller. I expect him to be quite prolific in the years ahead.
This is where I find myself with Ten Thousand Devils (Outlaw King 3) by SA Hunt. Usually I am quick to wolf down a book in a matter of days or a week. This particular "feast" has taken me six months to complete, if only because I've wanted to savor the flavor of this author's world for as long as I could. Hunt has developed complex characters, all of which have their flaws and redemptive traits. It's near impossible for me to say that any one of the characters I absolutely hated, unless I love to hate them, which is of course always a good thing. Absolutely realistic characters, every last one of them.
So if the characters have me begging for another serving, what of the world(s) in which the story takes place. Just as succulent. The attention to detail is spot on, and I do not have a difficult time envisioning Destin. In fact, I daresay there have been times where I come out of reading this installment confused for a second, as though part of me is still standing alongside Ross, Noreen, or Sawyer, the story's three protagonists. I may have even had a dream or nightmare of Destin at one point; the author is that powerful in his storytelling.
This brings me to the author's voice. He has a unique style all of his own, and I wouldn't be surprised if future authors tried to emulate what Mr. Hunt has done with the Outlaw King series. It's quite clear that there is a southern-style or western style to the author's story. In fact, I'm less inclined to believe that this is a book rather than it has been an experience of near cinematic proportions. I would not be surprised to find this series made into a movie someday.
I eagerly anticipate the fourth installment and any beyond in the Outlaw King series. Mr. Hunt knows what he is doing as a storyteller. I expect him to be quite prolific in the years ahead.
January 16, 2015
I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now that I've finished this book.
May 4, 2021
Awesome!
A thrilling third installment! This book, as well as the previous two kept me up at night! Seriously, I couldn’t put it down until it was finished. Now I’ll have to re-read them, as I await the next installments!
A thrilling third installment! This book, as well as the previous two kept me up at night! Seriously, I couldn’t put it down until it was finished. Now I’ll have to re-read them, as I await the next installments!
January 12, 2020
Excellent continuation of the Outlaw King series. Each book just gets better and better, and I can't wait for the next installment!
September 24, 2015
3.5 stars leaning into a 4.
My first thought about this book is "No darlings were murdered in the making of this book." By that I mean, it feels like the author left in everything he ever came up with, without removing anything superfluous. There were whole chunks of internal monologuing that came up again and again and could have been cut. There was so much description that it was hard not to skim until my wandering eye found dialogue or action. This book is already long (which in and of itself I'm certainly not opposed to), but some of these things made it FEEL long.
That being said, I love this world. I love these characters. The three major storylines throughout the book are really well-weaved. Even more than in the first two books, the little snippets from Ed's fiction add to the depth of this story. I like that we get to know minor characters a bit more -- good guys and bad guys. I like seeing more and more of Destin's world. And, as in the first two books, the author's use of pop culture references brings a lot of funny color to the story. (Singing "The land of the free and the home of the whopper" is a personal favorite.)
The writing itself is again clever, original, and heartfelt. A lot of these characters' turmoils feel like personal issues the author can relate to. At no point was I willing to quit reading - and I will read the next one - but I wish a lot of the unnecessary filler had been trimmed down.
My first thought about this book is "No darlings were murdered in the making of this book." By that I mean, it feels like the author left in everything he ever came up with, without removing anything superfluous. There were whole chunks of internal monologuing that came up again and again and could have been cut. There was so much description that it was hard not to skim until my wandering eye found dialogue or action. This book is already long (which in and of itself I'm certainly not opposed to), but some of these things made it FEEL long.
That being said, I love this world. I love these characters. The three major storylines throughout the book are really well-weaved. Even more than in the first two books, the little snippets from Ed's fiction add to the depth of this story. I like that we get to know minor characters a bit more -- good guys and bad guys. I like seeing more and more of Destin's world. And, as in the first two books, the author's use of pop culture references brings a lot of funny color to the story. (Singing "The land of the free and the home of the whopper" is a personal favorite.)
The writing itself is again clever, original, and heartfelt. A lot of these characters' turmoils feel like personal issues the author can relate to. At no point was I willing to quit reading - and I will read the next one - but I wish a lot of the unnecessary filler had been trimmed down.
November 1, 2015
This book is the continuation of the Outlaw King series, and it does not fail to deliver. Again, Hunt makes sure that just about evey chapter ends with a cliffhanger, and the book itself ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you waiting desperately to finish the 4th book (that's a hint, Mr. Hunt!).
Character development is excellent. These are not flat characters that are just there for the events to happen to --- these are characters with distinct personalities, fears, goals. Many of them have an amazing sense of humor to boot.
The plot itself (trying to prevent the end of all the worlds) may be a trope, but Hunt's cinematic description of events (yes, the descriptions make you feel like your are there, watching it all), the characteres you can't help but root for as they take on increbible odds against zombie cyborgs, devilish muses, and just plain psycopathic humans --- what more do you need?
Character development is excellent. These are not flat characters that are just there for the events to happen to --- these are characters with distinct personalities, fears, goals. Many of them have an amazing sense of humor to boot.
The plot itself (trying to prevent the end of all the worlds) may be a trope, but Hunt's cinematic description of events (yes, the descriptions make you feel like your are there, watching it all), the characteres you can't help but root for as they take on increbible odds against zombie cyborgs, devilish muses, and just plain psycopathic humans --- what more do you need?
June 24, 2015
Love these characters!
Now that I have devoured book 3, not only am I enamored with the characters, I havev truly come to respect the writers skilled development and colorful imagery. I have felt the fear, strength, anger, regret, love, loneliness, compassion, companionship and the under lying need to make what is wrong right.
Great balance of dark and light. The character development is sincere and personal. You can identify with any, if not all of the experiences intimately and sincerely developed, as if the author is reading from your own diary or somehow transcribing your own inner dialogue.
I look forward to more and recommend this series to any who enjoy fantasy adventure.
Now that I have devoured book 3, not only am I enamored with the characters, I havev truly come to respect the writers skilled development and colorful imagery. I have felt the fear, strength, anger, regret, love, loneliness, compassion, companionship and the under lying need to make what is wrong right.
Great balance of dark and light. The character development is sincere and personal. You can identify with any, if not all of the experiences intimately and sincerely developed, as if the author is reading from your own diary or somehow transcribing your own inner dialogue.
I look forward to more and recommend this series to any who enjoy fantasy adventure.
January 6, 2016
Pretty decent book for a relatively unheard of author.
I have enjoyed this series so far. It reminds me of something between a Dark Tower by Stephen King and (insert favorite SF/fantasy writer here) style of writing. The only thing I feel is lacking are the seemingly disjointed excerpts that to me seem to not have a whole lot to do with the main story. Still, if you are a Dark Tower junkie, this is probably as close as you'll get without read from King himself, which is no small feat. Bravo, Mr Hunt.
I have enjoyed this series so far. It reminds me of something between a Dark Tower by Stephen King and (insert favorite SF/fantasy writer here) style of writing. The only thing I feel is lacking are the seemingly disjointed excerpts that to me seem to not have a whole lot to do with the main story. Still, if you are a Dark Tower junkie, this is probably as close as you'll get without read from King himself, which is no small feat. Bravo, Mr Hunt.
February 11, 2015
I would summarize this book as, "everything good about the Outlaw King 1 and 2, but more." It's a much longer book than The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree and The Law of the Wolf. TWitTT and TLotW had a really interesting world; here we see much more of it. TWitTT and TLotW had compelling characters; here we get to know them better, and the more they struggle, the more I care about them. TWitTT and TLotW had rocking action sequences; this leaves them way behind.
Great entry in a great series. Looking forward to #4.
Great entry in a great series. Looking forward to #4.
June 1, 2015
Dropping a few sentences to map likely 200,000 words of fiction is a hopeless endeavor. Fantasy / Western / Suspense / Epic... the Outlaw King series has it covered three times over and shouldn't leave fans of any genre disappointed. If you have read books one and two you will enjoy this third romp into the sister worlds of Destin/Earth and even forgive the author when the narrator vanishes about 60% into the story. Wait, you haven't read the first pair? Well then... author S.A. Hunt has your next 80 hours of reading ready for you.
June 8, 2017
As always Hunt has an amazing way with words, and continues to bring a rich world to life through his narrative. I cannot recommend Hunt's books enough.
On a side note, I'd like to thank Hunt for not leaving such a large cliffhanger at the end of this book- though there still was one, since I still have to wait for the next book to come out.
On a side note, I'd like to thank Hunt for not leaving such a large cliffhanger at the end of this book- though there still was one, since I still have to wait for the next book to come out.
August 5, 2015
As with the other books in this series, you can expect fast moving action, and a sweeping story. This series is vast. There is a large set of characters, a two planet setting, and plenty of plot going on.
My only complaint is that I should have waited and read all three volumes back to back. Ah. The consequences of impatience!
My only complaint is that I should have waited and read all three volumes back to back. Ah. The consequences of impatience!
March 20, 2015
Put it this way: MAN was I upset when I finished this book and couldn't immediately open book 4.
August 28, 2015
Love this series. Love the author's descriptive writing. Can't wait for book four to come out.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews