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The Undying Legion
The Unbound Man
"Satisfying yet surprising, The Unbound Man is quality comfort food for fantasy fans." — Hugo and Nebula finalist Saladin Ahmed
In a land of merchant companies, printing presses, gunpowder and sorcery, Arandras Kanthesi once worked alongside the gifted and powerful, hunting down artefacts of the glorious past and teasing out their secrets. Then an unknown assailant murdered his wife, and his world fell apart.
Now, at last, he has a lead.
But pursuing his quarry means joining forces with the Quill, the order of sorcerers and scholars Arandras abandoned after his wife's death. And the Quill's help never comes without a price.
In his hunt for the killer, Arandras stumbles across a relic of a long-dead empire, one that could lead to a weapon of enormous power. Caught between his former colleagues and his wife's murderer in a race for the lost weapon, Arandras must decide what he values most: revenge, the lives of those he once called friends, or the fate of a world he no longer cares for.
By turns gritty, reflective, and intense, The Unbound Man is a powerful debut from a compelling new voice in fantasy.
In a land of merchant companies, printing presses, gunpowder and sorcery, Arandras Kanthesi once worked alongside the gifted and powerful, hunting down artefacts of the glorious past and teasing out their secrets. Then an unknown assailant murdered his wife, and his world fell apart.
Now, at last, he has a lead.
But pursuing his quarry means joining forces with the Quill, the order of sorcerers and scholars Arandras abandoned after his wife's death. And the Quill's help never comes without a price.
In his hunt for the killer, Arandras stumbles across a relic of a long-dead empire, one that could lead to a weapon of enormous power. Caught between his former colleagues and his wife's murderer in a race for the lost weapon, Arandras must decide what he values most: revenge, the lives of those he once called friends, or the fate of a world he no longer cares for.
By turns gritty, reflective, and intense, The Unbound Man is a powerful debut from a compelling new voice in fantasy.
- GenresFantasy
512 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 4, 2014
About the author
Matt Karlov
4 books14 followersMatt Karlov has been writing speculative fiction for more than ten years. He likes subtle, intricate plots, characters who keep you guessing, and stories that ask the big questions without telling you how to answer them.
Matt has been a software designer, a web developer, and a business analyst. He lives in Sydney, Australia. The Unbound Man is his first novel.
Read a free sample chapter from The Unbound Man.
Matt has been a software designer, a web developer, and a business analyst. He lives in Sydney, Australia. The Unbound Man is his first novel.
Read a free sample chapter from The Unbound Man.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 15, 2015
This review was part of Mark Lawrence's Great Self Published Fantasy Blog off.
Let me be honest with you – I couldn’t put this book down. It’s kind of a slow-burn novel. Things take a little time to really get rolling, but once they do, you’ll be absolutely addicted. There is a lot of action here, but most of it takes place in more subtle ways. Karlov really excels at intricate, detailed plots. Much of the action happens behind desks, researching, conversing, learning facts and musing over a troubled past. There is some action, but for the most part, this is one of those novels that’s more cerebral than swords flashing and lots of swearing.
Arandras is a man who has a troubled past, and somehow events collide to put him in the middle of quite a few important happenings, each of which seem to build up the tension and the mystery. The world building, and the details (which I’m a sucker for) are absolutely stunning. Karlov didn’t really skip over anything, and while the slow-burn might bother some readers, I found the intricacy, and the depth to the characters, the mysterious and interweaving situations, to be absolutely amazing.
On a side note, this might be one of the best-formatted and edited self-published novels I’ve ever seen. That sort of thing matters to readers. Not only does it make the reading easier, but it also really shows the reader just how much the author loved their book.
I really, really hope this isn’t the last I see of Karlov. He has the potential to be a real force in the genre.
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2015/04/...
Let me be honest with you – I couldn’t put this book down. It’s kind of a slow-burn novel. Things take a little time to really get rolling, but once they do, you’ll be absolutely addicted. There is a lot of action here, but most of it takes place in more subtle ways. Karlov really excels at intricate, detailed plots. Much of the action happens behind desks, researching, conversing, learning facts and musing over a troubled past. There is some action, but for the most part, this is one of those novels that’s more cerebral than swords flashing and lots of swearing.
Arandras is a man who has a troubled past, and somehow events collide to put him in the middle of quite a few important happenings, each of which seem to build up the tension and the mystery. The world building, and the details (which I’m a sucker for) are absolutely stunning. Karlov didn’t really skip over anything, and while the slow-burn might bother some readers, I found the intricacy, and the depth to the characters, the mysterious and interweaving situations, to be absolutely amazing.
On a side note, this might be one of the best-formatted and edited self-published novels I’ve ever seen. That sort of thing matters to readers. Not only does it make the reading easier, but it also really shows the reader just how much the author loved their book.
I really, really hope this isn’t the last I see of Karlov. He has the potential to be a real force in the genre.
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2015/04/...
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October 30, 2014I REALLY LIKED IT
This teetered on the edge between really liking it to being indifferent. The reason I bumped it up was because I enjoyed the author’s voice and the overall story. The reason it almost kept me at indifferent was because of the sheer amount of detail in the book, especially scene setting. I don’t need a lot of action—although I do enjoy it—but I need slow scenes to move faster. These just had a lot of detail that really didn’t add much to the story, in my opinion. I like short descriptions; just a sentence here and there. Too much and I’ll start skimming, which is what ended up happening. For those who like descriptions, you’ll settle right into this book.
At the beginning of each chapter, there were small excerpts from history books or a saying here and there. I actually looked forward to each new chapter so could I read them. Here’s one of my favorites:
“Curse the gods if you must, but do it on your horse.”
The characters were well developed, rounded with both admirable qualities and flaws, and even the bad guy was actually interesting. Arandras had the most qualities I look for in a character; an internal struggle to overcome a horrific incident from his past. Unfortunately, even with as promising as the characters were, I just couldn’t get that engrossed in the book. All the scene setting kept pulling me out of the story and my mind wandered often. It’s just my own personal hang-up, one that I vehemently wish I could change.
This book has a lot of what I’ll call discovery. The characters are learning, unraveling mysteries, researching, and plotting. There’s not a ton of action in the first 3/4 of this book, and I wouldn't have minded the slower beginning if I had been obsessed. But because I wasn't, I wanted more action or less description. So without those, I struggled through a large chunk of the book. But the story itself was engaging. It revolves around learning the history behind a specific urn that has been found. There are three story lines (3 main characters) that connect wonderfully and each have their own mysteries to solve and their own agendas to satisfy. I will say the prologue was one of my favorite parts to read.
Another bonus was the writing itself. It flowed wonderfully, and during those interesting parts, I slipped into my reading trance. Karlov definitely has a smooth prose and I really enjoyed his writing.
So overall, I think if one likes description and can handle a slower beginning, they should definitely check out this book. For those of you unsure, take a look at the first chapter—not the prologue—and you’ll get a good feel for the writing and pacing.
You can see this and other reviews on my website: http://booksbylkevans.com
This teetered on the edge between really liking it to being indifferent. The reason I bumped it up was because I enjoyed the author’s voice and the overall story. The reason it almost kept me at indifferent was because of the sheer amount of detail in the book, especially scene setting. I don’t need a lot of action—although I do enjoy it—but I need slow scenes to move faster. These just had a lot of detail that really didn’t add much to the story, in my opinion. I like short descriptions; just a sentence here and there. Too much and I’ll start skimming, which is what ended up happening. For those who like descriptions, you’ll settle right into this book.
At the beginning of each chapter, there were small excerpts from history books or a saying here and there. I actually looked forward to each new chapter so could I read them. Here’s one of my favorites:
“Curse the gods if you must, but do it on your horse.”
The characters were well developed, rounded with both admirable qualities and flaws, and even the bad guy was actually interesting. Arandras had the most qualities I look for in a character; an internal struggle to overcome a horrific incident from his past. Unfortunately, even with as promising as the characters were, I just couldn’t get that engrossed in the book. All the scene setting kept pulling me out of the story and my mind wandered often. It’s just my own personal hang-up, one that I vehemently wish I could change.
This book has a lot of what I’ll call discovery. The characters are learning, unraveling mysteries, researching, and plotting. There’s not a ton of action in the first 3/4 of this book, and I wouldn't have minded the slower beginning if I had been obsessed. But because I wasn't, I wanted more action or less description. So without those, I struggled through a large chunk of the book. But the story itself was engaging. It revolves around learning the history behind a specific urn that has been found. There are three story lines (3 main characters) that connect wonderfully and each have their own mysteries to solve and their own agendas to satisfy. I will say the prologue was one of my favorite parts to read.
Another bonus was the writing itself. It flowed wonderfully, and during those interesting parts, I slipped into my reading trance. Karlov definitely has a smooth prose and I really enjoyed his writing.
So overall, I think if one likes description and can handle a slower beginning, they should definitely check out this book. For those of you unsure, take a look at the first chapter—not the prologue—and you’ll get a good feel for the writing and pacing.
You can see this and other reviews on my website: http://booksbylkevans.com
January 21, 2015
This is a medieval fantasy novel that can be read as a stand alone (and was originally intended as such) however a sequel is in the works.
I liked the book. I think the first half was especially gripping and while it slowed down some at the midway point, the story never really dragged on to the point that I just wanted it to be over. However, with only a 3.5 rating average on Goodreads, there are some things I noticed could have been improved (though I gave the book 4 stars myself).
There was some redundance, though. Not in the sense of word repetition, more that there were different phrases and statements that would be made that meant the same thing, so all of them being in the book was unnecessary.
The exposition was a little rushed, so details could be forgotten or missed entirely, and the dialogue was at times over simplified while the story itself was very heavy with its metaphor use.
There is a scene where Arandras is confronted by two of the three other members of his group. That in itself isn't an issue, what I had a problem with was the logic. Arandras and Mara were clearly the intelligent, important members of the team, how do the other two get the nerve to think they can get along without one or both of them?
Some of the perspectives were much less captivating than others. That's a natural occurrence when there are multiple points of view in a story, but the less attention grabbing characters should have had the most intriguing parts. In theory, they had the most crucial roles of the story as far as giving the reader information about the world and mythology is concerned. Also, at times it seemed as if the author was struggling to make the different plots actually mesh together.
Since we don't get to see relationships form much, the end results of such developments and their intensity seems forced and out of place.
Now comes the part where I say whether I would recommend this book or not. Here's the thing, for storyline, I say yes. It's not perfect, but it's a good novel that I enjoyed. There are familiar elements mixed with original ideas that don't make the story seem like one that's been done a thousand times, but it depends on how you want to read the book. The physical copies range from around 18-35 euros depending on whether you choose paperback or hardcover and what site you use to order the book. Is this a 20 euro book? Sadly, no.
The ebook can be downloaded from amazon at a more reasonable price (though still more than other independently published books) and is even free for kindle unlimited users. So ultimately, it's up to you. If you have an ereader and you are willing to risk 5 euros or so, then go for it. If you can't justify it on a "maybe", considering the numerous other titles that can be downloaded for 2,99 or less, then don't feel like you're missing the next big thing. It's a good book, but it's not a must read.
I liked the book. I think the first half was especially gripping and while it slowed down some at the midway point, the story never really dragged on to the point that I just wanted it to be over. However, with only a 3.5 rating average on Goodreads, there are some things I noticed could have been improved (though I gave the book 4 stars myself).
There was some redundance, though. Not in the sense of word repetition, more that there were different phrases and statements that would be made that meant the same thing, so all of them being in the book was unnecessary.
The exposition was a little rushed, so details could be forgotten or missed entirely, and the dialogue was at times over simplified while the story itself was very heavy with its metaphor use.
There is a scene where Arandras is confronted by two of the three other members of his group. That in itself isn't an issue, what I had a problem with was the logic. Arandras and Mara were clearly the intelligent, important members of the team, how do the other two get the nerve to think they can get along without one or both of them?
Some of the perspectives were much less captivating than others. That's a natural occurrence when there are multiple points of view in a story, but the less attention grabbing characters should have had the most intriguing parts. In theory, they had the most crucial roles of the story as far as giving the reader information about the world and mythology is concerned. Also, at times it seemed as if the author was struggling to make the different plots actually mesh together.
Since we don't get to see relationships form much, the end results of such developments and their intensity seems forced and out of place.
Now comes the part where I say whether I would recommend this book or not. Here's the thing, for storyline, I say yes. It's not perfect, but it's a good novel that I enjoyed. There are familiar elements mixed with original ideas that don't make the story seem like one that's been done a thousand times, but it depends on how you want to read the book. The physical copies range from around 18-35 euros depending on whether you choose paperback or hardcover and what site you use to order the book. Is this a 20 euro book? Sadly, no.
The ebook can be downloaded from amazon at a more reasonable price (though still more than other independently published books) and is even free for kindle unlimited users. So ultimately, it's up to you. If you have an ereader and you are willing to risk 5 euros or so, then go for it. If you can't justify it on a "maybe", considering the numerous other titles that can be downloaded for 2,99 or less, then don't feel like you're missing the next big thing. It's a good book, but it's not a must read.
September 15, 2015
A great story, compelling and captivating.
The Unbound Man is a compelling and captivating story. The characters are relatable, their pain and desires are real and I'm eager to see where they go in book 2.
The Unbound Man is a compelling and captivating story. The characters are relatable, their pain and desires are real and I'm eager to see where they go in book 2.
September 6, 2018
This book was very thrilling and surprising. Well thought out characters.
November 12, 2014
The Unbound Man follows the story of Arandras, a relic hunter who lost his wife to an unknown assailant in the past. When a new lead on his wife's killer suddenly appears, alongside the discovery of a powerful relic that comes into his possession, Arandras is drawn into a conflict where he must choose between revenge, former colleagues and friends, or the fate of the world.
I must admit this book surprised me. I went into it expecting a solid and entertaining read, and left genuinely believing that Karlov could become a real force on the Australian SF/F scene in the future. For a self published book the writing is of a very high standard, with an intriguing tapestry of action and subterfuge propelling the story along. I throughly enjoyed Karlov's world building, and his attention to detail was immense. If I had one small criticism in relation to this then it would be that perhaps there is too much detail for some readers. Personally, for me, it was great. I enjoyed the characterisation throughout the book, particularly the inner voices of the main players and the realism of their actions. I also throughly appreciated Karlov's inclusion of detailed maps and dramatise personae as it allowed me to reference as I read. All in all this story was a great adventure, full of highs and lows and fascinating concepts.
Highly recommended for fans of fantasy!
4/5 Stars.
I must admit this book surprised me. I went into it expecting a solid and entertaining read, and left genuinely believing that Karlov could become a real force on the Australian SF/F scene in the future. For a self published book the writing is of a very high standard, with an intriguing tapestry of action and subterfuge propelling the story along. I throughly enjoyed Karlov's world building, and his attention to detail was immense. If I had one small criticism in relation to this then it would be that perhaps there is too much detail for some readers. Personally, for me, it was great. I enjoyed the characterisation throughout the book, particularly the inner voices of the main players and the realism of their actions. I also throughly appreciated Karlov's inclusion of detailed maps and dramatise personae as it allowed me to reference as I read. All in all this story was a great adventure, full of highs and lows and fascinating concepts.
Highly recommended for fans of fantasy!
4/5 Stars.
December 1, 2014
Thoroughly enjoyed The Unbound Man. The plot was engaging, and the characters thought provoking in their introspection and struggles with self.
I especially enjoyed the author's descriptive writing, because it helped bring the book alive and made the words disappear as I read. The fresh take on scenery, religion, descriptions of food etc was very appreciated too, the locations weren't generic Old World European - excellent work!
I'm really looking forward to the author writing more, and I hope the world he has created continues to grow. It's broken me out of my long absence from reading fantasy.
I especially enjoyed the author's descriptive writing, because it helped bring the book alive and made the words disappear as I read. The fresh take on scenery, religion, descriptions of food etc was very appreciated too, the locations weren't generic Old World European - excellent work!
I'm really looking forward to the author writing more, and I hope the world he has created continues to grow. It's broken me out of my long absence from reading fantasy.
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January 17, 2015Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
December 9, 2014
I feel like I got character swapped a little too quickly sometimes, and it made me put down the book occasionally. Also didn't care much for the merchant's point of view but I did enjoy how the pieces slowly came together.
January 7, 2018
I received free Hidden Gems ARC copy. I am sorry I am late in reviewing. I enjoyed the Unbound Man. Once I figured out all the characters and action that intertwine,I was entranced the story and wanted to keep reading.
Want to Read
September 25, 2014What an exciting plot! I can't wait to read this!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews