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Hondus Pointe
Nestor deNeffo is a black elf and a senior operative in the Nambroc Knives, the pre-eminent intelligence service in the Nether Realm, and he is very good at what he does.
The problem for Nestor is he is not paid nearly enough for what he does for the Nambroc Knives.
Not even close.
He solves this money problem when he and a squad of Knives loyal to him get involved in narcotics trafficking, selling state secrets to the enemy, and assassins for local crime lords.
Nestor is as good a criminal as he is a Knife, but he makes a lot more money a criminal than he does as a Knife.
This is the first novella in the Nambroc Sequence, a fantasy series featuring the exploits of a conniving, calculating, and corrupt black elf intelligence operative as he tries to make a better life for himself.
The problem for Nestor is he is not paid nearly enough for what he does for the Nambroc Knives.
Not even close.
He solves this money problem when he and a squad of Knives loyal to him get involved in narcotics trafficking, selling state secrets to the enemy, and assassins for local crime lords.
Nestor is as good a criminal as he is a Knife, but he makes a lot more money a criminal than he does as a Knife.
This is the first novella in the Nambroc Sequence, a fantasy series featuring the exploits of a conniving, calculating, and corrupt black elf intelligence operative as he tries to make a better life for himself.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 2, 2015
About the author
R.D. Henderson
11 books3 followersR.D. Henderson is a writer of fantasy and sword & sorcery stories that features elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, kobolds, goblins, mages, clerics, rangers, and other characters prevalent in fantasy stories due to his enjoyment of playing Dungeons & Dragons throughout high school and college.
In addition to reading fantasy, R.D enjoys watching movies such as Godfather 1, Godfather 2, and Usual Suspects along with television dramas such as Sopranos, The Wire, Intelligence by Chris Haddock, and Hill Street Blues.
He has taken his enjoyment of Dungeons & Dragons and interest in crime dramas as inspiration to write fantasy stories that are people with gray and dark characters. He has often described the type of stories he writes as a mash-up of Dungeons & Dragons with either the Sopranos or the Wire.
Hondus Pointe, R.D.’s first novella, was a semi-finalist in SPFBO 2016 established by Mark Lawrence, author of both highly-regarded, well-received, and award-winning Broken Empire and Red Queen's War series.
R.D. Henderson is a pen name for the author, and lives with his family live near Seattle, Washington.
In addition to reading fantasy, R.D enjoys watching movies such as Godfather 1, Godfather 2, and Usual Suspects along with television dramas such as Sopranos, The Wire, Intelligence by Chris Haddock, and Hill Street Blues.
He has taken his enjoyment of Dungeons & Dragons and interest in crime dramas as inspiration to write fantasy stories that are people with gray and dark characters. He has often described the type of stories he writes as a mash-up of Dungeons & Dragons with either the Sopranos or the Wire.
Hondus Pointe, R.D.’s first novella, was a semi-finalist in SPFBO 2016 established by Mark Lawrence, author of both highly-regarded, well-received, and award-winning Broken Empire and Red Queen's War series.
R.D. Henderson is a pen name for the author, and lives with his family live near Seattle, Washington.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 20, 2016
Full review plus author interview over at Fantasy Book Critic
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Hondus Pointe is the first novella of the Nambroc sequence, what drew my eye to this novella was its blurb and what held my attention throughout the story was its quick pace & grey characters.
The plot begins with Nestor deNeffo, a black elf and senior operative in the Nambroc Knives. He’s extremely efficient at his work and soon realizes that there’s more money to be made if one were to be a bit more unscrupulous and were to have no master. So that’s what he does and soon recruits a number of knife operatives who are loyal only to him and follow his profit plan. This book dwells on a wide cast of characters and the repercussions their actions start to have.
This story being a novella is on the shorter side but definitely reads quicker and packs quite a punch. Our main protagonist (or is it antagonist) is as Machiavellian as they come. Nestor deNeffo only wants to get rich no matter the cost to anyone around him. He loves the finer things in life and knowing the high price that they cost. He will do anything and everything including selling information, weapons and other stuff to anybody on the black market. While being such a duplicitous agent, he also has to be careful as to not let his fellow Nambroc colleagues know of his true nature. This premise of this novella and the characters reminded me a lot of the TV series The Shield and its main protagonist (?) Vic Mackey.
Sure Nestor deNeffo is more calculating and perhaps a shade more dangerous but both these characters share similar reasoning for their shady activities. Vic proclaims to be doing it for the betterment of his family and Nestor proclaims the same for the betterment of his own life. As the story consists of only twelve chapters, the story opens up pretty quickly and then as quickly descends into a lot of murder, back-dealings and chaos. The pace of the plot is extremely high as the reader is constantly shunted from page to page wherein the actions shifts from the octane kind to the simmering type before twisting back again. The readers will never be sure where the story is headed and how exactly it will end and that’s the biggest draw, the unpredictability.
I liked this story a lot as it seemed very much in line with stories by Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch and Rob J. Hayes, R. D. Henderson showcases that there are no heroes in this tale. Just various shades of grey that turn more and more towards the black as the story progresses. The novella ends also on a big note and sets up the sequel novella as most readers will want to know what happens next and what will Nestor do?
The only drawback I can think of for this story is the novella format and the world-building which seems to be eschewed for the reasons of plot and pace. Sure there are some tidbits scattered here and there but the world most stays dark as most of the action occurs below ground. I hope in the ensuing novellas the author expands on the world scene and we get to know more. But for now, I couldn’t stop myself from finishing Hondus Pointe as quickly as possible. Folks who love dark characters and plotlines, the Nambroc sequence is exactly what you have been looking for.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Hondus Pointe is the first novella of the Nambroc sequence, what drew my eye to this novella was its blurb and what held my attention throughout the story was its quick pace & grey characters.
The plot begins with Nestor deNeffo, a black elf and senior operative in the Nambroc Knives. He’s extremely efficient at his work and soon realizes that there’s more money to be made if one were to be a bit more unscrupulous and were to have no master. So that’s what he does and soon recruits a number of knife operatives who are loyal only to him and follow his profit plan. This book dwells on a wide cast of characters and the repercussions their actions start to have.
This story being a novella is on the shorter side but definitely reads quicker and packs quite a punch. Our main protagonist (or is it antagonist) is as Machiavellian as they come. Nestor deNeffo only wants to get rich no matter the cost to anyone around him. He loves the finer things in life and knowing the high price that they cost. He will do anything and everything including selling information, weapons and other stuff to anybody on the black market. While being such a duplicitous agent, he also has to be careful as to not let his fellow Nambroc colleagues know of his true nature. This premise of this novella and the characters reminded me a lot of the TV series The Shield and its main protagonist (?) Vic Mackey.
Sure Nestor deNeffo is more calculating and perhaps a shade more dangerous but both these characters share similar reasoning for their shady activities. Vic proclaims to be doing it for the betterment of his family and Nestor proclaims the same for the betterment of his own life. As the story consists of only twelve chapters, the story opens up pretty quickly and then as quickly descends into a lot of murder, back-dealings and chaos. The pace of the plot is extremely high as the reader is constantly shunted from page to page wherein the actions shifts from the octane kind to the simmering type before twisting back again. The readers will never be sure where the story is headed and how exactly it will end and that’s the biggest draw, the unpredictability.
I liked this story a lot as it seemed very much in line with stories by Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch and Rob J. Hayes, R. D. Henderson showcases that there are no heroes in this tale. Just various shades of grey that turn more and more towards the black as the story progresses. The novella ends also on a big note and sets up the sequel novella as most readers will want to know what happens next and what will Nestor do?
The only drawback I can think of for this story is the novella format and the world-building which seems to be eschewed for the reasons of plot and pace. Sure there are some tidbits scattered here and there but the world most stays dark as most of the action occurs below ground. I hope in the ensuing novellas the author expands on the world scene and we get to know more. But for now, I couldn’t stop myself from finishing Hondus Pointe as quickly as possible. Folks who love dark characters and plotlines, the Nambroc sequence is exactly what you have been looking for.
Displaying 1 of 1 review