Snakewood

by Adrian Selby

Once they were a band of mercenaries who shook the pillars of the world through cunning, alchemical brews, and cold steel. Whoever met their price won.


Now, their glory days behind them, scattered to the wind, and their genius leader in hiding, they are being hunted down and eliminated one by one.


A lifetime of enemies has its own price.

Adrian Selby brings us into an unforgettable new world filled with magic, mystery, intrigue, bloodshed and betrayal.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Audiobook, Adventure, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

432 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2016

About the author

I studied Creative Writing and Philosophy at university before going on to do a variety of jobs including teaching and running my own business before I got into videogames as a Producer for most of my career since.

Snakewood is my debut and is the first novel I've written!

I live in the southeast of England, though I grew up in Barry, South Wales.

Reviews

[Bookwraiths · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewed at Bookwraiths.

Once they were a band of mercenaries who shook the pillars of the world through cunning, alchemical brews, and cold steel. Whoever met their price won.

Now, their glory days behind them, scattered to the wind, and their genius leader in hiding, they are being hunted down and eliminated one by one.

A lifetime of enemies has its own price.

Now that description made Snakewood one of my most anticipated reads of 2016. I mean, how could a grimdark fan not love the idea of a story about past their prime mercenaries dealing with unknown enemies who are trying to slaughter them for past wrongs. At least, I couldn’t help myself, so I was overjoyed when I received an advanced reading copy of this one.

And, as promised, this story opens with the surviving members of “Kailen’s Twenty” (a legendary band of mercenaries) discovering they are being hunted down one by one. Why they are being killed is both a mystery to them and to the reader, but one which the author attempts to slowly reveal by adding “historical” chapters regarding the group’s past endeavors — as relayed by different people.

Through this interchange between past and present, the survivors of Kailen’s Twenty come into focus. A reader able to see how they once were and how the years have taken a toll on the testosterone-filled, calculated mercs of the past. Each of them is now scarred, battered, and riddled with faults. Honestly, they are not good people by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, they are real people who have lived a lifetime of war; the end result of that life of fighting, killing, and drugging is a bunch of brokendown, vicious has-beens (well, most of them anyway) who probably deserve to die and die horribly.

The story which organically grows around this less-than-stellar group is basically one of revenge. All the questions, action-packed fight scenes, and battles revolving around who is killing everyone and why. The mystery finally coming to a head at the end of the novel.

Unfortunately, while Snakewood had a great premise, the story just does not deliver for numerous reasons. Let me explain.

One, the first third of the novel was horribly confusing and difficult to comprehend. Immediately, a reader is thrown into the thick of the action without any introduction as to who they are following, why these people are important, or what is actually going on. And the sheer volume of different characters, time periods, and situations never seems to stop changing, as the author constantly shifts the focus of the narrative. All of it combining to make the first third of this novel nearly impossible to follow along with.

Two, these characters are very difficult to empathize with. Everyone portrayed here is really, really grim. I personally have no problem with an author having tough, realistic characters with flaws. However, too many times in Snakewood, the people are only shown as abhorrent. There really doesn’t seem to be anything else to them except for their flaws. No silver lining. No hidden honor. Nothing but cruelty and viciousness. Plus, there was never enough explanation or justification of their behavior to satisfy me. And when there was, it was too little too late or way past the point of mattering because the character had already passed from the stage.

Three, the device of “historical” flashbacks to rehash events from different points of view did nothing but bore me. Personally, I didn’t want the narrative flow to stop in order to go read about another individual’s take on the same situation or event. Sure, it added new wrinkles to the story, but the benefit did not outweigh the costs in my opinion.

Fourth, I totally understand why the author decided to make the sections “written” by the individuals themselves reflect that persons dialect, grammatical skill, and so forth, but the authenticity factor really did not help the story at all. Honestly, reading a section where the narrator can hardly string sentences together in a coherent manner didn’t help me get into the story as much as it caused me to just either skim or skip their section.

To be fair however, even with its faults, I have to admit Adrian Selby integrated several really cool ideas into the book. The world building was one; this fantasy world featuring lots of differing people and countries; each with its own unique set of issues and strengths vying for power in a world in turmoil. But my favorite feature of Snakewood was the use of “plants” and specifically the brews made from them. The super-human, spectacular abilities given to the combatants here by their different “fightbrews” was really intriguing; the realistic look at the withdrawals they had afterwards was fairly refreshing; and the ordinary use of poisons and such during combat was a very nice touch to liven up the combat in a low level magical world.

As sad as it is for me to type, Snakewood was a novel which just missed the mark. It had an amazing premise, some really cool ideas regarding combat, and even some interesting world building touches, but the story dragged overall, was difficult to become engaged in, and did not have any characters to empathize with. For those reasons, I can only recommend it to die-hard grimdark fans who really enjoy a challenging and grim read.

I received this book from Orbit and Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank both of them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

[Terence · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kailen's Twenty was a legendary group of mercenaries. They were so capable that whoever hired them won. Many years after they disbanded the members of the Twenty are being hunted down.

Promises of mystery, intrigue, and betrayal along with magic made Snakewood sound really interesting. Unfortunately those aspects weren't displayed in a compelling fashion. The story starts off with a scholar recounting various stories written with significantly different pacing. The choice to tell the story this way broke up any flow the story established. I personally feel this type of storytelling just hinders the success of first books in a series. The recounting of various stories and varied time periods is far more appropriate for a sequel, world book, or basically any story where the world is already established.

The story also bombarded the reader with terminology specific to the story with no explanation of what any of it means. The characters in Snakewood all utilize plants for a variety of purposes. A myriad of poisons are produced using the plants as everyone seems content to poison their adversaries. The characters also use a special drink called fightbrew to empower their fighters to battle. These brews take a toll on the users as their skin changes color from repeated use of the brew. I can imagine this being interesting with some early explanation, but the way things are explained just makes it all frustrating.

My biggest issue is that the general storytelling kept me from liking any of the characters. I can get past significant issues if I'm interested in the characters involved in the story, but when that's absent I quickly become disengaged.

In the end I have to say Snakewood wasn't for me.

1 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been hearing quite a bit of buzz about this debut...

Grim! Grim! Grim! Dark! Dark! Dark!
Seriously, this makes most fantasy described as grimdark look like a sunny and cheery laugh riot. This book is bitter and brutal and nasty. Also, kind of disturbing, for those who care about things like bodily integrity.

My first impression of the book was that it was really, strikingly original. The group of mercenaries we meet here are dependent on cocktails of toxic drugs - and antidotes for those drugs - which they use, berserker-like, as the main part of their fighting arsenal. Indeed, although these drugs are used mainly by fighting men, this society's economy depends largely on trade in rare and desirable 'plant' - herbal elements - and the drudha (druids?) who mix and innovate the drugs are coveted and powerful men. The descriptions of the various drugs and their effects are colorfully (literally) and vividly described, and deeply weird.

However, as the story went on, I began to feel like, overall, the book wasn't as innovative as a thought it was going to be. A couple of decades ago, the infamous and successful mercenary group known as Kailen's Twenty disbanded. Each of the fighters went their separate ways. But now, someone is killing them. The ones still left alive aren't sure who could be out for revenge, so many years later. But they'll have to try to find out, or they're sure to become the next victims.

The book did have some flaws. Although different characters were written in different styles, I still found them difficult to immediately distinguish from each other. They didn't feel distinct. The jumps in time period and perspective often felt awkwardly placed, and the pacing at which information was revealed could've been better. Overall, it was still interesting.

I felt like this may have been influenced by Gene Wolfe.

Many thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

[Marielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow... what an intense book. I need to let it sink in a bit before I write a review.

6-2-2018: It's been two days and this book is still on my mind... Here are my thoughts on it.

This book is something different, I struggled a bit through the first 100 pages or so but was intrigued enough to push through.

The start just drops you in the middle without any explanation whatsoever on what's what and who's who. Which was a bit confusing to say the least. But keep reading! It will all become clear and this book is so worth your while!

The writing is direct, raw and very intense. You can feel the pain and rawness of the life the mercanaries lead. Details are not elaborated on and that made my imagination go wild and made this story a very vivid experience. Some of the more violent scenes will now stay with me forever.

With all the violence, harshness and as grim and dark as it gets. I'd also like to mention that I was genuinly touched by the friendship of Gale and Shant.

And... another reason to finish this book is the legendary fighting scene at the end of the book!

I'm already thinking about rereading this book soon, wondering what I'll think about the first part knowing what I know now... I am very much looking forward to anything Adrian Selby will write next!

I highly recommend this book, if you're interested in something dark and original. It's not the easiest book to read but it's just so brilliant!

"All our rivers cut the world's face, until we slow into the lakes of our reckoning."

[Ed McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that’s going to challenge you and push you. Grimdark hardcore fans will lap this up, but if you're looking for a light hearted romp, this isn't it.

I’m going to cut directly to the chase on this and explain why this novel is worth your time:
Snakewood does what many attempt, and almost nobody manages to achieve. Selby has written about mercenaries who behave like actual historical mercenaries. Not one character in the whole book has a false 21st century morality stamped onto them. The truth of history is that mercenaries, willing to fight and murder for pay, were self-serving, brutal people, and those who were best at it were sociopathic to a level that we would find disturbing today (and indeed, when we look at certain war footage, we do). This is a story about those people; the greatest of mercenaries, who by their natures have little by way of redeeming features. If you are looking for grimdark, you will not find grimmer, and you will struggle to find darker. This is a singularly humourless, hard, unrelenting story that will brutalise you, the reader, even when you think that the book has numbed you.

It is not an easy ride. It is not meant to be. There is horrific violence, petty violence, and sexual violence throughout, but none of it is misplaced. Grimdark writing often gets the “Oh, rape in a story, typical,” and I sometimes feel that way too, but Selby’s writing is powerful. The violence is never a cheap plot twist; you will feel the pain, and the horror, and the despair of the weak against the strong. This book will at times require you to reread a few lines, just to be sure.

What this creates is a compelling effect. You may not love any of the characters in Snakewood – with the exception of Araliah, not a single character has a single redeeming personality trait, nor are even really relatable – but you will want to know what happens. Mostly, you will want to know who wins. It’s almost fair to say that the resolution isn’t even that important to the story. It’s the journey that matters here, we’re at the ending from the very start.

Snakewood is written from multiple first person perspectives, delivered as an epistolary novel, however the apparent writings of the participants often read rather like detailed, first person limited rather than the records or letters that they purport to be. This isn’t a problem, and it doesn’t take long to become lost in the view points.

If I had to level any criticisms? I like my books punchier; I can see easy ways to clip 25% of the overall word count, but if you’re enjoying it and have the time, then that’s not a problem.

I stayed up until 3am to finish this two days ago, and hasn’t left my thoughts since. That’s the sign of a good book. It may not be a book that makes you happy, but this is as close to literary fiction as fantasy really gets, and that's a fantastic thing in a genre flooded with tropes.

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2016/03/14/b...

It has been ten years since the mercenary group known as Kailen’s Twenty broke up and went their separate ways. But now, some of its members are rallying to their leader again, drawn together by an assassin who has been methodically hunting each and every one of them down. Always, a black coin is found somewhere on the murdered corpse—a symbol of betrayal.

As Gant and Shale race to warn the others, neither of them have an idea of why a killer might be after them. Goodness knows Kailen’s Twenty has done some terrible things in their time, but they have always honored a contract. So what could have precipitated this sudden string of vengeance and violence? The answer lies somewhere in the past, as the pieces of the puzzle fall into the place to reveal the truth behind a mysterious event that happened all those years ago, in a place called Snakewood.

I’ll give Snakewood this: it has a very unique premise and one of the coolest like-magic-but-not-really-magic systems I’ve ever seen, which I’ll most definitely rave more about in a bit. That said, I feel like I have a lot of good things I want to say about this book, but almost all of them come with caveats. For example, as much as I love being thrown straight into the action, there were also sections of the book (especially in the beginning) that proved very confusing and difficult to follow, and while the good news is that the confusion eventually lifts, I also fear it may come too late for some.

Part of the issue stems from the structure of the story, which is made up of a series of accounts gathered by a chronicler named Goran. As a result, the narrative is non-linear, told retrospectively, and also subject to frequent point-of-view switching. It’s an interesting style of storytelling, which in turn has its downsides, namely a disorganized introduction and uneven pacing. For instance, we kick things off with an account by Gant, one of the surviving mercenaries of Kailen’s Twenty. His narrative is told from the perspective of someone who clearly assumes that whoever is reading this book already knows all the terminology, people, and places he’s talking about. His way of speaking is also very rough, peppered with brew jargon and grammatical errors, which in itself is a double-edged sword, making Gant’s voice seem very genuine and “in character” while also making it hard to tease out what he’s trying to say.

It makes me think that Snakewood would have been well served with a glossary. A handy list of brews, plants, and their effects would have been helpful as well, given the mercenaries’ heavy reliance on them. One of the biggest problems I had with the beginning was how jumbled everything felt simply because so much was given to me without context or explanation, and keeping track of the large number of different characters also made getting through the intro difficult. Things didn’t smooth out until well after the quarter way mark, which works out to more than a hundred pages.

Fact of the matter is, the experience improves by leaps and bounds after this point, but a fair amount of investment is required, and that may be a deal breaker for some readers. Personally, I’m happy I decided to stick it out, because once I got into the meat of the story, I found I started to enjoy it more and more. One of POVs ultimately emerged as my favorite, and surprisingly, it was that of the mysterious assassin. “Sand”, as he is first called, captivated me because of the depth of his character. He is by no means a good person, being a sadistic killer and alchemical master who gives no thought to the victims of his experiments. And yet, there’s also something to be admired about his commitment and loyalty to those he has sworn to protect. Some part of me also rooted for him because of the underhanded way he was betrayed, and it was sickening the horrors he had to live through because of that betrayal. This is definitely a story in which the antagonist—if that is indeed what Sand is—beats out everyone else for being most fleshed out and fascinating.

Finally, I loved the concept of fight brews. It looks and sounds a lot like magic, but in truth, it’s chemistry. Snakewood takes place in a world that values plants and reagents because of their effects, with new recipes always high in demand and those who can create them held in reverence. Alchemical mixtures can come in many forms, like powders, pastes, potions, vapors, and more. They can also be used to heal or to harm. Mercenaries employ brews as weapons, incapacitating their enemies with hallucinogens, or killing them outright with poisons. They also use brews to enhance their abilities, like a certain kind of leaf dissolved under the eyelids might give one eagle-sight, or a quaff of a potion might make you stronger, faster and more agile. However, there’s also a terrible physiological cost to using brews, called “paying the color”. Some mercenaries are literally marked for life, their skin color or texture permanently altered by whatever they ingested. And like a drug, coming off the high from a brew can also give you one hell of a crash, and some brews are so addictive that those who use them become trapped in this vicious cycle, leading to ugly results.

Ultimately, I’m glad that I read Snakewood. Granted, the first quarter of it was rough going, but I liked the rest of it a lot, and if there’s a sequel I would pick it up in a heartbeat. The non-linear, “jumping around” style of the storytelling and inconsistent pacing are the book’s main weaknesses, along with the difficult-to-read narrative. But if you can make it past the intro and get used to the unconventional voice used by some of the characters, you might just find plenty to admire about this uniquely dark and gritty fantasy. An intriguing debut.

[Richard Nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short update after finishing the read. I thought it would be interesting to leave the earlier comments and just add here. Three primary points:

1) the story does get more enjoyable once we get more locked onto a couple of protagonists;
2) this book is very ambitious, which is something I respect the hell out of and deserves recognition;
3) I'm changing my rating from 2 to 4, and honestly in many ways I don't even want to rate the book. Something difficult was attempted here, and in many ways failed with me, but I hope the author tries again (and again, and again...). No doubt he will, and I intend to read the next book. Thanks to Marielle for the prod to finish.
-------------------------------------------------------

DNF'd at 30%. This book really angered in me in the way only something that had potential could. I also don't like to just spew so rather than review it full-length I'm going to try and keep this as short and concise as I can.

First: if you are a writer, I actually do recommend this. The prose is really quite good, the creativity of the 'fight brews' and medieval biological warfare is great, and somewhere buried deep, deep inside this book is an interesting tale of mercenaries in a hard, complicated world. Why do I recommend a book I DNF'd? Because by reading at least as far as I did you can learn several ways to ruin a good thing.

Here's how it was done:

1. We are told of historical events via letters, in a sort of 'mystery' to unravel as to why 'Kailen's Twenty' are being hunted down. We are thrown into this head first with no context, with no attachment, with no reason to care.

2. POV is swapped quickly and constantly. I had no time or really inclination to invest or care in any of the characters.

3. This is a dark book. Now, I like dark books, hell I write dark books, but I do it for a reason. Light is brightest in contrast. We have to care about something in the darkness. There has to be a reason for it. But in this I felt subjected to death and misery and rape and I had absolutely no idea why. No character was being developed, no point was being made. Not only was there no one to cheer for, no one to understand, but why does it matter if Kailen's Twenty get hunted down and bloody murdered at all?

Whew. That felt good, but I actually feel bad about this review. I really do think this author has the potential to create something I could absolutely love. I mean that. But this utterly missed the mark for me, and it happened to be about the 4th book I've DNF'd in a few weeks, and I think it's suffering a bit for that. Time to go clear out the rest.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have struggled with with this book, parts were very well written and really enjoyable, it was the backward and forward in the storyline which I felt was unnecessary.

Also the author has created an entire book of characters who have no likeable qualities in this story each one of them was as bad as each other in what they did to each other.

Only a couple of secondary characters were really good in learning about, but they got killed off as collateral damage or revenge.

Read this, and make your own minds up, the author has tried something different in style and it deserves readers to give it a try.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good:
This is intelligent in so many ways, from the narrative - a collection of first person accounts describing connected events - to the setting, which is Tolkienesque in its authenticity. The world featured in Snakewood is very low fantasy, with the type of alchemical magic system featured in the old Asterix comics. Druids and all.

The Bad:
It's just all a bit grimy - betrayal and festering wounds and mud, and there surely hasn't been a book with this many junkies since Trainspotting. Also, the multiple narrators (including two of the antagonists) kept jarring me out of the story.

'Friends' character the protagonist is most like:
Gant is a grizzled old warhorse (figuratively) who saw better days a long time ago. He drinks potions and hacks his enemies to pieces and just won't quit. He is nostalgic too, which makes him a lot like David Schwimmer when he thinks about the time when he used to be famous.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A LIFETIME OF ENEMIES HAS ITS OWN PRICE


Mercenaries who gave no quarter, they shook the pillars of the world through cunning, chemical brews, and cold steel.

Whoever met their price won.

Now, their glory days are behind them. Scattered to the wind and their genius leader in hiding, they are being hunted down and eliminated.

One by one.

A groundbreaking debut fantasy of betrayal, mystery, and bloody revenge."

Okay, I wanted to begin by saying that I really struggled with this book at first. It's not at all that it's bad but more that it drops you into the deep-end without much setup. I found myself wondering who the characters were and what they were doing, let alone the myriad amounts of plants, oils, posions and powders the book uses heavily. I'll agree with other reviewers when I say that a glossary of characters and the various plants would have made my life a lot easier. I'd also have named either Kaigan or Kailen something different at times I was confused between the two, the names sound very similar. Now this isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book because once I got past the first third I fell in love with it, it's brilliantly written with a great plot and excellent characters. Never has the world seen a more grim bunch of morally bankrupt bastards and they were a bloody brilliant bunch of black-hearted bastards.

Some of the Twenty have moments to shine and show that they are not utterly devoid of remorse as they spilled copious amounts of blood across every other page or so. I honestly cried at the deaths of some of the characters in question and cheered at the deaths of others. The tale is told by Goran who is reading back over his fathers' journals of his time with the Twenty and learning of his life and who was aiming to end it along with the rest of the group. I felt that the use of plants was a fantastic idea that could have been better understood with a glossary for them. But give it time and they all make sense and start to fit into your memory, the idea of fighters who attain the colour and are marked by the use of the plants upon their skin with varying hues. Well, it was a fantastic metaphor for the idea of a person being stained by blood.

The book at its heart is a revenge tale in a similar line to Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. That said the delivery in that we have a current timeline cut up with intersections of past events which once you learn to differentiate between really add to the world and the tale as a whole. I started out reading the book and then made the move onto the audiobook as I became pushed for time with other commitments. On the plus side I learnt of the brilliant narration by Joe Jameson, he really brought the characters and the accents they had to life, from simple spoken chaps like Gant and Shale to the more fancy Kailen and the members of the post. I also enjoyed that Adrian did not pull any punches at all, the world is as bleak as it gets and definitely fits the Grimdark moniker like a glove. Characters swear, fight, abuse narcotics, fuck and argue but it never feels out of place or forced. If I went through some of the harrowing events of the book I know I'd have said things that would make a whore blush.

So would I recommend this book to others?

Damn right I would, Adrian despite a few rough edges Snakewood is still one hell of a blood diamond and I am glad it's sat on my shelf, here's hoping for a sequel (with a glossary). I implore any fan of Grimdark to grab themselves a copy and stick with it, because once the Twenty gets their blades into you and the plant does it work you'll be proud to display your colours to all you meet.

A great debut Adrian, pat yourself on the back. My friend this is a very unique and clever book that I shall treasure all the more with your signature attached to it.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another five star book remarkably performed by Joe Jameson. After reading the blurb on this story, I was hesitant to start it, but I knew I liked Joe Jameson's narration so gave it a try. No regrets here, as this story grabbed me quickly and the earbuds stayed on.
It's a compilation of journals and papers by Scholar Goran, about supposedly the greatest mercenary crew to take a purse. Twenty men known to have saved the Old Kingdoms at Tharos Falls, Kailen's Twenty.
It's fifteen years after disbanding and someone is killing these brave men. This is where the journey begins, to learn the who and why. To do this, we listen to various narratives each with a different point of view, stemming back to the events of fifteen years ago to answer the question. It's an engrossing tale, as in the mercs take special brews in order to temporarily make themselves into super fighters by enhancing speed, sight and hearing. These brews, overtime, discolor the skin making it bark like, colorful, and tend to mentally affect the user. This in itself had me hooked on the story, with the fight scenes, but the mystery of the whole story kept my interest.
About the twenty; they're a rough bunch of players and I didn't particularly like them, but as the story progresses I found myself seeing a different side of things. As brutal as they were, they were also soldiers doing a job.
Revenge makes an appearance, an ugly face that has changed it's players into something as monstrous as those it follows.
It's fascinating and I wanted to know where it was going and where it would end. I wasn't disappointed.

[Marielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still a fantastic book to read, I think I loved it even more the second time around!

[Marc Aplin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snakewood is one of those books that will have plenty of fans and plenty of haters too. When an author tries to do something unique or far-reaching it will either impress you or turn you off.

The ‘magic system’ in Snakewood means that there is a great deal of mind/body altering substances (potions) in use. The potions act as a kind of steroid and improve your strength/fighting ability in various ways – it does take a while for the variety available to become clear. With this in mind, the strange/abstract prose suit the world quite well, as does the disjointed way the narrative is provided (the exploration into the short-term gain of drug-use versus the long-term health implications are obvious). However, readers should be ready for the fragmentary experience provided and it would seem, based on many of the Goodreads reviews that come before this one, few were. Perhaps this is because the sample chapter provided seemed a bit like Name of the Wind or Jeff Salyard’s Bloodsounder’s Arc (a chronicler capturing a story) and the cover looks kind of Brent Weeks or Trudi Canavan like.

The storyline is pretty intriguing. You’ve got a band of mercenaries (Kailen’s Twenty) who, back in the day, lived life as legends. The crew worked together with an unmatched level of cleverness, planning, strength, brutality and ‘magic’ (via their potions). They are older now, broken and broken up too, but it seems someone has decided that each of the former mercenaries need to be taken out. Could this be for revenge? Could someone be trying to make a name for themselves? Betrayal quickly seems most likely… but why?

The answer to this question is provided to us gradually through multiple first person in the form of diary entries from various members of the Twenty. This is perhaps what causes most of the confusion and perhaps a reason why multiple first person is so rare in SFF. Each character has a different level of ability in terms of grammar and their ability to convey events isn’t always… up to standard. The events they describe are not always in order, so you do need to remember what happened, when it happened and place the events into that timeline as they are relayed. Additionally, the chronicler and characters are writing their account for someone within the world Selby has created, which means we readers are left – initially – a bit baffled by the terminology, mechanics of the magic systems, places, people, things, etc. The final trouble is that the chronicler who has put this tome together hasn’t been consistent in terms of whether he provides us with context before an entry or not…

Now, there will be people reading this and licking their lips. If you enjoy books with a steep learning curve or consider yourself Sherlock Holmes then I can’t see you being all that rocked by this one. Personally, I’m more Watson. I need things explained to me and when they are I need time to reflect. So, essentially, I think this is a book that I need to read again knowing what I know now, which is my excuse for this half-baked review. I think we sometimes take for granted the fantasy books by authors such as Brandon Sanderson, Peter V. Brett, Robin Hobb, etc who basically give us a ‘how to’ guide to their world in chapters 1-5. In the case of Snakewood (does that could as a pun?), once you get past the first third of the book and you have Selby’s characters, world and potion-system figured out there is a lot to enjoy, especially if you are a fan of the dark, gritty, old-soldier stories.

2016 is an exciting time for Fantasy. The popularity of the genre means that publishers are able to pick up books that aren’t exactly like whatever else is out there already (i.e. aren’t clones of other top performing novels). Although Snakewood may not have been my cup of tea, I can certainly see that there will be readers out there who appreciate Selby’s boldness and willing to try something completely different.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received in a Goodreads giveaway.

Technically this is 2.5, better than 'alright' but not as good as 'good', I've rounded up as the author is from my home town.

The blurb states that Gant was a mercenary and my expectation, given that he was to tell the story, was that he would be the narrator. This isn't so. There are four main POVs, he is one. His portion is written ungramatically which grated on me not least for its inconsistencies.

There are various gangs all acting on events that happened many years previously. All are on drugs; to give strength, enhancements of senses, to poison, the uses are endless.

Generally, the story is dark as a revenge tale on mercenaries would be. Sadly, I found it hard to really engage with many characters. Initially, I liked one character who became quite abhorrent. Bearing in mind, Jorg is one of my all time favourites.

There is a scene that refers to a battle held many years earlier very near the end which seems utterly out of place and I found this very distracting.

Overall, it's an interesting story which held my interest but I would have liked to edit parts out. I'll be interested to hear what others think.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

*copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*

Snakewood is Adrian Selby’s debut novel; despite some rough patches, it’s a vividly imaginative work. There’s some memorable, complex characters, a sprawling, elaborate world, and a plot that feels something like The Count of Monte Cristo, but with rather a lot more murder. In short, this is good stuff, even if it could use a little smoothing out.

The narrative structure of the book switches between four main points of view, with incidental notes added by a fifth; it’s presented as a series of written accounts and papers left behind by the participants in the story, and each of the major points of view has a very distinct voice. One of the choices that the author makes is to drop the reader into a fast-paced, action-heavy point of view near the start; and whilst this works well, it’s surrounded by a thicket of new terminology, in a totally new world to the reader, with an authorial voice which is, itself, heavy with internal slang, and occasionally difficult to parse. Embedding the reader in the world immediately can work well – but here, it felt like a bit of a struggle initially.
Having said that, after a few chapters, I got used to all of the different points of view and their different linguistic tricks and social assumptions, and the prose started to flow a lot better. Still, it felt as if the opening sections could have been more accessible.

Once it gets rolling, though, Selby’s story is a good one. The world is revealed in incidentals, as characters travel between one encounter and the next. There’s sweeping forest, flat plains, soaring mountains – and what felt like rather a lot of struggle with freezing snow. The smattering of detail we get is tantalising – there’s kingdoms rising and falling just out of shot, there’s trade guilds slowly building empires, and the threat of wildmen from the North. There’s even the odd mention of ‘magists’, which may or may not be magical in any way – and may or may not be legendary, or entirely fictional. Selby has a brilliant sense of place . Regardless of the point of view, his locations are crisply described, with enough detail to draw the reader in, but not enough to overwhelm – and each locale feels distinct and real.

Perhaps the oddest feature of this word is the ‘plant’ ; different mixes of vegetation can be created, brewed and imbibed to provide spectacular, super-normal effects. Warriors take ‘fightbrews’ before walking into combat, and have to deal with withdrawl afterward; weapons are routinely poisoned and highly lethal, and books of recipes are highly valuable. It’s a clever system, injecting a kind of physical magic into the world – one which carries both short and long term consequences for the user. Over the course of the text, more elaborate uses for the different brews, pastes and mixes are revealed – and it’s intriguing stuff.

The characters, sat within a world which seems to have a constant low level conflict, are all very well drawn. The text as a whole centres around members of ‘Kailen’s Twenty’ once a legendary band of mercenaries, now dispersed, retired, and, apparently, being murdered. Not all the narratives come from the Twenty, but it’s great to have some views here from men who are feeling old and more than a little broken, settled into one way of life or another – rather than the standard young Chosen One. The survivors of the Twenty have all been scarred by their actions in one way or another, and are, to put it mildly, not nice people. There’s no moral high road open here, and it’s to Selby’s credit that he creates characters who can be compellingly repulsive, and even draw the reader to empathise with them.

It’s not all unrelenting misery of course. There’s the occasional sparkling flash of humour, in amongst all of the revenge, plots and brutal murder. But the overall atmosphere is one of unabashed grimness. As individuals are struck down, on one side or another of the conflict, the tension ratchets up. The question of who is performing killings and why, and where and who will they strike next is approached from different angles, and once over the initial hurdle, I found it very difficult indeed to stop reading.

Is it worth picking up? I’d say yes. The opening segment was a bit of a struggle, and you have to be ready to enter a dark world of vengeance and suffering before you start, but overall, this is a solid entry in the genre. There’s a fascinating world that I’d love to see more of, with some well realised characters inside a taut, exciting plot; so yes, it’s worth the time to read.

[LordTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to Hachette audio for providing the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Joe Jameson is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators in the biz (Age of Assassins & Blood of Assassins by RJ Barker, and The Greatcoats Series by Sebastien de Castell) and if you enjoy audiobooks, I suggest you check him out.*

mer·ce·nar·y
ˈmərsəˌnerē/
adjective - derogatory
1.
(of a person or their behavior) primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics.


Kailen's Twenty, a group of career mercenaries, disbanded over fifteen (15) years ago. Scarred and weary from a lifetime spent thieving, bodies heaving from a consistent dosage of fight brews, the crew now lead their own independent lives. But someone or something is out to end the lives of Kailen's Twenty, and when a few of the crew are found dead, news spreads to most of the remaining members. It is now a race against the clock to find those members of Kailen's crew that time has forgotten about, but this killing force will stop at nothing to end.

I have to start my main thoughts on this novel with this... I honestly didn't think I would never finish it, let alone write a review. I started Snakewood three (3) different times, having given up at around 25% and 50% on the first couple of go-rounds. I know that is a weird way to start out a review, but I feel as though I am not the only one who has/had issues with the beginning of this novel [TBH, the 2nd time around was a fail on my part b/c I tried listening at work and it just didn't jive].

The story is, basically, a series of accounts that have been gathered, put together, and retold by a chronicler named Goran. [If you ever read A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne, you know exactly what I'm talking about]. The accounts stick to no exact timeline and the reader is left to put everything in order. We begin things with a first-hand account from Gant, one of the surviving members of Kailen's Twenty. Names are thrown around, alchemical brews (and their ingredients) that provide an edge in battle are mentioned, and the reader is left to piece everything together. Apparently, you are just supposed to know what all of the terms mean and move on. Good news is: things do end up making sense further down the road. Bad news is: your brain may take time to adjust.

Once you get through the first bit of the novel, though, things start to smooth out and the story becomes very engaging. The action is suspenseful, the intrigue palpable, and the ending will make you wish there were more. You probably won't fall in love with any characters as none of them have any sort of redeeming value, but a handful of them do get fleshed out to the point where you'll become enamored with their storylines. I did find myself vastly interested in the brew system, which isn't really magic but chemistry. The brews are not only useful for healing or poisoning, but can give enhanced vision or fighting prowess, be used as traps to incapacitate foes, or to downright murder someone (AVADA KEDAVRA!!!!). This, in addition to hand-to-hand or sword-to-sword combat, make each of the fight scenes worth grabbing a bag of popcorn and snuggling under your comfiest blanket to enjoy. I also loved that, even though you start to uncover who's who, Selby still injects twists that you won't see coming.

Overall, once I got past the first quarter or so of the novel, I found myself loving Snakewood. I highly recommend any Grimdark fan give it a chance as there really is some fascinating stuff here. The past few years have certainly produced a number of exciting fantasy debuts and Snakewood, as it should have been, was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award in 2017 among a slew of others.

[James Latimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so I suppose everyone gets that this book is a bit different, a bit challenging, a bit marmite. I wasn't sure myself, but was curious enough to give it a try - and I'm so glad I did. The book is told in an unusual style, with a complex chronology, is full of hard-to-love characters, is grim and dark for sure, has a unique and complex magic system (that's not exactly magic), and doesn't take much time to explain much (with a few notable exceptions). For me, it all added up to making this one of the most exciting books of the past few years. I was blown away by the start, slightly unsure in the middle, but then the end paid everything off and made the middle make sense.

Obviously, the epistolary style and grimdark (AF) content aren't going to be for everyone. It's a book full of death, violence, drug addiction/abuse, rape, and collateral damage - but I wouldn't say any of it was particularly gratuitous. It's also not a book that spoon-feeds you anything, from the identities of the notorious Twenty, to the complex world, the endless names of drugs and other terms (some of which sound a lot like our words, but not quite, which is fun). The book makes you think about the moral choices of everyone involved, because (as a revenge tale) the morality of betrayal and vengeance is central to it, and the narrative (told, as it is, from multiple direct POVs) never gives you a straight answer.

The only other thing I would say is that if you are an experienced enough fantasy reader to be able to handle all the worldbuilding thrown at you, then you probably can see a few of the later twists coming, but that didn't affect my enjoyment at all. As I said, the ending really made good on all of what was set-up, and confirmed my original impression that this book was something special. Controversial, perhaps, but these standout books, that often divide opinion, are exactly what I look for - who wants to just read more of the same?

[S A M | The Book in Hand · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual this review an be found HERE and all my other reviews HERE

Here are a few things you can expect from this book:

A gloriously grim and dark mercenary fantasy;
An ambitious and unique world which you will love;
Fight brews and biological warfare;
Gruff, battered and grizzled mercs with quite the past; and
A risky but brilliant debut.

On to the full review…

I want to start off this review and just explain that this book a little bit of an epistolary, which if I am remembering correctly, is a novel made up of letters and accounts of others to tell a story. Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is an example of such works, but anyway my point is these types of books can feel jarring. I personally didn’t really have a huge issue with this in Snakewood, admittedly it did, at one point, seem a little disjointed and I had to think where I was in the timeline but generally I followed it well and the plot flowed well because there is a dominant POV to keep you grounded.

Snakewood is such a suspense filled story with so much tension and it is filled with all the intrigue and mystery you could ask for. I had such fun unraveling the twists and turns and Selby does an incredible job at redirecting your thoughts on things you feel fairly confident about. Selby writes really well and I had such joy reading his prose. The battles and the fighting in this book was so vivid and captivating to read. He also managed to create really unique and distinguishable voices for his characters which is even more incredible when you know this is a debut and in such a risky format.

Selby also did the whole ambiguous character really well, none of the characters in this have a a well-aligned morale compass. Some are bad yet still relatable, some are a mix and others your are rooting for but they by no means have a clean track record! But what they all are is utterly compelling, well written and complex. For some it is slower than others but you really begin to care for these characters and become totally invested in their journeys, relationships and more.

Also, the brews! The whole biological warfare in this book was just incredible, and that doesn’t even aptly describe this element. It was magic, well it wasn’t in the traditional sense but it was such a refreshing way to represent a magic in a new way, it had limitations and it had consequences both with a more immediate effect and a lifelong consequences of its use. It was utterly unique and incredible to see in action within this world and used by the characters.

Snakewood is also dark, I didn’t really see it until a certain way through it, yes it has dark elements but holy damn it gets grim. It is ruthless in parts.

I can understand a few of the critiques around this book, it does have a unique writing style and the author has created certain phrases that are completely new, but I really felt like he introduced you to them well and then explained them through their use.

Overall, this is a great debut and one I am so so glad I read it. Now a quick note, I asked Dan my go to Selby expert and he said to read these book in the order they were published. If you were to read Brother Red before this is spoils one of the biggest twists in Snakewood. Plus, after speaking to another friend they tried Brother Red and found the language confusing, so for several reasons I would say read this first.

THE RANKS:

BUY THE HARDBACK | BUY THE PAPERBACK | BUY THE EBOOK | LIBRARY RENTAL OR SALE PURCHASE

I really liked this book and I can not wait to read Winer Road and then Brother Red!

ORDER HERE: Audible | Kindle | Bookshop.org | The Broken Binding (Use code SAMBOOKINH for 5% OFF)

You can also find Book Recaps and Bookish Lists over at my blog The Book in Hand

[Mike Everest Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good: A masterclass in character/narrative voice(s), kickass murderous mercenaries, a unique magic-system based on what is essentially magic mushrooms and their effects, and a genre-bending/blending/breaking triumph of style.

The Bad: Now, whilst this wasn’t a ‘bad read’ for me, the style and voice will be polarising. As a reader you will either hit the ground running, or hit the ground and land on your face only to ask through a mouthful of dirt ‘WTF was that?’

The Ugly Truth: Snakewood is a Tarantino-esque masterclass in voice and storytelling, reminiscent of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Mark Lawrence, and Anna Smith Spark. Colorful as it is characterful, Selby combines the full artist’s palette of ‘black and white’ ‘good vs evil’ fantasy, the moral greys of grimdark, and the full rainbow of literary fiction, to weave a no-holds-barred take-it-or-leave-it tale of betrayal, revenge and ‘you get what you deserve’.

Review: In my honest opinion, the best books make you – the reader – feel something. Which is why Snakewood is one of the very best of books.

Some, like me, will love it.

Others won’t.

That is a good thing – after all, you can’t please everybody. And Snakewood isn’t in the business of pleasing anyone.

This book is brutal. Both in style but also in characterisation. In true grimdark fashion everyone you meet in these pages is a bastard, and the only thing that exceeds the bad things you’d wish upon them is the bad things they inflict upon each other.

Snakewood is an account (or, better yet, ‘multiple accounts’) of a mercenary crew by the name of Kaillen’s Twenty. Kaillen’s Twenty were a crew of renown, not least for their namesake’s prowess in all things martial, but also for the potency of their fightbrews. In Selby’s world, fightbrews are concoctions that can imbue superhuman strength and agility (think Captain America) but also protect the user from the poisons, venoms and toxins – all of which are delivered in a variety of means, including ‘arrowbags’ (think smokebombs) – applied to weapons, scattered around rooms etc.

Now, Kaillen’s Twenty has been disbanded for years, but someone is hunting them down and killing them. One by one. Now, it’s down to the surviving crew members to figure out who’s hunting them down, where they’ll strike next, how, and most importantly why.

It all sounds like your normal, straight-forward, low fantasy fare. But there is nothing normal about Snakewood. This is something bold, brave, a little bit barmy, but entirely brilliant. As equally as brilliant and as barmy as the magic system based on what is essentially magic mushrooms…

And this is where you either get on the bandwagon or end up getting off before your stop and waving it on as it disappears into the distance. I mentioned above ‘multiple accounts’ and this truly is. Think multiple point of views, perspectives all telling a non-linear plot. Snakewood has it all. And then some!

The storytelling and style remind me of the first time I saw Pulp Fiction. It’s very Tarantino-esque. You could also liken it to The Hateful Eight or Kill Bill. From the non-linear plot, to the use of ‘perspective’ as a tool, Selby doesn’t just dare to be different, he pushes the boundary like no other author I have read (yet).

On the note of boundaries, for me, Snakewood straddles genres. Or better yet, it straddles what is perceived as ‘literary fiction’ and ‘genre fiction’. In recent times there continues to be a backlash, or better yet snobbery, from literary aficionados when it comes to fantasy and ‘genre’ as a whole. To me, this has at times smacked of elitism. Just because fantasy doesn’t prescribe to the same lofty heights of ‘250 pages to detail a mid-life crisis that should be drowned in the wake of the #MeToo movement’ doesn’t mean that it’s unworthy of the pages it’s printed on. In fact, I think society as a whole is challenging a lot of the hangovers of the ‘how things used to be’ heyday, which is a damn good thing. The point is, as we see and partake in the evolution of society, and all things that go with it, Snakewood and Selby aren’t ‘the missing link’, nor are they ‘the next stage’, but they are a hugely important part of the chain.

Anyone who is an aspiring writer – heck, anyone who is a writer, unpublished or not – has a lot to take away from reading Snakewood. We’ve all heard the term ‘voice’ and what it means in writing and reading. In Snakewood, Selby taught me more about voice – both that of the author and the character (and, by extent of both, the narrator) – than any other ‘lesson’, ‘how to’, blog or book I have ever read.

The best way I can put Snakewood’s collective ‘voice’ into words is: method writing. Like method acting, but, well, you get the gist.

To summarise, there is no better way to describe Snakewood than: This is MUST-read fantasy. It defies expectations, for better or worse, and whilst it won’t be for everyone, it will certainly open your eyes to the possibilities of fantasy, and indeed, storytelling itself.

[The Tattooed Book Geek (Drew). · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book blurb:

'Once they were a band of mercenaries who shook the pillars of the world through their cunning, their closely guarded alchemical brews and stone cold steel. Whoever met their price won. Now, their glory days behind them and their genius leader in hiding, the warriors known as the 'Twenty' are being hunted down and eliminated one by one. A lifetime of enemies has its own price'.

I recieved a free e-ARC of this book to review through NetGalley.

I've found this review quite hard to write as I had a love/hate relationship with this book. After hating the start I found myself loving the later stages. The beginning is hard going, the first chapter was really tough to get through and the second not much easier, I don't write this often but I really didn't enjoy it, even considering giving up on the book and it left me questioning, is it worth my time?

Some books pull you in right from the start, after the first few pages you just know that your in for an engrossing and captivating time. While with others it takes time for you to be pulled into the story and connect with the characters. Being honest, that's the only reason why I didn't give up on this book as I've had previous experiences where the beginning of a book has been poor but somewhere along I found that I'd start to really enjoy it and so, I decided to keep reading and........I'm glad I did!

Snakewood is an interesting book with both bad points and good.

Firstly the bad:

-The start is hard to get through, it's a slog and I could really see it putting some people off finishing the book.
-The language created takes some getting used to, praise to the author for creating a language but the meanings of the words aren't explained and you have to pick them up yourself as you progress through the book, alot of the meanings are easy to guess but a page at the back listing the words and there meanings would have been a nice touch.
-The magic system, the only complaint I have about it is that I feel 'magic' is the wrong word to use to describe the system, as to me the plants used are more like drugs than magic.

Secondly the good:

-After the lacklustre start, the book improves, given your time it does get better and you find yourself becoming invested in both the story and the characters turning it into an captivating read.
-The writing is of a high quality and the author easily adds touchs of humour and emotion into the story.
-The idea of the book is intriguing and having both past and present story arcs adds an extra dimension to the story being told.
-I found the addition of some past deeds by the Twenty to be really interesting, it helps to show the reader both why they were so feared and why there leader Kailen was a genius.
-The cast of characters are all well developed and have their own individual traits and personalities.
-The mercenaries of the Twenty have depth to them and aren't all portrayed with the usual stereotype of being just 'bad guys'. In particular Gant and Shale have a deep friendship and the author does a great job of bringing their bond, camaraderie and familiarity with each other to life.
-Having different main POV character chapters works really well to tell the story and helps keep the book moving along at a decent pace.
-The world building is of a high standard, the author has created what feels like a vast world rich in lore, history and mythology.
-Being a tale of revenge, the overarching tone of the book is dark and the fight scenes match this showing a brutal and gritty combat.
-The magic/plant system is really unique and both well thought out and richly developed by the author.
-During the book the use of different types of plant to make various brews, poisons and antidotes is very in depth. I also liked that the brews aren't used with no side effects to the characters and that there is in fact a cost and a price to pay for their usage.

Overall, I've rated Snakewood at 4 stars out of 5. While my complaints are only minor, I really did struggle through the start, however by the end my opinion of the book had completely changed and I had really enjoyed reading it.

It's slightly flawed in places but it turns into an engrossing read. I'll definitely be interested to read more from this author in the future.

Well worth your time and recommended to all fantasy fans.

[Tracey the Lizard Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review at: http://thequeenofblades.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm not surprised that there are so many DNF reviews for this book, it's really hard to get into. But it does got better, and better still. I suspect that many will find it just too much effort. For me, it was an enjoyable read, but I did not love it. The conclusion as satisfying, but we are left with more questions.

I hope we will get to see more of the world Selby has created, just maybe not through the same first-hand account. When your main character is writing the story it helps if he can actually write.

*A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Lynn Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 of 4 stars
http://lynns-books.com/2016/03/21/sna...
Snakewood is a difficult book to review and for that reason I’ve sat on this for a few days to see how my feelings developed and gather my thoughts. To be honest this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I love the description and the cover and was so excited to pick it up. Now, up front, I can say that I didn’t love this – but, I didn’t hate it either and I think it’s definitely a book that improves as you read. It just takes a little while to settle into the style.

The story in a nutshell. We have a bunch of ‘used to be’ mercenaries. Kailen’s Twenty were the toughest and most badass mercenaries for hire. They could sway the outcome of a battle and accordingly demanded a weighty purse. Until one day Kailen decided to break up the team and they all went their separate ways. A few of them still work in the field, a few teamed up and are still for hire – a few are turning up dead, each found with a black coin. And so Kailen puts out a call to round up the rest of his former team hoping to gather them together before any more of them are picked off.

The story is told from a number of POVs in the form of field reports and personal accounts and from these snippets we begin to put together a picture of what really happened and why the Twenty are now being assassinated one by one.

So, the good and the bad. The good was the concept of plant like mixes that enhance the mercenaries and others who use them. I’m not sure if this is intended as magic but for me it felt more like drugs. Drugs that improve sight, strength and speed. Cocktail combinations that can be thrown into the middle of a fight to create a fog or poison one’s opponents. And, of course, the come down from the use of these substances. I found this quite fascinating particularly the long term effects on the users. Plus, I thought the idea of a recipe book being so powerful in determining who wins or loses. I thought the storyline was compelling in that I was fascinated about who was assassinating the Twenty and why and I really got into the main two characters that we followed of Gant and Shale. The othe character that really gripped me was Sand – his story is really good. He’s not a pleasant character for sure but he’s very well drawn.

The bad. Well, this story is very difficult to get to grips with and I would say that I didn’t really become hooked until at least 30% of the way into the book. There is a lot of to’ing and fro’ing between POVs and timeline and this combined with certain narratives that are very poorly written and turns of phrase and words that felt alien definitely make the start of the story a struggle. However, once I got past this point I thought the story definitely picked up. The individual chapters became longer which was a big help as it made it easier to settle down as opposed to the earlier chapters that were quite choppy. Now, when I say poorly written above let me be clear – I don’t mean that the author has poorly written them but that the narrator isn’t terribly articulate himself. I can see why the author chose this route, it definitely gives those elements of the story a real feel, as though the person is speaking directly to you, on the flip side of course it takes a little getting used to the style.

Personally, I would say that the book is worth the effort. I thought it was a good read with some very intriguing aspects although I must add that this book is very brutal and there are scenes of torture that you may find unpalatable.

On the whole I am pleased that I pushed through the earlier chapters. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I’d had an idea what the story was about before I started whereas I feel now like I’ve probably missed some aspects during the earlier chapters due to my own confusion.

I can see that this is a divisive book and I can understand why. It’s not a book that I’m going to say I adore because whilst I can appreciate the reasoning behind the style of writing I think personally I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a little more straightforward. It’s not a book for the faint hearted and I don’t think it’s going to be a book that people say is ‘beautifully written’ but if this sounds like it could work for you then just stick with it through the earlier chapters.

I received a copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

[Steven Poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adrian Selby's debut novel is a world-sweeping tale of mercenaries and revenge that is also deeply personal and inextricably tied up with its characters. It's also the Trainspotting of modern fantasy literature. And that, for the most part, is a good thing.

Fans of conventional hack'n'slash grimdark will find themselves puzzled. Like Anna Smith Spark's Court of Broken Knives, Snakewood plays with language, uses it as a weapon as well as a tool. Gant and Kailen - and the other viewpoint characters - don't pander to the reader, launching straight into a narrative of fightbrews, luta, Honour, noisies and droops without much by way of explanation. Potions and pastes take the place of wild sorcery, with every soldier an addict, yearning for the next rise, dreading the times they have to pay the colour. The brews, the plant, create a patois that sweeps through the - plentiful - fighting, drudhas Ibsey and Kigan acting as combo shamen and dealers. If D&D had level progression and feats for berserkers on steroids, this is how it would read. Makes Logen Ninefingers look like Mickey Mouse.

The very close perspective is what will probably throw casual readers off. Make no bones, this is an excellent detailed history of the ending of a mercenary band, the greatest there ever was, with the sort of delayed vengeance that all such betrayals deserve, and even if characters have followed their own codes of honour they're still not blameless for the bloodshed, but Selby's deliberate style ensures that this isn't an easy read. Found documents and original sources are interspersed through the journals and diary entries and on occasion even I had to page backwards to work out where I was.

For fans of original storytelling, heavy action, and history with consequences - choose Snakewood.

[Julia Sarene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard one... I'd go with 1* for the start (it took me FIVE times to get into this book, and I only persisted as I got it as a present from someone dear to me) and 4*for the second half. So all in all I'll go for 3*

This one is not an easy read and my main problem with the beginning was that I simply didn't take it in. I read 5 chapters, and I retained nothing. So I started again, and it felt like a new book. And repeat... And repeat... Now it might have had to do with my state of mind, and it being hard to comprehend at the start as a bad mix, but I simply didn't get on with it. I really liked the idea of the story being told from hindsight, but I didn't really get to dive in.
Once I finally had at least a basic understanding what happened, things started to click for me and I started to enjoy it - at around 50% of the book.

From there on I really enjoyed the characters, especially that there aren't clear good or bad guys here. The prose was really well all around from start to finish, so no complaints at all there.

It is definitely on the grimdark spectrum with plenty of violence and gore in detail, and more raping than I'd personally have liked to read about (not all actually happening or happening on page) even though they were well written. It's a topic I usually try to avoid.

The world and plot was well crafted and had enough details to keep me hooked without being overloaded or info dumpy in the least. I especially enjoyed the twists along the way, some I guessed and some that surprised me.

So all in all it is a book worth a look, if you like your fantasy on the raw and bloody side!

[Jon Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't understand the hype with this book.
It jumps around so much between POVs and timelines that you never really get to connect with any characters. Some of the POVs are written to convey the way the person speaks, or writes, and it just made it really difficult and annoying to read (especially for a grammar nerd).
It could've been much shorter I think; I found myself skimming through pages for relevant info when I could have just skipped whole chapters.

Frankly, I'm surprised I finished it. It was definitely a slog.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a very confusing start I thought the final third of this book was very solid. I will be interested to see where Selby goes next. Full review to come.

3.5 out of 5.

[DJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5 Rating *DNF 39% (page 168) Review first posted at MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape

DNF: The struggle was real

*Disclaimer: I was provided with a review copy via Net Galley from the publisher in return for my honest opinion and review.

Word on the street is the plot of the this story is pretty good - once you get past the first 100 pages or so. Too bad the characters, dialog, prose, presentation, storytelling, and pretty much everything else in the novel basically made this story unreadable. And I tried, people. Oh, I TRIED. I was deep down in the mud and trenches, struggling for air, to read this thing. But after 7 days of reading, numerous headaches, a number of boredom naps, and only 168 pages to show, I had to throw in the DNF towel.

In their prime, Kailen's Twenty was the greatest band of mercenaries the lands had ever known. They never betrayed the coin, and they never betrayed each other, but ten years after Kailen disbanded the crew, someone - or someones - is out to seek revenge on all twenty members for what they claim was betrayal.

Soon, former members of the Twenty start showing up dead with a black coin in the hand, representing that they were betrayers. Kailen and the Prince, another member of the Twenty, then set out to find other members of Twenty, to warm them of the assassin that is out for them.

This assassin in question is the princess of the former King, who used to hire Kailen's Twenty frequently. She is claiming that it is because of the Twenty that her father is dead, and that is why she is seeking revenge. However, when she seeks out Kailen himself, trapped at an inn, she notices that she is too late - there is another assassin already there to take care of the job.

Why did Kailen disband the Twenty? What happened at Snakewood? Why does the princess blame the Twenty? And who is the mystery assassin?

Tell me you didn't read my synopsis and weren't interested? Nope, you can't. I will not argue one bit, that the plot of the story is BOMB. It was the promise of the story getting good, and the tiny bits of the plot that were able to shine through the dark clouds that were everything else, that kept me going. But OMG, it was a nightmare to read this thing at the times!  Word on the street said around 100 pages in, things got good - well, I found that out after I was past the 100 page mark. Read a few more chapters, still couldn't figure out what the "good" part was, and decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

Instead of me only saying I legitimately hated reading this book, I am going to review this book, and lay out exactly what the problems were I had with it, that caused to me DNF for the first in who knows how many years.

The prologue of the novel introduces us to Goran - son of Gant, who was a member of the Twenty. Goran says his father, Gant, came to him as he was dying, to tell him his story of the Twenty, and wanted Goran to get out the word - the truth - of Kailen's Twenty. So, the story is told from multiple first person POVs, spanning from certain members of the Twenty, to the Princess, an assortment of letters from certain characters, various reports from random Fieldsman, and a mystery character called "Sand".

I'm down for multiple POVs - but wasn't there some author who said, something along the lines of, "Unless you're George R.R. Martin, you can't get away with too many POVs"?  I don't know who said it, but I implore them to use cite Snakewood as a source for that argument.

Since this novel is compiled by Goran, all of first person accounts relate to events concerning the Twenty, and everyonce in a while, before a chapter, we will get a brief little introduction paragraph from Goran saying the context of the what is happening... but not all time. Sometimes it is before a character's chapters, or it is not; sometimes it is before one of letters or fieldsreports he collected, or it is not. There seems to be no rational for what type of chapter/section Goran gives us a context briefing. So, sometimes if felt like I was reading regular a multiple POV story, sometimes (when we got the Goran intros) it felt like I was reading something someone put together, but no matter what, I felt LOST. Lost because I didn't know the context of what I was reading in the scope of the story, and lost because I couldn't understand (because of horrible prose) a dang thing I was reading.

You see, the Twenty are mercenaries, which means they had no education, and that they apparently have the verbal skills, vocabulary, and grammar, that is on par with the level of cavemen. I get it: mercenaries, barbarians, all the like, they fight first, and aren't supposed to have the linguistics of nobleman - but how Adrian wrote this was borderline unreadable. It is the most dumbed-down, generic, stereotypical, linguistics I've ever tried to read in a story. Writing it that way was not needed! I could read Long Ninefingers' (a barbarian) monologue with no problems; I read Karen Memory (which is told in the first person, with a heavy, deep southern accent) and thought it was great(!); heck, even reading Spook's talk the first time was easier to understand!

On to the storytelling conundrum: What was Goran thinking when he decided the order of this book? Apparently the story is told in a "linear" fashion (there are flashbacks and story lines that lead to present) but it is not like where each POVs gets their story told completely. Here, each POV and letter is used as a piece to tell the story. So you may segment starting off with Gant going into a hotel, then get a fieldsman report explaining something about Kalien's characters or piece of information that is somehow releventa to something that happened or will happen soon, then a Kailen chapter, and then jump to a Princess chapters that finished up the that bit about the hotel. All of the things are 100% related to this segment of the story about the hotel - but you have no idea how they are connected at the time! Or even after!

The simplest way to put it is: we aren't getting Kailen's story of the hotel, and then Princess side of it; we are getting the story of the hotel as the focus, told with select bits of Kailen's side, and Princess' side, with other characters, and fields man reports thrown in too. Then, because Goran isn't there to tell the context of these chapters - and even when he does, it's useless -  it felt like I was reading random pieces of a story that I had to guess how to put them in order, when in reality, everything is linear... And the WHOLE BOOK is like this; the whole story (Kailen's Twenty) is told from little snippets, and it did NOT feel like I was reading a coherent story.

So, let's recap: with the exception of the Princess chapters, nearly every chapter is unreadable, and because I can't read anything, I can't understand what is going on; on top of not being able to understand what is going on due to the linguistic, I am not able to understand what is going on due to the lack of context too! And on top of all that, because of the random jumping around from locations, to POVs, to present and past, I can't even tell where I am in the story, and what is related to what!!!

To put it simply, I couldn't understand what was going on in the story, and trying to figure things out, made no difference, so I ended up skimming for the important points, and became bored. Skimming, did reveal to me the plot points, and like I said, it is very good, but I was not enjoying my time reading the book.

There is also some cool magic stuff that is called brews. There are these battle brews that people drink to enhance their strength, vision, hearing, and etc., for a certain amount of time during battle. The effects of using them is known as the "colour" which changes your eye color and stuff, and depends on which brew you use and how much and often. It's cool stuff, but even to get that info, it took a serious amount of riffling and concentration on my part, because from the 40% of the book I got through, how it works, is not explained at all. It is just said that a mercenary took a brew, got superhuman enhancements, or that this solider was showing his "colour". That's it. From reviews I've read, this isn't even explained how it works until well past halfway - and ain't nobody got time for that.

There is also some cool chapters with a character called "Sand", but I have no idea what his deal was. One moments I was in a burning house the Twenty, and the next thing I know I'm with an amnesiac, somewhere in ocean, who is now a slave on a ship? His stuff was interesting, and I'm sure his connect is a great twist, but with my experience in the story up to that point, it just made me more confused with the overall story. Confusing: that seems to be the motto of this story.

I could go on, there are actually several more points I planned on writing out in this review but I am up on the word count so... ah, just two more! Real quick!

One, I couldn't bond, don't know, and don't care about any of the characters due to all the issue I have stated. Two - and this was a BIG issue for me when it happen - is are the regular POV chapters all part of the stuff that Goran collected or is Adrian Selby just telling us their thoughts? I thought it was transcripts and journals that Goran had collected too, but then we get a chapter where a character is about to die, and it ends with him saying I love you to his wife... How he do that? You're telling me, this character in a burning room in a building, instead of trying to escape, took the time to write a good 20 pages outlining the events that led to him being here, with all his last thoughts, as he burned to death in a room? How did he have enough time to do that? How did what he wrote down not get burned? That doesn't make sense. Maybe he didn't actually die, and wrote this journal thing later, but why add the I love you dear part in there? Maybe this is answered later on, but I was past the point of caring, and in full on confusion-mode.

The point I want to make is this review is the book was poorly written and presented. I get using certain linguistic choices to make the reader feel closer to the character, but if you're going to do it in first-person, make it readable. I get using multiple POVs to tell a story, but make it coherent for the reader to understand. You want the reader to feel mystery of the plot, not the confusion because they can't follow what is going on. There is a BIG difference.

And, in case you're wondering, I am not the only one who had issue with Snakewood. There are a number of DNF reviews out there (before the book is even released) and a number of reviews complaining about the difficulties they faced in even finishing the book. However, their are also reviews out there of people who like it. (Although, at the time of me starting the book, the GR reading was a 2.88 with 24 reviews).

This was my most anticipated new release for 2016 by a debut author. I had zero expectation going on, I was just eager and exited to read it, and find out what was happening with a band of mercenaries and this mystery assassin.  Unfortunately, I will never know - and I don't care anymore.

Best advice I can I give to anyone about this book, is to read a preview (or this one), and go from there. 

My name is DJ, and I fully support the DNF.

1/5 Rating *DNF 39% (page 168)

-DJ

[Weezing · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
This is is one of the more original fantasy books. I can sort of understand the mixed reception it has received, in the sense, that it's not for everyone, and it does not have mass appeal that some other books do have, but that does not mean, it's not worth your time. If you are tired about reading about the same tropes all the time and like darker tales, then I would recommend it to you. There are no heroes in this book and all the competing sides have done some questionable stuff, but despite that I didn't have problem to root for the pov characters (who were often fighting against each other). My only problem was that large portions of the book were spend in flashbacks, explaining background of major characters, which slowed down the pacing.

[Isis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank Orbit Books & NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book to review. Though I received this e-book for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review.


Goodreads Teaser: "Once they were a band of mercenaries who shook the pillars of the world through cunning, alchemical brews, and cold steel. Whoever met their price won.
Now, their glory days behind them, scattered to the wind, and their genius leader in hiding, they are being hunted down and eliminated one by one.
A lifetime of enemies has its own price.
Adrian Selby brings us into an unforgettable new world filled with magic, mystery, intrigue, bloodshed and betrayal."


I'm easily of mixed opinions about this book, as there were easily as many things that frustrated me, as there were things that entertained and engaged me. Possibly more in the frustration column. The first, and maybe largest issue, was that for the first quarter of the book the story not only didn't grab me, but was a struggle to slog through. That's a long way to go when nothing is making much sense and none of the characters are reaching you.

Once I passed that quarter mark I did find a few characters that intrigued me; characters whose stories made me curious and finally got me interested in the story overall. That's not to say that I necessarily liked all of these characters, but that's okay. Antagonists are just as important as protagonists, particularly in a story like this. By the final third of the story I better understood Mr. Selby's use of chapters that moved between past and present as easily as they moved between different characters' points of view.

The created language was also something of a problem for me, for though I was able to work out the intended meaning behind many of the words, I can't say that was true for all of them. And it's tough reading a book with words you don't necessarily understand the meaning of, especially when those words are used with fair regularity. But I get why Selby elected to create a new language for this world of his. It certainly highlights the differences between our world and his, making his that much more foreign and exotic at the same time.

I did like that the characters we got to know weren't always what they'd been made out to be. They had reasons behind some choices that aren't explained until the very end of their story, and sometimes until the end of the book, though their story may have ended some time prior. So not everyone is as they seem, though I'll not say more for fear of spoilers. But I do feel safe saying that I think this book will appeal more to those who enjoy drawn out fight scenes, and battle tactics over magic. Though there is a certain kind of magic in these pages, it's not magic as the average reader likely sees it. So I'd stick with the first part of the book's blurb, but this line "Adrian Selby brings us into an unforgettable new world filled with magic, mystery, intrigue, bloodshed and betrayal," this line I'd change. It's a small change, but an important one; I'd get rid of the word "magic," for its badly misleading in my opinion. Especially as the leading adjective, for that made me think that magic was a heavy part of this book - my reading of the book made me think otherwise.

This book was close to getting a 4 star rating from me, but there were simply a few too many issues that threw it off the tracks for me to feel that would have been an honest rating. I think that with some serious revisions it could reach 4-5 stars, but I had to rate the book in my hands. There are some solid aspects that clearly kept me going to the very last page, but I'll admit I was close to making this one of the very few Did Not Finish'd books of my life. It takes a great deal to get me to DNF a book, though as I get older my patience is waning, so maybe I'd have been less likely to consider DNF'ing this book just a year ago. But thankfully I stuck it out and got to the meat of the story, as it has some very interesting aspects and characters once you dig deep enough. So start digging!

[Newton Nitro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snakewood - Adrian Selby | 2016, Orbit, 432 páginas | NITROLEITURAS #fantasia #fantasiabrutal #fantasialiterária | Nota 4 em 5

SNAKEWOOD de Adrian Selby é uma fantasia brutal ou "grimdark fantasy" que busca expandir os limites do gênero e aposta em uma forma mais fragmentária e "literária" de narrativa.

O mundo descrito em SNAKEWOOD é impressionante, e o que mais me chamou atenção nesse livro. O cenário segue a linha de fantasia brutal, de um mundo povoado por humanos, porém, esse é um mundo repleto de plantas venenosas e narcóticas, cujas combinações, feitas por uma espécie de Druida de combate, servem para dar poderes sobre humanos para guerreiros, apesar de deixá-los viciados e com efeitos colaterais terríveis.

A trama segue uma narrativa de vingança. Um assassino misterioso está matando membros de um grupo de mercenários famosos, anos depois deles terem se aposentado, e deixando uma moeda negra sobre os cadáveres. Através da narrativa de diversos personagens, o leitor começa a desvendar o mistério por trás desses assassinatos, ao mesmo tempo em que explora o mundo brutal e bizarro de SNAKEWOOD.

A leitura é mais desafiadora do que a prosa tradicional da fantasia contemporânea, com múltiplos pontos de vista narrativos em primeira pessoa. É o mesmo formato de livros como Robopocalipse e Guerra Z, mas aplicado na fantasia brutal.

Por algumas resenhas que li no Goodreads, muitos leitores não se acostumaram com esse estilo fragmentário, porém, como eu sou leitor velho de guerra, acostumado com literatura experimental, gostei muito dessa estrutura mais ousada.

Para quem for ler, a dica é "aguentar as pontas" na primeira metade do livro, pois a narrativa aos poucos concentra-se nos personagens mais relevantes e, a partir da segunda metade, muitas informações que antes estavam confusas começam a se clarificar.

E o clímax no final vale a pena, brutal, sangrento e emocionante!

Quanto aos personagens, bem, esse é um livro de fantasia BEEEEM brutal mesmo, só anti-heróis e vilões, crueldade para todos os lados, torturas, bandidagens, traições, etc. O livro é tão sombrio e cruel que chega ao nível da trilogia Prince of Nothing, do R. Scott Baker, que era a coisa mais brutal e sombria que já tinha lido até agora.

Recomendado para quem curte literatura de fantasia brutal com uma pegada mais literária e experimental. E quem curte mundos de fantasia bem originais!

Nota 4 em 5!