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Dead Bones
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They said it wasn't a war.
From where Bone Mage Gabriel is standing, up to his elbows in soldiers' blood and guts, it sure looks, smells and feels like a war. Sent to join the protective campaign as punishment for a controversial healing, Gabe's at odds with everything from his fellow military personnel to his own vow to save every life that passes through his hospital. Then he meets Rafe, a young man with dangerous knowledge about the war, and things go from bad to disastrous.
War is nothing new to David. He's fought in a hundred, begun some of them, and ended them all. Cursed to fight wherever, however, whoever he's commanded to, David is the Immortal Soldier. A slave to the magic that keeps him alive and bound, David longs for the day he'll be free, but first, he has to bring Rafe home, and nothing, not even an argumentative Bone Mage, will stop him.
Then there's Duke Sol. Intent on leading a quiet life with his family, Sol is reluctantly drawn into plots of betrayal, blackmail and treason, all in an effort to find his peace, and bring his friend, Gabe, home from war.
From a bloody, war-ravaged desert to the pristine palaces and cathedrals of those running the war, three men will be tested to their limits . . . and if they break, their world might not survive.
They said it wasn't a war.
From where Bone Mage Gabriel is standing, up to his elbows in soldiers' blood and guts, it sure looks, smells and feels like a war. Sent to join the protective campaign as punishment for a controversial healing, Gabe's at odds with everything from his fellow military personnel to his own vow to save every life that passes through his hospital. Then he meets Rafe, a young man with dangerous knowledge about the war, and things go from bad to disastrous.
War is nothing new to David. He's fought in a hundred, begun some of them, and ended them all. Cursed to fight wherever, however, whoever he's commanded to, David is the Immortal Soldier. A slave to the magic that keeps him alive and bound, David longs for the day he'll be free, but first, he has to bring Rafe home, and nothing, not even an argumentative Bone Mage, will stop him.
Then there's Duke Sol. Intent on leading a quiet life with his family, Sol is reluctantly drawn into plots of betrayal, blackmail and treason, all in an effort to find his peace, and bring his friend, Gabe, home from war.
From a bloody, war-ravaged desert to the pristine palaces and cathedrals of those running the war, three men will be tested to their limits . . . and if they break, their world might not survive.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2015
38 people want to read
About the author
L.J. Hayward
21 books614 followersL.J. Hayward has been telling stories for most of her life, a good deal of them of the tall variety. She loves reading but doesn’t seem to have enough time between wanting to be a more disciplined writer, being the actual erratic writer she is, and working for dollars in a dungeon laboratory. She also lives on the Gold Coast in Queensland, but rarely sees a beach and can’t surf, though she thinks living on a houseboat might be fun. At least then she’d have an excuse to get a cat.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 21, 2015
A good, solid fantasy of war, politics, and magic, in an original and interesting world.
Various plot threads follow different characters, but the story opens with Gabe, a Bone Mage (magic doctor), who is reluctantly putting together injured soldiers at an army camp, in the middle of a murky border conflict. The situation reminded me of MASH, only with airships instead of helicopters, and magic, and not funny. Anyhow, Gabe doesn’t want to let any soldiers die, even if he kills himself healing them. And then a legendary immortal undead warrior (who wants to die) arrives, and things get messy.
The story’s a bit slow to get started, and there’s quite a lot of information dumping interspersed with the action. But the combination of magic, technology, and religion make for an interesting setting which kept me reading until the plot got going. Good writing throughout with few editing errors.
This book is a satisfying standalone read, though the ending clearly indicates a sequel is intended.
Expect a lot of violence, blood and gore, and some sexual references.
Various plot threads follow different characters, but the story opens with Gabe, a Bone Mage (magic doctor), who is reluctantly putting together injured soldiers at an army camp, in the middle of a murky border conflict. The situation reminded me of MASH, only with airships instead of helicopters, and magic, and not funny. Anyhow, Gabe doesn’t want to let any soldiers die, even if he kills himself healing them. And then a legendary immortal undead warrior (who wants to die) arrives, and things get messy.
The story’s a bit slow to get started, and there’s quite a lot of information dumping interspersed with the action. But the combination of magic, technology, and religion make for an interesting setting which kept me reading until the plot got going. Good writing throughout with few editing errors.
This book is a satisfying standalone read, though the ending clearly indicates a sequel is intended.
Expect a lot of violence, blood and gore, and some sexual references.
August 24, 2015
I picked this up because I'd read and enjoyed LJ Hayward's "Night Call" urban fantasy novels (well worth checking out, by the way). This book is a more traditional fantasy with perhaps a hint of steampunk - assuming, like me, that you class any book as "steampunk" if it includes dirigibles as a means of transport. You can't beat a bit of hardcore airship action.
The story is set in a land made up of a number of duchies that exist in a slightly uneasy truce, and draws its inspiration from colonial-era Spain / Latin America. One of the duchies has entered into a war with a neighbouring country over its incursion into an apparently unimportant stretch of land, populated only by tribesmen. The front lines have become entrenched and neither side seems to be making much headway. Away from the war, the ruling dukes and duchesses try to outmanoeuvre each other politically, forming alliances and feuds that will determine the course of the conflict and the future of their own lands.
The story is told from the POV of three characters: Gabe is a nobleman and a Bone Mage, a healer who can use magic to sense and treat anyone's injuries except his own. He's fallen foul of a bad-tempered Duke and found himself exiled to the front line as punishment, where he's gradually being crushed under his workload. Sol is Gabe's friend, and Duke of his own realm. A new father, he's being drawn away from his family and into the political shenanigans of his contemporaries against his will. The final POV character is David, AKA The Immortal Soldier. He has lived for centuries, kept alive by magic that also forces his loyalty to his Duke's family. Many consider him a myth as he is used only in the most important or dire of circumstances; the rest of the time he's kept locked in a cell, and starved until he falls into a coma. Yeah, and you thought that YOUR boss was a bastard.
The plot revolves around the arrival of a young man, Rafe, at the front line. He meets Gabe, who notes something off about him. This suspicion is confirmed by the Immortal Soldier's arrival, tasked with apprehending Rafe and returning him home. The enemy, the French-themed Alarians, also want him. Gabe finds himself caught in the middle, which really isn't the best place to be. Meanwhile, Duke Sol tries to find out what Gabe did to get himself banished, while also doing his best not to fall afoul of his peers' political machinations.
I wasn't sure what to make of the book initially, finding it something of a slow burner. However the story soon began to pick up pace and the world-building provided a steady drip-feed of information without pages of info-dumping (or indeed, wild over-use of hyphenated words, of which I seem to be guilty). The main characters all have well-formed backstories and hidden motivations; I found David the most interesting for that reason, along with the fact that he clearly graduated from the School of Badassery with distinction. The elemental magic, while a somewhat familiar device, was handled well, and the idea of Bone Mages gradually driving themselves insane through taking on their patients' pain was an interesting take on healing magic.
On the minus side there were a few niggles - the aforementioned slow start was one, along with the slightly bewildering array of lengthy Spanish names among the nobles, which meant there were a few scenes where I struggled to keep track of who was who and which duchy they represented. Also there were a couple of plot points that had been left largely unexplained by the end of the book - I realise that these will probably be covered in the next book, but a few more hints or pointers wouldn't have gone amiss.
All in all a promising first book in a new series, and it'll be interesting to see where the story goes in book two.
The story is set in a land made up of a number of duchies that exist in a slightly uneasy truce, and draws its inspiration from colonial-era Spain / Latin America. One of the duchies has entered into a war with a neighbouring country over its incursion into an apparently unimportant stretch of land, populated only by tribesmen. The front lines have become entrenched and neither side seems to be making much headway. Away from the war, the ruling dukes and duchesses try to outmanoeuvre each other politically, forming alliances and feuds that will determine the course of the conflict and the future of their own lands.
The story is told from the POV of three characters: Gabe is a nobleman and a Bone Mage, a healer who can use magic to sense and treat anyone's injuries except his own. He's fallen foul of a bad-tempered Duke and found himself exiled to the front line as punishment, where he's gradually being crushed under his workload. Sol is Gabe's friend, and Duke of his own realm. A new father, he's being drawn away from his family and into the political shenanigans of his contemporaries against his will. The final POV character is David, AKA The Immortal Soldier. He has lived for centuries, kept alive by magic that also forces his loyalty to his Duke's family. Many consider him a myth as he is used only in the most important or dire of circumstances; the rest of the time he's kept locked in a cell, and starved until he falls into a coma. Yeah, and you thought that YOUR boss was a bastard.
The plot revolves around the arrival of a young man, Rafe, at the front line. He meets Gabe, who notes something off about him. This suspicion is confirmed by the Immortal Soldier's arrival, tasked with apprehending Rafe and returning him home. The enemy, the French-themed Alarians, also want him. Gabe finds himself caught in the middle, which really isn't the best place to be. Meanwhile, Duke Sol tries to find out what Gabe did to get himself banished, while also doing his best not to fall afoul of his peers' political machinations.
I wasn't sure what to make of the book initially, finding it something of a slow burner. However the story soon began to pick up pace and the world-building provided a steady drip-feed of information without pages of info-dumping (or indeed, wild over-use of hyphenated words, of which I seem to be guilty). The main characters all have well-formed backstories and hidden motivations; I found David the most interesting for that reason, along with the fact that he clearly graduated from the School of Badassery with distinction. The elemental magic, while a somewhat familiar device, was handled well, and the idea of Bone Mages gradually driving themselves insane through taking on their patients' pain was an interesting take on healing magic.
On the minus side there were a few niggles - the aforementioned slow start was one, along with the slightly bewildering array of lengthy Spanish names among the nobles, which meant there were a few scenes where I struggled to keep track of who was who and which duchy they represented. Also there were a couple of plot points that had been left largely unexplained by the end of the book - I realise that these will probably be covered in the next book, but a few more hints or pointers wouldn't have gone amiss.
All in all a promising first book in a new series, and it'll be interesting to see where the story goes in book two.
March 11, 2020
I have had this book for the longest time and just got to reading it. This book is a fantastic mix of fantasy, political maneuvers, war, runaway and war. Throw in different kinds of mages into it and all this makes this a great read. The main POVs are from Gabe, the bone mage, David, the immortal soldier, Sol, a duke of his own realm. All the 3 are involved in interconnected storylines that all merge. The book started slow, but picked up pace soon. While this book is a stand alone, there are several open ends and the ending is set up for a sequel.
I really wish the author continues this series and the Night call series.
I really wish the author continues this series and the Night call series.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews