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The Forgotten Monk
Cipher is a monk: a master of the Deadly Arts, able to dismantle enemies using his bare hands. He is immune to lies, and can see volumes of information in the smallest detail.
Unfortunately, that’s all he knows. His real name, his history – all stolen by an unknown foe.
The Forgotten Monk is high fantasy and high adventure, woven into a story of strong friendships, deadly hatreds, ingenious criminal mysteries and baffling affairs of the heart.
Unfortunately, that’s all he knows. His real name, his history – all stolen by an unknown foe.
The Forgotten Monk is high fantasy and high adventure, woven into a story of strong friendships, deadly hatreds, ingenious criminal mysteries and baffling affairs of the heart.
- GenresFantasy
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Greg Stolze
146 books59 followersGreg Stolze (born 1970) is an American novelist and writer, whose work has mainly focused on properties derived from role-playing games.
Stolze has contributed to numerous role-playing game books for White Wolf Game Studio and Atlas Games, including Demon: the Fallen. Some of Stolze's recent work has been self-published using the "ransom method", whereby the game is only released when enough potential buyers have contributed enough money to reach a threshold set by the author.
Together with John Tynes he created and wrote the role-playing game Unknown Armies, published by Atlas Games. He has also co-written the free game NEMESIS, which uses the One-Roll Engine presented in Godlike and the so called Madness Meter derived from Unknown Armies.
Stolze has contributed to numerous role-playing game books for White Wolf Game Studio and Atlas Games, including Demon: the Fallen. Some of Stolze's recent work has been self-published using the "ransom method", whereby the game is only released when enough potential buyers have contributed enough money to reach a threshold set by the author.
Together with John Tynes he created and wrote the role-playing game Unknown Armies, published by Atlas Games. He has also co-written the free game NEMESIS, which uses the One-Roll Engine presented in Godlike and the so called Madness Meter derived from Unknown Armies.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 11, 2019
Book 2 of 2019.
This book was a fun adventure that reminded me of my dnd campaigns. I found the middle of the book the most fun: it was a nonstop series of adventures, following a fun cast of allies and villains.
At the beginning it took me some time to get accustomed to the quick pace of both the writing and the pacing. By the end, I recognised this as one of the many strengths of the book.
Another great strength of the book is how the author has embraced the vagueness of 13th Age's world. I can imagine this book fitting well in everyone's version of the Dragon Empire.
The one weakness of the book that I want to mention is the ending. Over the course of the book I had grown far more attached to the new Cypher than anyone he was in his previous life. I feel like him regaining his memories was supposed to be a reward for both the character and the reader, but it ended up feeling more like it was missing the point. The showdown with the icons also came out of nowhere. I think I would have enjoyed Grossthorn as the final villain a lot more.
All in all this was a great book and a solid read. I will recommend this book to everyone who enjoys D&D-esque novels.
This book was a fun adventure that reminded me of my dnd campaigns. I found the middle of the book the most fun: it was a nonstop series of adventures, following a fun cast of allies and villains.
At the beginning it took me some time to get accustomed to the quick pace of both the writing and the pacing. By the end, I recognised this as one of the many strengths of the book.
Another great strength of the book is how the author has embraced the vagueness of 13th Age's world. I can imagine this book fitting well in everyone's version of the Dragon Empire.
The one weakness of the book that I want to mention is the ending. Over the course of the book I had grown far more attached to the new Cypher than anyone he was in his previous life. I feel like him regaining his memories was supposed to be a reward for both the character and the reader, but it ended up feeling more like it was missing the point. The showdown with the icons also came out of nowhere. I think I would have enjoyed Grossthorn as the final villain a lot more.
All in all this was a great book and a solid read. I will recommend this book to everyone who enjoys D&D-esque novels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2017
I think this book suffers more from being a tie-in novel for the 13th Age RPG than anything else. Even for an RPG setting, it's deliberately left as more of a blank slate for a Games Master to fill in.
Unfortunately, Stolze, perhaps because he wanted to keep the story accessible for any Games Master to fit in their world, didn't fill in enough of the blanks for me. The world really felt very undefined and vague and I never got a strong sense of place, which I think is important when your setting is a fantasy world - especially one so fantastic as the Dragon Empire.
There were also a few stylistic quirks I found a bit distracting. There was a tendency to start in medias res at the beginning of chapters or scenes, which was a bit disorienting and quickly became tiresome (a couple of times the characters also started out anonymous, and I guess we were supposed to pat ourselves on the back for working out who they were). Also, one character, whilst interesting, was badly let down by an unnecessary spelling out of their back-story to the main character, when some ambiguity would have been better.
The action was really well written though, and very easy to follow and some of the ideas and characters were very clever. For such a short novel though, the cast was probably a bit too large and none of the militia characters managed to make much impression on me.
A really big part of the 13th Age setting are the Icons and I was a bit disappointed that they didn't appear to be particularly large drivers of the action until the final chapter. Only one was really integral to the story up until that point, and that was through the magnificent-bastard Grossthorn.
If you're at all interested in the 13th Age setting this is well worth a read, if only to mine for ideas, but otherwise, I'd give it a miss.
Unfortunately, Stolze, perhaps because he wanted to keep the story accessible for any Games Master to fit in their world, didn't fill in enough of the blanks for me. The world really felt very undefined and vague and I never got a strong sense of place, which I think is important when your setting is a fantasy world - especially one so fantastic as the Dragon Empire.
There were also a few stylistic quirks I found a bit distracting. There was a tendency to start in medias res at the beginning of chapters or scenes, which was a bit disorienting and quickly became tiresome (a couple of times the characters also started out anonymous, and I guess we were supposed to pat ourselves on the back for working out who they were). Also, one character, whilst interesting, was badly let down by an unnecessary spelling out of their back-story to the main character, when some ambiguity would have been better.
The action was really well written though, and very easy to follow and some of the ideas and characters were very clever. For such a short novel though, the cast was probably a bit too large and none of the militia characters managed to make much impression on me.
A really big part of the 13th Age setting are the Icons and I was a bit disappointed that they didn't appear to be particularly large drivers of the action until the final chapter. Only one was really integral to the story up until that point, and that was through the magnificent-bastard Grossthorn.
If you're at all interested in the 13th Age setting this is well worth a read, if only to mine for ideas, but otherwise, I'd give it a miss.
December 21, 2016
Note: I pre-purchased this book as part of a kickstarter.
Many fantasy novels and series make their stories about sweeping civilizations and continent spanning journeys. While The Forgotten Monk touches on those (especially the travel) it remains very focused on the personal lives of those living in a fantastic setting.
If you've ever wondered what the day to day life of a town guard unit in a fantasy setting is like, dealing with incursions from magical creatures and spells gone wrong, you'll enjoy this book.
The core of the story is the mystery of the main character's memories. Since he lacks those memories, the supporting characters provide much of the impetus for individual chapters and background about the world. Fortunately the supporting cast is very strong, with a good variety of personalities throughout.
The fight scenes are fun - they're fast and varied.
There are a few very nice bits of world-building and weirdness that are likewise kept intriguingly brief but I don't want to spoil any of them.
I think readers who are familiar with the 13th Age RPG setting will get the most out of the book - I particularly enjoyed some of the nods to the Icons, powerful figures within the setting. However, I would also say that it's easy to understand without knowing the RPG sourcebooks and never has the feeling that some Dungeons and Dragons tie-in fiction has of "the dice rolling in the background" of the scenes.
Overall? Highly recommended, especially if you are already familiar with the 13th Age role-playing game or Greg Stolze's other books. If not, it's a strong starting point for either.
Many fantasy novels and series make their stories about sweeping civilizations and continent spanning journeys. While The Forgotten Monk touches on those (especially the travel) it remains very focused on the personal lives of those living in a fantastic setting.
If you've ever wondered what the day to day life of a town guard unit in a fantasy setting is like, dealing with incursions from magical creatures and spells gone wrong, you'll enjoy this book.
The core of the story is the mystery of the main character's memories. Since he lacks those memories, the supporting characters provide much of the impetus for individual chapters and background about the world. Fortunately the supporting cast is very strong, with a good variety of personalities throughout.
The fight scenes are fun - they're fast and varied.
There are a few very nice bits of world-building and weirdness that are likewise kept intriguingly brief but I don't want to spoil any of them.
I think readers who are familiar with the 13th Age RPG setting will get the most out of the book - I particularly enjoyed some of the nods to the Icons, powerful figures within the setting. However, I would also say that it's easy to understand without knowing the RPG sourcebooks and never has the feeling that some Dungeons and Dragons tie-in fiction has of "the dice rolling in the background" of the scenes.
Overall? Highly recommended, especially if you are already familiar with the 13th Age role-playing game or Greg Stolze's other books. If not, it's a strong starting point for either.
January 8, 2016
A fun fantasy adventure that fans of high fantasy will enjoy (D&D, Pathfinder, the Diablo videogames, Dragon Age, etc, etc). The world is based on the tabletop roleplaying game 13th Age, but you need no prior knowledge of that setting to enjoy this book.
The Forgotten Monk is a warrior monk who wakes up with no memory of his life up to that point. He joins a band of soldiers and assists them in their "police work" while trying to unravel the mystery of his past.
The author does an excellent job of building a reasonably complex setting while keeping things moving at a brisk pace. The sizable secondary cast is well characterized, and the plot of the book is fun, exciting, and not overly predictable. I particularly loved the author's writing style, which was well suited to the blow-by-blow combat he describes, while maintaining a dry, sardonic sense of humor. This was a good book, and I'd definitely read more books set in this world if I had the chance.
The Forgotten Monk is a warrior monk who wakes up with no memory of his life up to that point. He joins a band of soldiers and assists them in their "police work" while trying to unravel the mystery of his past.
The author does an excellent job of building a reasonably complex setting while keeping things moving at a brisk pace. The sizable secondary cast is well characterized, and the plot of the book is fun, exciting, and not overly predictable. I particularly loved the author's writing style, which was well suited to the blow-by-blow combat he describes, while maintaining a dry, sardonic sense of humor. This was a good book, and I'd definitely read more books set in this world if I had the chance.
February 5, 2016
This was a great fantasy story will well-written and compelling characters. It tells the story of a fighting monk who has lost his memories, and his journey to discover his past. Along the way he makes new friends and new enemies while discovering what his true nature may be. He goes on a number of interesting and exciting adventures, some related to his search for self, and other adventures that shine a light on what his self may be.
The enemies he encounters are interesting in their own right, and also help drive the story forward. One enemy in particular is so well-characterized that I wanted to reach into the book and strike him myself.
The book is a great read, and I was always reluctant to put the book down late in the evening.
The enemies he encounters are interesting in their own right, and also help drive the story forward. One enemy in particular is so well-characterized that I wanted to reach into the book and strike him myself.
The book is a great read, and I was always reluctant to put the book down late in the evening.
September 25, 2024
It's fiiiiiiiine? It's about an amnesiac Kung Fu detective on a quest to work out who he is, but the quest is the least interesting part, as anyone who just read the words "amnesiac Kung Fu detective" will understand. It really feels like a *great* concept squandered to deliver a bog-standard fantasy novel. It doesn't help that the quest (and a page or two later, the book) ends in such an abrupt but limp fashion that it feels like it should be a joke, except it's not funny.
Don't get me wrong, this is a decent, entertaining book, but my gosh, it could have been so much more.
Amnesiac Kung Fu detective. It could have been a series that ran and ran. Up walls probably.
Don't get me wrong, this is a decent, entertaining book, but my gosh, it could have been so much more.
Amnesiac Kung Fu detective. It could have been a series that ran and ran. Up walls probably.
October 18, 2015
A highly entertaining fantasy fable. You can see the borders of the D&D-inspired setting - frequent use of healing potions and handy enchanted items - but that doesn't detract from the drama or adventure. The story alternates between mystery, action, and gentle irony with deft pacing.
November 3, 2015
Really good fantasy novel with interesting characters and story. No extensive knowledge of the 13th Age setting is necessary, but it also doesn't hurt to have.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews