The Nameless Dwarf: the name that is not a name, but is far better than the one he left behind. Freed from the curse that turned him into the butcher of his own kind, he once crossed half a world to protect those who had survived.
Having worked out his penance and resettled his people in Arnoch, the ancient citadel of the Dwarf Lords, Nameless sets up home in the town of Brink.
Now, with everything a dwarf could possibly wish for–a gym, a beer hall, and a bawdy house across the road–his new life is a welcome break from a decade of adventure.
Then a blood-stained dwarf staggers into town with a message of doom: Arnoch has sunk beneath the waves, its last defense against the attack of a five-headed dragon.
The one slender hope remaining to the dwarves lies in their distant past: the Dwarf Lords, who had been created for perils such as this. But for centuries, they have been in exile on Thanatos, a death-world likely to change even the greatest of heroes.
With time running out for Arnoch, Nameless must find the Dwarf Lords and persuade them to come home.
Internationally bestselling and award winning author Derek Prior excels in fast-paced, high stakes epic fantasy adventure stories in which good ultimately triumphs, but always at a cost.
Taking familiar fantasy tropes as a point of departure, Prior expands upon them to explore friendship, betrayal, loyalty and heroism in worlds where evil is an ever-present reality, magic is both a curse and a blessing, and characters are tempered in battle.
Winner of best fantasy novel 2012 (The Nameless Dwarf: The Complete Chronicles)
Fantasy Faction semifinalist for the SPFBO 2018 (Ravine of Blood and Shadow)
FLEW through this in about a week. I had to know what would happen and how Nameless would help save the dwarves! I loved the depth to which some characters didn't emerge until this book in the saga. Remarkably well done! Great series :) Love the epilogue that alludes to a potentially next installment....??? PLEASE! :)
Finally, the build up from the previous three books comes to a satisfying conclusion as Nameless embarks on a suicide mission to restore the Dwarf Lords to the world of Aethir and save his people from an unspeakable horror.
The action in this book takes place mostly on the world of Thanatos, as the mission take Nameless and his companions into the cosmo's to locate ancient cousins of his own race of Dwarves. With a new canvas, Prior weaves an shadowy conflict that has plenty of mystery and intrigue.
Paced well, the story drags you along in it's wake as the story chugs along, a train on sturdy tracks. The full circle character arch's find their way to fruition and the story reaches a climax that, short of Nameless being revealed his name, is perfect to cap off a surprising quartet of novels.