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Legends of the Nameless Dwarf #2
Geas of the Black Axe
"A dwarf with no name is a dwarf most shamed." As the lands above the ravine city of Arx Gravis face their gravest peril, the last desperate hope of Creation lies in a dwarf with a grisly past: The Nameless Dwarf-a pariah, untouchable, the most cursed of dwarven kind. But in a world plagued by deception, where no action is free from risk, the road to salvation is shadowed with portents of blood.
- GenresFantasySword and Sorcery
540 pages, Paperback
Published January 16, 2016
6 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Derek Prior
79 books209 followersInternationally 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)
Website: www.derekprior.us
Twitter: @NamelessDwarf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dpprior
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)
Website: www.derekprior.us
Twitter: @NamelessDwarf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dpprior
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 2, 2016
Do you like your orange juice with or without pulp? I like pulp in my orange juice and more so in my sword and sorcery readings. This second book in the Nameless Dwarf series is everything the first one was: high quality writing, intense and deep storytelling in a rich, fully develop world of dark fantasy. Ironically, the richness of the world created is the reason why I drop my rating from 5 to 4 stars for this book (most people would give it 5 stars exactly for this reason). You see I enjoy the roughness, the raw, unrefined nature of the classic sword and sorcery tale and even if the spirit of classic sword and sorcery is present in the series, it is almost lost inside a too rich, too complex world-building for it's own good. The shear amount of intricate lore and background created by the author (a 5 star quality in most other genre) water down the fury of the story. I feel like I would have enjoy the adventures of Nameless even more if the story had been shorter, less richly detailed in it's world-building and more focus on the savageness of the quest. But make no mistake about it, this is a 5 star book to anybody else and one of the better, modern sensibilities sword and sorcery tale around; without pulp.
August 4, 2016
Continuing the saga! Really enjoy the story line and adventure of Nameless - Mix of frustration, sadness, excitement, and hope!
May 22, 2017
Geas of the Black Axe (Legends of the Nameless Dwarf Book 2) by D.P. Prior continues Nameless and his friends journey. With each book the reader gets to know them more and more. Each book also brings new creatures for them to battle. Lots of crazy, gory battle scenes, what fun! Love it. Well, you can't tickle monsters to death! I love this series.
November 14, 2016
Book 2
Unstoppable reading. Any idea's as to the tale twisting and going in one direction demands a swerve in multiple choices.
Unstoppable reading. Any idea's as to the tale twisting and going in one direction demands a swerve in multiple choices.
May 23, 2024
"Nothing that was worth achieving came without risk,"
"But intangible fears, be they born from powers he did not comprehend, or his own inner demons, Pierce him sharper than any blade; cut him right to the marrow."
Before: I was looking forward to this. With the heart breaking ending of the first book I was really hoping that Nameless would get a happier story.
During: The sentiment that, "nothing worth doing is ever easy" was repeated throughout the story. Considering Nameless's past I was desperately hoping that this would mean a story of redemption. A hard redemption arc but I had hope.
But then ... My hope started to fizzle. With each step towards his "freedom" Nameless changed. Hope was replaced with discomfort. And eventually dread.
After: I am utterly disappointed and frustrated by how this ended.
It was reading deja vu. But like a re-occurring nightmare. Nameless spends the first 2/3s of the book making friends and trying to do what's right. There is hope and joy and a little bit of redemption.
AND THEN it's all back to where we ended before. Nameless is bewitched by the Demiurgos again. He slaughters his people again. Is left bereft and crazy in grief. Again.
If the next book doesn't start to actually fix this I think that will be the end for me. I don't need to read the same heart breaking tale repeatedly.
"But intangible fears, be they born from powers he did not comprehend, or his own inner demons, Pierce him sharper than any blade; cut him right to the marrow."
Before: I was looking forward to this. With the heart breaking ending of the first book I was really hoping that Nameless would get a happier story.
During: The sentiment that, "nothing worth doing is ever easy" was repeated throughout the story. Considering Nameless's past I was desperately hoping that this would mean a story of redemption. A hard redemption arc but I had hope.
But then ... My hope started to fizzle. With each step towards his "freedom" Nameless changed. Hope was replaced with discomfort. And eventually dread.
After: I am utterly disappointed and frustrated by how this ended.
It was reading deja vu. But like a re-occurring nightmare. Nameless spends the first 2/3s of the book making friends and trying to do what's right. There is hope and joy and a little bit of redemption.
AND THEN it's all back to where we ended before. Nameless is bewitched by the Demiurgos again. He slaughters his people again. Is left bereft and crazy in grief. Again.
If the next book doesn't start to actually fix this I think that will be the end for me. I don't need to read the same heart breaking tale repeatedly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2018
Known only as Nameless, the Dwarf Carnifex is haunted by the death toll at his hands. Fleeing his homeland in the wake of his butchery, he embarks on a journey to destroy the Black Axe and end his suffering at it's deception.
The story itself is wrought with excitement and intrigue, but as Prior has done before, the ending seems a bit contrived, robbing me of the build up that seemed to go no where. While it ultimately serves a purpose, the overt savagery and destruction seemed unnecessary and a bit over the top. It almost makes the first 500 pages or so of the book redundant.
It wavered perilously close to a 4 star rating but ultimately the lack of a compelling ending knocked it down just a peg. Still a fun read, just be warned that there is a lot of brutality in this, the 2nd book in the quartet of the Legends of the Nameless Dwarf.
The story itself is wrought with excitement and intrigue, but as Prior has done before, the ending seems a bit contrived, robbing me of the build up that seemed to go no where. While it ultimately serves a purpose, the overt savagery and destruction seemed unnecessary and a bit over the top. It almost makes the first 500 pages or so of the book redundant.
It wavered perilously close to a 4 star rating but ultimately the lack of a compelling ending knocked it down just a peg. Still a fun read, just be warned that there is a lot of brutality in this, the 2nd book in the quartet of the Legends of the Nameless Dwarf.
May 12, 2020
I really liked this book partly because I like the dwarfs.The dwarf is the hero or anti-hero as it was.There were several other side characters but my favorite was an assassin.
The dwarf has already been shunned by dwarvenkind and his only real friend is the assassin.
The dwarf has already been shunned by dwarvenkind and his only real friend is the assassin.
June 9, 2023
This isn't my usual genre of books, but I'm kinda into. There are parts I like, and parts I say pass. So I'm on the fence with this series, but being who I am I have to finish them to know the whole story
September 6, 2017
I couldn't put it down. It's a very well written, intriguing story with lots of unexpected twists and turns. I have already started the 3rd book and it's proving to be just as good :)
November 3, 2022
Great story. It's obvious why this is a classic tale. A unique take on fantasy dwarves.
April 25, 2018
Metric system - Those are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it.
Book Storyline
- Originality: 4/5 stars
- Development: 4/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 5/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Funnyness: 3/5 stars
- Epicness: 4/5 stars
- Scaryness: 3/5 stars
- Smartness: 4/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 4/5 stars
- Plot twists: 3/5 stars
- Pace: 4/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Ending: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Holes: 1/5 negative stars
- Impact on series storyline: 5/5 stars
- Self contained (Y/N): Y x2
- Adult (Y/N): Y
- Violence level: High, surely high
- Tech level: Medieval with the ocasional futuristic plane ship and high tech gadget as relics
- Religion level: High
- Main genre: Quest
- Subgenre: Save the World, Subquests, Action, Betrayal and Tyranny
- Point of view: 2 main
- Aftertaste: Great!
Series Storyline
- Originality: 5/5 stars
- Development: 4/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 5/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Funnyness: 3/5 stars
- Epicness: 5/5 stars
- Scaryness: 3/5 stars
- Smartness: 4/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 4/5 stars
- Plot twists: 3/5 stars
- Pace: 3/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Holes: 2/5 negative stars
World
- Originality: 4/5 stars
- Variety: 4/5 stars
- Consistency: 4/5 stars
- Impact on the story: 5/5 stars
- Maps: 3/5 stars
- Real world (Y/N): N
- Fantasy based on real world (Y/N): Y and N
- Journey (Y/N): Y, multiple
- Main scenario: Lots of places
Characters Quantity
- Total amount: ~ 100
- Points of view: 2 main
- Main characters: 3
- Secondary: ~ 8
- Ordinary: 70 ~ 100
Characters Quality
- Overall: 4/5 stars
- Main: 5/5 stars
- Secondary: 3/5 stars
- Consistency: 5/5 stars
- Connection: 4/5 stars
- Notable best characters: Nameless, The philosopher
- Notable worse characters: Ludo, the guy following Ludo whose name I forgot
Rules
- Devised system: 4/5 stars
- System complexity: 4/5 stars
- System explanation: 2/5 stars
- Impact on storyline: 4/5 stars
- Rulebreaker (Y/N): N
- Type of Rule: Magic, magical high level tech, magical artifacts, and one or two somethings resembling magic but is not
▶◀
Great storyline, great style, dark fantasy, lots of death and gore with a pinch of evil in it.
It's divided in 3 parts.
The first part is the same story as told in Against the Unweaving but with no perspective from the character Shader. It's a really good story, with lots of action and a fantastic last battle.
The second part had me feeling in a very good Dungeons and Dragons campaign while reading. I kept imagining a bald philosopher wearing a toga acting as Dungeon Master and killing his players away.
Can't say much about the third part without spoilers, but it was really great.
Each of these are well deserving of 5 stars.
Book Storyline
- Originality: 4/5 stars
- Development: 4/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 5/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Funnyness: 3/5 stars
- Epicness: 4/5 stars
- Scaryness: 3/5 stars
- Smartness: 4/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 4/5 stars
- Plot twists: 3/5 stars
- Pace: 4/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Ending: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Holes: 1/5 negative stars
- Impact on series storyline: 5/5 stars
- Self contained (Y/N): Y x2
- Adult (Y/N): Y
- Violence level: High, surely high
- Tech level: Medieval with the ocasional futuristic plane ship and high tech gadget as relics
- Religion level: High
- Main genre: Quest
- Subgenre: Save the World, Subquests, Action, Betrayal and Tyranny
- Point of view: 2 main
- Aftertaste: Great!
Series Storyline
- Originality: 5/5 stars
- Development: 4/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 5/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Funnyness: 3/5 stars
- Epicness: 5/5 stars
- Scaryness: 3/5 stars
- Smartness: 4/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 4/5 stars
- Plot twists: 3/5 stars
- Pace: 3/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars
- Holes: 2/5 negative stars
World
- Originality: 4/5 stars
- Variety: 4/5 stars
- Consistency: 4/5 stars
- Impact on the story: 5/5 stars
- Maps: 3/5 stars
- Real world (Y/N): N
- Fantasy based on real world (Y/N): Y and N
- Journey (Y/N): Y, multiple
- Main scenario: Lots of places
Characters Quantity
- Total amount: ~ 100
- Points of view: 2 main
- Main characters: 3
- Secondary: ~ 8
- Ordinary: 70 ~ 100
Characters Quality
- Overall: 4/5 stars
- Main: 5/5 stars
- Secondary: 3/5 stars
- Consistency: 5/5 stars
- Connection: 4/5 stars
- Notable best characters: Nameless, The philosopher
- Notable worse characters: Ludo, the guy following Ludo whose name I forgot
Rules
- Devised system: 4/5 stars
- System complexity: 4/5 stars
- System explanation: 2/5 stars
- Impact on storyline: 4/5 stars
- Rulebreaker (Y/N): N
- Type of Rule: Magic, magical high level tech, magical artifacts, and one or two somethings resembling magic but is not
▶◀
Great storyline, great style, dark fantasy, lots of death and gore with a pinch of evil in it.
It's divided in 3 parts.
The first part is the same story as told in Against the Unweaving but with no perspective from the character Shader. It's a really good story, with lots of action and a fantastic last battle.
The second part had me feeling in a very good Dungeons and Dragons campaign while reading. I kept imagining a bald philosopher wearing a toga acting as Dungeon Master and killing his players away.
Can't say much about the third part without spoilers, but it was really great.
Each of these are well deserving of 5 stars.
July 8, 2016
I enjoyed it so much that even though I have approximately 40 books to read at this time, I went directly from the end of this ebook to Amazon to buy REVENGE OF THE LICH, the third book in this series. I can say nothing regarding the story without spoiling it for you. You can now buy the 4 book set for less than individual costs. So I recommend that you buy it because if you read the first you will be hooked!
July 9, 2016
Just finished book 2, Geas of the Black Axe. It's got just as much action as book 1. I enjoyed it a lot. Onto book 3, Revenge of the Lich. I read this in Legends of the Nameless Dwarf The Complete Saga.
August 29, 2021
What true grimdark fantasy should be like, gritty brutal and bloody, a masterpiece.
April 27, 2017
very well written. The story flows so well that I find it hard to differentiate one book from another. The story has many parts but the whole of it is gripping, expansive and full of substance and texture. To be honest I think I've read every book in the series at least twice.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews