Ancients

Heroes by Necessity #1

by Riley S. Keene

An ancient force slumbers beneath the holy city of Khule, bound fast by a spell of immeasurable power.

And though none knows this spell’s purpose, or even why it exists, that makes it the perfect find for Athala Dohn, wizard and scholar extraordinaire. Determined to prove herself and finally gain the power she needs, Athala sets off into the dark underbelly of Khule, where more than just secrets lie in wait for her.

To aid her in her quest and protect her from the dangers lurking in the shadows, Athala enlists the help of the Conscript Elise and a barbarian named Ermolt, two companions with as much loyalty as skill…a combination that’s more than a match for their foes.

Or so they think.

Because once Athala learns the truth behind the spell and what it could mean for the world, she knows she’ll do anything to secure it and bring about a brighter future, a new era—the Age of Mortals. And that includes making an enemy of the man who runs the very prison they’ve been trapped in, a sadistic deputy warden with the power to torture them all until Athala reveals what she knows about the spell and how to control it.

Genres: Fantasy

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 30, 2017

About the author

Riley S. Keene is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing duo, also known as Robert and Kristen. They live in the Pacific Northwest and enjoy the rainstorms, lack of sunlight, and excess oxygen that come with living in that part of the US.
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Robert is a Pacific Northwest native who has a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences. He has a love for video games and a dislike for pretty much everything else. Robert is in charge of writing the first draft for all of our books.
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Kristen was born and raised in a town outside of Philadelphia. She has a degree in Multimedia Design and works full-time as a marketer for a Seattle engineering firm. She loves gloomy weather, good books, food made from animals, and spending time with Robert. Kristen is in charge of outlining and editing for all of our books.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ancients (Heroes by Necessity Book 1) by Riley S. Keene is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. It is a book with dragons, spells, and lots of violence in battle and torture. 80% of the book takes place in a prison where the main characters are being tortured. That is most of the book...spells to partially heal then continue torture. We finally get to see the Dragon on the last few pages.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Heroes of Necessity series and has three main characters. Athala, a wizard, who has developed a spell that has found an ancient hidden spell underneath the holy city of Khule. Elise, a Conscript of Ydia and Ermolt, a Barbarian from the North, both hired to accompany her in this possibly dangerous endeavour and to act as her protection. Athala wants the spell she has detected, but has no idea what the spell is protecting or hiding.

The three of them go down into the sewers and underground tunnel systems beneath the city and the Temple of Ydia, hoping to be prepared for whatever they may come across. They find their way halted by the long-term leeching of magic into the ground around them and creating abnormalities such as enormous creatures and animated skeletons. Attacked by groups of rats, the size of wolves, and even more vicious. They have to allow Athala time to read the runes, found on the way, to understand which path to follow in the hunt for the spell.

Even trying to read the spell, causes more trouble, as there are built-in safeguards to protect the spell from those unworthy to receive it. One surprise for the three, is the discovery of a frozen dragon, far below the surface of the cavern they find themselves in. It seems however, that they are not the only ones after this spell and the power it could wield to the person that holds it. Before the spell can be completed by Athala, they come under attack by guards of unknown origin.

They find themselves carted off to jail, but not charged. It seems they will be held and tortured for the secrets they have discovered, by those working for the other side. The identity of, as yet unclear. The three must try to escape from their situation or the other side may get the spell first and who knows what the result may be.

A great tale of the Gods of old which factions still pray to and the beginnings of rule by man for man. The Gods have mostly forgotten mankind and don’t interact with them anymore. All the dragons were presumed dead hundreds of years before. For some, faith still plays an important role and beliefs are important to some of the group. Where this story will go next, I will have to wait and see when I get a chance to read the second book, Bargain.

This is a long read, but I end up staying up most of the night to finish it, as it is so interesting and intriguing, with what happens and the other characters you come across. One of the other prisoners was my favourite additional character and so important to what happened to the three. I’m sure he may pop up later (he definitely should!). It needs the length, to not rush the build-up of the world the characters live in and each of their personalities and idiosyncrasies. A fascinating story and plot that shows mush more to come.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about dragons, magic and spells. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Kathryn McCloskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are three main characters that the point of view switches between throughout the book. Athala is a wizard and a lesbian woman of colour who's searching for a spell. Elise is a conscript of Ydia (who's a goddess) and she's there to protect Athala. Then you've got Ermolt who's a giant barbarian hired to help protect Athala and he's also asexual.
I loved these characters so much and the best part of the book was their interactions. I could have read about them in the sewers searching for the spell for the whole book. Arguing about which way to go, getting lost and fighting giant rats and skeletons.
It all changes though when they get captured and imprisoned for trespassing. They spend pretty much the rest of the book in prison getting tortured. It's really gross and disturbing so if you don't like gore then skip the torture scenes.
The world building is what you can infer from the action. The city is barely described so you don't get a good sense of the wider world. This means there are no info dumps but I spent a lot of the book assuming things about the world based on what usually happens in fantasy.
I really enjoyed reading this because it's very character driven but I could have done with more explanation of why Athala wanted the spell other than intellectual curiosity.
I can't wait to read the next book.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads a lot like someone wrote up whatever happened in their RPG game – especially for the first 40% or so where the main trio are journeying ever-deeper into a dungeon, fighting rats and enchanted skeletons and stuff.

I guess the core plot is OK, but the book is extremely slow and the characters all feel pretty generic. There’s a lot of emotional whiplash too… like there’s a scene where they have to fight umpteen mooks at once, and they’re all having a great time knocking them out but then they accidentally kill one and this is The Worst Thing Ever. Then very late in the book, they’re all crying and upset about something Very Bad that’s about to happen, but the evil person doesn’t know their names so this immediately cheers them all up and they have a good giggle, even though the Very Bad Thing is still just about to happen. So, eh. I think this could’ve been saved with some rewriting, but clearly it wasn’t.

[Neil McGarva · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no problem with the basic premise/plot but I didn't enjoy this book and probably won't continue reading the series.
I think the main issue is that the author jumped into telling the story without considering how that story should be told.
e.g. Who are the conscripts, what makes them conscripts, what are their motivations, why is this conscript helping?
Why is everyone so reluctant to kill people that are trying to kill them and so stricken when they do, by accident?
Why did Detlev help them and leave them?
Why do they live in a flat but measure in fens?
Where is the back history and context of pretty much everything?
I just couldn't get into this story. Instead of enjoying the narrative I was trying to figure out who, why, what etc.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my Netgalley review, I choose to read this book because I am fantasy fan. Overall this was a good action-packed "quest" story. I liked the main characters and the storyline. This book could have been better by increasing character development and including a bit more backstory so the main protagonists are slightly less one dimensional. Also, the book does have quite a slow start and I felt the "why" behind their quest could have been more clearly defined earlier in the book. But worth it to keep reading.

[Luce · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know how RotK and BOFA each have like, 45 minutes too many of gratuitous, probably narratively unnecessary battle scenes? This is the book version of that. The second half is just endless, endless identical fights with guards. I…might read the second one, but only if the plot moves faster than a glacial pace.

[Debra Sykes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me forever to get into but once I started getting into it,
It is really good.

I hope you enjoy this book I am going to read the next one.

Thanks Riley Keene for the opportunity to read it this book as an arc.

[Tessi Greniewicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Can't wait to read the next one. It kept me wanting more and more. So you so should read this.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

A well done story. It does not feel like you are reading the same old fantasy story. Instead, you are enjoying a new spin on things.

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[Corinne Sparks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was... Okay! Its a pretty good fantasy *quest* with a barbarian and a wizard and a cleric, with dragons and evil prison guards and a mystical, runic language.
All good things! However, it felt a little stilted in places, mainly as the three main characters (perhaps maybe not quite so the barbarian) felt interchangeable. I had to re read the first few pages to work out who was the main 'voice' (before realising it was meant to switch POVs) and I still felt that Elise and the wizard girl sounded the same; this did not change throughout.
Because of this, a cracking story (which would do with a smidgen more world building) became... an okay story. Hence my star rating.

[Lara]

Just could not get into this book.