The Thousand Scars

Counterbalance #1

by Michael R. Baker

The greatest war since the time of ancient Chaos has reached the Balian Empire. Within the Balian council, a rogue faction unleashes an unthinkable dark magic to defeat its enemies. As the Empire loses ground, disgraced scholar and exile Tyrone Cessil is forced to go on the run. His only chance is with a band of cutthroat mercenaries, the Thousand Scars.

Tyrone’s new commander is the notorious and hated Necromancer, Tyir of Irene. Life with the Scars is hard, but Tyrone believes the Necromancer can stop the Empire’s forbidden sorcery. Tyir leads the Scars on a campaign of bloody vengeance, and they commit acts of horrific brutality, leading Tyrone to question the price he is willing to pay to survive. The Thousand Scars will bleed the world. And they will save it.

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

376 pages, Paperback

Published December 7, 2017

About the author

Michael R. Baker studied history at University of Sunderland, and at last he found a use for his degree. The idea for Counterbalance came off the back of an exhausting bus journey, ironically starting an even longer voyage into writing and publishing fantasy. Alongside his passion for storytelling and worldbuilding, Michael is an avid video gamer and cartographer, bringing his fantasy world and others from the mind onto paper reality. The Thousand Scars is Michael’s debut novel, and the first of the epic fantasy series.

Reviews

[Kitty G Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book of my SPFBO4 (self-published fantasy blog off 2018) titles that I got around to reading and I have to say this one was a dark, dark read with a whole lot of grim thrown in. We follow a lot of different groups of people, each with their own agendas, morals and destinies, and we see how corrupt, spooky and ominous the magic of this world can be too.

I would definitely start by discussing the dark tone of this one. There are a lot of very grim scenes involving flesh, blood, gore, and burning people alive (this is seen as a way to stop them going to their version of Heaven). I don’t think this will be a title that many who don’t enjoy Grimdark would like, but if you do like that subgenre then you may well find some good moments in this tale.

We have quite a few opposing forces to become familiar with through our various characters. As part of the Balian Empire, facing off against the Dominion (an invading force), we have the Pharos Order, The Thousand Scars, The Ironhearts, and many more roving clans and tribes. Each group have their own ideas about how to fight the Dominion, and some are prepared to go to greater lengths than others such as joining with long-time enemies within the Empire or even breaking old magic laws to summon and command great forces…

Some of the characters we follow in detail included:

Tyrone Cessil – A young man who has left his family behind to go to an entirely new part of the world and set up life there. Suddenly his part of the Empire is invaded and destroyed and he’s forced to join The Thousand Scars under a Necromancer – Tyir.

Tyir of Irene – A necromancer known for having destroyed many of the Order’s people and using powerful dark arts. Tyir wants vengeance for the death of his friend by the Order under the Empire and also to show what the magic can do.

Nazir Cessil – Commander of Western part of the Empire who is trying to gain more troops from the surrounding Clans in order to take on the Dominion and avenge a death in his family.

Lance – Ironhearts mercenaries are commanded by Lance. Normally enemies of the Scars but prepared to work together to counter the bigger threats and we see how Lance’s battle skills are tested time and time again when working with other groups and fighting on many fronts.

The plot of this one is largely focused on each of the individual characters and how they fit in with the rest of the world, the movements of troops, magic, and warfare. There’s a lot of fighting throughout, and many moments where we see battles being played out or hear about them from our characters.

I would say that I think the beginning of this book is pretty slow moving and it was around the middle of the book where I started to become more invested and excited by what was playing out before me on the page. Personally I don’t love battle scenes unless they are spectacular, and many of the scenes in this book are particularly gruesome and grim, with rape and more happening on the scene. I wasn’t the biggest fan of that, and found that probably there were a few too many moments of this for my liking, but I appreciate that the tone is rather bleak throughout and it’s intentional.

The copy of the book I have (an ebook version) had quite a few grammatical issues/spelling issues and also some sentences that could have been structured much better. I think with a very thorough copy-edit and proof-read this book could be a lot more streamlined and fun for the reader, but this is of course part of being self-published and not having the bigger budget of the publishing houses so is very forgivable in this competition.

On the whole, I think this story did engage me in the second half, and the necromancy and magic elements were a lot of fun to follow. Some of the characters are really enjoyable, and there are some very fun moments, but in terms of the politics of the world and the various groups of people to follow I felt that it was a little overwhelming and didn’t really explain how everything worked together for a while. I did realise at the end of the book that there is a kind of glossary/codex, which is a lot more helpful, but as an author-generated ebook it didn't show up and I couldn’t skip to the end easily.

In the end, I would say this is a book that will appeal to grimdark readers and those who enjoy a solid battle scene and political manoeuvring with magic at the forefront and a lot of characters to follow. It wasn’t my favourite read in the grimdark genre, and could do with a bit of tidying up on the writing itself, but it’s very readable, and the fact that I read it all speaks highly of it too. I gave it 2.75*/5* or 5.5/10 for the purposes of SPFBO.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I'm a fan of grimdark fantasy. My definition is dark and gritty fantasy where the protagonists are morally ambiguous, nobility isn't romanticized, the villains are genuinely monstrous, war is hellish, and any gods or supernatural forces are either horrifying or ambiguous themselves. By this definition, A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE isn't completely grimdark because Jon Snow exists along with other purely good heroes.

The problem with most grimdark fantasy is it's very easy to write really bad stories with shock value and very hard to write good fantasy the same way. There's also a lot of stories which slap the label of grimdark on their back covers or advertisements without actually having any of the grit the "real" grimdark requires. For every Mark Lawrence, Rob J. Hayes, and Joe Abercombie there's a dozen hacks who don't deserve the mantle. I'm not naming names, but you know who you are C.T. Phipps.

What does this have to do with THE THOUSAND SCARS? The Thousand Scars is grimdark and it is gloriously so. I am going to state that with the exception of WHERE LOYALTIES LIE by Rob J. Hayes and THE GRAY SISTER by Mark Lawrence, it is the purest example of the genre I've read this year. It's also great. I don't hand out 5 star ratings wily-nilly and this one genuinely earned it. This book is great and if you like dark, gritty, and brutal fiction then this is the book for you.

The premise is the Balian Empire is a corrupt oligarchy that decided to bite off more than they could chew by attacking the Dominion. Unlike most grimdark fantasy, this is not Northern European fantasy but Southern European with a strong Greece versus Persia feel. The Balian Empire is being exterminated due to the many atrocities they wrecked against the Dominion and are now hoping to turn to necromancy in order to reverse the tide. The thing is, the protagonist Tyir, is the only necromancer they know and he's the leader of the Thousand Scars mercenary group. He also has no desire to help them.

It takes roughly half the book to get to the Thousand Scars portion but its' well worth it as they are a band of degenerate scum who still manage to be somewhat likable. Well, likeable in the sense you want to get to know them better before you hope someone puts them down. We see much of their activity both good and bad. One effective story is told by one of them about an Innkeeper's daughter that, well, says everything you need to know about these people.

Thankfully, to keep the story from being too dark, we have a secondary protagonist in Tyrone. Tyrone is a genuinely good person who is caught in the impossible situation of having his land overrun by invaders, his government insane with desperation, and his companions to be monsters. I liked the contrast even if I could tell he was someone who was going down the highway to hell by associating with the people he was.

Michael R. Baker is a master of writing battle scenes as each one contributes to the character development of not only the participants but the societies involved. He manages to capture the horror and confusion of the conflicts as well as how people on the ground would feel when dragons or Greek fire are used.

In conclusion, this is a great book and everyone who likes gritty unapologetic dark fantasy should check it out. This book pulls no punches but it is stronger for the event. I also liked the fact it's set in a Greece-like environment rather than your typical stand-in for England.

5/5

[Ty Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of indie / underground dark fantasy and grimdark lately, and when I first came across this one I had no idea what to make of it based on the cover. Is that a whale or a ship or what the heck is going on? My expectations were low, but the end product completely blew me away.

Most of the pitfalls of indie fiction are entirely gone here. Sure, there may be a few issues here and there were repeated words could have been changed up, but overall this is really high quality and I wasn't constantly wishing for an editor to show up, as I do with many other self-published books.

Although less sprawling and complicated, for much of the book I was reminded of the tone of Malazan. There are plenty of factions who all want different outcomes and aren't necessarily working well together during war time, along with plenty of interesting characters making up those factions. Several segments had me thinking of the back and forth conversations of the Bridgeburners.

A really great balance is also struck between the action-heavy segments and the character-building ones were people are planning attacks or copying dusty tomes in libraries. There really aren't any noble or altruistic characters, just ones who are more sane or less willing to commit violent atrocities to win.

The magic system and religious and government structures are quite a bit different from your standard European high fantasy, which is a welcome change of pace. Overall really enjoyed this one and would like to see more from the author.

[Lee Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review of
The Thousand Scars
by Michael R Baker

Just finished reading The Thousand Scars by Michael R Baker - it was gritty and awesome. It is the first book of his Counterbalance series. This is also a fellow SPFBO entrant and it looked great so I had to give it a read.

In short, it’s about an outlawed grizzly mercenary company led by a necromancer, who fights for survival against a great enemy. The company is full of cutthroats, murders, rapists and hardened warriors and have a grim set of morals – and these are the good guys.
The great Balian Empire is being invaded by a powerful enemy and they are losing, the only way to save themselves is by unleashing a ancient and terrible ritual with the power to win the war.
There are several big characters. First is Tyrone, whose chapters dominate the first half of the book as probably the main character. He is a noble scholar who is made an outlaw after the destruction of his home city and has no choice but to join up with The Thousand Scars.
His father, Nazir, who fights for the empire, in a war against the great invader, but also on the other side to The Thousand Scars too. He has a cool story line which keeps us up to date with “the bad guys”.
The later half of the book is mostly the mercenary captain’s chapters. There is Tyir the necromancer who leads the company, charismatic but still very dark – I wouldn’t mess with him. He is able to raise the dead to fight for him – which is kick ass. He is possibly my favourite character and I suspect, for me, the star of the show.
There is another rival mercenary leader Lance Ironheart, an old enemy, who The Thousand Scars must ally with to do battle with the greater evil.
There are several other cool characters but these are the main POV characters which tell various sides of the story to unveil a huge world and plot. The scene has a very ancient Greek or ancient classical Mediterranean bronze age feel to the setting which I found really great.
All in all I really enjoyed this book, it was well written and I loved the grittiness of events that transpire. The characters are great and I was quickly on-board with all of them. The whole undead thing is right up my street too and I really enjoyed it. Mr Baker’s “dead” were really well done.
I look forward to reading Michael R Bakers’s future books in the series and to finding out more about the counterbalance and Tyir. I would very much recommend it to any fan of dark fantasy and feel compelled to give it 5 stars.

Thanks for reading,
Lee

[Michael Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm relatively new to military Fantasy. That said, I'm quite certain that Michael Baker has crafted an absolutely fantastic novel.

The Thousand Scars begins with a war between two parties, the Balian Empire and the Dominion. We are led to believe based on POV and perspective that the Balian Empire is the faction to root for, and that's just fine. We are introduced to a number of characters that, through dialogue as opposed to exposition, explain the history of the war. We also learn that the dominion destroys the city of Valare with sorcery and that necromancy was used to hold the Domnion at bay.

The main story revolves around two major points of view. Tyrone Cessil, a young warrior from the destroyed city of Valare, with no hope to cling to and all his friends dead in battle,joins a mercenary group called The Thousand Scars, which is spearheaded by Tyir, the feared and hated necromancer that secretly turned the tables in the battle against the dominion. With the catchphrase "The Thousand Scars will bleed the world" , Tyir and a band of debauched mercenaries with young Tyrone at their side simply clinging to his survival instinct set out to wreck havoc against the corruption of the Empire, who we learn is not nearly as just as we are led to believe.

On the other side of the coin is the main political intrigue of the story which focuses on Aldmer, the leader of the Empire, and his attempt to sway Tyir to their side to be used as a tool In battle. It's here that we are introduced to Baker's amazing use of gray characters in his incredibly Grimdark world. We see lines crossed to achieve results that are shocking and disturbing and much like GRRM, will leave your mouth open with disbelief as beloved characters die, and loyalties shift. It's through these sections that we learn what it means for the victors to write the histories of war, and we realize everything we thought we knew was wrong .

While Baker writes some exceptionally well choreographed battles that are fun and easy to follow, it is his character moments that make the novel such a great read. Tyrone is a truly conflicted character. He's lost everything he values so he takes a chance at a new life, but what he sees as a member of the Scars keeps him constantly at war with his own morals, his desperation, and his anger and desire for change. Tyir is also a wonderful multidimensional character who shifts his presence from Jedi Master/Father figure to Tyrone, to crazed bloodthirsty killer often in a matter of pages. While we root for him and The Scars, we know at the core of it that they have committed monstrous atrocities.

I have read books that are more complex. I have read books that are more flowery and poetic in their prose, but one thing I can clearly state is that Baker has set up something amazing with this novel. His incredible pacing, high energy battles, and quirky dialogue (especially between members of The Scars) will keep you turning pages long in to the night. As a debut novel, The Thousand Scars is one of the finest I've read in the Fantasy genre, and Baker has me invested in his world and stoked for the next instalment.

[Shawn Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing that stands out about this book is the setting. There is impressive world-building at work here—this is clearly Baker's passion.

The story itself, however, suffers from pacing issues from early on. There's a large amount of filler text, a lot of telling rather than showing, and several potential battle scenes that were summarized rather than being lived in the moment.
The dialogue also frequently feels awkward to me.

It bears mentioning that the editing was poorly done, especially for the book having been published by an actual press, albeit a small one.

Still, there are good aspects. The characters are varied and interesting, and there are no enormous info dumps, which is a huge bonus. Baker seems confident he has created a fully realized setting and is content with showing it to his readers in due course. I loved this! Many writers forget that a part of great world-building comes in proper exposition, and Baker achieves this beautifully.

When all is said and done, the book was worth the read, but it could easily be 4-star material if the editing and pacing issues were cleaned up.

[Michael Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘We must stop the killing, or we’ll lose the war’ – ‘Old priest’ Dawn of the Dead


Let me get two things out the way right now. 1) I know the author of this book; he’s a close friend of mine. 2) Just because Michael Baker is a friend of mine does not mean I’m going to be shying away from the flaws in this book. Another thing I should make clear straight away is that I am not an avid fantasy reader – and as such, I don’t really know if this is a book that will appeal to fantasy readers. All I can do is approach it as a book as a reader of literary fiction and poetry, and who has a guilty pleasure for horror.

There comes a time in every reader’s life (or at least, there should) when they set aside reading for mere pleasure, and find out more about the sheer beauty and majesty that is potentially in the written word. There are other times when all you want to do is lay on a couch with a bag of Maltesers, and one leg hanging loosely over the edge, reading something you don’t need to think very hard about. Thankfully I was very much in the second mood when I sat down to read this. It meant that I could forgive a lot of the flaws – I noticed them, but it just was not something that would make me stop reading, like it would have been if I was reading something else, and/or in a different frame of mind. Admittedly, too, because I know the author, I did also feel more of a compulsion to read it to the end than I otherwise would have done out of a sense of loyalty to a buddy.

However, despite the tone I might be setting with those two opening paragraphs, I honestly found this book a lot of fun to read. I was at best neutral to the first two chapters, the very first chapter is sadly very weak, but as I was making my way through chapter 3 and I was making some notes on the book with my phone kindle – highlighting errors and flaws – I found myself eagerly typing up my note so I could return to the story and (as cliché as this will sound) find out what happened next in the street battle the chapter depicted. So, there you have it. This book, despite the flaws I will get in to, is I think a lot of fun, and so is worth celebrating for that and that alone. For a book to be great I think it needs to be both fun to read and also having a certain depth and poetic complexity, and if depth and poetry is not to be found, then simply being fun to read can be good enough to mark a book out as worth reading, just for the fun of it.

It needs to be stated that the writing quality here is by and large competent, but it never elevates itself with more poetic, ambitious uses of language. This by itself is not needed to write a ‘good book’ of course, but a little more ambition with the writing would have been a bit more appreciated. This is more nit-picking than anything else, and again the writing itself is by and large competent, if prone to clichés. Examples being: 1) Characters and things endlessly grinning. 2) Characters shivering with fear – no matter what sort of things they have seen before, or no matter how grizzled and experienced in combat, every so often a character is described as shivering, to the point where it becomes rather distracting. 3) The use of very stock, cliché sentences, such as: a ‘swarm’ of attackers, ‘All hell broke loose’, ‘try as he might’ and ‘stretch his legs’, 4) People in positions of power (like, say, leaders of an army) giving orders not to be disturbed despite events around them being very desperate - like a war. 5) One character telling another that something they ask about is a ‘long story’, especially when it isn’t. There is, too, in the kindle version the occasional typo, but I’ve made notes of them, and will send them to the publisher soon after posting this review.

However, it must be said that there are examples of very good writing too. One of my favourite examples is ‘Penor, his white armor pale as winter’s snow’ – which is in and of itself a beautiful image, and also emphasises the coolness and control of that character; it’s good writing. And also it must be said that the characters develop very naturally, especially Tyrone and Horse who get the most attention in the book. Also, the battle scenes in this novel are excellent, and they convey the emotion and the hectic nature of what the battles would really be like superbly.

Sadly, there are a lot more battles that are reported to the audience, but are not seen. Given how frankly excellent the battle scenes are in this book, such a structure is frankly a mystery, but the end results of interesting events are given to us second hand for most of the novel – there are only four battle scenes in a novel about a huge, intercontinental war. The effect is like there is a really cool party going on in the next room, with really good music or a great live band, and lots of cool people there, but we the readers never get to go into the next room and join in.

There is also a major problem with exposition in the novel. Sometimes it becomes frankly overbearing. In almost every major scene, where a conversation decides the course of the plot, the characters start spouting Shakespearian soliloquies of exposition that slows the pace of the story immensely. While this is obviously to show the detail of thought put into the world – a better balance of exposition and narration is called for here. There could have been shorter scenes, better plotted, to let all this exposition come out more naturally. As it is, this novel occasionally reads like Hamlet or something, with long sentences and paragraphs packed with detail that, that while needed for world building - this is a novel and not a play, and so should have more room to breathe than these scenes come across as having. It always feels unnatural.

The most glaring example of this is when the character Horse gives Tyrone (the protagonist, if this book has one) a bow, and then both characters admit they know a lot about this kind of bow – being famous in the world – but then there are a couple of long, expositional paragraphs detailing a history of the bow and it’s properties, and the bow’s use in war. It perhaps would have been much better, since at this point in the story they are walking somewhere, for the two characters to take time out to practice with the bow, where Horse and Tyrone could then talk about it while using it. This would allow us the reader to get a more direct sense of the quality of the weapon, but also to allow such a lore-establishing conversation to seem much more natural – and thus weaving the exposition better with the narrative.

This is a major criticism to be made of the book in general. But another point to bring up is how the world feels as a concept. One of the best moments in the novel is when, near the end, the Thousand Scars enter the city of Tarantown, and walk around a city that is living a (relatively) normal existence, where buying and trading is taking place, and people are living normal lives. This moment is so good, because it is so ordinary, and we see a glimpse of the world as it would be in peace time - and we see something of the working class of this world, which gives it a great breath of life (ironic, since it is a novel focused on following a necromancer). The book would be well served with more of these glimpses, or more shots of the suffering the war is causing would allow us to sympathise more with the characters, and their situations. The author has this elaborate, and actually quite interesting world for this story to take place in, and a great amount of information is given to us as readers that shows this depth of planning, but there are few points in the narrative where the world is being allowed to breathe.

The world itself is depicted as quite a brutal place, and there is an attempt to have a moral greyness that makes this book more than a battle between good and evil. The Empire does execute presumed enemies of the state that are probably innocent of their ‘crimes’ (when has there ever been a ‘good’ empire in fantasy fiction?), and this would be better if the Dominion, the great enemy of The Empire, were portrayed in much the same light. True we only get the perspective of the people of The Empire, and they would be biased, and so more depth is perhaps to come later in the series to The Dominion, but as it stands they are portrayed as almost comically evil. The two great Dominion invasion forces in the war are led by people who seem frankly demonic, and their utilisation of weird magical animals like serpents and dragons, and the fact that none of the Dominion forces are humanized, makes this less gray, but more conflicting shades of black, and as a reader I don’t find I particularly respond well to that. Grey is not just a dark colour, it’s made with a hint of light. The world, then, is grim, and unrelentingly grim, and if you are the sort of reader to whom that appeals then you’ll find this book more agreeable than others will.

Tyrone, the defacto protagonist of this novel (it would be wrong to call him the protagonist exactly), is followed for most of the way, but in the last two chapters he seems to disappear completely. This seems frankly odd, we as readers spend most of the book with him, and it’s easy to assume he is the protagonist of the novel, and yet for attention to suddenly be diverted elsewhere during the final two chapters seems mysterious – future instalments will have to tell us where he is.

A final point to make is that, and I am no prude by any means, the use of bad language in this book lacks much restraint. Yes, the book deals with plenty of unsavoury characters, and of course most people will swear in their everyday life (in my personal life I swear more than should ever be considered appropriate) but context does matter. One scene where this was glaring was when there was a war council called by the defacto Emperor Bane Aldmer in chapter 4, and while the people present are the military establishment, the characters are swearing like drunken sailors. It’s jarring, surely highly esteemed military men would have both more restraint, no matter what the circumstances, and more decorum than this, because the war council is ultimately official business and so demanding of a certain respect – I would have thought so anyway.

There is a sense that this book would suffer from much over-analysis however, and despite its faults this book is admittedly very engaging. The author clearly had fun writing this novel, and it is very easy to sense – and a great amount of passion has gone into constructing a vast and detailed history of his world. It is, then, a very fun novel to read, and if that was the goal then the author has succeeded very admirably. There is also plenty of intrigue and mystery remaining to make the next instalments in this series appealing. The author has started a series I do see myself wanting to see more of, and I will be reading the next book. As much as he may now hate me for it.

[Keith McArdle · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Warning spoilers! Continue at your peril...Muhahaha!***

Sorry...



I just finished reading Michael Baker's 'The Thousand Scars' which is the first novel in his Counterbalance series. It's dark, gritty and although some people may disagree with me, I'd say it's not without hope. Although that may seem a far reach upon reading the first half of the book.

In brief, the Dominion has invaded (in retribution for what has been done to them in the past). They are numerically and militarily superior to the Balian Empire and as I said, it feels like all hope is lost. Tyrone, one of the main characters, reluctantly joins The Thousand Scars after his homeland is decimated by the Dominion. The Thousand Scars is a mercenary band of cutthroats and to begin with, he doesn't really fit in. One character to whom I was drawn was Horse, who looked out for Tyrone and showed him the ropes, so to speak.

Tyir is a small time necromancer who is a novice at the art, but he is also the commander of The Thousand Scars. I liked him too, he was interesting, three dimensional, and to begin with, I wondered where his allegiance would lie with the war slowly advancing to his doorstep. He and his band of merry cutthroats decide the Dominion need defeating, but they know they'll need the help of the Keidan (a force more powerful than the Scars, with a powerful resource Tyir needs to get the job done).

They don't initially make it to the Keidan, but I won't go into more detail, save it to say that it definitely wasn't smooth sailing for the poor buggers.

I enjoyed this adventure and with the binding of three unlikely forces together to fight the Dominion, the book finished. I look forward to seeing where Michael takes us in this series. I do like it that even though the three forces (usually not overly friendly to one another in the past) were allied together it still left me wondering whether it truly was enough to even make a dent against the Dominion.

Time will tell, I guess.

[Rebekah Teller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a grim account of a war that brings unlikely allies and possibly the end of all existence.

Necromancy is a rare but powerful art in this world, and I enjoyed the exploration into that. There is a prominent necromancer Tyir, who leads a group of warriors and scoundrels who are mostly evil individuals. His past experiences become a point of conflict with potential allies and they all have trouble trusting anyone.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of, several point of view characters, and omniscient POV in some parts. There are a variety of court rooms, council meetings and strategy sessions. It's a strange critique to have, but I felt like there was too much dialogue. Nobles and commanders spend a lot of time discussing the war and what is going on out there, and I wanted to be out there more rather than in the meeting.

This is a complex world with multiple planes of existence, and deeply developed history, religions, and political conflicts. I struggled to stay immersed in the story. There were few times I could connect with the characters. The most interesting character to me was Tyrone and I feel like we got to know him better than the others. He and his father are on opposite sides of this war so there's a bit of intrigue about that.

The Thousand Scars is for readers who enjoy an emphasis on the politics of war, the evil violence it begets, and the inherent darkness of necromancy.

[The Reading Ruru (Kerry) · Rating 4 out of 5]

great necromancy & a band of nasty heroes - what more could want except for book 2. look forward to reading more Scar escapades

[John Flukinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Baker’s The Thousand Scars is a dark fantasy novel, the first in a running series called Counterbalance. In short, the plot is as follows: beaten and broken due to a five-year-long war with the Selpvian Dominion, a faction within the Balian Empire grows desperate to defeat the seemingly unstoppable foe and covets a powerful artifact they are sure will help them secure victory, but…how far are they willing to go?

The major players in this story are as follows:
The Balian Empire - The setting of this book on the continent of Harloph. A faction that owes their allegiance to the Empire, led by the de-facto ruler Bane Aldmer is willing to do the unthinkable if it means saving themselves.

The Pharos Order - A religious order, allied with the Empire; they offer various goods such as education, medicine, and weddings…however their strict adherence to their religion and the belief of their superiority over all others has left them quite hated.

The Thousand Scars - Mercenary band led by the necromancer Tyir who wishes to destroy the Order for what they had done to him and his followers. Tyir also suspects that the Empire plans to dabble in dark magic far beyond their comprehension, a magic that could destroy the world so he feels compelled to stop them.

The Selpvian Dominion - The army from Klassos, a neighboring continent. They’re a powerhouse that’s currently stomping the Balian Empire into the dirt.

The Ironhearts- Led by Bawsor diplomat Lance Ironheart, this former mercenary group came from Klassos and soon find themselves on a perilous journey unlike anything they’ve ever dreamed of.

There are only a few critiques I’d like to touch on:



POV Trouble
While we get plenty of insight into the minds of the Balian Empire, the Thousand Scars, and Ironhearts, I’m sad to say we don’t get nearly any of it from the Keidan, the Order, or the Dominion — especially the Dominion as it’s their invasion into the Balian Empire that kicks off the story at all. They’re depicted as this looming, night unstoppable threat so one would think there’d be chapters dedicated to the Dominion so we could learn why they’re invading.

Indeed, throughout most of the book we center around either Tyrone, the son of a Balian house who finds himself traveling with Tyir, or Nazir – Aldmer’s right-hand-man, and even a bit of Lance’s POV near the end as he commands his Ironhearts. We’re given plenty of reasons to hate the Order and the Dominion from Aldmer, Tyir, Tyrone, and Lance, but this runs the risk of turning the Order and the Dominion as flat, one-dimensional villains whose only goal is to go, “Muwahahahaha, I terrorize the people for shits and giggles. Oh, and all your lands belong to me.”

By dedicating chapters to characters from those factions, we see the same conflict from their point of view. Maybe the Order has a reason why they feel they’re superior. Perhaps the Dominion has some legit reason why they seek to conquer the Balian Empire. We don’t have to agree with them, but we can see that they, too, have a stake in the whole plot and who knows? It might shine a bit of light on the likes of Tyir and Aldmer. Every story has two sides, and each side sees themselves as the heroic victim battling the world. Perhaps to the Dominion, Aldmer is this vicious monster that must be destroyed, and look, they have ample enough evidence to prove it.

DESCRIPTION
OK, this is a case of ‘your mileage may vary’, in that some people want more description while others adhere to a ‘less is best’ philosophy. I won’t contest that – however I have noticed that Michael doesn’t exactly pay a whole lot of detail to a character’s actual appearance like he does the landscape. He’ll take just a few sentences to describe a house, or a paragraph to describe a Cliffside. This is perfect, however when it comes to characters we just get a broad sense of their physical shape. For instance, I knew Tyrone was boyish in appearance, but I couldn’t quite **see** him. I imagined him as Peter Dinklage, which I’m not sure that was the image Michael intended. Or later, chapters after we meet Isran (one of the Ironhearts), we learn he has a mustache when its described that they “twitch like a fly.” Now, it’s not that wholly important that we know he has a mustache, but I’d have liked it if we knew that physical detail when he first appeared and his description was being laid out.

The other critique here is that sometimes the description will be disjointed or oddly placed in what’s otherwise a very important scene such as near the climax. A runner comes in with crucial information and midway through his intel, we learn that he’s a slender, youthful man. Or one of the soldiers starts boasting about how he’ll live through the fight, then he slaps his belly, causing his jowls to wobble.

As far as the runner, this is fixable by simply having the narrator see a slender, youthful man bursting through, gasping and out of breath. We learn he’s a runner and then begin his information.

Now that the criticism is out of the way, let’s end the review on a good note!

THE GOOD THINGS!
First, Michael’s command of action scenes cannot be overstated. I could actually follow what was happening even in the middle of all the chaos. I think it’s due to his focusing squarely on one central character rather than spanning it on all fronts like many other fantasies are wont to do. We focused more on the character’s emotions and thoughts – all five senses were in play to bring us right into the battlefield. It would’ve been so easy to get lost, yet he managed to hold my attention and guide me through the battles.

Secondly, the atmosphere and tone of the book. I don’t recall a scene where it felt too out of place (as in, too dark or too light.) I was able to feel the desperation the characters felt during their travels, yet it wasn’t too bleak that I stopped caring. This is what’s called ‘Audience Induced Apathy’, a trope where if you make your characters suffer too much, the readers just don’t care anymore. He balanced out the desperation with lighthearted moments such as the interactions with the Thousand Scars among themselves and Tyrone. You really felt a sense of kinship and brotherhood, and I would’ve liked more scenes where Tyrone bonded with them as he does with Horse. Hopefully this will be expanded in future installments so as we can have a deeper connection with the characters.

The third bit I enjoyed was how we saw the same conflict from the perspective of the Thousand Scars, Aldmer, and even the Ironhearts. I touched on this briefly when I discussed how I wish this were so for the Dominion and the Order, but what we do have is enough for me to get a much better picture on what’s at stake, and best part, it showcases how each POV character felt about the other when they happened to meet.

FINAL VERDICT
All in all, this book was quite interesting. The setting was compelling, and the tone and atmosphere just right. I never thought it too dark or too light. The plot was compelling enough for me to continue reading, and it felt like all the characters were working toward an eventual goal. Just a few minor adjustments here and there to work out for the sequels and I think it’ll be perfect. I look forward to future installments of this series.

I rate this book a 4/5!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a slightly confused opening, with a number of un-signposted time jumps, this book really hits its stride in the second act and presents an interesting and enjoyable narrative. We are given a character to actually care about, who is thrust into a situation that I really wanted to see how he handled. He then disappears for almost the entire third act, but by that time you are invested in the larger story and the new perspective is more useful. I am interested to see where the series goes, particularly as further books won't require the world-building element, which I think was the weakest part of this book.

This is a good first novel from Michael Baker and different from many fantasy series in that so far there is no 'big bad', but numerous antagonistic factions. I look forward to his future work.

[Adam Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the words grim, dark, brutal and unforgiving are descriptions for the kind of book your looking for then you need look no further, for you have found what seek.

The start of this book is chaotic. Apart from the huge battles, there are many factions and characters being introduced at such a rapid rate, its hard to keep track of them all, but that soon dies down and a story, a dark, dark story begins.

From the first page you know that this is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think those who enjoy the grim brutality of war and its politics will find this book quite enjoyable.

The setting is more akin to ancient Greece than the traditional Middle Age type setting of most fantasy books. This was different for me, but still had a lot of appeal.

On the whole I would say the second half of the book is much stronger than the first and by the time I got to the end I was quite enjoying it. I quite liked it but beware the darkness. :D

Also there is a glossary at the end which I recommend reading through about halfway through, it really made the factions and characters a lot clearer.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry about this, Michael... I really wanted to like this more than I did.

So, I actually received my copy of this free after getting into a discussion with the author in a map making group regarding his map of the continent where all of this book's action takes place. I was rather critical, then when the author mentioned that he saw some of my points but it was a bit late to change it as the map was already in the book, I felt curious and went looking for it. It transpired that there was some kind of mix up and it was not available on my local Amazon, and contacting the author to find out if there was some other way I could buy it, he offered it to me as a gift while he contacted the local Amazon site and got it sorted out, and I promised him a review here.

So, a somewhat overly detailed preface to the review. However, I feel the need to explain that first of all in my interaction with Baker, he seems like a really nice guy. Secondly, the way the book came to me gave me the feeling that I should be striving for an honest review, but at the same time wanted to be looking for all the good points and ready to be effusive on all the things I loved about it. The problem was, I did not really. I did not hate it, but I did not really enjoy it either, and what I thought would be a short two or three day read took me much longer to get through.

My biggest problem with the book was the characterisation and linked to that, the dialogue. My feeling was that the characters were almost cartoonish in the way they were written telegraphing their feelings or actions in stereotypes, bouncing from one emotional stance to another and having rather stilted and hammy conversations with each other where people get angry at each other at the slightest provocation, seemingly as an excuse to espouse on about something or another.

This leads into my second point, which is that the amount of exposition in the book is far greater than I can handle. There were scenes galore where characters have conversations about things they probably already know in order to let the reader in on something they could have just picked up during the story, and between those there were whole chunks of prose where things were once again spelt out. I did not enjoy the oddly out of place quotes at the start of each chapter, which as far as I could tell added very little to feeling of the world, nor actually did a good job of taking some of the burden of that exposition out of the dialogue or prose. I discovered that at the end of the book there was some kind of codex, which was oddly specific in some area, but missed some possibly major items. However, I was actually quite glad that I did not discover this until the end, as it contains potential spoilers about a number of the political motivations and events in the book.

The chapters and character focus felt like it was trying to do the epic thing where there is a huge cast, and it jumps around here and there, and also allows the author to be rather gritty and kill off the occasional character and surprise us. Actually, there are not that many characters though, and jumping between them felt a little random and epileptic, and in general (with one major exception I will get to later), if anything unpleasant happened to them, I really did not care. I did not really get to know, like, admire, or indeed have any real interest in any of the characters. If this book was more about the events, and we were to see the wider war unfolding through many eyes, sometimes a one-off glance, then that is fine. If we are following a collection, even with shifting emphasis, then that is fine, too. I did not really feel this was either.

There were, however, two areas which I liked what Baker was doing in particular. The first is that he has obviously built a really cool world, and invested a lot of time into its history, politics and background. That is great, and it comes through in the writing - and for a lot of it, it is not subject to the telling and not showing problem that is rife through the book. Instead, Baker allows us to discover a lot of little bits as we move through the book, rewarding continued reading with discovering a little more about his world and the background. If he could have done that more with the characters, their motivations and backgrounds, then I would have enjoyed the book a lot more.

The second thing was there was a particular scene, involving a rape, which made my blood boil. I was furious on behalf of the character and felt stress on their behalf over what I could see unfolding. Well done. Any time an author makes me feel something enough that I actually really become angry, sad, frightened, proud, nostalgic, or any other emotion, they have done their job. They have reached off the page and touched me. That is a great talent and should be fostered.

I think that, in truth, this book should not have been published - even self published. I think it definitely has potential, and Baker does indeed show potential as a writer, but this book needs some editing and some rewriting and some polishing to allow it to shine. Too much purple prose in some areas, and very vague descriptions in others (such as me not understanding if certain geographical areas were deserts, forests, icy wastes or what), and a lack of focus certainly did not help.

Despite all this, I do take my hat off to Michael Baker for having a dream of a story he wanted to tell and going out and getting it done. I hope that his experience and journey will continue and he will continue to grow as an author, as for example Brandon Sanderson did. I read Sanderson's Mistborn series and was confounded why so many people liked it when I felt it was written in such a mediocre way, and yet a few years later reading the Words of Radiance series by the same author, I was totally blown away. Writers can learn lessons and can improve. I certainly hope that Baker does, and one day I will write a review singing his praises.

[Michelle Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the author's debut novel, and I have to say that Baker has a good writing future ahead of him. The Thousand Scars has characters to like and to HATE and the worldbuilding is well put together. A very imaginative story, indeed.

[The Scribblings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something deadly is happening in the Balian Empire.

Desperate to find a way to stave off an impending invasion, some of the most powerful people in the empire will scheme to employ the darkest magic their world has ever known. No matter who suffers because of it.

Given that the magic referred to above is necromancy and the Thousand Scars of the title are a band of murderers and rapists (plus one innocent), to say that this book leans on the grimdark side of things is a bit of an understatement. Things are dark and brutal and violent but the quality of the writing consistent keeps you turning the pages.

It is a bit of a slower start as the first few chapters move from one character to another, setting out the events and conflicts to come. But as the book progresses it settles predominantly into the POV of Tyrone Cessil, an inexperienced young man swept up in the fighting. We follow him from the chaos of his first battle to being imprisoned to eventually joining the Thousand Scars under the eye of their leader, the necromancer seeking to thwart the Empire's plans. His thought could be viewed as naive at times but they also serve to levy all the surrounding darkness.

The battle scenes (and there are a few) are very well written, managing to tread a fine line between conveying the urgency and confusion the characters experience without actually confusing the reader. There is plenty of world-building in evidence as well but, even better, there are still hints that there is a lot more still to discover.

With all it's good points, it feels like I should have enjoyed the book more. But, for whatever reason, something didn't quite click with me when I read it. I'm still not sure why. But whatever that was, it's not enough to stop me from probably giving it, or the later books in the series, another try.

[Elena J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Thousand Scars by Michael R. Baker is a grim and unflinching epic of war, corruption, and survival, the kind of dark fantasy that forces readers to question what “heroism” truly means in a world drowning in blood and politics.

Set against the backdrop of the greatest war since the age of Chaos, Baker crafts a story where morality is fractured and redemption feels almost out of reach. The disgraced scholar Tyrone Cessil is the reluctant observer and participant of a brutal conflict led by the infamous necromancer Tyir of Irene. Together with the mercenary band known as the Thousand Scars, Tyrone is thrust into a nightmare of power struggles, forbidden magic, and the unbearable weight of conscience.

What makes The Thousand Scars so powerful isn’t just its relentless realism it’s Baker’s ability to balance philosophical depth with visceral action. The world is richly layered, the prose sharp yet reflective, and the moral ambiguity eerily human. Readers drawn to the gritty tone of Joe Abercrombie or the moral complexity of Glen Cook’s Black Company will find much to admire here.

Baker doesn’t just tell a story of war; he exposes the machinery of it how ideals rot under pressure, how loyalty bends to survival, and how redemption can only be bought in scars.

A brutal, intelligent, and haunting debut, The Thousand Scars marks the beginning of a dark fantasy saga that refuses to flinch.

[Amelia.S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael R. Baker’s The Thousand Scars is an unflinching epic that captures both the brutality and humanity of war. Set against a world teetering on the edge of ruin, Baker crafts a grimdark saga filled with moral ambiguity, haunting imagery, and characters forged in blood and betrayal.

Through Tyrone Cessil’s exile and reluctant alliance with the ruthless mercenary band, the Thousand Scars, Baker explores power, sacrifice, and the cost of survival with masterful precision. Every battle is felt, every moral compromise cuts deep, and every choice reverberates with consequence.

What sets this novel apart is its heart beneath the chaos a story that dares to ask whether redemption can emerge from destruction. Gritty yet profoundly human, The Thousand Scars stands as a compelling testament to the idea that sometimes the darkest paths lead to the deepest truths.

[Martin Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant debut novel from author Michael Baker, full of intrigue and well crafted characters. Highly recommended.