The Great Hearts

The Great Hearts #1

by David Oliver

Calidan Darkheart is an Imperator. The voice of the Emperor in the wild. A secretive and dangerous job, hunting down those deemed a threat to the Emperor's rule...whether monster or man. Twisted and bitter, he heads down a dark path to hunt a nightmare from his youth.
This is his story.

The first instalment of a new series, David Oliver's debut novel features mythical beasts, epic sword duels, dark rituals and a friendship for the ages. Following in the footsteps of authors such as Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie and Brian McClellan, The Great Hearts melds gritty, vivid action with the soft, warm purr of a gigantic panther.

Genres: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, Audiobook

324 pages, ebook

Published December 17, 2017

Reviews

[Mihir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall rating = 3 & 1/2 stars (rounding it off to 4 on the rating as when I reread this book, I enjoyed it as much as the first time and then some)

Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic

CLASSIFICATION: Combining Sword & Sorcery elements with a hefty dose of Grimdark, The Great Hearts is very much in the vein of Blood Song with a solid dose of Indiana Jones-esque action adventure and topped off with some fantastic SF elements.

OVERVIEW ANALYSIS: I discovered this book thanks to Amazon's cool algorithms. The cover and the blurb are what drew me in and the excerpt I read convinced me that this was another gem in the rough. The book is currently a part of the SPFBO 2018 contest (The Qwillery's group) but I had bought a copy of it months ago and was able to read it slowly. This book left me with many conflicting feelings but overall it’s a debut that left me wanting more of David Oliver’s work. Also a key aspect about this book, it’s a whole lot of fun.

The Great Hearts has a dual timeline plot and is narrated by Calidan Darkheart in both of those timelines. The first one is wherein we meet him and his giant friend Cassius who reveal themselves to be Imperators, the secret police/hunter/spies of the emperor. Calidan is a person who abhors his role, curses his emperor but yet sticks to his tasks for reasons not yet revealed.

In the second timeline, we go back in the past and meet Calidan & Cassius as young boys playing and being silly as young children can be. The readers find out how remote and simplistic their village life was and specifically what catastrophic event ruined their sanguine life. This event is the main thing that spurs both Cassius and Calidan to become Imperators and fight against what ruined their lives. This timeline takes up the major chunk (nearly 95% of the book) and it is the main timeline of this book. Both boys are forced to travel beyond their high mountains and towards the capital of the Anderal Empire. Amidst their travels, the readers will get to see how they meet someone that will embody the title of this debut as well learn how Calidan and Cassius get selected to be entered into the Imperator training school.

With a mix of his self-deprecating as well as self-loathing narration, we see Calidan’s growth both physically and mentally as he learns what it truly means to be a soldier for the empire. The readers get a solid view into how brutal the training regime is set up to be, not just physically but psychologically as well. Thankfully the author manages to spare us the farmboy hero /hero academy trope (to a solid degree but not entirely) and showcases Calidan to be a normal student who gets extra help (RAFO). The story then very quickly veers into action adventure setups and then ends on an action-packed climax which reveals a lot about the world. I'm being very vague here as I don't want to spoil the book's main plot.

The characterization is the biggest plus point of the story as we get to see the world from Calidan’s POV and in this regard, the story reminded me a lot of Kvothe in The Name Of The Wind and Vaelin in Blood Song. As it combined the orphan nature of Kvothe’s existence as well the militaristic training of Vaelin’s upbringing. The characterization is not on the same level as either The Name Of The Wind or Blood Song however it's still competent enough that the readers won't feel bored. Mainly we get to see why and how Calidan gains entrance to the Imperator training school and that truly is the biggest surprise of the story. Even though this is a single person POV story, we are introduced top other characters who go beyond the two-dimensional mold. I suspect though there’s a sequence during the training school which will raise the ire of certain readers but I feel the author handles the scene and its follow-up soundly.

The action is truly one of the better things about the book as throughout the story, the author continuously amps up the action sequences and towards the end we get to see a terrific climax. The world settings are enticing as in the start it seems like any other secondary fantasy world but the way the author reveals the final twist, it really puts the entire story in a whole new light. I enjoyed this aspect of the story and I love how the whole reveal just raises more questions. This story is all about mysteries and the biggest one is the title of the story and the mystery about the world (again being vague for spoiler reasons).

I've to give kudos to the author where it's due as this being a debut book, it was fun and engrossing to read. The action is interspersed nicely and the story is solidly grimdark. There's some horrific things which happen in the book and the author does his best in explaining the events. I understood the author's approach but there's might be some readers who might not be able to stomach it. Nonetheless the main characters refuse to be bogged down by their circumstances and I relished reading about them in that regard. Lastly the way the author ends the story, makes me want to the sequel ASAP. The story also ends on a cliffhanger and therefore some readers might not enjoy that part as well. I wasn’t too thrilled either and I hope that the sequel explains a lot.

Going onto the things that didn't quite work for me, the characterization while fun also leaves a few things lacking. While we get a solitary first-person POV from Calidan, I definitely felt that this story would have benefited from the multi-POV approach IMO. The final reveal about the world was really, really good but I wish the author had done some better build up to the climatic twist which would have helped rather than springing it all out of the blue (you’ll understand when you read it). Also the titular character's history and background is never expounded upon beyond a few sentences and I hope the sequel rectifies that.

CONCLUSION: The Great Hearts is an intriguing mix of dark fantasy, SF and something else that is spoilerific. I loved how David A. Oliver sets up the story and then springs some crucial surprises to knock down our expectations. This book is a whole lot of fun to read and I believe the author wanted the readers to experience it as such. The Great Hearts is a debut that has me excited to follow David’s upcoming works. I sincerely hope he builds up on the elements introduced in this book and delivers a cracking sequel.

[Esme · Rating 3 out of 5]

received this book in exchange for an honest review – I think it would appeal most to people who like darker coming of age stories.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, so my spelling is probably not accurate.

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The start of the book is extremely dark, the main character is telling you about his childhood and it was as traumatic as it gets. His village is ransacked by a group of savage people that raped, killed, ate, and performed ritualistic demon sacrifices on the villagers – including children.

The main character watches his mother get raped, imprisoned, and then sacrificed to a shadow demon, but he does it all with very little emotional response. Since the main character is telling you his story, you know from his anecdotes that he’s not a sentimental person, that he’s rather detached from the world and the people in it… but it still struck me as odd that he didn’t recall how he was feeling in the moment. He did recall how scared he was when later he was running from the cannibals through the forest, hearing noises in the night thinking it was trackers or monsters.

The tone took a left-hand turn about a third of the way through when the main character journeys with his best friend who also escaped the village, and his new supernatural animal companion, a giant cat known as a Great Heart. It was much lighter during this and the military training but then shifted again during a sexual assault during said training.

After journeying for a long time they come across their first-ever city, and it was fun watching them react to the immenseness of a city when they had grown up in a small village and then wandered through the wilderness and plains.

Once in the city they are taken under the wing of a general named Kyle, he and his wife are kinder than they need to be and they function as surrogate parents for both Cassius and Caladan. Both of them start training under Kyle and it’s discovered the Caladan is bonded to a Great Heart. A Great Heart is an animal with supernatural powers, and once someone bonds with one they gain those powers. Caladan is stronger and faster than most people, and he also has enhanced senses that allow him to smell and hear things with a greater ability. It gets to the point where he can hear other peoples heartbeats and can react faster than normal during a fight. The empire tries to keep the existence of Great Hearts under wraps, using those bonded to them as covert agents. Once the empire finds out that he’s bonded to a Great Heart, and insist that he start school to be an Imperator. The Imperator’s are a boogie-man like organization that people use to scare their kids, most people think they’re a myth, but if you ever meet one you’re likely to need a change of pants.

My favorite character was actually Cassius, Caldans best friend and companion through this whole thing. Cassius has a much higher moral standard and prevents Caladan from doing things he feels are immoral. When they were escaping their village at the beginning of the book, one of the trackers becomes injured and is in a vulnerable position. Caladan wants to kill him, but Cassius insists they spare his life – it turns out to be a wise decision that benefited them a lot. Cassius means well but doesn’t have a lot of tact. He’s likely to stand up for you, but also tell you that you look like hell when you’re sick.

Caladan is much colder and more calculating and always had been, he was described that way before the attack happened, and only grew colder still. He does have affection for his best friend, but when he first encountered the cannibals he bolted and left his friend to be captured, “reacting first with his brain, not his heart”.

Caldan’s Great Heart, Seya, also gets a POV and that was actually a lot of fun. Like a typical cat, she’s sassy, self-absorbed, confident, and a little condescending when she speaks with Caladan. Their relationship was my favorite part of the book, I am a sucker for animal companions, and if they’re sassy cat animal companions all the better. She treats him kind of like a cub, and helps him train how to be stealthy like her.

The world building is definitely high fantasy, there are shadow demons that eat children, there are immense telepathic panther-like creatures and all sorts of fantasy elements right from the beginning. Kyle has two swords that are bonded to him in much the same way that Caladan is bonded to his Great Heart. He’s much stronger and faster than he should be and is one of the only people who can truly train Caladan.

The writing is in the first person past tense, the main character is older and is now telling you his story. It’s moderately paced, with some scenes going faster and others being training scenes. I like training scenes so this didn’t slow me down, but mileage may vary. The prose is also straightforward and more utilitarian than flowery, there isn’t a ton of description and there aren’t a lot of similes or metaphors. It does help keep the pace up and lets the writing get out of the way of the story.

The author did his own narration for this one, and while usually this goes horribly wrong, I wouldn’t have known he wasn’t a typical narrator without him telling you at the beginning. He didn’t use exaggerated voices so it’s not like listening to Steven Pacey or TGR, but it flowed well and the mild voices that were used didn’t distract or take away anything.



Audience:

For people who like:

coming of age
darker stories
animal companions
first person
high fantasy
mysterious magic


Ratings:

Plot: 11/15
Characters: 10/15
World Building: 12.5/15
Writing: 12/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 11/15
Personal Enjoyment: 7/10


Final Score: 74.5/100 ~ 3.5 stars

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This and other reviews can be found on my blog

First of all, look at this stunning cover! It immediately sets the mood for the story and made me want to pick up the book asap!

This book is categorized as grimdark and thus contains topics such as rape, cannibalism and mutilation. Keep that in mind if you are easily triggered by these topics.

The story follows the Calidan Darkheart, Imperator of the Empire, and tells the story of how he became the Emperor's pawn. Calidan and his childhood friend Cassius have to flee when savage raiders invade their small village nestled in the mountains and sacrifice almost everyone to an otherworldly demon. On his journey to revenge, he meets a mystical beast, joins the military, finds friends, trains as part of the Emperor's elite and embarks on a dangerous quest that reveals much about the past of the known world.

Without revealing too much about the world, the concept reminded me of the world in Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra or even The Tearling trilogy by Erika Johansen. However, the element I'm referring to plays only a minor role in this story and would spoil some of the revelations later on.
This is a coming-of-age story and thus training, first in the military and later in the Emperor's Academy, plays a big part in the story, but that's not what made me fall in love with the story. There are break chapters of Imperator Calidan Darkheart and Cassius in between Calidan's narration of his past that are just purely action-packed and entertaining. This concept is so well-elaborated because it made me so curious about how the two of them became the hard-hearted killers they seem to be now.

The world itself is a typical fantasy setting with only a small amount of magic. Especially during his time at the Emperor's Academy, Calidan meets a lot of people who are able to wield magic in battle. Some can even bond to magic-infused weapons via tattoos on their arms, which is a pretty cool concept. One of my favourite aspects of the book was definitely Calidan's bond with a huge panther called Seylantha. She is ancient, very intelligent and Calidan can communicate with her mentally. Additionally, she enhances his abilities and even trains him and Cassius in stealth and combat.

It's always great to meet new, interesting creatures in fantasy worlds and Oliver managed to include even a lot of them. First and foremost, I want to mention Seylantha, the Great Heart. I love animal companions in books and she is not only huge and intelligent, but there is also a mystery surrounding her origin that keeps your interest peaked throughout the book. Then there are vile creatures such as Thyrkan who are humanoid creatures with scaled flesh and red eyes that don't have a mind of their own but rely on a kind of officer to coordinate their actions. Another very fascinating concept is that the Emperor seems to fuse people with dangerous creatures to enhance their abilities but makes them prone to loose their mind and fall into a kind of uncontrolled frenzy.

I didn't give this book a full 5-star rating in part due to its improvable characterization and character interaction. I had the feeling that there wasn't a clear enough distinction between Calidan and his friends and people of higher rank such as the military general Kyle or even the Emperor.

Since the origin story is told by Calidan himself, we don't get an unbiased view of him. He and Cassius both loose their parents during the raid on their village and he witnesses how the villagers are getting tortured and slaughtered, which is surely not easy to come to terms with for an eleven-year-old, but isn't very prominent further on. He is very curious, which leads in the end to his bond with Seylantha, and doesn't shy from the things that need to be done.

Cassius on the other hand is a very charismatic, bright and friendly child with a distinct sense of injustice. At the beginning of the novel we meet the adult Cassius who is a mute giant and doesn't seem to be in his right mind anymore. Who wouldn't want to know how exactly this stark change in character came from?

This is David Oliver's debut novel, which makes it even more impressive in my eyes. There are a lot of sentences at the end of chapters that are heavy with meaning and supposed to foreshadow certain events that were used a bit too much in my opinion, but apart from that I liked the overall writing. With under 400 pages, it's rather short for a fantasy book and I immediately wanted to know what happens next in Calidan's story. If you like grimdark, military fantasy with a coming-of-age story, giant animal companions and great fighting scenes, definitely do yourself a favour and check out The Great Hearts!

[Terrible Timy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5

Review originally posted on my blog with a chosen song: starlitbook.com/2018/10/10/the-great-...

I’ve got a digital copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. This was already on my TBR when I’ve got a request to read it, so I was totally up for it. It took me a while to get to it though, but man, it was worth the wait.

The Great Hearts is also an entrant in SPFBO, assigned to The Qwillery.

I’ve been reading quite a lot of books this year and after a while they tend to melt into each other. So when you come across a book which you can’t stop thinking about, then that’s something. I’m quite sure I didn’t enjoy my next read quite as much as I should have, because my mind was still lingering on this one.

The Great Hearts is Calidan and Cassius’ story, followed by Calidan’s POV in first person. They are childhood friends, or more like brothers, really. They lose their family and their home during a horrible night which no children should witness. This pretty much sets the tone for the book, bordering on grimdark but not quite overstepping the line. So Calidan and Cassius has to get as far away as they can and survive in the forest without any weapons or knowledge where to go. Circumstances make them team up with a mysterious figure, whom they only call Tracker for obvious reasons. The little “family” forms finally when Seya, the giant panther arrives in their lives and bonds with Calidan. Seya is something people refer to as a Great Heart, although no one really knows much about them: where did they come from? How many there are out there? How they choose whom to bond with? We’ll get some answers by the end, but… okay, I’ll get back to this. Suffice to say Calidan’s senses become stronger giving him an advantage against others, plus drawing from Seya’s power, she can heal him from almost anything.

“The ecstasy I felt in my stomach as she was groomed was incredibly intense and made for an awkward moment when I practically purred instead of responding to a pretty nurse’s question.”

Their lives get a turn for the better and get admitted to an Academy thanks to a general named Kane and a military leader Tyrant who teaches team a form of martial art called Kaschan.

“The fluid movements of the systemare meant to account for different weapon styles, the spinning use of a greatsword moving in sync with the more delicate moves of a dual blade wielder for instance. Much like dancing, the system works better with a partner, steps moving in sync, bodies moving as one; enemies falling like wheat to the scythe.”

When they learn about his bond with Seya, Calidan learns that he has no choice of what he wants to become: he has to train to be an Imperator, the voice of the Emperor, whose job is to hunt down those who break the law, and fight against dark powers. On one hand, I really liked the concept of the Academy: 8 students lived together and formed a team from the beginning of their studies until the end. They not only lived, but laughed, cried, fought together, helping each other along the way. They had become the family Calidan and Cassius lost on that dreadful night. On the other hand this Academy is brutal, and though does not encourage the kids to be cruel to each other but doesn’t really stop them. And when something happens, they chalk it up to “well, that’s how the world works, get used to it, you are going to face worse things”. Based on other’s opinions this point in the story might be an instant turn off for some people.

Until about the 70% mark we follow Calidan and his friends as they easy into the routine of their lives in the Academy, as well as glimpses into his life in the present, making into a coming of age story. Then we follow them as they are going on an expedition with some of their teachers and some Imperators. This is where things get… strange. They seek knowledge about the Great Hearts, trying to understand where they come from and what they really are. What they find is something I totally didn’t see coming and caught my unaware. From this point on things get a bit rushed and ends with a cliffhanger. Also, we are left behind with some questions and though in some cases we can guess what might have happened, I would have liked some explanation and a less sudden ending.

I liked young Calidan and the way he coped with the circumstances. He is a real survivor type, but he also has a big heart. He cares about Cassius and Seya as well as the others in his team later on. Since we spend the most time in his head, it’s easy to sympathize with him, but on the other hand we don’t get to know the other characters much. The most memorable – apart from Saya of course, it’s hard to forget a big ass black panther – is the Emperor himself with his friendly demeanor and good heart. Probably. And one other character about whom I won’t talk here.

The Great Hearts is an interesting debut dark fantasy book, which needs a bit of polishing, but otherwise has some nice qualities: it’s a coming of age story with intriguing characters, gritty scenes and a great potential. It’s far for being perfect, but I’m interested what will come out of this series.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a lot of fun with this one. Good story with equally good narration, I'll put up a full review in the next few days

Updated review:

"My name is Calidan Darkheart. I am what the Emperor made me. Monster."

The Great Hearts is a dark coming of age story about two friends that have everything they love taken from them. While this story was a bit cheesy for my taste in certain parts, I loved the mix of darkness and innocence that this book has. The first chapter starts in the present with our main character Calidan and his best friend Cassius hunting down a criminal in some unnamed forest.

"I casually strolled to the fire that lit up the frozen, forested landscape. A large figure sat silhouette by the flames, fire light dancing across his polished armor. Nearing eight feet tall, Cassius was a hulking monstrosity, my one true friend and utterly, completely, insane."

But like any killing duo, Calidan and Cassius weren't always this awe inspiring, once upon a time they were just village children living normal, day to day lives. It's when they're both eleven years old, playing in the forest on the outskirts of their village that the real story begins.

"There was a strange smell in my nostrils, metallic. Similar to when the hunters came back with a fresh kill. I shook my head, trying to remove the smell and that's when I heard the first scream. Looking at it now, with a professional's eye, the mastermind behind the attack on the village did an excellent job."

After Cassius and Calidan escape the village, we spend the rest of the book following their adventures into adulthood. David Oliver gives us a story that has all the well loved charms of a classic academy/coming of age story, but with the teeth of a grim dark novel, and if you happen to enjoy audio books, the narration is surprisingly good as well. The perfect blend of hopeful and dark, I can't wait to see what David Oliver has to offer up next.

The only real complaint I have is that I felt like certain parts were a bit rushed, especially near the end of the book. This is hard to explain without giving away certain plot points, but you'll know what I mean when you get to it. The story still worked and flowed fine, I just would've liked a little bit more. It also would've been nice to see a little bit more introspection from Calidan and Cassius, both of whom go through some incredibly traumatic events. We get to a glimpse a little bit of the feelings behind the characters, but it's never the focus for more than a quick moment. That being said, this is a debut novel and the first in the series, so there's a decent chance I'll get the moments and answers that I'm looking for in future books. If you like books that include unique animal characters, academy/fighting school type settings, intriguing mysteries, and brotherly/best friend coming of age stories, this book is well worth checking out and I can't wait to see what happens next.

(like always the full review can be found on my blog: http://bookstocombattherain.blogspot....)

[Wol · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Plot

Two young boys named Calidan and Cassius are best friends who live in a sleepy mountain village. Their world is turned upside down with the arrival of raiders and a strange, nightmarish creature that feeds on human flesh. Displaced from their homes and forced to witness all manner of horrors visited upon their friends and loved ones, the boys flee into the forest. Struggling to survive on their own, the boys are befriended by a lone hunter who cannot communicate with them effectively, but appears to mean them no harm. Together the three find themselves followed by a giant beast, which Calidan finds himself drawn to.

Characters

Calidan – Our main character. He’s a brave and bright boy who shows fierce loyalty to his friends and shares a special bond with Seya.

Cassius – Best friends with Calidan, Cassius is a larger, stronger boy but is Calidan’s equal in loyalty and has a strong sense of justice.

Seya – A massive, intelligent panther whose origins are murky. She is a friendly creature who takes a liking to the two boys, but her bond with Calidan is strong and psychic in nature.

My Thoughts

This one is kind of a mixed bag – it’s Oliver’s debut novel and there’s huge potential here, and a lot of good things about the story. The relationship between Calidan and Cassius is well written and believable, I loved the introduction to Seya and the slow development of their understanding of one another. Seya in general is a good character and I enjoyed her a lot. The early scenes in which the boys weigh up whether or not they can trust the hunter in the forest are great, and that whole sequence was very enjoyable. The prose is functional and not overly poetic, but that works well for the story. And there’s some good worldbuilding that I thought was pulled off quite nicely – even when it info-dumped, the info was interesting enough that I didn’t mind. The concept of The Great Hearts and the eventual explanation we receive for their existence was especially good.

I do think there are some issues that need to be addressed – the character development could use a little work; it would be nice to see more introspection and a stronger response to the traumatic experiences that the characters go through. My chief concern, however, is that tone-wise it’s all over the place. The story doesn’t seem to quite know what it wants to be. It starts out very much Grimdark, with vivid descriptions of the village being sacked, people being eaten and burned and raped and so forth. Then once the boys escape into the forest, it becomes a rather jaunty adventure story with some How to Train Your Dragon vibes, in which they largely shrug off the traumatic events that they have witnessed. We follow up with military fantasy when the boys go into training. Then later it plunges back into gritty Grimdark, before veering off into Sci-Fi. Now, don’t get me wrong, I actually thought the ideas were very clever and interesting. But my general feeling was that this was an author with a lot of great ideas who perhaps tried to mash all of those great ideas into one book, where two or three may have worked better. It’s something that I see fairly frequently with debut novels and it’s certainly not to say that it’s a bad book. It’s not. But these are things that I hope will smooth out as the author develops. And I will be interested to see how this author develops. Overall, genuinely great ideas and I found it to be a good read with some issues that I believe will improve with the author as he becomes more familiar with his craft.

Score: 5.1/10

[Joshua Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Hearts by David Oliver tells the incredible tale of Calidan the Imperator. Calidan had been raised to be a murderer and a monster that slays in the name of the Emperor, but this is really a story about redemption. Oliver’s characters are great and his writing is engrossing making this a journey that is well worth taking!

[Dustin]

Currently FREE in Kindle, folks.😊 This sounds terrific, epic storytelling!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0716Z363W?...

[Scott Kaelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of “The Great Hearts”, and I have to say I very much enjoyed both the story and David Oliver’s narration. Even in his after-note at the end, he acknowledges that he’s not a professional narrator, but still he did a fine job and I’m a bit envious that he, as the author, dares to put voice to his own creation. Sure, there is the occasional, slight mis-step, but overall I found him more engaging and more listenable than some of the pro voice actors I’ve heard.

After a brief “present day” intro, the main character begins to narrate the events of his childhood, which quickly build to a particularly brutal turn of events. One particular instance, which I won’t spoil by mentioning here, really made that chapter stand out above the rest; while the details weren’t dwelled upon, and possibly some readers would glaze past them, I remembered what had previously been mentioned which made what occurred shortly after that much more monstrous. From there, we follow the main character and his childhood friend, plus another character and a mysterious giant telepathic intelligent cat, as they cross the harsh countryside, the months pass, and they toughen to their new environment. The story slows pace as the companions reach a city and enlist in military training; this section, interspersed with the occasional ‘present day’ return to the older MC, takes up about half of the book, but is not without plot and character progression. Many new characters enter the story, form friendships (and in one case an enemy who massively gets what’s coming to him), and as they become a fighting unit the story branches beyond the training phase into the final act, which I’m pleased to say took a slightly unexpected turn (using a theme I’m a bit of a sucker for) and really opened up the lore and history of the world.
The Great Hearts is a fun, engaging, sometimes dramatic, progressive story that’s driven by the build and reveal of its own mysteries. It’s a story that you won’t regret taking a chance on. Four stars due to the occasional, small stumbles and the slightly too long training arc, but if I could fractionalise it I’d give The Great Hearts a rating of 4.3, just not quite enough to tip the balance into 5-star territory, but still very much enjoyable, and certainly enough so for me to want a sequel.

[Ciaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am gruntled and baffled

[Gwendolyn Pendraig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping, thrilling and at points mind blowing.

For a first book, particularly a first fantasy book, this is a fantastic piece of work. The protagonist and his supporting cast are well written and thoroughly likeable. The plot is well paced, gripping, and holds attention without difficulty.

David has created an unexpectedly complex and interesting world, which I look forward to learning more about in the sequel.

There's even a healthy dollop of remarkably well explained and placed sci-fi, providing a twist that I, personally was amazed by and completely unprepared for.

This is work to be proud of, and fantasy lover or no, there's something here for you. He doesn't fall into the common fantasy trap of describing the scenery to death either, providing readers with a rich descriptive tapestry without being boring.

[David Mackinnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book..looking forward to reading the next book.

[Bookwyrm Speaks · Rating 5 out of 5]

As anyone who's read my reviews knows I am a big fan of audiobooks, and thanks to Audiobookboom.com, which connects reviewers to authors, narrators and publisher looking for honest reviews, it's possible to discover books like The Great Hearts. That's a good thing, since it would be tragic to miss out on stories as good as this.

Callidan Darkheart and his hulking partner Cassius are Imperators, Voice of the Emperor, the hands that solve the Empire's problems which others can't, often painfully and permanently.
They are also Callidan and Cassius, boys from a small village in the mountains, who watched their entire village be tortured and slaughtered by a group of barbarian cannibal demon worshipers bent on summoning their foul master to the realm. Escaping the barbarians and their demon, they swear revenge as only young teens can do. While escaping, they trap their pursuers and manage to have a huge boar kill most of them.

One survived, the tracker, although he was injured. They discover that he only worked for the barbarians, he wasn't a crazy cannibal. They start nursing him back to health so he can help them make it to civilization. During this time, they also encounter a strange creature in the dark one night, and Callidan feeds it. This comes in handy later as they face down a wolf pack, since this creature comes and saves them. It is a giant cat the size of a moose, called a Great Heart, and Callidan feeding it caused it to bond to him. This means he is mentally linked to it, and gains strength, speed, agility, increased healing and other abilities, making him much more than human.

Reaching civilization, they are introduced to the local army commander, who puts the tracker to work training his scouts, and takes the boys under his wing, training them as future officers. This includes training in a martial art from a distant country, which Callidan's abilities really allowed him to excel at. This all comes to an end, though, when a rogue Imperator student comes through the city, with two Imperators on her trail. This leads to a confrontation with the student, who it turns out is possessed by a demon. This confrontation injures Cassius, and outs Callidan's bond to his Great Heart, which forces the Imperators to bring them before the Emperor, who heals Cassius. He also inducts them into his Imperators, telling them the training will either make them Imperators or kill them.

Thus starts the Imperator training. The sheer difficulty of the training would be hard to describe, and be a huge spoiler. Needless to say, it involves a varied cast of characters, learning the skills it takes to be and Imperator, including statecraft, combat training, diplomacy, assassination, and the basics of magic. They even take a field exercise to mysterious valley which has killed all who have entered it. The students and their Imperator instructor do enter, and discover the lost history of their world, which I can't reveal due to spoilers. They also discover the truth of the worlds magic, all in an exciting climactic battle.

This is all told in flashback form, as we start and continue the story throughout with Callidan and Cassius on various tasks as full fledged, experienced Imperators. This includes trying to track down the demon and his worshippers that killed their village. You also see that Cassius is bonded with a creature from the depths of time, making him a match for anything on the world, if also making him frightening in the extreme. This leaves us waiting for the next book for the story to continue.

I am a huge fan of Callidan and Cassius. They play very well off each other, and are hugely different from teens to adult. You can tell life has really weathered them. They are just so well drawn out, you are really able to get inside their heads. The secondary characters are all equally well drawn out, given three dimensions, with realistic motivations and consistent actions. The format of shifting to flashbacks doesn't work for all authors, but this author does it better than any writer I have ever read. It is done so well, it never feels jarring, and is used with great effect to foreshadow current events. The plotting is fast paced, and definitely qualifies as grimdark for those looking for genre labels, although there is a generous helping of humor to help offset the grim. The action scenes are so well described you would swear you can feel the swish of the blade, the bite of the edge. From the smallest duel to the biggest battle, you feel as though you are right in the middle of the action, blade in hand. You can't ask for much more in a fantasy tale.

The Author self narrates. This is often a hit or miss proposition, but in this case, it's a definite hit. He really brings each character to life, injecting separate personalities into each. He really gets a variety of accents and inflections to differentiate the characters. His narrative pacing is excellent, and you never feel the narration slow down into any sort of monotone.

All told, an excellent effort, one which I heartily recommend. As I've said, I rate this up there with Nicholas Eames' Kings of the Wyld and Ed McDonald's Blackwing as my top fantasy reads/listens in the last 12 months. Do yourself a favor and get a copy.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, a huge thank you to David for providing me with a copy of this book! I listened to the audio version on Audible.

Second, Thank you to Esme for all the work she did putting together TBRindr – An Indie Author and Reviewer Matching Service.

I think normally with any review I would usually try to put a book into a category as to let you know what kind of book I am reviewing. Trying to fit this book into any sub-genre of fantasy would not entirely work because it fits into quite a few.

It starts off as a kind of grim-dark fantasy where the main character, Callidan, rescues his best friend Cassius from a bunch of crazed, shadow monster worshiping, cannibal lunatics… or something of the such. The beginning sequence is extremely dark and gruesome. The boys watch as their entire village, children and all are put through some truly horrible things. The mood of the story does lighten up quite a bit as you continue to read.

“I wasn’t always a killer. In fact, I didn’t kill until I was eleven years old. Cassius, though he may look and act like a hulking violent brute at times, managed to avoid killing until he was fourteen. He always was a slow learner.”

It is also a coming of age story in which you get to see the characters learn and grow more powerful as they realize their full potential. The title of the book, The Great Hearts, refers to large, intelligent animals that can bond with a person lending them strength and speed. Think Eregon but replace the dragon with a moose sized, highly intelligent panther. One of my absolute favorite parts of the book is told from the point of view of the giant cat, and the author captures a cats personality perfectly. There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Oliver is a cat owner.

Eventually, after escape from the horrors of their village, they meet up with a tracker and continue their adventure until they end up getting taken in by a master general and taught a special form of martial arts.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the book, but this gives you a good idea of how this book fits into a bunch of different categories.

The book jumps to the present every once in a while and gives you a little taste of what the boys are up to in present day as Imperators for the Empire. Imperators are the elite group created to fight the things that most normal people don’t even want to know about.

“What the Emperor makes is monsters”

The book has a nice pace to it. the author does a great job breaking up some of the slower but necessary training parts of the book. For the most part, the book is very fast paced and action packed. The parts that aren’t, leave you thinking about what is going to happen next before plunging you into more action.

I am not going to talk about the end of this book too much but I will say this… It gets weird, and I loved it! The end of this book wrapped up the story nicely, but I wanted more. The second book whenever it comes will be on the top of my reading list for sure.

The Audio Book
Just a quick bit about the audiobook. I started listening to the book and got to the part where it said “The Great Hearts, by David Oliver. Narrated by David Oliver”. I have a HUGE library of audiobooks. I must have 200 plus. I don’t recall ever liking the narration of a book done by its author. I sometimes suffer through them because the book is good, more often than not I just don’t finish it. I know for sure that Mr. Oliver has a bright future as an author. The story he wrote in The Great Hearts is nothing short of fantastic. The story that he tells, however, was even more impressive. If for some reason he decides not to write anymore he would have a bright future as a voice actor as well. The narration was spot on. As a narrator, I would put him in my top 5 favorites alongside Michael Kramer, Kate Redding, Nick Pohdel, and Wil Wheaton.

Conclusion
The Great Hearts by David Oliver is a must read for any fan of fantasy especially if you enjoy darker fantasy, a good coming of age story, or if you are just interested what it would be like to have a moose sized cat for a companion. Leave me a comment below or follow me on twitter. Let me know what animal you would want as an animal companion. I know giant panther is definitely on my list!

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent both a digital and audio copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review. This is my first book by this author (David Oliver). It is his debut book, and I was immediately drawn in by the stunning cover.
The story primarily focuses on Calidan Darkheart, who is on a lifelong quest of revenge against the shadow demon that destroyed his childhood village and killed everyone except for him and his best friend Cassius. Along the way, Calidan becomes bonded with Seya, a giant panther with extra-human abilities. Calidan discovers that he shares a link with the mystical cat, gains supernatural sensory skills, and becomes an expert at stealth. Meanwhile, Cassius is growing to extraordinary heights and trains to unstoppable fighting prowess. All of this Calidan uses to hopefully find and inflict justice on the monster who ravaged his home.
The book starts out with some very dark and graphic scenes where marauders kill, rape and eat villagers, in addition to performing ritualistic sacrifices. Obviously Calidan and Cassius are traumatized, and they narrowly escape. Shortly after the escape, they reluctantly team up with a tracker what they assume to be one of the marauders, who does not speak their language, but eventually help with survival skills.
Where it goes from here, well, I guess you’ll have to read it. I will tell you this…
The book doesn’t stay as dark as it began. In fact, there are some very light-hearted scenes, especially those where Seya is toying around with Calidan, both physically and verbally. There are also some scenes with playful banter with the new characters that they meet when the become Imperators in training.
That’s not to say that the only dark part is the beginning. At one point Calidan brutally kills someone with his bare hands. In another scene, there is an attempted rape. To name a few.
I think that is where I struggled the most with the book. It almost felt like it needed more of an identity. There were too many light-hearted scenes to consider this book dark fantasy. It wasn’t simply a coming-of-age story rooted in a dark past.
And then, 3/4 of the way through the book, it took a huge 180-degree shift. I was left with my head spinning with that one. Again, you’ll just have to read it.
Overall this was an enjoyable book, if not a little difficult to stay with at times. It felt like a roller coaster ride where I was constantly feeling every curve of the track, afraid I was going to be thrown out of the car. But it was exciting.
I think if this book stayed a little truer to itself and didn’t try to throw me out of the way at times I would have liked it more. As it stands, it was a good book. It had plenty of intense scenes. The characters were developed well and there were both very likeable and very despicable ones, too.

For a debut book, I think Mr. Oliver showed some signs of greatness. It is curious to see where he will go from here. As one final comment, hats off to the author for doing his own narrating of his audio book. It was done reasonably well and did not hinder the experience.

Thank you, David, for sending this to me. Well done! 4.2 / 5 stars.

[Jeffrey Hatcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great Hearts is an engaging fantasy told from the first – person perspective of a teenage boy and containing elements akin to “Superman”, “Jungle Book”, and “Star Wars”. The first comparison comes from the destruction of the protagonists' family at the beginning of the story; the second for the prominence of non – human companionship and stewardship; and the third for the coming of age plot in which the boy enters the world of wizardry. These comparisons are not meant to detract from the originality in any way.

I particularly liked the Great Heart concept which refers mainly to an animal of magical prowess custom designed or appointed as a steward / guardian of a prodigy youth. Any connection between virtuous animals and flawed people has the real world value of instilling proper ethics in our environmentally perverse society. Oliver does a a fine job of letting the boy mature both with and without his “assigned” companion.

My primary criticism for the work is its loose ends. If you are one to read complete series, you will have no complaint at all. I, however, prefer my books to be more stand – alone. A good series need not closely link one volume to another. A reader's enthusiasm should suffice. Deduct a star. I am also very stingy about giving genre fiction 5 stars. I mostly reserve that level for nonfiction, researched works. But for its ending, this is a 4 star book that the reader will enjoy, especially a series aficionado.

[Ammon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I figured this would be another sword and sorcery. And it would fade.

I finished the book a week and a half ago. Read 3 other books since, and I am still thinking about this one.

The great hearts are creatures. At first they feel like magical beings. In a medieval world. But as the story continues you learn so much more. I don't want to give any of this away, because the story unfolds so well. Ugh. what can I say that won't give it away.

The story is one of vengeance... but also loyalty. Two boys survive a horrible slaughter. And decide to grow into men of vengeance. The monster they hunt is horrific. The dark nature of the beginning sets up the story to be a gore/horror fest. Which it doesn't turn out to be.
This is the shocker of the year so far.

The two main characters, Calidan and Cassius, are loyal to each other and the emperor. And the relationship there is awesome. You sort of grow up with them, which is a story arc I always love to read. Combine that with Calidan's relationship with Seya (the great heart) and things grow into something amazing.

The world building is wonderful. The great-hearts and some other things I will keep secret are wonderful ideas, and explored well. It is sort of just wonderful surprise after wonderful surprise.

The narrator killed it. He was so good. SO GOOD.

I cannot wait to listen to book 2!!!

[Sibil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thank you to the author. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I started the reading and I was hooked up from the start. This book has a lot of great things to it, that’s true, but what really did it for me, and it was so since the first pages, is Calidan’s voice. He’s the narrator of the story, and he is a great character too, but it was his voice, his way to tell the story that drove me in.

The author did a good job with his world-building, I liked it and I liked that there is more to discover about it, and the story is great, captivating and fast-paced, with the majority of it set in the past and a couple of chapters set in the present… just enough to ensure that you would need the second book ASAP!!!!
In this first book, we met Calidan and Cassius, and we learn how they have grown up to be the men, and the Imperators, who they are now. It is an introductory book, at least for some part, but it’s not suffering from it. We start to know our characters, even if I really need to know more about them because I need to know how Cassius is the way he is now. And yes, I need to know!!! Need, need, need!!!

Anyway, I was talking about the story… it’s intriguing, fast-paced and captivating. You don’t get bored while reading, that’s for sure. But the best thing about this books is the characters. Calidan is the voice of the story, and I loved it as I loved him as a character. Obviously, I need to know more about him, too. Cassius is another great character, and even if I fear what I would discover, I need to know more about him. He’s a quiet one, but he seems to possess a great heart. And speaking about great heart… well, we have one of that, too. We have a gigantic panther! And she speaks! And yes, you have read it right: a gigantic panther who speaks! One fault of this book, for me, is that we don’t see enough of her around. It’s not just because I loved her (how can’t you?) but because I found that sometimes her absences was quite… not right, like the author was forgetting about her existence (impossible, I know, but I had this impression a time or two). Anyway, she’s great. I have to admit that she’s not the first favorite of mine because the right order is Calidan, Cassius and then her. But she was adorable! And I don’t need to say that I hope to see more of her around. Because yes, I would read the next book!!!!!

This book it’s a dark coming of age story, with great characters and a speaking panther (yes, again! How cool is that???).

[Bookworm86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique fantasy novel filled with grim humour, adventure, gory, suspense and mythical creatures. Very strong characters and I found myself sucked into the page turning, tension filled storyline. The only downfall I found was the ending left many questions such as what happened to Seya?? I also felt the ending was quite confusing. Unfortunately, I felt this warranted a loss of half a star so I give it 4.5. Due to not being able to give half stars I did however feel it deserved a 5 rather than a 4 as the rest of the book was excellent especially considering this is the authors first novel. Well done. Highly recommend to fans of fantasy.
FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED

[Kassandra Carrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Book

Worth the read. From the first line, it drew me in and didn't let go. Splendid. Gripping. Captivating. I can't wait for the next one.

[Colin Rowlands · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens with quite a dark scene and this tone continues for much of the book, but it mostly works well as the author sets the scene in this new fantasy series.

The main focus of this first installment is focused on Calidan and Cassius who manage to escape the tragedy that opens this book and follows them through their journey that eventually results in them being enrolled in the Imperator academy. This is a school where they will learn to become Imperators, or voices of the emperor, a role that seems to be a fantasy equivalent of a secret agent or special forces, they are highly trained in military skills amongst other things and are assigned dangerous and difficult tasks by their emperor. Of the two of them, Calidan did not have any choice about joining because of something that happened shortly after they began fleeing their village at the start of the book, he becomes bonded to a giant panther, one of the titular Great Hearts that are practically a myth to most people in that world.

Sometimes, it doesn't matter if you include some of the back story for a fantasy world as part of a review, but in the case of this one I think it is better to allow other readers to experience things unspoiled since gradually learning about this world definitely enhances the overall story. One part of this book that I did not enjoy as much as the rest of it were the occasional flashforwards we got to a much older Calidan, they didn't provide much of interest to the main story and disrupted the overall flow at the same time with no clear benefit to them, perhaps they work better in the text editions but didn't really fit this audiobook version.

The author has chosen to narrate his own book for this audiobook version and on the whole it works quite well, it is clearly more on the side of a reading than a performance, but that style seems to suit the story that can be quite dark at times.

Overall, this was an interesting start to a new series, it gave us a glimpse of an interesting world and a varied cast of characters, while still delivering a story that was sufficiently compelling in its own right.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

[A Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty solid read. It started off as strong fantasy, which I loved, but by the end it had swapped into more of a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic feel, which I don't prefer at all. And it was definitely setting up the next book to be less fantasy heavy unfortunately.

There was a lot of interesting world-building and lore incorporated into the story. There was some graphic violence scattered throughout the work, but I didn't mind it overall. The book got exposition-heavy near the middle of the work, slowing it down some. And I really disliked the constant foreshadowing that happened at the end of almost every section and/or chapter (e.g. "And I would have her for the rest of my life...or so I thought.")

Overall, it was a good read, but I probably won't read anymore of the series.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great Hearts – David Oliver

Self published|315 pages|Fantasy|audiobook (read by author)

I received a copy of the Audible version of this novel as part of the TBRindr programme.

The digest: a mixture of interesting elements which struggles to come together to tell a compelling narrative. 2.5/5.

The Great Hearts is Oliver’s first novel and (I believe) his first time narrating a story and I feel like both of these facts are obvious from the offset. The narration is ‘good enough’ most of the time but suffers from editing errors and amplifies the lack of editing of the transcript. The author/narrator does an acceptable job, but had I paid full price for the audiobook I would have been disappointed. The following review could come off as a bit of a rant so I will start with the few things I did enjoy during my reading experience after the following Goodreads synopsis:

“Calidan Darkheart is an Imperator. The voice of the Emperor in the wild. A secretive and dangerous job, hunting down those deemed a threat to the Emperor's rule...whether monster or man. Twisted and bitter, he heads down a dark path to hunt a nightmare from his youth.
This is his story.

The first instalment of a new series, David Oliver's debut novel features mythical beasts, epic sword duels, dark rituals and a friendship for the ages. Following in the footsteps of authors such as Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie and Brian McClellan, The Great Hearts melds gritty, vivid action with the soft, warm purr of a gigantic panther.”

Oliver clearly has a good imagination and a desire to work across the speculative fiction range as Lawrence does in his Broken Empire books, along with the ability to represent interesting emotional responses from the characters. The sense of lore is also good and whilst the worldbuilding could be better (and a bit less predictable), it is far from the worst example in self-published books. The sense of magic is good but not explored in enough depth to satisfy me, and there is a fair amount of intrigue when the plot requires it. I can't discuss too much about the magic as it would be a spoiler, but the different systems in place could really have helped flesh out the story more and increased my interest in the characters and their relationships. There is some semi-detailed lore here, but we always seem to be given just enough for the plot to progress, or just little enough for it to present a problem. In Lord of the Rings, the characters all have different histories and knowledge, but here I felt as if they all knew very little (even the so-called experts).

The novel does, unfortunately, read like a draft not yet ready to be published, with massive variances in the plot pacing and its overall style. For example, the opening part of the novel is rather visceral and gruesome, focusing a lot on emotions I couldn’t really identify with, for later passages to be devoid of anything with any sort of feeling. Whilst we are not meant to like Lawrence's Jorg, I feel as if we can identify with him/ understand his position a lot more clearly than Calidan's here. Furthermore, the only truly consistent stylisation I could spot was the over-explanations (and melodramatic telling not showing) - story threads came and went, characters faded and reappeared, and the action was a bit dull.

The second main problem was the lack of continuity. Not that there are obvious discrepancies/contextual disagreement, but certain key characters get seemingly forgotten about for long periods of time, whilst others gain abilities with no true explanation, and the final ‘big bad’ (if you can call it that) isn’t even mentioned until the last 20% of the story. I struggled to connect with many of the characters due to their plot convenience or relative lack of time on the page (or narration), with only one scene truly being emotional around 2/3 of the way through. It seems that the author struggled to convincingly connect all of his ideas, with the stop-start storytelling style missing the mark. Furthermore, the book also focuses on (at least) two time periods, and whilst I hoped they would eventually all join up in a satisfying conclusion, they sadly did not, leaving me with questions about how the different timelines worked together and why the 'future' events needed to be present at all.

The author would have benefitted from cutting out the secondary timelines as well as some of the time spent between discovering the great hearts themselves and the concluding chapters. More emphasis or urgency towards the end of the book would have helped fix the pacing issue and perhaps could have made me care more about the characters.



In conclusion, the story simply is not polished enough for me to rate it higher than 2.5/5. It has rather large issues which made the reading experience less than enjoyable and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but those who find the synopsis very persuasive. I feel like the story was made public too early, and having an editor go through the latest draft would have led to a much better overall story. Don't get me wrong, this novel is by no means awful, but it definitely not a polished finished product in my opinion.

[Wes Spence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise! With elements of influence from Mark Lawrence and Anthony Ryan, this had a lot of what I love in a sword and fantasy epic!

[Filip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review. This exchange is a part of r/fantasy’s TBRIndr database, whose purpose is to popularise independently published works of fantasy.

Warning: This novel contains portrayal of cannibalism, rape and a few more mainstays of grimdark fantasy.

The Great Hearts is a grim-dark fantasy novel with a pinch of sword’n’sorcery, seasoned with the barest hints of sci-fi towards the end. It is the first of a series of books centred around a pair of Imperators, Calidan Darkheart and Casius, his childhood friend.

If you’re unclear on the meaning behind the title of Imperator, have a look at the blurb:

Calidan Darkheart is an Imperator. The voice of the Emperor in the wild. A secretive and dangerous job, hunting down those deemed a threat to the Emperor's rule...whether monster or man. Twisted and bitter, he heads down a dark path to hunt a nightmare from his youth.

This is his story.

Promising enough, that. In fact, if I had to use a single word to describe ‘The Great Hearts,’ I would call it promising. A great many good ideas are to be found in this novel; however, they are bogged down by several problems I will touch upon during the length of this review.

To this purpose, welcome to The Good, The Bad, and The Meh! In these three sections, I’ve broken down everything I liked, disliked or was utterly indifferent towards in ‘The Great Hearts’!

THE BAD:

*The modifiers: A good modifier at the right time can paint the most vivid scenes in the reader’s mind. When adjectives and adverbs are used too often, the result is a rather more dense body of text which pulled me out of the world rather than gripping me. There’s no need to describe the shout of men chasing children around a forest for hours or days as angry; everything else in the scene already speaks to that emotion. This is but one of many examples I
*The punctuation: A lot of commas are missing, which caused misunderstandings during my read, forcing me to go back and reread a sentence or an entire paragraph in order to figure out what the author meant.
*(Un)Intentional Misdirection? The novel the blurb presents is different from the one I read. Where I first thought the story would follow an older Calidan who has already become an Imperator, I was surprised when the author chose to recount not only the event that led our protagonist on this dark path but recounted most of his training and first trial, as well. The time spent with the older Calidan, the one I thought the story would be about, is less than 10% of the entire novel, in fact.

THE MEH:

*Unnecessary explanations: Several times, Calidan goes into detailed descriptions of events that the reader is capable of intuiting on their own.
*A very open ending: I’m a sucker for the good old-fashioned cliffhanger but ‘The Great Hearts’ doesn’t so much end on one as it just…stops. The bad taste that left was somehow offset by an interesting Epilogue.
*Character Interaction: While most of it is good, I couldn’t help but feel that the dialogue would occasionally veer off into the realm of exposition at the cost of characters’ unique voices. This doesn’t pop up too often at all, but it’s noticeable enough.

THE GOOD:

*The Battle Scenes: David Oliver’s writing is at its best when he’s writing action scenes. With hardly any adjectives out of place, the combat is kinetic and well-described. Whenever fights broke out, I was glued to the screen.
*The Shift in Tone: Over the last few months, I’ve read some indie grimdark fantasy books that were dark for darkness’ sake. Even to someone who enjoys the genre, the constant barrage of hopelessness can get exhausting. That’s why I was very pleased when, after a bleak opening, ‘The Great Hearts’ switches gears and becomes a lot lighter, for a time. This shift in tone is done well and never felt unwelcome or unearned.
*A likeable Cast: Just about every single one of the side characters was likeable, even if some could use more development over the next instalment. Cassius and Calidan are two well-developed characters, very different from one another but connected by the strongest bonds of friendship. The Great Heart herself is a gigantic panther, and Calidan’s animal companion.
As a side note, I will admit that I was surprised by how nice some high-ranking military men were to a bunch of 11-12-year-old kids.

A lot is going on in this novel. I commend David Oliver for a first novel rich with ideas, and I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes next. All the complaints I have can be taken care of, as the author grows more experienced, as well as with another draft or two.

You’ll enjoy this book if you are:
*A fan of dark coming-of-age stories;
*A grimdark aficionado;
*A very large panther looking for companionship;
*And more! Prob’ly.

[Nancy Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thank the author for the ARC copy they sent me via librarything!

The SPFBO 2018 contest has just started and this book is one of the 300 titles vying for the glory. I'm glad to have read 2 of the competing books so early into the game.

Is this book grimdark? coming of age? military? It seems to mix several genres into one in a gritty tale of two demon hunters called Caledan and his best friend Cassius as we see two stories unfold: their present day life as full-fledged Imperators that have pretty much forgone any remaining traces of humanity to become the Emperor's killing machines and a much more jovial story of their childhood when they survive a horrid ambush in their rural village and end up escaping with a mysterious man only known as "The Tracker" and ultimately reaching a rural city named Forgoth.

Caledan is the colder and more calculating of the two, whereas Cassius exudes a sense of gentle giant that wants to defend the weak. After realizing Tracker was in some way associated with the savages that killed their family and friends, Cassius convinces Caldean to forgive his life, taking advantage of his wits and how the mysterious man is willing to teach them a language neither one of the two groups speaks fluently along the way. During a siege from a pack of wolves, Caledan bumps into a strange mythical beast called a "Great Heart", a gigantic panther named Seya that has formed a powerful bond with him and wants to protect him at all costs.

Being bonded with a mythical beast that makes Caledan impervious to most lethal wounds and adept at stealth soon attracts the attention of the kind hearted General Kyle of Forgoth who somewhat adopts the two boys and asks some of his men to teach them fighting skills and the commonly spoken Andurran language. A former pickpocket girl named Ella also joins the group and the three teenagers become close friends.

The book seems to enjoy a reprieve of the darkness of the first few chapters, but it doesn't take long for Caledan's skills to attract the attention of the Imperators, who bring them to the capital to meet the Emperor himself. They instantly accept the Emperor's request to train as Imperators, and most of the rest of the novel focuses on their rosy tinted experience of the initial two years as Imperator students.

We start to see flashes of the present day and realize the gentle and kind Cassius has been turned into a brutish killing machine with few memories of his past as he chases a group of demonic beasts alongside a bitter and cynical Caledan.

The pacing of the story is great. I was constantly wondering what will happen next and if the book would remain as dark as the first 2 chapters (it tones things down for most of the novel). Despite the horrible memories, the two boys experience a very happy childhood training with Kyle and forming friendships with other aspiring Imperators. We initially meet a sugary wonderful Emperor, but present day Caledan's disdain for the man proves that there is definitely more to him that seems to only see his Imperators as highly valuable tools for his more malignant schemes.

The book is solely told via Caledan's POV but it never feels tiring and I really liked the character. He knows there is a darkness to him that he somewhat accepts, but he still has a strong code of honor and genuinely cares about the people that are important to him. There are tons of unanswered questions to this book with a somewhat odd ending that will hopefully be answered in the possible sequel.

This book was a very enjoyable and easygoing story and I'm glad that I read it.

[Alexia Cambaling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this review on The Bookworm Daydreamer

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: Graphic depictions of rape, extreme violence, and cannibalism.

I listened to The Great Hearts on audiobook after receiving a request from the author and although I was starting to get tired of grimdark, I actually ended up liking this one. I will have to reiterate though: this is not for everybody. As with plenty of grimdark titles, this book contains a lot of graphic violence and other unsavory elements. Please heed the trigger warning if you are sensitive.

Before I start with the plot and characters, I really want to commend the narration. The Great Hearts is self-narrated by the author and the narration is fantastic. I can highly recommend the audiobook, if you like audiobooks. This is the first audiobook I listened to without a print or ebook/kindle copy of the book at hand so it took me a bit slower to get through. The listening experience is great, however.

The Great Hearts basically follows two friends: Calidan and Cassius, and is in Calidan’s point of view. It starts off in the future, with Calidan narrating the sequence of events that led them to a specific moment in the future. I will warn you that the beginning can be very gruesome to read, although it has, by far, the worst events in the book. From there, we follow them as they become wards of a general and receive training to become soldiers. Then, there’s also Calidan’s bond with Seylantha, one of the so-called Great Hands which were basically like big animals with enhanced capabilities.

The characters were pretty well-characterized. None of them really felt like caricatures or behaved in a way that I found very unrealistic. There are a few young characters here, and I think their actions correspond to their age and the circumstances in which they exist. There are a lot of good character relationships here from friendships to romance. There is a bit of romance here, but it’s more downplayed in favor of showing the characters’ friendships more, which I really appreciate.

There’s also Calidan’s aforementioned bond with Seya. I don’t really get to read a lot of books in which human-animal bonds are mentioned so reading this made me smile, especially since Seylantha is not a pet. She is respected as a Great Heart and is shown to be a very capable, graceful creature.

The world-building was confusing at first. There were mentions of a Cataclysm which didn’t really make much sense at the beginning. In fact, at first, it seemed a lot like the typical grimdark fantasy focused on military, demons, and dark magic. That is, until it really blew me away near the end. I won’t spoil much but the sci-fi aspect was both surprising and refreshing. I haven’t seen it done before and it really made for a fresh perspective on the happenings in the book.

The plot remains well-paced throughout. I liked how the sequence of events were narrated and there were chapters set in the future where we see how Calidan and Cassius turned out. The writing was also quite good and set the tone of the story well. For a debut novel, it really is quite impressive.

Overall, I can recommend The Great Hearts to anyone who’s a fan of grimdark. I believe it’s a standalone so it can also work well for anyone who doesn’t want to commit to a long series. Just be sure you can handle the graphic content.

[Steven Chisholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book while perusing a book review site, and the initial draw was the cover. I’m a sucker for dark fantasy, and the cover art and the tagline were enough of an indicator as to the content. Despite the delivery of the cover page, I wasn’t prepared for just how gnarly and gruesome it would be right off the bat.

The story is split into two timelines: One featuring present-day Calidan and his large companion, Cassius, in their Imperator roles, and the other covering the duo in their younger years, beginning in a small hamlet on the outskirts of the empire. The latter is the main focus of the story, providing some much needed context for the present-day characters.

First impressions indicate this would be a persistently grim tale, but I soon found that the tone shifts throughout the story, especially during Calidan’s moments of growth. While there are scenes that will make your skin crawl, all in all, most readers would be able to handle the heavy subject matter. Though, I recommend you read the author’s trigger warnings before diving in.

Praise certainly goes to David Oliver for his ability to choreograph great action sequences. You can follow every movement of the combatants and feel the wind of the whiffed sword strike and the force of the gut punches.

However, one thing that didn’t quite strike my fancy was the exposition dumps. Yet, I can’t really fault the author; he built an incredibly complex world, and being spoon fed morsels of information over the length of the book might have either ruined the reveal or caused confusion. Some might not interpret this as a flaw, and I certainly do not believe it detracted from the story in any way.

Ditch any preconceived notions you have about the contents of this book. No matter the prep, you’re in for a wild ride. While some of the scenes can be unapologetically brutal and grim (including rape), the author approaches the themes pragmatically. He doesn’t shy away from depicting the worst of humanity.

Bear in mind, this is the first of a series of novels, and while it does a great job at worldbuilding and character development, there remain some unanswered questions. However, what I liked most about this story is never anticipating the direction it was going. I appreciated the clues dropped by the author along the way that kept me guessing. I eventually had an inkling of what was going on about three-quarters through the book, but I was really only hazarding a guess at that point. Nevertheless, I never grasped the true scale of things until the final chapters.

I definitely recommend this book to lovers of fantasy who yearn for a fresh twist on the genre. David Oliver swung for the fences, and frankly, I think he nailed it.

[Jacob Heiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. I liked almost everything about it. The characters were interesting. Often, I find that grimdark employs the same sort of cardboard cutout, morally gray characters that are really powerful for little reason. I felt like each major character showed progression and depth.

The storytelling and world reminded me a lot of Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns series. The “present day” timeline was interwoven with flashbacks to explain the predicament and how the problem will be addressed. I also liked how the character’s personalities were actually different in the different times. Also, while the magic was not entirely explained, I liked how the build up to learning about the magic was slow and well-motivated.

I loved the idea of great hearts. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't get too much into what they are, or why they are so cool, but I thought that it was a really cool idea and implementation.

The ending was the only part that I didn't wholly like. It wasn't bad, but it felt incomplete. With the split storytelling - past and present simultaneously - I expected that the past would come up to the beginning of the present (hopefully that makes sense…). Here, however, I felt like there was still a long, long way to go before the two stories connected, maybe, hopefully, a few more books worth of story.

I guess there's one more nitpicky thing: after the magic was somewhat explained, in the present storyline, the narrator started using what seemed to be technical language about the magic, which was a bit of a turn off because I didn't understand the exactly what was being talked about. Not a big deal, but something that was a little bothersome to me.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent piece of writing. My only problems are essentially stylistic differences in what I would have done in outlining and editing, and I recognize that. So you should read it. It was really impressive.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A summary for my own memory:

A book that started out outstanding. Bloody, dark and mysterious.
But the more I read, the less I enjoy it.

It all start with 2 boys living in a small mountain village. He and his friend is out playing one early morning when a hord of warrior comes to the village and start massacering, raping, eating and capturing the villagers. His friend gets captured, but the boy manages to free him and they escape.

They are followed by a few warriors and trackers.
The boys manage to lure the warriors into a trap and kill them, but spare the tracker.
The group continues down the mountain and meets a big black cat.
The boy and the cat bonds and it teaches them how to survive in the forest.
After about 6 months of surviving in the wilderness they reach a city where they get high class fighting traning.
(I would not really think a military officer would take in 2 orphan boys off the street, but thats just me)
they fight. and fight. and fight. Then they fight some more.

A special unit from the emperor comes for a visit and notices the boy and his connection to the cat.
They like it, and forces the boy and his friends (they found a street-rat friend) to a school.
The troup is superior to the other students, but still learn some useful stuff.

They meet the emperor, wich acts like a friendly grandfather, wich is absurd.

He founds a diary about the history of his cat, and wants to explore the area where it was found.
He and his friend and a few teachers head to the area and finds an underground tech facility and an friendly AI.
The AI informes them about how the earth was reformed and how technology was destroyed. jada jada.

The end part of the book was simply frustratingly bad. Cliché and just facepalm.
It was nothing like the beginning, but felt more like a cheesy teenage book.
I was dissapointed.