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The Dead Sagas #1
The Dead Sagas, Volume I, Part I
"Only valour and steel can stand against the rising dead"
Arnar is a land of warriors, its people as stalwart as the stones themselves. In a land of dark forests and ancient hill forts, a forgotten evil is awoken by curious minds.
The Great Histories and the Sagas say nothing of this evil, long passed from the memory of even the studious scholars of the College. For centuries, the scholars of Arnar have kept these records and preserved the knowledge and great deeds of a proud people. The story of these peoples forever chronicled in the Sagas of the Great Histories.
But now the evil spreads and the dead walk in its wake, terrible creatures roam the night and even the spirits are restless. The Dead Sagas could perhaps be the final chapters of these great records.
Many threads entwine to tell this Saga, interweaving the tales of those who played their part in the search for answers and ultimately their fight for survival. Amid plague, invasion and terror, the inexorable rise of the dead sends a kingdom scrabbling to its knees.
This Dark Fantasy Epic combines dark malign horror and gritty survival adventure as the Dead Sagas unfold in a world where honour and renown is all, where beasts and savages lurk in the wilderness, and where sword, axe and shield is all that stands between the living and the grasping hands of the dead.
Arnar is a land of warriors, its people as stalwart as the stones themselves. In a land of dark forests and ancient hill forts, a forgotten evil is awoken by curious minds.
The Great Histories and the Sagas say nothing of this evil, long passed from the memory of even the studious scholars of the College. For centuries, the scholars of Arnar have kept these records and preserved the knowledge and great deeds of a proud people. The story of these peoples forever chronicled in the Sagas of the Great Histories.
But now the evil spreads and the dead walk in its wake, terrible creatures roam the night and even the spirits are restless. The Dead Sagas could perhaps be the final chapters of these great records.
Many threads entwine to tell this Saga, interweaving the tales of those who played their part in the search for answers and ultimately their fight for survival. Amid plague, invasion and terror, the inexorable rise of the dead sends a kingdom scrabbling to its knees.
This Dark Fantasy Epic combines dark malign horror and gritty survival adventure as the Dead Sagas unfold in a world where honour and renown is all, where beasts and savages lurk in the wilderness, and where sword, axe and shield is all that stands between the living and the grasping hands of the dead.
377 pages, Paperback
First published April 14, 2018
34 people are currently reading
675 people want to read
About the author
Lee C. Conley
9 books170 followersLee is a musician and horror writer living in the historic city of Lincoln, in the UK. Having taught guitar for over 20 years, alongside being a practitioner and instructor of historical martial arts and swordsmanship, he now turns his hand to writing speculative fiction and dark fantasy horror. Currently working on his debut fantasy series The Dead Sagas, which includes the novels A Ritual of Bone, A Ritual of Flesh, and the upcoming A Ritual of Blood, Lee is also often to be found generally writing dark SFF and horror fiction, fighting people with swords, or searching for the spookiest words.
Official Website: https://www.leeconleyauthor.com/
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Official Website: https://www.leeconleyauthor.com/
Join Lee's official author mailing list!
If anyone would like to sign up for occasional (once or twice a year) email of news and updates on my work, with the occasional competition or giveaway too, please sign yourselves up
https://mailchi.mp/ec0e4d5c30e7/leeco...
Follow Lee:
on Twitter - @LongswordLee
on Facebook - www.facebook.com/LeeConleyAuthor/
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On Twitter - @TheDeadSagas
On Facebook - www.facebook.com/TheDeadSagas/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
August 12, 2022
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The Dead Sagas: Volume I, Part I by Lee Conley is a dark fantasy novel, a horror saga unlike any other. This is not a book for the weak. This is the book for the bravest, the ones who dare to read it, and the ones who can handle to continue living with what they now know.
Book description:
In a land called Arnar, where brave warriors fight for glory, a great evil comes alive.
The secrets of which the scholars were writing about in the past years, the scary stories that were being told in families throughout the generations are becoming true.
Creatures we thought were dead are now walking through the streets, spreading their disease, killing innocent people, and are about to take over Arnar.
The brave warriors are prepared to die defending their lands, but how can you fight creatures that barely feel pain? Are the warriors strong enough?
My Thoughts:
A story that will leave you breathless until the very end, a story that will push you into anxiety and make you bite your nails. A story that speaks about evil, and good, love, bravery and survival, a book that will sit on your shelf after reading it, and you’ll give it a look once in a while, and say: Ahh.. that was good!
In The Dead Sagas we have the chance to follow the stories of many characters. We will meet scholars and apprentices, we meet warriors and lords, we meet people from the street, doing everything they can to survive, we meet survivors that have seen things and we will meet sailors that are dying.
From chapter to chapter, the story goes from one character to another, and we slowly see the progression of the evil creatures, the spreading pace by pace. While it starts with sailors getting sick and dying afterwards on a ship, it slowly continues to become more and more intense, as we see people literally transforming into dead walkers right after they die, right in front of our eyes.
You will meet Bjorn, who escaped a tribe that cooks and eats people, you will meet Arnulf, who sees unimaginable things will being a lord of the watch. You will see him go through the greatest pain in life, you will see him afraid and brave, you will see him fighting, even though he wants to go and cry in the corner and die.
You will meet a girl that sells her body, so she can buy food for her and her little brother. You will meet a woman warrior, and learn about her amazing and brave story, you will watch how people see their loved ones die right in front of their eyes, and sometimes, they even have to be the ones to kill them in order to survive.
Even though we learn so much about the characters and their stories, at times it was hard for me to really connect with any of them, as the chapters moved fast from one character to another. This is probably the reason to why I also found the beginning quite slow. It took me around 90 pages, to start realising what is happening.
There will be a lot of violence in this book, a lot of swearing, and scenes that might upset or offend you. This book is not for the weak ones, that is for sure. And while for some of you this might put you off this book, I do have to say that if the book didn’t have a strong language and violent scenes like it does, it wouldn’t have been the same.
The biggest ''flaw'' I had was the ending. I won’t say anything spoiler-ish , as I don’t want to ruin the book for you, but let’s just say that I didn’t expect it to end the way it did.
Even though this is a story about the dead people walking around and killing everything in front of them, this is actually a book about the survivors, the ones that managed to retell this story - the ones that lost anything and everything to be where they are now. This is for the lives of the brave souls, the mighty warriors, that were noble and tried to protect their lands.
A massive thanks to the author, Lee Conley, who managed to find me in the deep waters of Twitter, and who agreed to send me a paperback copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Dead Sagas: Volume I, Part I by Lee Conley is a dark fantasy novel, a horror saga unlike any other. This is not a book for the weak. This is the book for the bravest, the ones who dare to read it, and the ones who can handle to continue living with what they now know.
Book description:
In a land called Arnar, where brave warriors fight for glory, a great evil comes alive.
The secrets of which the scholars were writing about in the past years, the scary stories that were being told in families throughout the generations are becoming true.
Creatures we thought were dead are now walking through the streets, spreading their disease, killing innocent people, and are about to take over Arnar.
The brave warriors are prepared to die defending their lands, but how can you fight creatures that barely feel pain? Are the warriors strong enough?
My Thoughts:
A story that will leave you breathless until the very end, a story that will push you into anxiety and make you bite your nails. A story that speaks about evil, and good, love, bravery and survival, a book that will sit on your shelf after reading it, and you’ll give it a look once in a while, and say: Ahh.. that was good!
In The Dead Sagas we have the chance to follow the stories of many characters. We will meet scholars and apprentices, we meet warriors and lords, we meet people from the street, doing everything they can to survive, we meet survivors that have seen things and we will meet sailors that are dying.
From chapter to chapter, the story goes from one character to another, and we slowly see the progression of the evil creatures, the spreading pace by pace. While it starts with sailors getting sick and dying afterwards on a ship, it slowly continues to become more and more intense, as we see people literally transforming into dead walkers right after they die, right in front of our eyes.
You will meet Bjorn, who escaped a tribe that cooks and eats people, you will meet Arnulf, who sees unimaginable things will being a lord of the watch. You will see him go through the greatest pain in life, you will see him afraid and brave, you will see him fighting, even though he wants to go and cry in the corner and die.
You will meet a girl that sells her body, so she can buy food for her and her little brother. You will meet a woman warrior, and learn about her amazing and brave story, you will watch how people see their loved ones die right in front of their eyes, and sometimes, they even have to be the ones to kill them in order to survive.
Even though we learn so much about the characters and their stories, at times it was hard for me to really connect with any of them, as the chapters moved fast from one character to another. This is probably the reason to why I also found the beginning quite slow. It took me around 90 pages, to start realising what is happening.
There will be a lot of violence in this book, a lot of swearing, and scenes that might upset or offend you. This book is not for the weak ones, that is for sure. And while for some of you this might put you off this book, I do have to say that if the book didn’t have a strong language and violent scenes like it does, it wouldn’t have been the same.
The biggest ''flaw'' I had was the ending. I won’t say anything spoiler-ish , as I don’t want to ruin the book for you, but let’s just say that I didn’t expect it to end the way it did.
Even though this is a story about the dead people walking around and killing everything in front of them, this is actually a book about the survivors, the ones that managed to retell this story - the ones that lost anything and everything to be where they are now. This is for the lives of the brave souls, the mighty warriors, that were noble and tried to protect their lands.
A massive thanks to the author, Lee Conley, who managed to find me in the deep waters of Twitter, and who agreed to send me a paperback copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
May 6, 2020
First things first, if you don’t like violence and gore stop reading. This book won’t be for you. Don’t waste your time with it or my review. I will never try to convince you to read it because you won’t like it.
However, if you do like violence this book might appeal to you. It’s basically about zombies in a fantasy setting. And it’s cool. It’s a simple idea done well. As expected, it’s dark and brutal, layered with graphic descriptions of mutilations and death. There’s cannibalism and there’s murder and there’s lots and lots of blood. Zombies do get hungry after all.
The opening is strong and quickly sets the tone for the story. There’s lots of horror elements within the first chapter as an unknown presence lurks in the trees watching the Apprentice. He and his master are working on the bone ritual, necromantic magic that brings back the dead. And, of course, with such potent and dark magic come numerous unsought for consequences. And what developed was a suspense filled story that worked its way into an interesting dilemma delivered across multiple point of view characters.
Bjorn was my favourite. He just seemed to be a relatively normal guy, an honest and hardworking man of the land, shoved into a situation he was completely bewildered by. He spent most of the story trying to convince everyone of the approaching horrors. But he wasn’t without his own skills as he managed to bring a few down in some great action scenes. The novel takes me back to my teenage years and the countless hours I spent playing Skyrim. Around halfway through the book I even started playing the soundtrack by Jeremy Soule. And that’s a good thing. The warriors fighting the undead amongst the trees and the moonlight had a sort of Nordic feel to it. It had a great atmosphere to it.
Plot wise, character wise and structure wise this is all put together well. The pacing is solid too. My only criticism is with the prose itself. Some of the wording and sentences fell into similar patterns of expression and became repetitive. Lots of authors do this, Robert Jordan is the biggest culprit in fantasy, though here it was particularly noticeable. Some edits were needed but considering this is the author’s first novel and it is entirely self-published without a professional editor behind it, the overall quality of the writing is very high. Work is needed in places, but not so much that it drastically affected my enjoyment of it. It would be remiss of me not to mention it though.
If you like The Walking Dead and the Elder scrolls franchise, then I’d certainly give this book a shot. It’s sort of a mix between the two in places. There’s no shortage of surprises and it’s pretty much action from the start. Plenty of monster killing too. It’s worth giving a go if you’re not squeamish.
Thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review at Fantasy Book Review.
_________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
__________________________________
However, if you do like violence this book might appeal to you. It’s basically about zombies in a fantasy setting. And it’s cool. It’s a simple idea done well. As expected, it’s dark and brutal, layered with graphic descriptions of mutilations and death. There’s cannibalism and there’s murder and there’s lots and lots of blood. Zombies do get hungry after all.
The opening is strong and quickly sets the tone for the story. There’s lots of horror elements within the first chapter as an unknown presence lurks in the trees watching the Apprentice. He and his master are working on the bone ritual, necromantic magic that brings back the dead. And, of course, with such potent and dark magic come numerous unsought for consequences. And what developed was a suspense filled story that worked its way into an interesting dilemma delivered across multiple point of view characters.
Bjorn was my favourite. He just seemed to be a relatively normal guy, an honest and hardworking man of the land, shoved into a situation he was completely bewildered by. He spent most of the story trying to convince everyone of the approaching horrors. But he wasn’t without his own skills as he managed to bring a few down in some great action scenes. The novel takes me back to my teenage years and the countless hours I spent playing Skyrim. Around halfway through the book I even started playing the soundtrack by Jeremy Soule. And that’s a good thing. The warriors fighting the undead amongst the trees and the moonlight had a sort of Nordic feel to it. It had a great atmosphere to it.
Plot wise, character wise and structure wise this is all put together well. The pacing is solid too. My only criticism is with the prose itself. Some of the wording and sentences fell into similar patterns of expression and became repetitive. Lots of authors do this, Robert Jordan is the biggest culprit in fantasy, though here it was particularly noticeable. Some edits were needed but considering this is the author’s first novel and it is entirely self-published without a professional editor behind it, the overall quality of the writing is very high. Work is needed in places, but not so much that it drastically affected my enjoyment of it. It would be remiss of me not to mention it though.
If you like The Walking Dead and the Elder scrolls franchise, then I’d certainly give this book a shot. It’s sort of a mix between the two in places. There’s no shortage of surprises and it’s pretty much action from the start. Plenty of monster killing too. It’s worth giving a go if you’re not squeamish.
Thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review at Fantasy Book Review.
_________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
__________________________________
October 22, 2018
I've read a lot of zombie fiction in my day and I've also read a ton of medieval fantasy, but never before have I read a book that melds the two into a singular story before. A RITUAL OF BONE is the first volume in British author Lee Conley's The Dead Sagas series, and to say it is one of the more original works of horror fantasy that I have read in quite some time would be an understatement. For one thing, the book is actually divided up into a number of separate smaller storylines that all converge in the end to make up one overarching main story. One storyline deals with Master Logan and his apprentice, who are playing with a magic that has long been forgotten but which has incredibly dark ramifications if used unwisely. It seems that another Master of their order has found a way to bring the dead back to life and in his extreme hubris, he unleashes something that will allow the dead to walk freely again and in large numbers. Logan and his apprentice are unwilling contributors but the Pandora's Box has already been opened and what that means for the kingdom of Arnar could be catastrophic when all is said and done.
Another storyline tells the tale of Bjorn, who is a hunter being held captive by a cannibalistic tribe. Very early on in the book Bjorn escapes his captivity but essentially runs out of the frying pan and into the fire (no pun intended) when his escape into the forest brings him face to face with the unspeakable horror that is amassing across the countryside. Bjorn eventually teams up with an unlikely ally and utilizes his skills as a hunter to attempt to battle the menace that is slowly taking over every corner of his countryside. Then there's the story of Arnulf, a commander of the guard of Arnar who is struggling to keep his men together as he sees many of them fall victim to a strange plague that causes them to bleed from every orifice and die in incredibly gruesome ways. At the same time he also must protect his homeland from a strange invasion of undead creatures the likes of which has never been seen before. Or has it? Perhaps the only hope is to consult The Great Histories of the Dead Sagas in an effort to reveal certain clues of a long dead people that might stop the horrendous evil powers now loosed upon the world. And yet another storyline follows the travails of a woman named Nym who is simply trying to protect her little brother as they live in squalor in a putrid town where the only way for them to survive and eat is for her to sell her body. Her struggle is perhaps the most compelling as her bravery and perseverance in the face of such wanton brutality is both honorable and inspiring. She literally goes to any lengths to protect her brother, whom she loves more than anything. What role will Nym have to play in the invading terror that is to come? As these separate tales converge, we get the picture of a kingdom of Arnar battling for its very existence and the only hope for its survival may lie in the hands of the characters at the hearts of all of these storylines.
A RITUAL OF BONE is one of those books that came at the perfect time for me. Obviously, we are close to Halloween and this book has so many horror elements in it that it felt like a really intense and scary read. I enjoyed turning the pages well into the night over the past couple of weeks. To dismiss this book as simply a zombie horror book would be to sell it very short however. It is much more than that as this book strikes an incredible balance between horror and medieval fantasy. I think this is the main reason why I enjoyed the book so much as it wasn't just a one-dimensional read. I never felt like I was reading a splatter zombie adventure book because of the medieval setting and also the ever-changing story lines. I'm not usually a fan of books that are broken into smaller stories but the author did an amazing job of seamlessly integrating different story lines into a cohesive book that ultimately felt unified. It didn't ever feel like a collection of short stories to me and I always had this notion in my head as I was reading that all of these characters and stories were interconnected and essential to the eventual conclusion. Yes there is a good deal of gore and blood but it wasn't done in a heavy-handed way and there was a great deal of suspense that counter balanced the really violent parts. At the core of this book though is the stories of survival that we feel with every character and how the rampaging zombie evil affects each one in a different way. We get to experience the struggle to stay alive against outrageous odds and as a result of that, we become intimate with these characters as we follow them along their individual journeys. Please do give A RITUAL OF BONE by Lee Conley a try, especially if you enjoy medieval fantasy with a good deal of horror, adventure, and intrigue. I liked this one a lot. Can't wait for Book number two in The Dead Sagas!
Another storyline tells the tale of Bjorn, who is a hunter being held captive by a cannibalistic tribe. Very early on in the book Bjorn escapes his captivity but essentially runs out of the frying pan and into the fire (no pun intended) when his escape into the forest brings him face to face with the unspeakable horror that is amassing across the countryside. Bjorn eventually teams up with an unlikely ally and utilizes his skills as a hunter to attempt to battle the menace that is slowly taking over every corner of his countryside. Then there's the story of Arnulf, a commander of the guard of Arnar who is struggling to keep his men together as he sees many of them fall victim to a strange plague that causes them to bleed from every orifice and die in incredibly gruesome ways. At the same time he also must protect his homeland from a strange invasion of undead creatures the likes of which has never been seen before. Or has it? Perhaps the only hope is to consult The Great Histories of the Dead Sagas in an effort to reveal certain clues of a long dead people that might stop the horrendous evil powers now loosed upon the world. And yet another storyline follows the travails of a woman named Nym who is simply trying to protect her little brother as they live in squalor in a putrid town where the only way for them to survive and eat is for her to sell her body. Her struggle is perhaps the most compelling as her bravery and perseverance in the face of such wanton brutality is both honorable and inspiring. She literally goes to any lengths to protect her brother, whom she loves more than anything. What role will Nym have to play in the invading terror that is to come? As these separate tales converge, we get the picture of a kingdom of Arnar battling for its very existence and the only hope for its survival may lie in the hands of the characters at the hearts of all of these storylines.
A RITUAL OF BONE is one of those books that came at the perfect time for me. Obviously, we are close to Halloween and this book has so many horror elements in it that it felt like a really intense and scary read. I enjoyed turning the pages well into the night over the past couple of weeks. To dismiss this book as simply a zombie horror book would be to sell it very short however. It is much more than that as this book strikes an incredible balance between horror and medieval fantasy. I think this is the main reason why I enjoyed the book so much as it wasn't just a one-dimensional read. I never felt like I was reading a splatter zombie adventure book because of the medieval setting and also the ever-changing story lines. I'm not usually a fan of books that are broken into smaller stories but the author did an amazing job of seamlessly integrating different story lines into a cohesive book that ultimately felt unified. It didn't ever feel like a collection of short stories to me and I always had this notion in my head as I was reading that all of these characters and stories were interconnected and essential to the eventual conclusion. Yes there is a good deal of gore and blood but it wasn't done in a heavy-handed way and there was a great deal of suspense that counter balanced the really violent parts. At the core of this book though is the stories of survival that we feel with every character and how the rampaging zombie evil affects each one in a different way. We get to experience the struggle to stay alive against outrageous odds and as a result of that, we become intimate with these characters as we follow them along their individual journeys. Please do give A RITUAL OF BONE by Lee Conley a try, especially if you enjoy medieval fantasy with a good deal of horror, adventure, and intrigue. I liked this one a lot. Can't wait for Book number two in The Dead Sagas!
April 5, 2020
Now this is one of the most original books I have ever read.
A seamless blend in between first class horror and great medieval fantasy, achieved with an incredible balance.
A Ritual of Bone is not a book for everyone, especially not the faint of heart, due to it's gory content and high level of violence. But if you're not squeamish, you'll find it to be a treat!
It's got a solid plot with separate threads expertly woven together and fairly easy to follow. And we also get those tiny little clues that we can pick up along the way and slowly but surely build the big puzzle. I absolutely love those!
I am not a huge fan of zombies and yet I have really enjoyed A Ritual of Bone.
Yes! It is dark, brutal and full of necromancy; zombies, cannibalism and death in all it’s gory glory. Dark magic combined with necromancy will make your hair stand on end at times, but then so will those Zombies! First class horror descriptions here if you ask me.
But that is not all.
Lee Conley gives us here masterfully crafted characters in a just as masterfully designed fantasy setting.
And despite it's gory description, this book is in fact an ode not to the dead, but to the survivors. To those who brave horrors and stand up for others; to the warriors of all kind. Be they mighty fighters in an army, or a simple girl who has to keep her little brother alive.
If you don't shy away from death, blood and gore, you have got to try this! It is incredible!
A seamless blend in between first class horror and great medieval fantasy, achieved with an incredible balance.
A Ritual of Bone is not a book for everyone, especially not the faint of heart, due to it's gory content and high level of violence. But if you're not squeamish, you'll find it to be a treat!
It's got a solid plot with separate threads expertly woven together and fairly easy to follow. And we also get those tiny little clues that we can pick up along the way and slowly but surely build the big puzzle. I absolutely love those!
I am not a huge fan of zombies and yet I have really enjoyed A Ritual of Bone.
Yes! It is dark, brutal and full of necromancy; zombies, cannibalism and death in all it’s gory glory. Dark magic combined with necromancy will make your hair stand on end at times, but then so will those Zombies! First class horror descriptions here if you ask me.
But that is not all.
Lee Conley gives us here masterfully crafted characters in a just as masterfully designed fantasy setting.
And despite it's gory description, this book is in fact an ode not to the dead, but to the survivors. To those who brave horrors and stand up for others; to the warriors of all kind. Be they mighty fighters in an army, or a simple girl who has to keep her little brother alive.
If you don't shy away from death, blood and gore, you have got to try this! It is incredible!
January 14, 2021
Entertaining, quality fantasy-horror tale with serious Elder Scrolls Nord vibes. Looking forward. to the next one.
April 26, 2021
Even though I am not usually a fan of Zombie type Books, this one was a lot of fun! I enjoyed the mix of undead of some kind (still quite a bit of mytsery about that point) in a medievalish setting.
There's different POVs, and I can savely say that this isn't for the faint of heart - and by far not everyone makes it to the end. I did like the POVs and there were definitely some emotional suckerpunches along the way - which shows the book was working and I did care for the people in it. A few times they didn't feel as deep and as well rounded as I would have preferred, but overall I enjoyed spending my time with them.
The story was mysterious enough to keep me hoked, always wanting to find out more. Strange magic and dead walking - what's not to like...
I definitely enjoyed knowing more than the characters and going "uh oh, this is not wise" due to my superior zombie movie knowledge. It didn't make it feel predictable, but instead hightend the suspense, seeing how things will go!
I had a few little niggles in details that didn't make full sense or were just handled a bit too easily for my taste. Example with one quite minor spoiler, but still spoiler
I'll definitely listen to the second one in the series too!
There's different POVs, and I can savely say that this isn't for the faint of heart - and by far not everyone makes it to the end. I did like the POVs and there were definitely some emotional suckerpunches along the way - which shows the book was working and I did care for the people in it. A few times they didn't feel as deep and as well rounded as I would have preferred, but overall I enjoyed spending my time with them.
The story was mysterious enough to keep me hoked, always wanting to find out more. Strange magic and dead walking - what's not to like...
I definitely enjoyed knowing more than the characters and going "uh oh, this is not wise" due to my superior zombie movie knowledge. It didn't make it feel predictable, but instead hightend the suspense, seeing how things will go!
I had a few little niggles in details that didn't make full sense or were just handled a bit too easily for my taste. Example with one quite minor spoiler, but still spoiler
I'll definitely listen to the second one in the series too!
February 5, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this dark, thrilling, necromantic fantasy set in its subtle-Viking style world. Plenty of mystery and intrigue, tense moments and sudden action; fear and adrenaline unbound. I'm looking forward to the next one and now I know the first is on Audible, I'll likely continue with the series down that route, because I rarely get time to read anything but textbooks these days, hence why I took so long on this, despite desperately wanting to know what would happen next.
If you enjoy dark age warriors versus the undead, then this is for you!
If you enjoy dark age warriors versus the undead, then this is for you!
December 12, 2018
Zombie stories are pretty much a dime a dozen and not something that always works well for me. So, be very surprised that I was quite excited to read this one.
What this one does right- is atmosphere. The author laid the groundwork, he gave us a creepy location, he gave us some people to care about, and then he set loose the horde, a little at a time. It’s the perfect horror formula.
Setting the stage – Fantastic atmosphere right from the beginning, this is the where a lot of these book fail for me. Without a sense of eeriness to get you in the mood, it’s just a book with zombies.
This begins with a nervous apprentice, he’s feeling watched, he’s hearing things, and we find out his Master Eldrik is maybe dabbling in things he shouldn’t…you can’t ask for a better sense of what’s to come than that set-up.
-My very favorite creepy scene setting, was later in the book in the mountain pass with the bells tolling off in the distance. It imparts such a sense of doom, at this point we are starting to see the bigger picture of the nightmare to come, so it works amazingly well.
People to care about- There are multiple pov’s from various parts of the world whose lives end up converging. As mentioned, the eager to please Apprenticeto begin with, later Arnulf, taking care of his soldiers worried about his family and his town, the girl Nymwatching out for her brother Finn- to name a few.
-My favorite character was Arnulf, and I thought the whole part with him coming back to his village and the stuff with his family (especially the son) was the best part of the whole book. Well done, emotionally impacting, and with a sense of loss and fear. That build-up of the fear, and that you know damn well it’s probably not going to end well but you hope like crazy you’re wrong, is my favorite kind of tension in horror.
And then the horde- well the trickle first… just enough hinting at the beginning to make you wonder if maybe it’s not connected and then it’s starts to build from there.
Ok so, there are some fairly dark and gory scenes and general grossness with the biting, blood spurting, the typical zombie horror gore. I’m not very good at the biting and ripping flesh with teeth scenes myself, blech, give me hacking at limbs with axes, swords or knife fights any day over cannibalism but I didn’t feel it went overboard on the gore descriptions either.
Where this fell a bit short- Probably my only ‘big’ issue was fairly minor- it could be a little wordy, and there were some instances of words or themes being repeated or rephrased, occasionally even in the same paragraph. Nothing ‘big’ enough to keep me from coming back to see how this series, and this author progresses.
3.5 for this one.
This one is worth checking out for the dark and atmospheric setting alone.
Edited to add- Since this review was posted, the author has had this book re-edited and recovered. This will no doubt fix a lot of my main issues that I had with the book, as noted in my "where it fell a bit short".
A special thanks to the author Lee Conley for generously supplying a copy in exchange for a review.
What this one does right- is atmosphere. The author laid the groundwork, he gave us a creepy location, he gave us some people to care about, and then he set loose the horde, a little at a time. It’s the perfect horror formula.
Setting the stage – Fantastic atmosphere right from the beginning, this is the where a lot of these book fail for me. Without a sense of eeriness to get you in the mood, it’s just a book with zombies.
This begins with a nervous apprentice, he’s feeling watched, he’s hearing things, and we find out his Master Eldrik is maybe dabbling in things he shouldn’t…you can’t ask for a better sense of what’s to come than that set-up.
-My very favorite creepy scene setting, was later in the book in the mountain pass with the bells tolling off in the distance. It imparts such a sense of doom, at this point we are starting to see the bigger picture of the nightmare to come, so it works amazingly well.
People to care about- There are multiple pov’s from various parts of the world whose lives end up converging. As mentioned, the eager to please Apprenticeto begin with, later Arnulf, taking care of his soldiers worried about his family and his town, the girl Nymwatching out for her brother Finn- to name a few.
-My favorite character was Arnulf, and I thought the whole part with him coming back to his village and the stuff with his family (especially the son) was the best part of the whole book. Well done, emotionally impacting, and with a sense of loss and fear. That build-up of the fear, and that you know damn well it’s probably not going to end well but you hope like crazy you’re wrong, is my favorite kind of tension in horror.
And then the horde- well the trickle first… just enough hinting at the beginning to make you wonder if maybe it’s not connected and then it’s starts to build from there.
Ok so, there are some fairly dark and gory scenes and general grossness with the biting, blood spurting, the typical zombie horror gore. I’m not very good at the biting and ripping flesh with teeth scenes myself, blech, give me hacking at limbs with axes, swords or knife fights any day over cannibalism but I didn’t feel it went overboard on the gore descriptions either.
Where this fell a bit short- Probably my only ‘big’ issue was fairly minor- it could be a little wordy, and there were some instances of words or themes being repeated or rephrased, occasionally even in the same paragraph. Nothing ‘big’ enough to keep me from coming back to see how this series, and this author progresses.
3.5 for this one.
This one is worth checking out for the dark and atmospheric setting alone.
Edited to add- Since this review was posted, the author has had this book re-edited and recovered. This will no doubt fix a lot of my main issues that I had with the book, as noted in my "where it fell a bit short".
A special thanks to the author Lee Conley for generously supplying a copy in exchange for a review.
September 30, 2019
Her love, replaced with a terrible rage as her spiralling descent into madness consumed all that she was. Perhaps it was easier to forget, to fall deeper into the darkness, to leave guilt and grief behind.
A Ritual of Bone is volume one in Conley’s debut fantasy series The Dead Sagas, and is a seamless blend of dark fantasy and unrestrained horror, filled with obscure mysteries and harrowing adventures. The pages are littered with resolute warriors, arcane necromancy, frenzied zombies, savage cannibalism, whispering shadows, and gore aplenty. It’s a true attestation of the concept that one should never assume the role of god to alter the rules of natural law, illustrated by the catastrophes resulting from tearing the dead from the cold embrace of Old Night. An account of companionship and courage and loss, this story stuns with its level of brutality, but also reveres the raw emotions exuded when facing adversity.
This is a tale expertly weaved with a great deal of attention paid to its many moving pieces. Four separate yarns involving different sets of characters drop us into a world being bombarded by bloodshed from every possible angle. While each remain a somewhat independent thread surrounding two distinct plot lines – one of the walking dead, and the other of a mysterious virulent disease – the entirety has the workings of a grand convergence, which only future installments may or may not confirm. Alternating chapters end with such notes of suspense, but also present tiny pieces of the puzzle for those looking closely enough. With so many facets to direct our focus to, it’s surprisingly easy to follow.
I believe this could possibly be the first story I’ve encountered that blends a traditional fantasy environment – the ancient north of a medieval setting – with the beginnings of a zombie apocalypse. It’s one we’ve heard before, but never executed quite like this. Its singularity and imaginative aspects of the saga within makes this a highly engrossing read that not only keep you guessing throughout, but also leave curiosity festering well after the final pages are turned. We end with the consequences of fear and displacement, so don’t expect any semblance of closure…I’ve personally been left champing at the bit for more, which I truly hope will arrive sooner rather than later.
'They test us…because here dwell men who will fight, and we should be honoured that they have chosen us–perhaps the finest warriors of Arnar–as their champions. Old Night will be denied my spirit this night.'
Conley triumphantly delivers a story led by beautifully crafted characters that, while are of incredibly diverse backgrounds, all share two things in common: utter desperation and bolstered resolve, fitting flawlessly within this menacing and grim world he has created. Exceptionally immersive and eerie surroundings with evil approaching on winter winds add another superb layer to this ruthless and macabre saga of life and death. The tension accomplished is thoroughly palpable as two grisly and seemingly unconnected threats violently lash the populace with a promise of more cruelty in the future. My only criticisms would be directed towards a few instances of misplaced focus that didn’t seem to bear any fruit throughout this particular book, as well as some unnecessary repetition.
I thoroughly enjoyed A Ritual of Bone, more so than expected as I’m not usually a fan of tales of zombies. Conley has created an impeccably solid foundation for a potentially noteworthy series to be enjoyed by fans of fantasy and horror alike. The final chapters were an emotional whirlwind, and it’s evident carnage lurks just beyond the horizon. I’ve already been on the hunt for a release date for the next book in the series because I’m dying (no pun intended) to find out what happens next. I highly recommend.
Note: A huge thank you to the author for providing me with a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A Ritual of Bone is volume one in Conley’s debut fantasy series The Dead Sagas, and is a seamless blend of dark fantasy and unrestrained horror, filled with obscure mysteries and harrowing adventures. The pages are littered with resolute warriors, arcane necromancy, frenzied zombies, savage cannibalism, whispering shadows, and gore aplenty. It’s a true attestation of the concept that one should never assume the role of god to alter the rules of natural law, illustrated by the catastrophes resulting from tearing the dead from the cold embrace of Old Night. An account of companionship and courage and loss, this story stuns with its level of brutality, but also reveres the raw emotions exuded when facing adversity.
This is a tale expertly weaved with a great deal of attention paid to its many moving pieces. Four separate yarns involving different sets of characters drop us into a world being bombarded by bloodshed from every possible angle. While each remain a somewhat independent thread surrounding two distinct plot lines – one of the walking dead, and the other of a mysterious virulent disease – the entirety has the workings of a grand convergence, which only future installments may or may not confirm. Alternating chapters end with such notes of suspense, but also present tiny pieces of the puzzle for those looking closely enough. With so many facets to direct our focus to, it’s surprisingly easy to follow.
I believe this could possibly be the first story I’ve encountered that blends a traditional fantasy environment – the ancient north of a medieval setting – with the beginnings of a zombie apocalypse. It’s one we’ve heard before, but never executed quite like this. Its singularity and imaginative aspects of the saga within makes this a highly engrossing read that not only keep you guessing throughout, but also leave curiosity festering well after the final pages are turned. We end with the consequences of fear and displacement, so don’t expect any semblance of closure…I’ve personally been left champing at the bit for more, which I truly hope will arrive sooner rather than later.
'They test us…because here dwell men who will fight, and we should be honoured that they have chosen us–perhaps the finest warriors of Arnar–as their champions. Old Night will be denied my spirit this night.'
Conley triumphantly delivers a story led by beautifully crafted characters that, while are of incredibly diverse backgrounds, all share two things in common: utter desperation and bolstered resolve, fitting flawlessly within this menacing and grim world he has created. Exceptionally immersive and eerie surroundings with evil approaching on winter winds add another superb layer to this ruthless and macabre saga of life and death. The tension accomplished is thoroughly palpable as two grisly and seemingly unconnected threats violently lash the populace with a promise of more cruelty in the future. My only criticisms would be directed towards a few instances of misplaced focus that didn’t seem to bear any fruit throughout this particular book, as well as some unnecessary repetition.
I thoroughly enjoyed A Ritual of Bone, more so than expected as I’m not usually a fan of tales of zombies. Conley has created an impeccably solid foundation for a potentially noteworthy series to be enjoyed by fans of fantasy and horror alike. The final chapters were an emotional whirlwind, and it’s evident carnage lurks just beyond the horizon. I’ve already been on the hunt for a release date for the next book in the series because I’m dying (no pun intended) to find out what happens next. I highly recommend.
Note: A huge thank you to the author for providing me with a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Read
October 22, 2018*This is one of the #SPFBO books I had in my batch - I DNF-ed this at 16%*
This is a book I hoped to enjoy, even though I knew from the cover it may not be to my tastes because I usually try to avoid horror and books that have a lot of gore. When I started reading this, I did find it pretty intriguing, we follow a young Apprentice as he and his Master have been working on uncovering ancient rituals. The Apprentice is a young boy who wants to please his master and learn as much as he can, but one evening he is terrified by a presence looming in the dark and he is quickly injured in the dark.
There are two other viewpoints we follow before I ended up not finishing this, they are a Hunter and a captain. The Hunter's story again started off fairly promising, but it quickly transpired that the beasts or man he was hunting were one and the same and their cruel and brutal savagery was pretty nasty to read. Personally, I don't find it all that fun to read horror as it's not an area which fascinates me, more it repulses, and this went a bit beyond the Grimdark fantasy into the realm of definitely horror.
The final thread I followed was the Captain who's trying to navigate his ship to land when a mysterious illness takes the lives of many of his crew. These crew-members are dying in agony (and graphic detail) and I found that I just felt too grossed out by this point to want to keep on reading.
If you like horror, maybe this book would have been more for you, but if not then I would say this is a very dark bloody book with a lot of not-so-nice scenes.
My other quibble was the grammar for this one. Although it's not the worst I've read by any means there were quite a few instances where phrases were repeated within the same sentence and occasionally the wrong word was used (although you could infer the meaning from context). I think with a good edit a lot of these issues would be removed, but currently they did sometimes distract from the story itself.
Overall, I don't think this book worked for me because of my own preferences. That's not to say if you like horror you shouldn't try this, by all means do, but personally it's not for me so I called it quits at 16% and I am not going to rate this for that reason.
This is a book I hoped to enjoy, even though I knew from the cover it may not be to my tastes because I usually try to avoid horror and books that have a lot of gore. When I started reading this, I did find it pretty intriguing, we follow a young Apprentice as he and his Master have been working on uncovering ancient rituals. The Apprentice is a young boy who wants to please his master and learn as much as he can, but one evening he is terrified by a presence looming in the dark and he is quickly injured in the dark.
There are two other viewpoints we follow before I ended up not finishing this, they are a Hunter and a captain. The Hunter's story again started off fairly promising, but it quickly transpired that the beasts or man he was hunting were one and the same and their cruel and brutal savagery was pretty nasty to read. Personally, I don't find it all that fun to read horror as it's not an area which fascinates me, more it repulses, and this went a bit beyond the Grimdark fantasy into the realm of definitely horror.
The final thread I followed was the Captain who's trying to navigate his ship to land when a mysterious illness takes the lives of many of his crew. These crew-members are dying in agony (and graphic detail) and I found that I just felt too grossed out by this point to want to keep on reading.
If you like horror, maybe this book would have been more for you, but if not then I would say this is a very dark bloody book with a lot of not-so-nice scenes.
My other quibble was the grammar for this one. Although it's not the worst I've read by any means there were quite a few instances where phrases were repeated within the same sentence and occasionally the wrong word was used (although you could infer the meaning from context). I think with a good edit a lot of these issues would be removed, but currently they did sometimes distract from the story itself.
Overall, I don't think this book worked for me because of my own preferences. That's not to say if you like horror you shouldn't try this, by all means do, but personally it's not for me so I called it quits at 16% and I am not going to rate this for that reason.
May 17, 2019
Read the full review at my blog Digital Amrit.
Introduction
A Ritual of Bones is the first book in The Dead Sagas series.
I found this book (or rather this book found me) through serendipity. I saw a retweet of the author’s post about a debut fantasy novel starring zombies. and I was immediately hooked by the premise.
So yeah! Zombies + Necromancers + Medieval times. Army of Darkness? Not really since the book takes a more sober and dark approach with multiple main characters as opposed to the camp & action hero vibes of the movie.
The plot simplified is as follows – a bunch of clueless (are they?) academicians invoke some rituals when researching the aspects of life and death and chaos ensues. There are different story threads, some of which seem to be totally unrelated and some of which are core, that arise as a result of this unleashing of dark powers.
Of course, as with most stories in this genre, it is the journey that matters i.e. the characters, the challenges they face and their arcs.
Read the full review at my blog Digital Amrit.
Introduction
A Ritual of Bones is the first book in The Dead Sagas series.
I found this book (or rather this book found me) through serendipity. I saw a retweet of the author’s post about a debut fantasy novel starring zombies. and I was immediately hooked by the premise.
So yeah! Zombies + Necromancers + Medieval times. Army of Darkness? Not really since the book takes a more sober and dark approach with multiple main characters as opposed to the camp & action hero vibes of the movie.
The plot simplified is as follows – a bunch of clueless (are they?) academicians invoke some rituals when researching the aspects of life and death and chaos ensues. There are different story threads, some of which seem to be totally unrelated and some of which are core, that arise as a result of this unleashing of dark powers.
Of course, as with most stories in this genre, it is the journey that matters i.e. the characters, the challenges they face and their arcs.
Read the full review at my blog Digital Amrit.
October 19, 2021
Rating: 7.5/10
Thanks to the author for a listening copy of A Ritual of Bone (The Dead Sagas #1) for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.
A Ritual of Bone is very much a fantasy/horror mishmash that sends The Elder Scrolls and The Walking Dead on a date, and brings Vikings on as a third-wheel. It is an enjoyable romp that has several flashes of brilliance, boasts an enjoyable cast of characters, and is perfect for those looking for more necromancy on their fantasy sundae.
Like everyone else reading this novel, Conley is a new author to me and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. We have followed one another on social media for some time and I believe SPFBO has something to do with it, but I grabbed his debut on Amazon some time ago and it has unfortunately been sitting on my shelf since. When I received the opportunity to give it a listen (which always pushes books up the TBR for those wondering), I jumped in straight away.
Now, since this is Lee’s debut, I did go in expecting some “rookie” mistakes when it comes to writing style, editing/proofing needs, etc. While I do believe A Ritual of Bone could have been a bit higher on the rating scale had it been professionally edited, I can understand how expensive that can be for a self-pub author. I’ve seen cost estimates for cover art, design, proofing, edits, and so forth; they aren’t cheap. That being said, there were several times certain tidbits of info were repeated rather closely to one another, leading to sections of the book being a bit too wordy. I did like enjoy his prose style with that exception as it really gave a sense of tracking through a dense, fog-ridden forest with a constant feeling of unease and being watched.
Lee also really gives you a connection with his characters through vivid portrayal of themselves, their motivations, and their plights. Bjorn is probably the character that stood out the most, but each storyline kept me intrigued as they all began to culminate the further you ventured in the novel.
Lastly, I really enjoyed RJ Bayley’s narration. A new name to me but one to keep an eye on. My only critique would be that, if you are going to narrate several POVs in one novel, make sure to differentiate the voices enough to where they don’t begin to mesh together. I do hope he continues to narrate the rest of this saga as he does have an excellent voice for it.
Thanks to the author for a listening copy of A Ritual of Bone (The Dead Sagas #1) for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.
A Ritual of Bone is very much a fantasy/horror mishmash that sends The Elder Scrolls and The Walking Dead on a date, and brings Vikings on as a third-wheel. It is an enjoyable romp that has several flashes of brilliance, boasts an enjoyable cast of characters, and is perfect for those looking for more necromancy on their fantasy sundae.
Like everyone else reading this novel, Conley is a new author to me and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. We have followed one another on social media for some time and I believe SPFBO has something to do with it, but I grabbed his debut on Amazon some time ago and it has unfortunately been sitting on my shelf since. When I received the opportunity to give it a listen (which always pushes books up the TBR for those wondering), I jumped in straight away.
Now, since this is Lee’s debut, I did go in expecting some “rookie” mistakes when it comes to writing style, editing/proofing needs, etc. While I do believe A Ritual of Bone could have been a bit higher on the rating scale had it been professionally edited, I can understand how expensive that can be for a self-pub author. I’ve seen cost estimates for cover art, design, proofing, edits, and so forth; they aren’t cheap. That being said, there were several times certain tidbits of info were repeated rather closely to one another, leading to sections of the book being a bit too wordy. I did like enjoy his prose style with that exception as it really gave a sense of tracking through a dense, fog-ridden forest with a constant feeling of unease and being watched.
Lee also really gives you a connection with his characters through vivid portrayal of themselves, their motivations, and their plights. Bjorn is probably the character that stood out the most, but each storyline kept me intrigued as they all began to culminate the further you ventured in the novel.
Lastly, I really enjoyed RJ Bayley’s narration. A new name to me but one to keep an eye on. My only critique would be that, if you are going to narrate several POVs in one novel, make sure to differentiate the voices enough to where they don’t begin to mesh together. I do hope he continues to narrate the rest of this saga as he does have an excellent voice for it.
October 23, 2020
This book is just everything my Spooktober reading list needed to be complete, and so much more. The country of Arnar is finally at a tentative peace with it’s neighbor, while all hell breaks loose within the kingdom itself.
A master scholar from the College brought back and modified a long forgotten ritual that seems to have awoken some old and ancient evil, unleashing plague and sickness and zombies. YES, picture Skyrim-esque warriors with great axes, swords and shields and bows, discovering and battling the walking dead. Cold mountain passes, savage cannibalistic tribes in the wilds, ancient stone ruins left over from long extinct peoples.
The combined setting, atmosphere, and writing style in this book is incredible. There are four or five distinct storylines being told that start with the evil being unleashed, and then tell of various characters in different parts of the country discovering and dealing with the early consequences. Each of these storylines is going to converge in the second book and I am so excited. Back to the atmosphere though – the permeation of evil, unsettled emotions, fear, dread, loss, and chills just are equally potent through each storyline so that each was interesting and my attention never drifted. Whether the warrior Arnuld, the girl Nym, the Hunter Bjorn, or the apprentice, each story had me rapt between the character’s plight, flight, and loss. I think the atmosphere is what really tied this book together.
Of course there is plenty of gore and blood and grief as well… I mean there ARE zombies. Partially self aware zombies at times. It really was more than a little horrifying at times but also amazing.
Even with a few slight editing mishaps, I happily give this book every star imaginable. As a debut novel I honestly expected a lot worse and had an amazing surprise when I ended up hooked from page one, and rapt until the end. I recommend it fully to all adult fans of the genres!
A master scholar from the College brought back and modified a long forgotten ritual that seems to have awoken some old and ancient evil, unleashing plague and sickness and zombies. YES, picture Skyrim-esque warriors with great axes, swords and shields and bows, discovering and battling the walking dead. Cold mountain passes, savage cannibalistic tribes in the wilds, ancient stone ruins left over from long extinct peoples.
The combined setting, atmosphere, and writing style in this book is incredible. There are four or five distinct storylines being told that start with the evil being unleashed, and then tell of various characters in different parts of the country discovering and dealing with the early consequences. Each of these storylines is going to converge in the second book and I am so excited. Back to the atmosphere though – the permeation of evil, unsettled emotions, fear, dread, loss, and chills just are equally potent through each storyline so that each was interesting and my attention never drifted. Whether the warrior Arnuld, the girl Nym, the Hunter Bjorn, or the apprentice, each story had me rapt between the character’s plight, flight, and loss. I think the atmosphere is what really tied this book together.
Of course there is plenty of gore and blood and grief as well… I mean there ARE zombies. Partially self aware zombies at times. It really was more than a little horrifying at times but also amazing.
Even with a few slight editing mishaps, I happily give this book every star imaginable. As a debut novel I honestly expected a lot worse and had an amazing surprise when I ended up hooked from page one, and rapt until the end. I recommend it fully to all adult fans of the genres!
November 16, 2021
A Ritual of Bone is a unique and propulsive love affair with zombie fiction. It is new and refreshing and it was as ambitious as it was gritty and I was ready and willing to fight with the dead. It is the first book in the Dead Sagas series and manages to create individual plots (well more like mini-stories, really) that so perfectly interweaves at a crescendo leaving the reader gasping and hungering for more. The writing is visceral and the world-building takes you away into a time that bears no meaning but a time that aches to be discovered to be understood.
Master Logan and his apprentice are dabbling with things that they can’t possibly understand or control. If they get any aspect of it wrong, there will be ceaseless consequences. It is an incredibly dark branch of magic and the apprentice tries to log for the histories. They have had some semi-successful experiments whereas others have been complete failures. However, another master is having success and has managed to reanimate the dead. They can wreak havoc on the world. Master Logan and his apprentice don’t want anything to do with the Walking Dead but it’s too late, they are free to walk and destroy at will.
Bjorn the hunter, is also wading deep in troubled waters. He is being held captive by a cannibalistic tribe. He does eventually manage to escape but runs straight into the evil that is running amok in the countryside. He has gained a bit of a follower, a wildling that can’t speak any of the common tongues but who is determined to stay by Bjorn’s side for whatever may come their way. Arnulf is a man that is up against it. As a Commander of the Guard of Arnar, he witnesses many of his men succumb to a mysterious plague. On the home front, he needs to protect his homeland from dead men killing his people. He suffers loss and anguish and he resolutely binds himself to a promise to gain vengeance for him and his people.
Reading A Ritual of Bone felt like standing in a busy train station. Trains and people are coming and going but I don’t notice them, everything is a blur, everything, except, the immersive story in front of me. I didn’t want to look up, I was completely engrossed. What kind of havoc was the dead going to reap upon the people? What would it take to stop them? Each chapter grew in its darkness and its depravity and I was sucked further and further into a world of walkers. Lee C. Conley is a master of the creeping unease, the suffocating feeling of complexity, nothing is as it seems. Pandora’s box is well and truly opened and everyone is going to hell in a handbasket.
Master Logan and his apprentice are dabbling with things that they can’t possibly understand or control. If they get any aspect of it wrong, there will be ceaseless consequences. It is an incredibly dark branch of magic and the apprentice tries to log for the histories. They have had some semi-successful experiments whereas others have been complete failures. However, another master is having success and has managed to reanimate the dead. They can wreak havoc on the world. Master Logan and his apprentice don’t want anything to do with the Walking Dead but it’s too late, they are free to walk and destroy at will.
Bjorn the hunter, is also wading deep in troubled waters. He is being held captive by a cannibalistic tribe. He does eventually manage to escape but runs straight into the evil that is running amok in the countryside. He has gained a bit of a follower, a wildling that can’t speak any of the common tongues but who is determined to stay by Bjorn’s side for whatever may come their way. Arnulf is a man that is up against it. As a Commander of the Guard of Arnar, he witnesses many of his men succumb to a mysterious plague. On the home front, he needs to protect his homeland from dead men killing his people. He suffers loss and anguish and he resolutely binds himself to a promise to gain vengeance for him and his people.
Reading A Ritual of Bone felt like standing in a busy train station. Trains and people are coming and going but I don’t notice them, everything is a blur, everything, except, the immersive story in front of me. I didn’t want to look up, I was completely engrossed. What kind of havoc was the dead going to reap upon the people? What would it take to stop them? Each chapter grew in its darkness and its depravity and I was sucked further and further into a world of walkers. Lee C. Conley is a master of the creeping unease, the suffocating feeling of complexity, nothing is as it seems. Pandora’s box is well and truly opened and everyone is going to hell in a handbasket.
September 28, 2021
My first book tour! Thank you Lee Conley and Storytellers on Tour for this amazing opportunity!
Zombies and fantasy aren’t strangers to each other, but the way Lee C. Conley handles is wholly original to the genre.
A Ritual of Bone is a classic zombie tale set in a medieval world with a fresh magical twist. Conley bounces us around all over this world as we watch this evil slowly reveal itself.
The first fourth of the book is a wonderful slow build of tension and creep until all Hell literally breaks loose. Conley knows how to play with atmosphere and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
If I had one complaint, it would be that the characters don’t have the depth I like to see in a fantasy novel. But considering the genre and the potential for this to be corrected in future books, I’ll let it slide.
A Ritual of Bone is a bloody (and I mean BLOODY) good time, full of scares, some laughs and is perfect for fans of fantasy and horror alike. Think Evil Dead meets First Law.
https://www.storytellersontour.online...
#aritualofbone #leecconley #readindie #storytellersontour
Sequel, A Ritual of Flesh out now on Amazon!
Zombies and fantasy aren’t strangers to each other, but the way Lee C. Conley handles is wholly original to the genre.
A Ritual of Bone is a classic zombie tale set in a medieval world with a fresh magical twist. Conley bounces us around all over this world as we watch this evil slowly reveal itself.
The first fourth of the book is a wonderful slow build of tension and creep until all Hell literally breaks loose. Conley knows how to play with atmosphere and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
If I had one complaint, it would be that the characters don’t have the depth I like to see in a fantasy novel. But considering the genre and the potential for this to be corrected in future books, I’ll let it slide.
A Ritual of Bone is a bloody (and I mean BLOODY) good time, full of scares, some laughs and is perfect for fans of fantasy and horror alike. Think Evil Dead meets First Law.
https://www.storytellersontour.online...
#aritualofbone #leecconley #readindie #storytellersontour
Sequel, A Ritual of Flesh out now on Amazon!
June 29, 2019
3.5 stars.
‘Ghostly whispers filled the air around them, the voices of many. The skeleton held there a few moments. Then it collapsed with a crunch, bones clattering to the ground. Some shattered to dust on impact. Everyone stood silent eyes on the bones. An eerie silence descended upon the scene and the air once again became still.’
~
Ritual of Bone by Lee Conley is the first instalment of The Dead Sagas series, which encompasses the themes of a classic zombie story but also incorporates a fresh take on it.
Now, to be honest, I’m not exactly the biggest fan of zombies, I haven’t watched shows such as The Walking Dead, but I’ve read a few books on them. So why did I decide to give this book a try when the author asked me if I’d be interested in a review copy? Well, I only had to take one look at the cover, and my attention was instantly grabbed! I mean look at it! Grotesque monstrous creatures, a big old warrior with a raised weapon ready to kill them all; it just screamed grimdark fantasy meets horror to me, and I loved that.
So, moving onto the actual story, Ritual of Bone consists of several points of view and each one follows a different story arc. We have an apprentice and his master, Eldrick, who are both from the College; a place where scholars study various arts, places, and creatures, and then record their findings. Master Eldrick however, is studying a forbidden subject, that being, seeking a way to bring the dead back to life through rituals. Unwittingly, his experiments lead to catastrophic consequences.
We then meet a huntsman named Bjorn, who is a legendary tracker of monsters. At the beginning of the novel he is captured by wild men, and in his attempt to flee, he stumbles upon creatures unlike any he has seen before; ones that put the fear into his very bones. His sole journey throughout the book is to spread knowledge of this to his lord. Then another main character is introduced - Arnulf, leader of the Guards of Arnar. He witnesses the spreading of a deadly plague, a plague that defies his sense of reality, and one that is destroying many villages. As he tries to circulate a warning to all that he meets, he questions whether they will pay heed to his story, or will he be made a laughing stock?
Out of these main characters, my favourite was Bjorn. He had some pretty cool action scenes, and those were always well written and exciting; I mean those creatures were bloody hard to kill! I also liked one of the more minor characters, Nym, who was a young girl living in squalor, trying to look after her younger brother, Finn. Their relationship was quite endearing, and really portrayed the lengths that Nym would go to in order to secure her brother’s survival.
I will say though, that I would have liked a few of the other characters to have been a bit more fleshed out. For example, there was a character called The Death Nymph, who was a hardened shield-maiden; a much renowned warrior, with such a fascinating backstory. I wished that we could have had a bit more focus on her. I felt Arnulf also had an interesting backstory, which was only briefly touched upon. I honestly do hope in the rest of the series we get more detailed accounts, as I feel this would really bring more dimension to these intriguing characters.
I also felt throughout the narrative that certain sentences and ideas were often repeated, and occasionally the dialogue felt slightly overemotional, which created a bit of a jarring reading experience. However having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed how each chapter ended with suspense and mini cliffhangers. This was a great way to hook you into reading ‘ just one more chapter’, and made the book very quick to read. Conley certainly knew how to build up tension and atmosphere, and that was awesome.
Although I’m a predominant reader of fantasy, I occasionally like the horror genre too, and it was great that this narrative had a mixture of both. That is where I felt the novel had a fresh twist on your typical zombie story. The medieval setting was a perfect backdrop to explore certain themes. For example, I especially enjoyed how the warriors believed the gods had sent the zombies to test humankind, (a belief that would have predominantly existed during the medieval period), when in fact it was humankind meddling with magic and rituals, and defying the laws of nature that had caused the epidemic, with horrific results.
~
‘She sprang forward and tore into an arm lying limp on the ground. Tearing chunks of dripping flesh free with her teeth, she gorged herself. The flesh was going stale, no longer warm, but it was bloody and tasted good nonetheless.’
~
As you can see, the prose certainly didn’t shy away from the horror elements, and delivered some gloriously dark and gory scenes! Although, thank you Conley for putting me off my lunch many times! Nah, I’m just kidding, I truly loved these scenes the most.
Overall I would recommend Ritual of Bone to fans of horror, fantasy, and some gold old fashioned monster slaying.
Thank you Lee, for giving me the opportunity to read your book, it was a lot of fun!
‘Ghostly whispers filled the air around them, the voices of many. The skeleton held there a few moments. Then it collapsed with a crunch, bones clattering to the ground. Some shattered to dust on impact. Everyone stood silent eyes on the bones. An eerie silence descended upon the scene and the air once again became still.’
~
Ritual of Bone by Lee Conley is the first instalment of The Dead Sagas series, which encompasses the themes of a classic zombie story but also incorporates a fresh take on it.
Now, to be honest, I’m not exactly the biggest fan of zombies, I haven’t watched shows such as The Walking Dead, but I’ve read a few books on them. So why did I decide to give this book a try when the author asked me if I’d be interested in a review copy? Well, I only had to take one look at the cover, and my attention was instantly grabbed! I mean look at it! Grotesque monstrous creatures, a big old warrior with a raised weapon ready to kill them all; it just screamed grimdark fantasy meets horror to me, and I loved that.
So, moving onto the actual story, Ritual of Bone consists of several points of view and each one follows a different story arc. We have an apprentice and his master, Eldrick, who are both from the College; a place where scholars study various arts, places, and creatures, and then record their findings. Master Eldrick however, is studying a forbidden subject, that being, seeking a way to bring the dead back to life through rituals. Unwittingly, his experiments lead to catastrophic consequences.
We then meet a huntsman named Bjorn, who is a legendary tracker of monsters. At the beginning of the novel he is captured by wild men, and in his attempt to flee, he stumbles upon creatures unlike any he has seen before; ones that put the fear into his very bones. His sole journey throughout the book is to spread knowledge of this to his lord. Then another main character is introduced - Arnulf, leader of the Guards of Arnar. He witnesses the spreading of a deadly plague, a plague that defies his sense of reality, and one that is destroying many villages. As he tries to circulate a warning to all that he meets, he questions whether they will pay heed to his story, or will he be made a laughing stock?
Out of these main characters, my favourite was Bjorn. He had some pretty cool action scenes, and those were always well written and exciting; I mean those creatures were bloody hard to kill! I also liked one of the more minor characters, Nym, who was a young girl living in squalor, trying to look after her younger brother, Finn. Their relationship was quite endearing, and really portrayed the lengths that Nym would go to in order to secure her brother’s survival.
I will say though, that I would have liked a few of the other characters to have been a bit more fleshed out. For example, there was a character called The Death Nymph, who was a hardened shield-maiden; a much renowned warrior, with such a fascinating backstory. I wished that we could have had a bit more focus on her. I felt Arnulf also had an interesting backstory, which was only briefly touched upon. I honestly do hope in the rest of the series we get more detailed accounts, as I feel this would really bring more dimension to these intriguing characters.
I also felt throughout the narrative that certain sentences and ideas were often repeated, and occasionally the dialogue felt slightly overemotional, which created a bit of a jarring reading experience. However having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed how each chapter ended with suspense and mini cliffhangers. This was a great way to hook you into reading ‘ just one more chapter’, and made the book very quick to read. Conley certainly knew how to build up tension and atmosphere, and that was awesome.
Although I’m a predominant reader of fantasy, I occasionally like the horror genre too, and it was great that this narrative had a mixture of both. That is where I felt the novel had a fresh twist on your typical zombie story. The medieval setting was a perfect backdrop to explore certain themes. For example, I especially enjoyed how the warriors believed the gods had sent the zombies to test humankind, (a belief that would have predominantly existed during the medieval period), when in fact it was humankind meddling with magic and rituals, and defying the laws of nature that had caused the epidemic, with horrific results.
~
‘She sprang forward and tore into an arm lying limp on the ground. Tearing chunks of dripping flesh free with her teeth, she gorged herself. The flesh was going stale, no longer warm, but it was bloody and tasted good nonetheless.’
~
As you can see, the prose certainly didn’t shy away from the horror elements, and delivered some gloriously dark and gory scenes! Although, thank you Conley for putting me off my lunch many times! Nah, I’m just kidding, I truly loved these scenes the most.
Overall I would recommend Ritual of Bone to fans of horror, fantasy, and some gold old fashioned monster slaying.
Thank you Lee, for giving me the opportunity to read your book, it was a lot of fun!
July 8, 2019
This book was epic! I am always up for some dark fantasy zombie books! I was hooked after a few chapters!
April 2, 2021
This was a nice amalgamation of horror and fantasy. Conley does a good job of building the tension needed for horror, yet had enough viking action that it still felt fantasy. Conley does a really good job of describing the environment. He goes into enough detail that you feel like you are in the story, but doesn't belabor the point. If you like zombies, a plague, and vikings rolled up into a suspenseful, grimdark story you will love A Ritual of Bone.
June 1, 2020
This book is fun, fun, fun, fun and more fun!
I feel really sad the book has gotten a lot of 2 stars and mostly there is one common denominator: too much gore, not enough grimdark. Quite frankly, either it's the sheer fact I knew from the start this was going to be a zombie in a medieval fantasy setting story, I actually found it to be really tame, maybe even in its own bizarre way to be noblebright where mostly good willed people are facing the first flood of undead ever witnessed in thousands of years. The gorish scenes almost have a sort of clinical flair to the prose, which without taking the shock factor did render it far less grimdark than I initially expected.
The plot?
Two separate plagues are happening at the same time. One is brought to Arnar by a merchant ship after buying two slaves that speak a strange tongue where one infects the crew. Everyone infected begins coughing until they spasm in pain, bleed in every orifice and collapse to their deaths without notice. Part of this plot is viewed from the dying crew and later on from an orphan girl named Nym in the port city they disembarked as the still unknown disease begins to spread.
The rest of the viewpoints take up to the northern Arnar border sandwiched between the politically unstable Cydor and the mostly uninhabited forest wilds of the north inhabited by primitive cannibals, criminals and all sorts of wild forest men. This plot is subdivided by the separate stories of a nobleman named Arnulf, the Hunter Bjorn and a College apprentice with an unknown name. Mini spoiler alert: None of the characters bump into each other in this book. I didn't mind it at all because each story was a great buildup, but it seems to have annoyed a lot of the harsher reviewers.
It seems like the plot in also not 100% linear either because the events of the apprentice in reality happens a few weeks previously as he witnesses one of his more uhh... unscrupulous (or foolish depending on your viewpoint) mentors practices with strange necromancy spells he found in some old books without comprehending the kind of evil he was to release into the world. Due to an unfortunate accident, the apprentice breaks his leg and was forced to return to the College to issue a report ahead of time so he has no idea of the kind of crazy stuff that is happening most of the book.
People are vanishing from the northern villages, and a nobleman hires Bjorn to investigate assuming they are being raided by wild animals or criminals. After a close encounter with death, he befriends a strange Wildman who seems to follow him wherever he goes while he tries to return to his Lord. He suspects something real bad is happening.
Our final story takes a huge portion of the book because he bears the brunt of the zombie attacks. Lord Arnulf was guarding the watch towers of the northern lands when his life is turned upside down. We see how his first troops innocently assist injured scouts without knowing they have been converted into zombies, loses a lot of men, sees a lot of horrible things and starts to piece the mystery together.
Will these 4 separate storylines blend into one in the sequel? I really hope so because Lee has started to thread a very interesting and fresh retelling of the ever popular zombie plot. How would primitive and superstitious medieval men react when they encounter zombies? At times I wanted to yell at Arnulf's men to stop being so dumb and avoid getting bitten so damn easily, but I had a hard time putting the book down, which is definitely a really good thing.
And I sooooo wanted to give this book 4 1/2 stars. It definitely deserved it on the plot, characters and world building. My main complaint of the book is that despite looking otherwise so polished, the book has a bucketload of typos. I can forgive a few, but this book had one every 2-3 pages. And most of them were not spelling bloopers; most of them were either poorly worded sentences with incoherent connecting words or similar sounding nouns with different meanings. I feel a bit bad about not highlighting some of the bloopers on my tablet, but I ran out of battery and forgot the charging cable in another city to give a quick look.
I do hope the author saves the cash to get a copyeditor to spot these typos which are quite plentiful and did derail the enjoyment factor of an otherwise one of my favorite reads so far this year. I would definitely enjoy reading the sequel.
I feel really sad the book has gotten a lot of 2 stars and mostly there is one common denominator: too much gore, not enough grimdark. Quite frankly, either it's the sheer fact I knew from the start this was going to be a zombie in a medieval fantasy setting story, I actually found it to be really tame, maybe even in its own bizarre way to be noblebright where mostly good willed people are facing the first flood of undead ever witnessed in thousands of years. The gorish scenes almost have a sort of clinical flair to the prose, which without taking the shock factor did render it far less grimdark than I initially expected.
The plot?
Two separate plagues are happening at the same time. One is brought to Arnar by a merchant ship after buying two slaves that speak a strange tongue where one infects the crew. Everyone infected begins coughing until they spasm in pain, bleed in every orifice and collapse to their deaths without notice. Part of this plot is viewed from the dying crew and later on from an orphan girl named Nym in the port city they disembarked as the still unknown disease begins to spread.
The rest of the viewpoints take up to the northern Arnar border sandwiched between the politically unstable Cydor and the mostly uninhabited forest wilds of the north inhabited by primitive cannibals, criminals and all sorts of wild forest men. This plot is subdivided by the separate stories of a nobleman named Arnulf, the Hunter Bjorn and a College apprentice with an unknown name. Mini spoiler alert: None of the characters bump into each other in this book. I didn't mind it at all because each story was a great buildup, but it seems to have annoyed a lot of the harsher reviewers.
It seems like the plot in also not 100% linear either because the events of the apprentice in reality happens a few weeks previously as he witnesses one of his more uhh... unscrupulous (or foolish depending on your viewpoint) mentors practices with strange necromancy spells he found in some old books without comprehending the kind of evil he was to release into the world. Due to an unfortunate accident, the apprentice breaks his leg and was forced to return to the College to issue a report ahead of time so he has no idea of the kind of crazy stuff that is happening most of the book.
People are vanishing from the northern villages, and a nobleman hires Bjorn to investigate assuming they are being raided by wild animals or criminals. After a close encounter with death, he befriends a strange Wildman who seems to follow him wherever he goes while he tries to return to his Lord. He suspects something real bad is happening.
Our final story takes a huge portion of the book because he bears the brunt of the zombie attacks. Lord Arnulf was guarding the watch towers of the northern lands when his life is turned upside down. We see how his first troops innocently assist injured scouts without knowing they have been converted into zombies, loses a lot of men, sees a lot of horrible things and starts to piece the mystery together.
Will these 4 separate storylines blend into one in the sequel? I really hope so because Lee has started to thread a very interesting and fresh retelling of the ever popular zombie plot. How would primitive and superstitious medieval men react when they encounter zombies? At times I wanted to yell at Arnulf's men to stop being so dumb and avoid getting bitten so damn easily, but I had a hard time putting the book down, which is definitely a really good thing.
And I sooooo wanted to give this book 4 1/2 stars. It definitely deserved it on the plot, characters and world building. My main complaint of the book is that despite looking otherwise so polished, the book has a bucketload of typos. I can forgive a few, but this book had one every 2-3 pages. And most of them were not spelling bloopers; most of them were either poorly worded sentences with incoherent connecting words or similar sounding nouns with different meanings. I feel a bit bad about not highlighting some of the bloopers on my tablet, but I ran out of battery and forgot the charging cable in another city to give a quick look.
I do hope the author saves the cash to get a copyeditor to spot these typos which are quite plentiful and did derail the enjoyment factor of an otherwise one of my favorite reads so far this year. I would definitely enjoy reading the sequel.
September 24, 2019
A Ritual of Bone is zombie/ fantasy mashup that really adds to both genres. Two things that can shape a good zombie book is the setup and the sensory details that add to the atmosphere. An attack on page 1 won’t get you far… and Conley definitely doesn’t fall into that trap. He works the tension well and the threads begin to find each other about halfway through. The suspense is drawn to its height and then it’s look out!
The fantasy elements are drawn well also. A pair of Masters from a local college with two apprentices are studying ancient ruins… a chance to extend life. A lone wanderer… all characters I like to see in this genre.
My only criticism lies in the organization of the chapters… I understand that this is a book that utilizes multiple points of view, but some of those POVs were spaced out a bit too far and some chapters were back to back narrated by the same character. This led to me forgetting a bit too much about some of the characters, especially when the chapter left off on a cliffhanger.
Overall, The Hunter, Bjorn, and The Lord of the Watch, Arnolf, kept me turning the pages. They were brave and definitely likable. One a solitary wanderer and the other a formidable leader.
A Ritual of Bone is a good book that delivers a good balance of characterization, action, and lore.
For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2019/09/24/a-...
For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
The fantasy elements are drawn well also. A pair of Masters from a local college with two apprentices are studying ancient ruins… a chance to extend life. A lone wanderer… all characters I like to see in this genre.
My only criticism lies in the organization of the chapters… I understand that this is a book that utilizes multiple points of view, but some of those POVs were spaced out a bit too far and some chapters were back to back narrated by the same character. This led to me forgetting a bit too much about some of the characters, especially when the chapter left off on a cliffhanger.
Overall, The Hunter, Bjorn, and The Lord of the Watch, Arnolf, kept me turning the pages. They were brave and definitely likable. One a solitary wanderer and the other a formidable leader.
A Ritual of Bone is a good book that delivers a good balance of characterization, action, and lore.
For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2019/09/24/a-...
For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
March 18, 2020
Viking zombies
A zombie apocalypse in a Viking setting. Brilliant imagination and vision create a really engaging read. A few sentences were repeated unnecessarily but the world and relationships are well built and dialogue is good. Looking forward to more of this world
A zombie apocalypse in a Viking setting. Brilliant imagination and vision create a really engaging read. A few sentences were repeated unnecessarily but the world and relationships are well built and dialogue is good. Looking forward to more of this world
September 23, 2020
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2020/09/...
Lee C. Conley is a new author to me. However, I was in the mood for something a bit darker, a bit horror, with an atmosphere to give me the creeps but not make me feel like I was reading Stephen King or something, and here we are.
A Ritual of Bone is an interesting story that follows a few different characters. It doesn’t become clear how they all intersect until near the end, which I really enjoyed. While this book does follow distinct storylines, there’s a certain unity in them, in the world building, and the activities taking place so while I didn’t always know how they were related, I was confident I would eventually figure it out. I enjoyed this atypical narration. It not only served the book quite well, but it also gave the readers a layered, textured world to immerse themselves in. I’ve said in a lot of my recent reviews that I read a lot, and it seems like these days the authors who dodge the norm and go their own way are the ones I’m paying attention to, and Conley does that quite well.
The worldbuilding really needs some time to shine. One other thing you’ll know if you’ve read my reviews for any length of time is that it almost takes an act of God for me to read a book that involves zombies and/or boats. I don’t know why, but those two things almost never work for me. A Ritual of Bone does not involve boats, but it does involve zombies. I wasn’t aware of that at first, and when I got my first hint of the creatures, I was all, “Oh, I’m going to hate this.” However, I will say it really worked for me. Likely, this is largely due to the unique world, and Conley’s deft hand at creation and his skill with balance.
"They test us…because here dwell men who will fight, and we should be honoured that they have chosen us–perhaps the finest warriors of Arnar–as their champions. Old Night will be denied my spirit this night."
You see, this book is an interesting mix of western-esque fantasy and horror, never too much of one or the other. I think one reason zombies annoy me so much is they are usually leaned on so hard they become parodies of themselves, and almost so unrealistic they are laughable. Conley seems to know when to hold back and when to really lean into his world and the beasties that inhabit it. This creates a really good balance, not just between all these different elements, but also between the fantasy and horror aspects of the book. It required a lot of detailed thinking on the part of the author, and a lot of planning, and he pulled this interesting marriage off nearly flawlessly.
There is blood and violence in these books. I mean, what book featuring cannibalism and zombies wouldn’t have blood and violence? Like most other aspects of the book, however, I never felt like Conley glorified in the blood, or made more of it than what there should be in any particular scene. This is grimdark, and things are really dark and grim, but he knows when to lean in and go full throttle and when to pull back and let the details and graphics be inferred rather than in your face. I should also note, Conley has nailed the creeping sense of dread that is a requirement in all horror novels. It was there, and it was spectacular.
The characters were also this interesting mixed bag for me, where, like with zombies, I expected to really dislike them, but I ended up really liking them. On the one hand, you’ve got Master Logan and his apprentice, who are toying around with some arcane magic that has long been forgotten. It’s very easy for what they are doing to have long lasting, and dire consequences. And, like humans everywhere, they do it anyway. I will freely admit that the master/apprentice storyline isn’t one I typically enjoy. However, Conley knew what he was doing. Much like the zombies, he took something I expected to hate, and wrote it in such a way where I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
Perhaps it was easier to forget, to fall deeper into the darkness, to leave guilt and grief behind.
On the other hand, we have Bjorn. Bjorn was really the storyline that kept me rooted in place the most. He’s a hunter, escaped from one horrible situation and finding himself in another, even worse one. He’s tough as nails, and keeps the book going forward at an almost relentless pace despite everything set against him. He felt, to me, perhaps a bit more mature than the apprentice, and he was more in the world, and seeing this darkness for himself. Mixed into this are other stories as well, like a captain trying to keep his crew members safe as his soldiers are picked off by a mysterious illness. And then there’s Nym, who is doing absolutely anything in an effort to survive in a terrible place.
As you can probably guess, there is a whole lot of darkness in this book, and not a ton of light. I am not just speaking of the plot and outside factors, but human nature itself, as examined in this book, is not a thing full of butterflies and rainbows. From the master and his apprentice who are basically hellbent on toying with this seriously dangerous magic, everyone be damned, to the hunter stuck in this abysmal situation, to a mysterious illness, to Nym, who has to sell her body to survive, you really span a lot of the worst parts of the human experience. I tend to really enjoy this kind of thing, but I know a lot of readers don’t. They want a little light to balance out all the dark, and you should know what in the pool before you dive.
So, as you can see, I really did enjoy this book immensely.
My one issue is (and I feel horrible saying this) regarding editing. Look, I’m a full-time editor. I have been doing this for years. The result is that I have a really hard time turning this part of my brain off. However, I did feel like this book could have used a bit more editing, specifically line editing. There were repeated words in some paragraphs, and some clunky phrasing, and points where I think this detail had already been covered. Small things that likely the average reader wouldn’t notice, but this is my job, and this is how I put bread on my table, so I notice, and I wouldn’t be writing a good review if I wasn’t honest, so there it is.
At the end of the day, this book had a whole host of things in it that I thought I’d hate but ended up loving, and the reason for that is because Conley has this skill with knowing how to balance all the elements of his story. Without that, I honestly think I would have bounced off this book. However, A Ritual of Bone was one of those weird ones that seems to defy all odds and tell a story that I ended up extremely invested in. It is the darkest kind of grimdark, but it’s unique marriage of epic fantasy and horror, and the multi-layered story being told made this one impossible to put down.
Lee C. Conley is a new author to me. However, I was in the mood for something a bit darker, a bit horror, with an atmosphere to give me the creeps but not make me feel like I was reading Stephen King or something, and here we are.
A Ritual of Bone is an interesting story that follows a few different characters. It doesn’t become clear how they all intersect until near the end, which I really enjoyed. While this book does follow distinct storylines, there’s a certain unity in them, in the world building, and the activities taking place so while I didn’t always know how they were related, I was confident I would eventually figure it out. I enjoyed this atypical narration. It not only served the book quite well, but it also gave the readers a layered, textured world to immerse themselves in. I’ve said in a lot of my recent reviews that I read a lot, and it seems like these days the authors who dodge the norm and go their own way are the ones I’m paying attention to, and Conley does that quite well.
The worldbuilding really needs some time to shine. One other thing you’ll know if you’ve read my reviews for any length of time is that it almost takes an act of God for me to read a book that involves zombies and/or boats. I don’t know why, but those two things almost never work for me. A Ritual of Bone does not involve boats, but it does involve zombies. I wasn’t aware of that at first, and when I got my first hint of the creatures, I was all, “Oh, I’m going to hate this.” However, I will say it really worked for me. Likely, this is largely due to the unique world, and Conley’s deft hand at creation and his skill with balance.
"They test us…because here dwell men who will fight, and we should be honoured that they have chosen us–perhaps the finest warriors of Arnar–as their champions. Old Night will be denied my spirit this night."
You see, this book is an interesting mix of western-esque fantasy and horror, never too much of one or the other. I think one reason zombies annoy me so much is they are usually leaned on so hard they become parodies of themselves, and almost so unrealistic they are laughable. Conley seems to know when to hold back and when to really lean into his world and the beasties that inhabit it. This creates a really good balance, not just between all these different elements, but also between the fantasy and horror aspects of the book. It required a lot of detailed thinking on the part of the author, and a lot of planning, and he pulled this interesting marriage off nearly flawlessly.
There is blood and violence in these books. I mean, what book featuring cannibalism and zombies wouldn’t have blood and violence? Like most other aspects of the book, however, I never felt like Conley glorified in the blood, or made more of it than what there should be in any particular scene. This is grimdark, and things are really dark and grim, but he knows when to lean in and go full throttle and when to pull back and let the details and graphics be inferred rather than in your face. I should also note, Conley has nailed the creeping sense of dread that is a requirement in all horror novels. It was there, and it was spectacular.
The characters were also this interesting mixed bag for me, where, like with zombies, I expected to really dislike them, but I ended up really liking them. On the one hand, you’ve got Master Logan and his apprentice, who are toying around with some arcane magic that has long been forgotten. It’s very easy for what they are doing to have long lasting, and dire consequences. And, like humans everywhere, they do it anyway. I will freely admit that the master/apprentice storyline isn’t one I typically enjoy. However, Conley knew what he was doing. Much like the zombies, he took something I expected to hate, and wrote it in such a way where I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
Perhaps it was easier to forget, to fall deeper into the darkness, to leave guilt and grief behind.
On the other hand, we have Bjorn. Bjorn was really the storyline that kept me rooted in place the most. He’s a hunter, escaped from one horrible situation and finding himself in another, even worse one. He’s tough as nails, and keeps the book going forward at an almost relentless pace despite everything set against him. He felt, to me, perhaps a bit more mature than the apprentice, and he was more in the world, and seeing this darkness for himself. Mixed into this are other stories as well, like a captain trying to keep his crew members safe as his soldiers are picked off by a mysterious illness. And then there’s Nym, who is doing absolutely anything in an effort to survive in a terrible place.
As you can probably guess, there is a whole lot of darkness in this book, and not a ton of light. I am not just speaking of the plot and outside factors, but human nature itself, as examined in this book, is not a thing full of butterflies and rainbows. From the master and his apprentice who are basically hellbent on toying with this seriously dangerous magic, everyone be damned, to the hunter stuck in this abysmal situation, to a mysterious illness, to Nym, who has to sell her body to survive, you really span a lot of the worst parts of the human experience. I tend to really enjoy this kind of thing, but I know a lot of readers don’t. They want a little light to balance out all the dark, and you should know what in the pool before you dive.
So, as you can see, I really did enjoy this book immensely.
My one issue is (and I feel horrible saying this) regarding editing. Look, I’m a full-time editor. I have been doing this for years. The result is that I have a really hard time turning this part of my brain off. However, I did feel like this book could have used a bit more editing, specifically line editing. There were repeated words in some paragraphs, and some clunky phrasing, and points where I think this detail had already been covered. Small things that likely the average reader wouldn’t notice, but this is my job, and this is how I put bread on my table, so I notice, and I wouldn’t be writing a good review if I wasn’t honest, so there it is.
At the end of the day, this book had a whole host of things in it that I thought I’d hate but ended up loving, and the reason for that is because Conley has this skill with knowing how to balance all the elements of his story. Without that, I honestly think I would have bounced off this book. However, A Ritual of Bone was one of those weird ones that seems to defy all odds and tell a story that I ended up extremely invested in. It is the darkest kind of grimdark, but it’s unique marriage of epic fantasy and horror, and the multi-layered story being told made this one impossible to put down.
September 2, 2025
First thing's first, this is Grimdark at its grimest.. and not only because of the gore or the graphic descriptions of violence (both of which are evident and in no short supply) but mainly because of the atmosphere and the world. It's bleak and due to this feels pretty realistic. This is how I would imagine life in a Viking village to be.
Also the book gets points for the great implementation of horror in a fantasy setting. There are some really terrifying moments here, be warned..
I did come up with some issues though. Firstly the prose which, though simple, made it difficult for me in the beginning to engage with the story. Then there was the fact that we get many POV's but some of them "disappear" for large parts of the book and as a result it feels that there is no main protagonist. Lastly I didn't like the fact that at the beginning of some chapters I had to go through a couple of pages to realise which POV we were following. With some careful editing it feels like the end result would be much better.
This is a part one of a bigger story and so there is almost no conclusion at the end, but it's a journey I very much enjoyed and would like to see how it unfolds.
7,1/10
Also the book gets points for the great implementation of horror in a fantasy setting. There are some really terrifying moments here, be warned..
I did come up with some issues though. Firstly the prose which, though simple, made it difficult for me in the beginning to engage with the story. Then there was the fact that we get many POV's but some of them "disappear" for large parts of the book and as a result it feels that there is no main protagonist. Lastly I didn't like the fact that at the beginning of some chapters I had to go through a couple of pages to realise which POV we were following. With some careful editing it feels like the end result would be much better.
This is a part one of a bigger story and so there is almost no conclusion at the end, but it's a journey I very much enjoyed and would like to see how it unfolds.
7,1/10
December 13, 2020
This novel promises undead action in a fantasy milieu and man-oh-man, does it deliver. I recommend wearing a wetsuit when reading it, because you'll be covered in gore before you reach the 25% mark. The primary question in this story is whether humanity can unite and react quickly enough to stem the overwhelming tide of undead that have been sweeping down out of the mountains, and so we have several small tribes and/or villages attempting to get the word out as fast as possible whilst simultaneously dealing with a horrific catastrophe without precedent. Many of your favorite zombie tropes are here: family forced to kill infected family, infected family turning on loved ones and eating them, families wiped out save for one distraught and devastated member, conflicted loyalties, ruined lives and crushed hopes. Conley has those aspects of this scenario nailed down. I will be curious to see, in Ritual of Flesh, if he can expand upon these things and add more layers of political or religious intrigue.
June 8, 2020
A menacing evil propels undead across the land and NO ONE is safe!
If you like your fantasy with a heaping helping of dark/horror, then this tale is right up your alley. Lee Conley has woven a dark and unforgiving tale in A Ritual of Bones that will leave wanting more.
The writing is well done. It flows well and the pacing is just right, while still leaving the reading with enough dark imagery to really set the mood/tone.
My only critique is that we are left waiting for the next book in The Dead Sagas for some resolutions.
Hurry up Mr. Conley!
If you like your fantasy with a heaping helping of dark/horror, then this tale is right up your alley. Lee Conley has woven a dark and unforgiving tale in A Ritual of Bones that will leave wanting more.
The writing is well done. It flows well and the pacing is just right, while still leaving the reading with enough dark imagery to really set the mood/tone.
My only critique is that we are left waiting for the next book in The Dead Sagas for some resolutions.
Hurry up Mr. Conley!
June 27, 2020
A fantasy-horror mash-up that was an entertaining read.
First things first: I'm primarily a fantasy reader. That said I watched The Walking Dead with my children while they were at an eye-wateringly young age, so I also enjoy some horror style stories, including zombies. Nothing in this book felt too horrific for an average reader to me, though I admit to being slightly inured to violence.
I felt the horror parts of this were done well. There was a creeping sense of dread, with a real sense of mystery, about virtually everything that was happening. Plot wise, it was a slow-starter, and I didn't feel I had learned an awful lot by the end which suggests that this could end up being a very long series - a bit like The Walking Dead comics maybe.
The worldbuilding element was aligned really well to the horror elements. It's a low fantasy setting, inspired by Anglo-Saxon/Viking Europe. There is no magic to bail anyone out here and the heroes, although mostly brave warriors, are very ordinary. This makes the people of Arnar feel even more vulnerable to the events from the reader's perspective, and I felt this was the strength of the book.
I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by the characters, which was a shame. This may be a little unfair, since there is a tradition in horror of characters being monster-fodder, but the fantasy reader in me did crave a bit more development. We have Bjorn, a hunter investigating strange rumours, who had some interesting scenes but whose story kind of petered out by the end. An apprentice working for masters of the College. He is never named. I assumed at first there would be a reason for this, and maybe there still will be, but there wasn't by the end of the book. Then we have a group of warriors defending Arnar's borders. Here, though, characters like Fergus, Hafgan & Arnulf swap POV within scenes which is a pet peeve of mine and added to this sense that I wasn't really getting to know these characters as well as I could have. Again, this is partly because the author is weaving an epic over a series of books with many characters - totally different from a standalone with a single POV - and book ones in these kind of series almost always have this issue to some extent.
The writing was a mixed bag. There was some excellent description. But also quite a number of errors, regular enough to throw off the read. I was reading an old paperback version and I did feel it was a bit undercooked and could have done with another editing pass - apparently that has happened since I got this, so the new edition has probably dealt with these issues.
All in all then this was a great introduction to a series which I think could end up with a huge scale, the kind of series I love. There is lots of originality here and I will definitely be continuing with the series.
First things first: I'm primarily a fantasy reader. That said I watched The Walking Dead with my children while they were at an eye-wateringly young age, so I also enjoy some horror style stories, including zombies. Nothing in this book felt too horrific for an average reader to me, though I admit to being slightly inured to violence.
I felt the horror parts of this were done well. There was a creeping sense of dread, with a real sense of mystery, about virtually everything that was happening. Plot wise, it was a slow-starter, and I didn't feel I had learned an awful lot by the end which suggests that this could end up being a very long series - a bit like The Walking Dead comics maybe.
The worldbuilding element was aligned really well to the horror elements. It's a low fantasy setting, inspired by Anglo-Saxon/Viking Europe. There is no magic to bail anyone out here and the heroes, although mostly brave warriors, are very ordinary. This makes the people of Arnar feel even more vulnerable to the events from the reader's perspective, and I felt this was the strength of the book.
I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by the characters, which was a shame. This may be a little unfair, since there is a tradition in horror of characters being monster-fodder, but the fantasy reader in me did crave a bit more development. We have Bjorn, a hunter investigating strange rumours, who had some interesting scenes but whose story kind of petered out by the end. An apprentice working for masters of the College. He is never named. I assumed at first there would be a reason for this, and maybe there still will be, but there wasn't by the end of the book. Then we have a group of warriors defending Arnar's borders. Here, though, characters like Fergus, Hafgan & Arnulf swap POV within scenes which is a pet peeve of mine and added to this sense that I wasn't really getting to know these characters as well as I could have. Again, this is partly because the author is weaving an epic over a series of books with many characters - totally different from a standalone with a single POV - and book ones in these kind of series almost always have this issue to some extent.
The writing was a mixed bag. There was some excellent description. But also quite a number of errors, regular enough to throw off the read. I was reading an old paperback version and I did feel it was a bit undercooked and could have done with another editing pass - apparently that has happened since I got this, so the new edition has probably dealt with these issues.
All in all then this was a great introduction to a series which I think could end up with a huge scale, the kind of series I love. There is lots of originality here and I will definitely be continuing with the series.
June 10, 2018
From the moment an apprentice looks up at the moon amidst a dark and eerie night, convinced he’s being watched, there is an all-pervading sense of menace in the The Dead Sagas. As the story progresses that menace builds and consumes every character in the novel, and I use the word consume deliberately here.
Some might call this novel another zombie nightmare but that would miss the point Lee Conley is making. This is about the extent to which education, for all its benefits, can go too far. The search for ways to improve health can backfire when we ignore the basic tenets of safety.
The world is a backward place, medieval in comparison, and it is defined well. It’s a world where kings and lords command others to do their bidding, where nobles maintain the security of the land with sword and axe. There are strong elements of grim dark fantasy here, life is harsh and survival a daily battle. Yet it’s people have a generosity of spirit quite often, friendship exists in the bonds forged in battle. This is a world you soon believe in because it’s carefully crafted.
It’s characters are too. There are a lot of them, as scenes shift quickly in the opening chapters, but we get to sympathise with the people through whose eyes the horrors unfold. They are simple folk, unable to grasp what they see, let alone understand it. So we ride alongside Fergus and Arnulf as they try to grasp the enormity of the way Death has been reshaped. We struggle with Bjorn the Hunter as he tries to escape the dead and finds camaraderie in the strangest of places. And our hearts go out to Nym who is doing her best to protect her little brother and herself in a rough and rugged backwater, more than anything, she was the one I was desperate to see survive.
So there are dead people coming back to life but this is not another zombie story or is it The Walking Dead, it is a story of how we survive encounters with dangers we should not provoke or attempt to explore without accepting the terrible consequences first. It’s the first story in a longer series and I’m looking forward to the next instalment, hoping that Nym and her brother stay safe!
Some might call this novel another zombie nightmare but that would miss the point Lee Conley is making. This is about the extent to which education, for all its benefits, can go too far. The search for ways to improve health can backfire when we ignore the basic tenets of safety.
The world is a backward place, medieval in comparison, and it is defined well. It’s a world where kings and lords command others to do their bidding, where nobles maintain the security of the land with sword and axe. There are strong elements of grim dark fantasy here, life is harsh and survival a daily battle. Yet it’s people have a generosity of spirit quite often, friendship exists in the bonds forged in battle. This is a world you soon believe in because it’s carefully crafted.
It’s characters are too. There are a lot of them, as scenes shift quickly in the opening chapters, but we get to sympathise with the people through whose eyes the horrors unfold. They are simple folk, unable to grasp what they see, let alone understand it. So we ride alongside Fergus and Arnulf as they try to grasp the enormity of the way Death has been reshaped. We struggle with Bjorn the Hunter as he tries to escape the dead and finds camaraderie in the strangest of places. And our hearts go out to Nym who is doing her best to protect her little brother and herself in a rough and rugged backwater, more than anything, she was the one I was desperate to see survive.
So there are dead people coming back to life but this is not another zombie story or is it The Walking Dead, it is a story of how we survive encounters with dangers we should not provoke or attempt to explore without accepting the terrible consequences first. It’s the first story in a longer series and I’m looking forward to the next instalment, hoping that Nym and her brother stay safe!
October 29, 2022
I loved the mixing of genre's in ritual of bone...im surprised there isnt more fantasy/horror books out there...this book is imo one of a kind and i cant wait to start book 2
September 28, 2018
Now a this is a treat for all zombie fans, it’s nice to read a none gun zombie novel. It’s based in a fantasy world who are hand weapon wielding warriors of various of all types.
Nicely written by someone who knows his weapons of old, very grimdark in its style and content.
Highly recommended to all my friends on goodread.
Nicely written by someone who knows his weapons of old, very grimdark in its style and content.
Highly recommended to all my friends on goodread.
November 7, 2019
I was bought this book as a gift and it was described to me as the walking dead meets game of thrones. I have to say I do agree. Horrors of dead people walking, a college who think they can play with magic and warriors doing there thing to protect their people. It’s a great read and I can’t wait till the second book is released.
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