The Blighted City

The Fractured Tapestry #1

by Scott Kaelen

"To challenge the gods is to invite their wrath." So it is written of Lachyla, the Blighted City, in the Codex of the Ages. But who reads codices? And who really believes the tall stories of the Taleweavers?

Dagra does. If it's a story about the gods - even a dead god - he believes every word. When his sellsword team is offered a contract to cross the Deadlands and find a burial jewel in the crypts of the Blighted City, Dagra wants no part of it. His companions are undaunted by the legend; to them, the blurred divide between the living and the dead is superstitious nonsense. Completing the contract would earn their guild's failing reputation a much-needed boost and secure them the bounty of a lifetime. They're going, with or without him. Torn between the convictions of his beliefs and the importance of his friendships, Dagra reluctantly journeys into the godless region in search of the fabled city. But the Deadlands are only the first challenge. The sellswords uncover an age-old deception when they learn that Lachyla's foul seed is much darker than its legend, that its truth must forever remain untold or risk plunging humanity into an eternal nightmare. Snagged on the barbs of the blight, Dagra faces the toughest choice of his life... and of his death.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Dark Fantasy

394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2018

About the author

Scott Kaelen writes primarily in the genre of epic fantasy. His debut novel, The Blighted City, achieved semi-finalist in the SPFBO4 contest and finalist in the IAA2020 contest. His second book in the Fractured Tapestry series, The Nameless And The Fallen, reached the quarter finals in SPFBO7. Scott’s interests include etymology, prehistoric Earth, the universe, science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Reviews

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I like to read a fantasy, and The Blighted City came highly recommended. I’m happy to say it was good, and I was hooked from the start!

The first in a series, The Blighted City is grimdark and takes on the “undead,” but it was so much more than what you think of as a zombie book. I find fantasies hard to describe at times because the creativity it takes to build a world is beyond the straightforward writing of which I’m capable. Just know that you will easily be taken to another time and place and enveloped in this city from the start.

There’s a somber tone here, too, which went well with the overall darkness of the story. The characters were drawn in a complex fashion, and there was something to love and dislike about each one.

Overall, I was struck by the author’s talent. He took his time with this story and yet never lost my interest. I imagine so many regular fantasy readers will be thrilled to escape into The Blighted City.

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

[Jennifer (bunnyreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made it to the semi-finals in this years SPFBO and with good reason. It had to be one of the more interesting takes on the undead that I have read in awhile.

A quest to acquire a treasure goes to hell when the Freeblades- Oriken, Dagra, and Jalis enter the Blighted City of Lachyla to retrieve an heirloom.

What seemed like was going to be a pretty standard story- item retrieval in a creepy city that for a very good reason, no one goes to anymore, surprised me by becoming something deeper than a typical “zombie book” and I am using that term as a very broad generalization because this book is so much more than what that term implies.

What made this different for me was Lachyla, and its people.

There were quite a few characters between the three groups this story revolves around. Their interactions overlapped and are so tied up in the city, that to talk about some of their actions will cause spoilers and one of the best parts of this story is learning about the city through the characters. Because of that I’m going to just touch on a few of the characters that left bigger impressions with me.

There is a bit of a friendship story between Oriken, Dagra, and Jalis. Mostly between the men though because they knew each other from childhood. Like men who have grown up together they tend to have this ongoing relationship where they spend half as much time pushing each other’s buttons, as they do getting along. I did enjoy that part of their relationship.

Jalis- I felt could have used a little more fleshing out sooner. She was the buffer between the men and I enjoyed the hints of their friendship. She also dropped critical information when needed but didn’t get a lot of screen time until the last part of the book, where we get more of her thoughts.

Eriqwen- really liked her and her sister Adri.

Demelza- she was one of those characters I wanted to like, but really didn’t. Maybe it was intentional because a lot of the other characters seemed to feel the same.

Sabrian- He was interesting and I wanted more of his story.

Maros- Liked him though I felt like his parts outside the beginning were unnecessary.

The City of Lachyla- everything to do with it was interesting, atmospheric, and the “Mother” gave me some serious Forgotten Realms vibes. I loved the legend of the Goddess Valsana, King Mallak and the way the whole gloomy feel to its tale casts a pall over the city of Lachyla, right into the present day-adding this layer of sadness, desolation, and a general creepiness; especially when our Freeblades first entered the graveyard. Very well done.

And I loved everything from the stones to the almost symbiotic relationship between the surrounding city and its people, it was pretty cool and got away from the usual undead tropes, while still being familiar.

I kept thinking I knew where things were going, sometimes I would be right, but most the time the story would veer just ever so slightly, giving me more questions than answers.

As the pieces fell together and I understood the relationships between the inhabitants of outer city/graveyard, inner city/castle keep and Minnow’s beck, the revelations had me thinking about things, people, relationships etc. and I really liked that this book surprised me by going off on a different path by becoming something more substantial and thoughtful in nature.

Those were the parts of the book that worked the best for me I found the most interesting and what kept me coming back. I like a book that lets me speculate.

I had a harder time staying interested once we left the city, the last twenty percent or so, could have been a lot tighter or some of it even in another book- other than the farewell. The grief, anger, sadness, etc. at the loss of loved ones was palpable and even made me a bit weepy for the survivors.

This story left me with such a distinct sadness. The feelings of what is life really, when your existing but not living, or having purpose? When you can gather no happiness from the moments? I feel like there should be a life message in here and it’s all very bittersweet. I suspect some of these character’s choices will stay with me for a long time after the last page.

This was a great read and worth checking out, but don’t go in expecting some surface deep only ‘hack and slash’, this one is a lot ‘thinkier’ in nature than you’d imagine.

3.75

Thank you to Scott Kaelan for the offer of a copy though tbrinder.

-This book is available through the TBRinder program a reviewer/author service, which you can find here at The Weatherwax Report-

https://weatherwaxreport.blog/2018/04...

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

90/100

Click here for my full review:

https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.co...

Ever since Author Mark Lawrence began his Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off contest in 2015, I have been reading some absolute gems in the Fantasy genre that may not have ever gotten the notoriety they richly deserve had it not been for SPFBO. I have gone off in the past with regard to how wonderful this development has been for Fantasy and also the book industry in general. So many of the books entered in this year's SPFBO were already on my radar before they were announced as entries. Since the announcement though, I have tried to read as many as humanly possible. I had seen brief flashes of marketing about THE BLIGHTED CITY, book 1 of The Fractured Tapestry by Scott Kaelen, by way of some of my followers' retweets on Twitter. The ominously dark cover was the first thing that quickly caught my eye, and then I did a little more research on the plot which sold me even more on wanting to check it out. I began following Scott on Twitter and eventually requested a review copy because I thought it was something that I would really enjoy based primarily on the amazing description and the reviews to date. Scott very graciously provided me one not long after my request and as a result, I rushed it right up near the top of my "to review' list. And so, on to the book.

Somewhere in the Blighted City of Lachyla, a powerful and mysterious gemstone is buried in an underground graveyard within the Gardens of the Dead. Legends say that the walking dead roam the catacombs, guarding the unholy city from those who would exploit it and loot those treasures entombed with the dead. Dagra and his fellow guild members Jalis and Oriken are well aware of what the legends say, but that doesn't deter them from accepting a lucrative contract from a woman named Cela Chiddari to venture into the fabled city and steal back the gemstone. Cela claims the gemstone is a vitally important family heirloom that should have never been buried within the cursed city in the first place. The job pays top money, five hundred dari to be exact, which is impossible to refuse given the paltry contracts that the guild members have seen trickle across their doorstep lately. Complicating matters is that their destination of Lachyla is a fallen kingdom that is shrouded in mystery and has been wholly deserted for hundreds of years. The history of Lachyla has been largely forgotten, and so this just adds to the danger that may await the three companions as they attempt to sneak into the crypts stealthily and escape without detection from whatever manner of godless creatures still stalk the area. As they enter the Gardens of the Dead, Dagra can't help but feel as if something isn't right about their surroundings. He continually senses movement inside the catacombs and even stumbles across footprints in the dust that appear to only be going in one direction - OUT of the crypt. How could that be? Surely if the footprints only point outward it could only mean one thing, it wasn't a fellow explorer's footprints but someone or something already inside the crypts leaving. At this point, the companions want to complete their mission as fast as possible and leave to collect their money. But as they finally uncover the gemstone and begin to pry it off the wall where it is embedded, they notice frail-looking figures begin emerging from the mist among the gravestones, slowly approaching their location. It is now clear that the legends are not legends at all, and that in their avarice to acquire a quick payday, the three of them have stumbled across an infernal boundary where the line between the living and the dead is forever blurred. Now, just making it out alive now becomes the one and only mission. Can the three escape what looks like a growing army of the undead and whatever other manner of monsters await them on their escape route out of the underground hell that they find themselves in? I can only say that you will be treated to a fantastically dark and macabre journey if you decide to read this book and find out.

Upon reading the opening chapters of THE BLIGHTED CITY, I made the remark on Goodreads that it reminded me a lot of one of my favorite dark Fantasy books of all-time, The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. The shadowy atmosphere and the whole thievery angle were very reminiscent of the feel of that wonderful book. I stand by that assertion now that I have finished Scott Kaelen's book and I add to it that while bearing similarities, THE BLIGHTED CITY stands on its own when it comes to an exceptional Fantasy read. One of the things that I loved about the book was the city of Lachyla and the mysterious history of its cursed past. I am an absolute sucker for a great and multi-layered history when it comes to the stories that I enjoy. When an author takes the time to build a solid history, I believe that it adds so much depth and mystery that just make it a joy to read. Scott Kaelen has accomplished that tenfold with THE BLIGHTED CITY. Another aspect that I thought made this a compelling read were the characters and how they interacted with each other. This is a book that has spurts of action and then significant lulls. If put into the hands of a less adroit author, the lulls could lead to moments of boredom. That is never the case with this book and that is completely due to the characters and how they spend those down moments. The dialogue is crisp, the personalities are unique and bold, and the way that they behave faced with the most inexplicably horrific creatures hunting them is an amazing thing to behold. This book had virtually every box checked off that I love in a great Dark Fantasy read. The mystery of the city is always present in the story, making the reader yearn to find out more about it. Scott also ratchets up the tension quite a bit and where the story really excels is in the development of the story itself and the characters that make it a truly wonderful book to read. If you are looking for a really good book that has creepy undead antagonists, heroic protagonists, and world-building that is of the highest quality, I recommend Scott Kaelen's THE BLIGHTED CITY without reservation. It truly is a fun read that will have you wanting to find out desperately how things turn out. This will definitely be an intriguing series and I will absolutely snatch up book 2 as soon as it becomes available.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

BLIGHTED CITY is a fantasy which involves a juxtaposition of two things which you normally don't see much of: a biohazard horror setting and a fantasy world. Basically, it's a series which could best be described as THE LAST OF US, THE SHADOWS OF INNSMOUTH, meets your typical DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS dragon crawl. Even then, it's not a very good description and you could draw parallels to many other works.

The premise is a group of mercenaries (called "Freeblades") are hired by a woman to retrieve a family heirloom from the Blighted City. It is a taboo place which no one visits and have not done so for centuries. Long ago, a monarch offended the gods and the city was sealed off from the rest of the world. It is considered cursed and there's rumors that the dead walk inside it while the locals around it are incredibly untrustworthy.

I fully expected the story to be focused on exploring the Blighted City. I've visited many accursed cities in my fantasy life from Myth Drannor to the former capital of Darkon. Much to my surprise, the book barely spends any time in the cursed city proper. Instead, the majority of the book is a meditation on the results of a "curse" which many people would take as a blessing. What is it like to know you will never die as long as you never leave a specific area? To never get any older whether you're a toddler or a crone? What does one do when you have all the time in the world but can never do anything with it?

I liked the sense of decay which hung around the communities nearby the titular Blighted City. There's a sense of hopelessnes and age that clings to everything without ever fully giving to despair. Our protagonists are strangers in a familiar land but unlike most typical horror movies, we actually get the perspective of the locals. They've lived comfortably for a long time in their current state and they hate the potential threat the Sellswords present. However, these are not crazy cultists and they're averse to anything too extreme to get rid of them.

The characters are nicely broad but suitably deep with a central conflict between the three main ones based on religion: one being an atheist, one being deeply religious, and the other caught between them. The Blight and it's possible relationship to the gods as well as existential questions about life, death, purpose, and existentialism means it gives plenty of fodder for their long-running dispute.

This isn't a hack and slash novel with many action scenes. While they exist and are competently written, this is really a novel much more about big ideas. There's great moments like the fight between an immortal swordsman vs. a very mortal but utterly ruthless one. However, the best moments are quieter ones like trying to figure out whether to take up a long but pointless life versus a short but merry one.

Ultimately, this may be the first volume of a series but it feels like a complete novel by itself. The characters go through an arc and end their storyline in a fairly definitive way. I wouldn't be adverse to reading more by the author set in the universe but this is a story which stands on its own. I felt it was very much a "thinking" fantasy novel which deals with questions of a man's purpose in the world as well as the "point" of death.

[Rebekah Teller · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blighted City checks a lot of boxes for me. The action scenes are vivid and fast-paced. The characters are varied and detailed, the settings rich and immersive. There's a real sense of foreboding from the outset of the story, and the author delivers on giving the reader a horrifying adventure.

The plot takes awhile to get going, though not to the detriment of the reading experience. If the pace seems slow to you in the beginning, my advice is to keep reading. We follow three groups: 1) three hired swords from the Freeblades guild who are on a mission to the Blighted City to retrieve a family heirloom, 2) hunters from a nearby village who track them, intent on keeping the secrets of their land from outsiders, and 3) a small group of more Freeblades who become concerned about their fellow guild members and go out to search and rescue them.

There's a lot going on within the dynamics of each group, and all find complications in their plans. Though everyone sets out with the best of intentions, they quickly face unexpected circumstances and tough decisions. It's a lot to keep track of, but is a solid story overall. Just when I started finding inconsistencies in what caused the blight, the author revealed the full explanation for its source and answered all my questions.

The one issue I struggled with was the point of view treatment. The story changes POV often, switching between all three hired swords, and multiple other characters from the many allies and enemies involved. It can be disorienting at times, and disrupted my immersion a bit.

All in all, The Blighted City is a dark epic adventure in a well-detailed world full of swordfights, crypts, curses, and treasure. I recommend it to readers who enjoy multiple POV, conflicts that build gradually, and fantasy that delves into philosophical musings.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once upon a time, roughly a million years ago, the author sent me an ARC, and while I'm late (my apologies), I ended up buying a copy for my collection.

This book made it to the semi-finals of Mark Lawrence's SPFBO in 2019, and that was well deserved. The Blighted City offers a fresh take on the undead.

The story follows a trio of guild members who enter the Blighted City of Lachyla to retrieve a mysterious gemstone, buried (!) in an underground (!) graveyard (!) - You just wouldn't, would you? But the job pays a lot of money, and we all need money, so no judgement there.

Excellent worldbuilding, and an incredibly eerie atmosphere make this book an absolute treat to read. At times, almost a slice of life story, I fell in love with the characters. Their personalities are well-developed, the dialogue engaging, and the prose easy to follow.

I recommend this multi-POV adventure to all fantasy fans who enjoy multi-layered stories with a dollop of political musings.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
The beginning of this novel read like a classic dungeon crawler and I absolutely loved it.

The atmosphere surrounding the undead city was fantastic. I adored reading the descriptions of death and decay, which were wonderfully eerie. While definitely fantasy, not horror, those creepier elements played into my love for darker fiction. There was a wonderful sense of unease as the characters ventured into the mythic, godless lands surrounding the Blighted City.

As a D&D player, I always love reading about a group of sellswords going off on a dangerous quest in search of wealth. From the first chapter, I was immediately pulled into the story and enjoyed reading the quest storyline progress. I really enjoyed the banter between the three adventurers, who truly felt like old friends and comrades. Overall, I thought the main characters were quite well developed and I particularly appreciated the inclusion of a few strong female fighters.

However, I was quite surprised to learn that the initial quest was actually only setup for a larger story. After the first quarter of the novel, the narrative and tone shifted dramatically, which did somewhat pull me out of the story. Admittedly, I loved that initial premise so much that I was disappointed when the story became about something more. At that point, the story became more character focused than the adventure story that I initially expected. It's hard to explain without giving away spoilers, but the middle section just took away too much of the mystery surrounding the godless lands and I lost the sensation of suspense. Eventually, the story picked up again, but I just never fully recovered from that narrative shift. While I would describe the beginning of the novel as fun adventure, the end of the story was surprisingly serious and even sad.

While this is considered the first book in a new series, the story arc within this one felt quite complete on its own and could easily be read as a standalone.

I would recommend this one to readers who are looking for a slower paced, character focused dark fantasy with a rather creepy atmosphere.

Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this novel from the author.

[Cameron Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many of the things that I love in fantasy: adventuring parties, exploration of ruins and crypts, and weird magic and monsters. What's not to love about a group of mercenaries hired to delve into a forgotten city (marked with a skull on the map) and discovering that some dark legends are true? The description and feel of the city is dark and foreboding and I really appreciated that it wasn't an outright hack and slash novel, but instead focuses on exploration, characters, and their dangerous situation.
If I can level some criticism at it, it would be that for me it felt a little overlong and had too much dialogue that slowed some parts down, but another reader's mileage will vary on that score. The other issue is that I would have liked to know a bit more about the city and it's history, but that's just me being greedy.

[Buttercupp77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed this novel. It is an absolutely stunning read and not to be missed by lovers of epic fantasy. I will be shocked if this doesn't gain recognition as a classic in the genre.

The world was vividly brought to life by the author - and it's a very interesting place to be! The characters are three-dimensional, each having strengths and weaknesses. The scenery - geography, architecture, and culture - are all fleshed out enough that the language and setting are clear to the reader, without being intrusively described.

There were a few spelling and grammatical errors, but I was so immersed in the world and the characters' adventures that I'm able to overlook them.

I found the female characters to be especially noteworthy in their strength and intellect - they are whole, fully-developed people in their own right. They don't define themselves by the men in their lives and the world needs more of these characters. I think they set a wonderful example and yet, they come across in the author's writing so naturally - they don't read as though it was a struggle to write them.

One of my pet peeves is when a fantasy world neglects its denizens' spirituality. While we don't get a lot of detail about the religion and modes of worship, the author does weave belief throughout the novel in a very realistic and human way. I am very impressed by this and hopeful that more will be made clear about this area in other installments of this world's tales.

Without revealing any spoilers, this novel had me in tears - literally. The particular situation was handled very sensitively. It made for a poignant and necessary component of the story - much as I wish that weren't true - and it honoured the characters touched by the development. I appreciated that the impact of this trauma weighed heavily on the characters throughout the remainder of the novel, further adding to the sense of them being real people with rich inner lives.

The author manages to tie up the loose ends nicely at the end of the book, although there is so much more that I would like to know about these characters!

This novel left me with the feeling of bittersweet for the characters' choices, for the road not taken, and for (what feels like) the end of an era. It's a truly masterful way to exit the story - I don't think I've been this haunted by the conclusion of a book in many a year.

For me, the level of craftsmanship on display in this novel (realism, attention to detail, extremely well-drawn characters) puts Scott Kaelen on par with some of the great fantasy writers including: Andre Norton, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and George R R Martin. I foresee great things from this author and I'm eagerly anticipating his next offering.

I received a copy of this book through Voracious Readers Only.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short Version: If you're looking for a D&D style adventure with a bit of a creepy vibe/forbidden city feeling, this is the book for you. For more details, read on.

The Blighted City is part of the The Fractured Tapestry series. There's a title prior to The Blighted City called The Night of the Taking, but that appears to be a short story. There were several parts in The Blighted City where it felt like it was playing off some prior history or story, especially surrounding the half human-half jotunn character, Maros. I'm not sure if his backstory is contained in The Night of the Taking or not. Aside from those moments where it felt like there was some backstory missing, The Blighted City stands on its own and is probably a solid place to start.

The setup of the story is one that will be familiar to fantasy readers. There's an organization called the Freeblades who take jobs (quests) to help people in the community. They've sort of taken the place of any organized militia or police force as the centralized government appears to have disintegrated. The jobs the Freeblades take sound exactly like basic quests – go clear out the bandits on the road, act as a courier, go do this fetch quest. In this case, an old lady wants a family jewel/heirloom back and our party of three accepts the fetch quest even though it's going to send them into a dangerous/forbidden area because it pays well and there's been a dearth of other opportunities recently.

Our adventuring party is made up of three main characters – Jalis, a female swordmaster and the senior Freeblade of the group, and Oriken and Dagra, two lifelong friends and junior Freeblades. Honestly, although their fates go different directions I had a hard time differentiating Oriken and Dagra throughout the book, though they do have a few individual characteristics that are leaned into pretty heavily. I think the characterization was the weakest part of the book which was unfortunate for me as I tend to be a character reader. I did like that Jalis was the senior member of the party, but how she was handled in a few scenes, especially surrounding relationships, gave me a bit of whiplash.

I really liked the scenes we had with Maros, the leader of the Freeblade group/guild and Innkeeper. He was injured badly on a prior quest, leaving him with a really painful “gammy” leg that gives out on him at regular intervals. He's a half-human and half-jotunn (some kind of giant race?) that draws a lot of stares where he's not known. There is a sort of secondary storyline with Maros and a few other side-characters but it never seems to get anywhere. I would have liked to have seen him play a more significant part as it seems like the author had invested a lot of time into this character and he was an interesting and relatable one.

From the time that our adventuring party leaves the Inn and seems to be moving right along in completing their fetch quest, the plot moves really quickly and is pretty straight forward despite a few run-ins with creative monsters. But then, of course, things get complicated once the secrets of the item they were sent to fetch start revealing themselves. I do not want to get too deep into spoiler territory, but noone pays good money if the task is really a simple one. This quest unearths some dark powers and a city that was not as empty/abandoned as “common knowledge” would suggest.

The writing is generally fairly straightforward and doesn't get in its own way. There are a few good humorous moments, but overall this is mostly an adventure story. Worldbuilding is solid with some interesting secondary world details – celestial bodies, different deities, and certainly some creative monsters.

[Allan Batchelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

This is a very enjoyable read with surprising depth. The premise, on its surface, is one we're all familiar with -- adventuring/mercenary party is hired to travel to ruins (or, in this case, a cursed city) to retrieve an item. But Kaelen makes so much more out of the scenario than that. His story touches on questions of faith, love, aging, immortality, loyalty, and more. It is, ultimately, a rather profound novel and more than a little melancholy. But don't let that stop you from reading. Here, you'll find unforgettable characters, new monsters, and a few old favorites. In many ways, you'll feel right at home.

[Jordan (Forever Lost in Literature) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find this review at Forever Lost in Literature!

The Blighted City is an ambitious dark fantasy that mixes a variety of different fantastic elements to create a unique and engaging story. It's also yet another fantastic self-published fantasy that also made it to the semi-finals of Mark Lawrence's SPFBO4, a well-earned spot.

The Blighted City has a few different storylines to follow over the course of the book, all of which I found equally interesting. The story starts out with a bit of a semi-traditional fantasy quest plot, a trope that I am always eager to read and therefore found myself enjoying right away. A group of mercenaries are hired to carry out this quest that involves journeying to an abandoned and rather haunted city that promises nothing positive and is instead often avoided by people at all costs. I loved the idea of the city and loved the anticipation for what they would find during their quest. I thought that the quest itself would end up being the main focus of the book, but instead there were a few other large components to the plot as well.

In addition to the mercenary group, the story also follows some hunters who are attempting to find the mercenary group for less than friendly reasons and later a group that is essentially trying to locate and rescue the initial group that set out for the city. There's a lot to explore within each group of characters, each of which added their own intrigue and excitement to the story. I liked seeing the different relationship dynamics between each character and how it all worked out throughout the events of the book. That being said, this creates of large array of POVs that the book switches between as a result of the large cast of characters which were occasionally slightly overwhelming. Still, it was a nice touch to have so many different firsthand experiences of different plot elements to explore.

The pacing of The Blighted City was a bit uneven throughout, as it felt much slower and almost meandering at times, while others were much more action-heavy and fast-paced. The first portion of the book starts out with a steady pace, but does slow down quite a bit at times, which is initally why I thought it would be a larger section of the book. However, despite the uneven pacing, I didn't really find it bothered me all that much overall because I never lost interest in the story itself. It does lead to a bit of a varied experience while reading that I can see bothering some readers, but in my personal experience it doesn't hinder much of the enjoyment.

I also really enjoyed the world-building of The Blighted City. Kaelen did a great job at creating his world slowly and expanding it as the story demanded without ever info-dumping. Similarly, I also never felt lost in this world--Kaelen always provided adequate information in order to understand and appreciate each part of the story, which is something that I really appreciate in a fantasy novel.

Overall, I've given The Blighted City four stars! It's full of adventure, treasure hunts, fights, some creepy crypts and other unexpected surprises. I recommend this to any dark fantasy fans who are looking for something with a lot of intrigue and some unique concepts.

[Lee Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blighted City
By
Scott Kaelen

The Blighted city, is an intriguing adventure tale, it has fast paced action scenes, unfolding love stories, a sad reflection on life and death, well written undead it ticked a lot of boxes for me.
Another of my top SPFBO picks here, I particularly like this one as several of the themes are similar to my own books, notably it is a fantasy with (I hate the word) zombies. So straight away I was intrigued and had also heard some good things so I couldn’t not give it a read.

The Blighted City is about a group of “Freeblades”, hired mercenaries which reminded me a lot of the typical “fighters guild”. Folk hire them to kill stuff and protect people and general fighters guild type stuff. The main man in charge is Maros, a half blood, big badass, who can no longer take contacts due to his crippled leg. Maros takes a contract for his Freeblades to recover a lost family jewel from the legendary city of Lachyla deep within the deserted Deadlands. The legend is that the King of Lachyla once incurred the wrath of a goddess who smote the city and all who dwelt there with a terrible curse, hence the Blighted City
The Freeblades who pick up this perilous contract are a blade-mistress Jalis, and two old friends and Journeymen Freeblades, Oriken and Dagra. The group then set off on an intriguing adventure into the wastelands to discover the lost city of Lachyla.
The Blighted City of Lachyla is indeed real and tales of a cursed city true as the adventurers soon realise for themselves when they run into the city’s hordes of decomposing dead. But there is a lot more to Lachyla than a lost jewel in a city full of the living dead – a lot more.

I was pleasantly surprised at how the book progressed, Kaelen has woven some really interesting ideas into his book. The dead, a personal interest of mine, I thought were nicely done. The real strength of this book is the characters. The characters are all well written, I particularly loved Oriken, he has a sabre, he wears a hat – a man after my own heart.
This book is great, it does not go where you think it’s going to go and is a really enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend it.
Thanks for reading,
Lee

[Calvin Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blighted City by Scott Kaelen has a lot to love. This is a dark quest fantasy with a deep, engaging setting and an engaging plot that connects to that setting and the history of it in convincing ways. Kaelen has given us a world that I hope he continues to explore and honors us with the opportunity to read more and more stories in this setting.

Kaelen begins his tome with what appears to be a standard fetch quest. A team of mercenaries/treasure hunters/swords for hire are contracted to retrieve a family artifact. I was nervous initially because it seemed like it was headed for some very tropey waters. But The Blighted City avoided those well. After the hook, each time I thought I had the story figured out Kaelen thickened the plot. Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not that there are crazy twists and turns in the plot. Rather, Kaelen excels at letting you have enough information to believe you know where things are going before adding additional information that builds on what you already know. It’s very well done and kept me turning the pages. Add to this an obviously well fleshed out world with discoveries and mysteries in equal measure, and it was a book that I really enjoyed. I’m hoping we’ll see more books in this series that flesh out the wider world a bit more, because there is a lot there to explore after finishing The Blighted City.

I did feel, however, that the book could have been more tightly plotted. What I mean is that there were moments and plot lines that I thought could have been shortened or consolidated. Had the book been more tightly plotted I think it would truly be extraordinary. As it stands, it’s a very, very good read and one fantasy fans should absolutely consider. I personally found this issue to be particularly noticeable in the last quarter of the book. Those chapters felt like a sort of extended epilogue. There were moments toward the end when I was questioning why there was still so much book left to go. This felt especially jarring after the very well plotted and engaging first three quarters of the book. That may be more a preference than actual criticism. Nevertheless, I did feel the book needed improved pacing, especially after the two thirds mark. For me that moved it from a contender for five stars to a solid four.

If or when Scott Kaelen gives us another novel set in his Fractured Tapestry universe, I’ll be sure to pick it up. If you enjoy dark fantasy set in a wonderfully deep world with an engaging plot, this is absolutely a book you should pick up. 4/5 stars.

5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – I liked it, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing

[Susan Hampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pearl this story is! I absolutely fell in love with the new language that this author uses in his book. It just made it so much more authentic. The Taleweavers are storytellers, the Sellswords of course a sort of mercenary paid to do a particular dangerous job where they could face some sort of enemy and have to fight. The book is full of such words, the thing is you know straightaway what they are.
Three Sellswords are hired to travel through the Deadlands to the Blighted City and retrieve a gem from the underground tombs. The Taleweavers tell stories of the walking dead that roam there to protect the gem. The money is the carrot that can’t be resisted and so off they go. All of the Sellswords are very different, some with more attitude than others. What they encounter is far more than the stories they have heard. There is the living dead, yes but so much more too. This gem is one highly protected stone, or it was, until they stole it, now a chain of events is triggered that will change so many lives of the living and change them of those that are already dead too. Think sort of Tomb Raider or Raiders of the last Arc sort of thing. Nothing is as it seems. This is a belting story where actions cause consequences but a square peg will never fix back into a round hole. Lives have been set on new courses.
Things have happened that they don’t know about that for me takes the book the extra distance to make it a fabulous read. The descriptions are tremendous, detailed and at times, what you see isn’t really how things really are sort of thing. You have to adjust your mind and listen. There is heartbreak and regret among them. I really liked Dagra, the head of the group and very much the conscience of right and wrong with his beliefs, while Jalis and Oriken are a little more robust in their manner.
This is an awesome fantasy read, what I love about this genre is anything is possible and Scott Kaelen has exercised his imagination to make everything work in perfect harmony. The story line has a solid purpose, with an array of characters that have unique personalities that are memorable. A brilliant read with an author not afraid to use dramatic and realistic outcomes. Still tickled by the language.
This can be read as a stand alone novel but a second book is being written. I received an e-copy of this book from the author and this is my honest review.

[DEGEN Psychonaut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come soon. Audiobook was soooooo good. I dont know this book isn't more well known, as it's an all around Amazing book.

[The Scribblings · Rating 5 out of 5]

An elderly woman hires a group of mercenaries to retrieve a family heirloom for her. But to earn their reward they have to travel to a city abandoned centuries ago and find the grave it was buried in.

The Blighted City is ostensibly a fantasy novel and it certainly has all the requisite trappings. But there are also a number of other aspects to it. There are elements of a bio-hazard suspense novel, the dangers of narrow thinking & knee-jerk reactions, how different people perceive religion and a thoughtful meditation on what it might truly mean to be undying.

The contract serves to set the plot in motion and it soon follows three strands. The first, and principal, plotline concerns Dagra, Oriken and Jalis; the trio of ‘freeblades’ who undertake the journey towards the cursed city of Lachyla in the hopes of finding the desired jewel. Oriken is consumed with thoughts of the reward money whereas Dagra, the more religious of the group, has concerns about the storied history of the Blighted City and what the potential consequences of their intrusion might be. Jalis, the senior of the three, often acts as a mediator between the two men. While they do reach the City fairly early in the novel, what they discover is far beyond what they could have anticipated.

The inhabitants of Lachyla are for all intents and purposes immortal but in a severely limited form. Moving too far from the environs of the city gradually weakens them and they must either return or perish. And while death doesn’t touch them within the city, neither does time. Many are stuck at the same physical state, either immature or aged, for centuries. Bound to their city and physically unchanging, many have turned away from material pursuits and pleasures, focusing instead on more philosophical and theological investigations. In some ways, this abstraction makes them even more ‘other’ when compared to the freeblades but it also makes perfect sense in the context of their existence.

The second plotline follows the inhabitants of the only remaining village in the area close to Lachyla. Alarmed to discover outsiders nearing their home and that they intend to enter the City, the village elders resolve to hunt the freeblades down. While there is a degree of logic behind their decision, as they know the potential danger of removing anything from the City, it is born equally from a desire to preserve their isolation and deny anything that might change their world view. While some of the villagers do raise concerns about the morality of this action, they are definitely in the minority.

The final group mainly involves the guild of freeblades, specifically Maros, the elder who accepted the contract in the first place. While he did offer the contract to Jalis and the others, he gradually becomes overwhelmed with misgivings and sets off after them in an attempt to bring them home. While the other two plot lines routinely shift their perspectives between the participants, this third one stays with Maros for the majority of the time. It is also the one that takes up the least amount of page time which, while understandable since it has the least impact, was a little disappointing since I really wanted to learn more about Maros and the workings of the guild.

While the novel has a relatively slow build, sticking with it is recommended and rewarding. There are hints of theologies, geography and history, all of which potentially adding up to a well-developed world. Bits and pieces of this background are doled out rather sparingly, concentrating mainly on Lachyla and how the main characters respond to it. I find myself hoping that there will be more works set in this world since there is obviously a lot more to explore.

[The Nerd Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book the author reached out to me and asked if I would like to receive an ARC a few months ago. I finally got around to it and was rewarded with a great read.
4.5 stars for me but closer to the 5* than the 4*. There is a typical journey that’s a little slow but does contain some action so it wasn’t too bad.
The basic premise is our main characters are members of a guild of mercenary/guardsmen type people who will do protection jobs and retrieval, basically whatever is needed since there isn’t really a central government since some sort of cataclysmic event a few hundred years before. We will find out about that event as the story unfolds but it would be a bit of a spoiler to describe.
The three POV characters who get the most page time are a woman named Jalis and two men, Oriken and Dagra. Jalis is a blademaster and the other two are journeymen. The book will contain a nice mix of male and female characters and none of the women are damsels in distress.
My absolute favorite aspect of the book was the suspense that Kaelen built up during a couple of scenes. I felt real anxiety about what was going to happen.
The book is definitely a little different in story structure. The “big battle” scene that is typically at the end of a story actually takes place about 2/3 of the way through and after that we deal with more character development and the real moral component of the story. There is another smaller big action scene towards the end but I really enjoyed the structure of the book. I am a sucker for a good wrap up scene and I think this one was done well.
This isn’t a book with flowery flowing prose. Our characters sound like real people having real conversations and I really enjoy this. There is one small section where a storyteller is detailing he history of the Blighted City our main characters will be going to on a mission to retrieve something for a client and luckily it’s short because it’s in that same conversational tone.
I felt like the characters were real, complex people, who had their own needs and desires. There are a couple sex scenes but they’re not overly graphic and didn’t seem gratuitous to me. I loved how men and women were dealt with here. The women in the novel were often in positions of power and managed to be both tough fighters and feminine at the same time. The men were big tough fighters but weren’t just mean killing machines either. A big part of the story was people conquering their fears and dealing with their prejudices. Characters who you care about will die and their deaths are shown to affect the other characters and they affected me as well.
As far as I can tell it appears this book is a part of a series but could also function as a standalone book. The last chapter sets up the next book but the main issue of this novel is resolved.

[Tom Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun fantasy romp of swordsmen (and women), the undead and a little light grave-robbing, all told with real heart. There were missteps along the way, but it kept my attention as the pages went by (not so easy a thing for me these days) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The background idea of the city was a good one that was properly developed too, not some half-baked explanation but a rounded and thoughtful approach to it all including the implications for those caught up in events. While the story was a little odd in that the big conflict, as it were, occurs 2/3 the way in, it did afford space for the characterisation work to bear fruit and (mini-spoiler, but not really given you're given loads of warning) give poignancy to the loss of one of the party. And finally the story itself rounded off nicely while leaving space for what is to come, which isn't required in all fantasy stories, but is usually a bonus.

On the negative side, while the chat was mostly good and natural, there were wobbles both in the tone from some characters and the actual language they use, poorly educated swordsmen suddenly expressing themselves with quite complex phrases. On top of that, the Magros thread was ok but nothing great and pulled the story around a bit, mostly just providing some action at the close that could have been handled a different way. Having a larger group set out from the start would have worked better for me. The villagers bugged me, not really fitting their isolated circumstances fully and aspects of that thread proving overly forced (the reasons for demelza being brought along for example, but then she gets under-used with a long pause in her weird abilities appearing), plus the inhabitants of the city were mostly a little more calm, sane and reasonable than you'd expect under those circumstances.

Those are all just niggles however, things that pulled me out of the story a bit rather than gave me reason to consider giving up.

[Bookwyrm Speaks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I had recommended to me by friends, and had in my To Be Read pile for a while. It just got lost in the shuffle of a lot of books hitting me at the same time for review. When the audiobook came out, I was offered a copy to review and decided now was a good time to see if the recommends panned out. I'm happy to say they were. In a crowded marketplace of fetch quests and chosen one narratives, this one takes some of those tropes and turns them right on their head, leading to an exciting romp through to true danger.

PLOT SUMMARY

Four hundred years ago, Mallak Ammenfar brought a curse down upon the city of Lachyla. The city was blighted, and the city gates closed as the population died off. To this day, the city and the area around it are considered cursed, and people don't go anywhere near the city, since people who go in don't come back out. Since the fall of Lachyla, all the kings of the land of Himaera have fallen, and it now has no ruler, just a bunch of independent towns and hamlets, with free blades the closest thing to the law, and they are just hired to clean out bandits and monsters, not to enforce law.

The best of these free blade teams is led by blade master Jalis, along with journeyman blades Dagra and Orik. Bounties have been slow of late, but when a juicy contract to collect a family heirloom comes up, with a years pay for completion, the team has to seriously consider it, even though it leads to, you guessed it, the blighted city. Dagra, being superstitious, doesn't want to go, but allows himself to be talked into it.

Leaving on the journey, they make good progress intitially. They start encountering challenges as they get further into uninhabited land, having several run ins with monsters. Getting past these, they make their way to the city, climbing over the wall and going to the family crypt where the gem they came for is stored. While walking through the tunnels of the crypt, they notice weird fungus and spider webs all over the place. Dagra accidentally breaks one of the fungus and gets it on his face, but nothing happens, so they move on. Finding the stone, but being freaked out by the creepyness of the tomb, they make their way to the surface, where they get a rather unpleasant surprise. It seems that even though the blight killed the citizens of the city, that hasn't stopped them from walking around. What follows is a pitched battle, as the three sell swords have to fight against overwhelming odds to try and escape the city with their prize.

Effecting their escape, the group heads back to collect the bounty. However, they are slowed a bit as Dagra was somewhat injured in their escape and they need to attend to him. Dagra seems lethargic, but they put that to his injury. Waking up the next morning, they discover Dagra is gone. They also discover a strange girl watching their camp. Capturing her, they discover Dagra has returned to the city with the stone. They also discover there is a village of the cities descendants that escaped before the blight struck the city down, who will do anything to hide the fact of their existence. Following him back to the city, Jalis and Orik sneak back into the city, and meet an inhabitant who is not feral. It turns out there are two types of inhabitants, and those closer to the city are still thinking.

This is where the story takes some major twists and turns, as we learn the true history f the blight and the city. We learn what really happened to the inhabitatnts, and that the story that got out isn't necessarily the whole truth. The city was hit by the blight, but the effects weren't quite as permanent as advertised. What this means for the city if this gets out is unknown, since there are larger forces at play elsewhere, and if anyone found out about the city being inhabited, it could lead to a rush to conquer. This is the issue the adventurers face, as well as keeping themselves from getting killed by xenophobic villagers trying to hide there existence. Will the free blades be able to deal with this while being able to complete their bounty? You'll have to read to see what happens.

WORLDBUILDING AND CHARACTERS

A lot of indie and small press books you read now days have worldbuilding as deep as a kiddie pool. The backstory might be mentioned, but a lot of time it's forgotten by the next page. Not so with Blighted City, since the backstory is front and center in the narrative. Its well thought out and introduced very organically. You really get the feel you are right there in the story, running for your life with the blighted right on your heels.

The characters are so well written. The three main characters, Jalis, Dagra and Orik get so much attention. Their lives are slowly spun out before us, and you really get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses, which they all have. Their relationships, asperations and motivations play out right on the page, giving them the feel of real people. The secondary characters are a mixed bag, but in a good way, having a lot of variety in there various personalities. The book has unconventional antagonists, but I cant go into more detail without spoiling things. They get a lot of attention too as well, so they have as realistic motivations as the protagonists.

Narration

The narration is excellently handled by Todd Menesses. He has an excellent narrative voice with outstanding pacing, so you never feel he falls into a monotonous rut. He does an excellent job bringing the various characters to their own unique life, using a variety of tones and accents to differentiate them. His voice just draws you right into the story, and he is one of my favorite narrators working today,

FINAL THOUGHTS

I do go through a lot of books, and am always on the look for new series. This is definitely a good way to keep my attention for future installments. Is it perfect? No, because while it does have a good premise and good execution, it does have some scenes and plot lines that could use some pairing down, in my opinion. While not a deal breaker by any stretch, the hidden village plot line seemed a bit more than the story needed. That being said, it shouldn't scare anyone away from trying this book out, and who knows, you might think that's a strength. I definitely recommend this book to fantasy fans looking for an engaging mix of strong worldbuilding, excellent characters and solid plotting. I am looking forward to see where the story goes from here.

[Martin Owton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solidy constructed, well-characterised and enjoyable fantasy adventure that harks back to the classic sword and sorcery tales of Lieber and Wagner. I particularly like that the stakes are not "the kingdom/empire/world as we know it" needing saving from the Dark Lord/Evil mage/Emperor of the Night. The antagonists are also given real motives and developed as people. If the central characters fail in their quest then their lives are on the line, but the world keeps turning. What stops it being 5 stars is that the backstory for the main characters is under-developed and shows up too late in the story - these are interesting people and I wanted to know more about how they got there. This is a minor weakness, I recommend this story

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Kaelen's The Blighted City is a tale of fantastic adventure full of ancient ruins, strange monsters, horror and intrigue. It's like a classic tabletop module in literary form -- the heroes meet up in a bar and are set upon a dangerous quest that becomes more and more complicated as they go. It's an exciting read, and I highly recommend it.

The take on the undead menace is clever, the characterization is all really lifelike, the world is intriguingly detailed with all sorts of interesting tidbits hinting at an expansive realm that extends far beyond the pages. It's full of the sort of fantasy tourism I love.

The monsters and other threats are all interesting and different. The 'blind pygmies' were a particularly creepy danger that felt like the sort of thing that would really frustrate a party in D&D. There's a lot here to really fall in love with -- If you love fantasy, you should check this out.

It should be five stars, but for one issue that nags at me. Much like the movie version of Lord of the Rings, it has way too much ending. Usually when you say a story has a problematic ending, it's because that ending leaves too much unresolved, or is otherwise unsatisfying... but The Blighted City suffers from the opposite problem. Everything is well resolved. Several times. It feels like the last 20% of the book is almost superfluous. Any of those scenes could have been a solid ending, but instead we get all of them.

Unfortunately there's not really a lot added by the prolonged ending. Certainly after an epic tale it can be interesting to learn where characters end up afterward and how they cope with their survival, but much of that can be indicated pretty briefly. None of the resolution is particularly shocking, and yet a hefty chunk of book walks you through nearly every detail of the aftermath. It's a nice long story even without that final 20%, so it's not like the author needed to pad out the page count to justify his cover price. I still very much recommend you pick up a copy and check it out, I just think that if you get into those final few chapters and feel like you've pretty much hit the end of the story... you probably have, and won't be losing much if you stop early.

That caveat expressed, the main part of this book is really great, I loved the main story arc, and I'll be keeping an eye out for Kaelen's next tale of adventure.

[E.Y.E.-D · Rating 4 out of 5]

What started as a pretty straight forward adventure story took a crazy turn and became a extremely wild ride.

It started with a fairly simple premise. A client wanted a burial stone retrieved from the city of Lachyla. The city is beyond the death head symbol on current maps and no one has traveled there in quite some time. This leaves the mystery of what will be encountered along the way pretty open. A team of Freeblades, Jalis, Oriken and Dagra accept the job and the adventure begins. Along the way they encounter wild primates, Hunters from a village that is keeping quite the secret and hordes of the undead.

Jalis and crew are who spend the majority of our time with, they are pretty standard adventures. Of the three the only one I did not like was Dagra which may have been due to his religious beliefs. We do however get to hear the stories of a few other characters. There is the group of people from Minnows Beck a village local to Lachyla and a few more Freeblades that decide to check up on their friends mission.

The villagers of Minnows Beck are a pretty assorted group of people, the two I find most interesting are Demelza a young woman who is not very well liked by her fellow villagers and Shade. I am looking forward to learning more about both of them further long in the series.

The small portion of the world we get to explore in this tale is quite interesting. Lachyla alone holds quite a few mysteries, but we do hear some fantastic tales of other wondrous places that are still waiting for us to venture through. I am really looking forward to seeing where the next book takes us.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a fantasy series that is darker than most. Not in the sense of violence but just a world that holds darker secrets waiting to be discovered.

[Sharon Lash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I cried when they lost Dagra. If a book can immerse me into the story where I can relate to the characters then I know it's a good book. It is well worth reading. But beware...it will be hard to stop till you're done. I received a complementary book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.

[Judy Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dead can live.

This book starts slow. Hang on! It gets better. It's action packed with all the fighting you could ever wish for. And you get a mystery besides. Scott Kaelen has given us a world where the impossible is very much possible and often likely.

[A.M. Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Blighted City begins with a quest and ends with a beautiful contemplation of filial love, loyalty, duty, and grief in a story that blazes a trail out of standard epic fantasy into a really fresh, original science fantasy narrative. We begin with an old woman who hires some mercenaries to retrieve a family heirloom from a tomb. Journeymen swordsmen and lifelong friends Dagra and Oriken follow Jalis, their blademistress, into the wilds, where they encounter hostile monsters and challenging terrain on the trip to the tomb's location in Lachyla, a long-abandoned city. Dagra, a pious man, fears the outcome of the journey, because legend says Lachyla was cursed some three hundred years previously. Athiest Oriken dismisses his friend's worries and anticipates an easy mission in an empty city. Jalis' main interest is in completing the job and continuing the training of her two charges.

At first, everything follows a fairly standard epic fantasy narrative: After some harrowing adventures, the trio reach the tomb and retrieve the heirloom. As they're leaving, the dead rise from their graves, and they have to fight their way out of the graveyard. The action to this point is well done, but not terribly original. Then, early the next morning, Dagra leaves his friends and goes alone into the city. Confused and worried, Jalis and Oriken follow and discover their friend has fallen victim to the curse plaguing the city—he's been infected with a fungus that revives dead cells, rendering living humans immortal and turning deceased humans into zombies. The city is populated with the immortals, who struggle with deep regrets and severe ennui. The Freeblades' presence serves as a catalyst that jolts the Lachylans out of their inertia, as well as initiating a conflict between the city and a near-by village where live the tradition-bound descendants of people who escaped the Lachylan plague.

Kaelen's prose flows smoothly and beautifully frames some stark contrasts between the dark and often vividly gruesome nature of the Lachylans' plight and the honor and decency of his main characters, all of whom act out of duty to their families and/or communities. One passage captures the essence of this:

"You know," he said quietly, "for all the horrors of this world, for all the senseless losses and atrocities, the firmament above us is a painting of innocence. The stars and the moons—all those lights are untouchable, unknowable. Sometimes I imagine myself soaring like a dawnhawk through that celestial sphere. For every horror down here, be it corpse or cravant, monster or man, there's a twinkling beauty out of reach up there."

Contrasts between characters' core beliefs also lend depth and weight to the story. Philosophical exchanges on the nature of life and existence frequently crop up between action sequences and form the heart of the book. Some characters are pious and adhere fervently to their belief in the gods—and their wrath—while others investigate the mechanics of reality, wanting to know the how of things as much as or even more than the why. A third class of characters is primarily interested in earthly concerns—duty, love, and loyalty. All of these individual philosophies are presented with sympathy and respect.

The only faults I would cite are an over-reliance on expository dialogue to provide world-building and backstory information, which I found a little tiresome in the beginning of the novel, and the use of too many point-of-view characters, which include all three Freeblades, the leader of their guild, and several villagers descended from Lachylan refugees. As the story went on, the exposition was better integrated into the narrative—a good example is a very moving story about why Oriken is so attached to his hat (in this zombie-occupied landscape, Oriken's headgear is strongly reminiscent of Rick Grimes' sheriff's hat). While multiple POVs were necessary to show everything happening during a major battle occurring at the midway point in the book, the narrative would have been more compelling if told only through the eyes of characters with a story arc. It was hard to become invested in characters whose POV appeared in only a few scenes, and there were a few single-scene POVs that could have been left out. I would have preferred those characters' fates to be left as mysteries to be solved in future volumes (and if they're not important enough to revisit in future volumes, one wonders why they were important enough to include in this one).

All in all, this was one of those books that took a while to capture my full attention, but once it did, I was locked in and anxious to learn everyone's fate. There were plenty of surprises, and a few tears along the journey, and all in all I'll be looking with great enthusiasm for the next volume in this story.

[Amarilli 73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Oggi recensisco un self di un autore straniero, che ha deciso di farsi tradurre per il mercato italiano. L'ho conosciuto in rete, in un gruppo di lettori fantasy, e mi sono incuriosita.
Per questo ringrazio prima di tutto Scott di avermi gentilmente inviato una copia del suo libro per poter esprimere la mia opinione.
http://www.sognipensieriparole.com/20...

La Citta di Sventura si caratterizza per una storia e un'ambientazione molto originale.

La narrazione parte subito a razzo ed avvince: una anziana cliente, sostenendo di essere discendente di una delle antiche casate di Lachyla, una città abbandonata e considerata da tutti maledetta, affida alla Gilda dei Soldati di Ventura l'incarico di recuperare una pietra conservata nella tomba di "famiglia".
L'incarico è assunto dalla maestra Jalis (e il fatto che fosse una ragazza intrepida la leader del gruppo mi è piaciuto molto) e dai suoi compagni Dagra e Oriken, i quali si mettono subito in viaggio per arrivare in un luogo che è ormai da decenni fuori da ogni strada e da ogni rotta commerciale, e della cui esistenza si ha persino qualche dubbio.
Ovviamente, le leggende, specie quelle spaventose, hanno sempre un fondo di verità, e non nascondo che la parte centrale, quella ambientata a Lachyla, mi ha stupito e intrigato per i toni cupi e più da romanzo del terrore che non fantasy (molto belle le pagine in cui i nostri tre soldati si muovono tra sepolcri polverosi e inquietanti. Il fatto è che la città nasconde proprio un segreto... su cui però sorvolo, per evitare anticipazioni, che meritano invece una lettura.

In parallelo al primo filone, veniamo poi a conoscere le vicende del Ruscello della Carpa, un villaggio che è sorto nelle vicinanze della città principale, fondato dalle genti che riuscirono ad abbandonarla prima della rovina, e i cui abitanti si sono dati come scopo proprio quello di non far entrare più nessuno (nè di far uscire più nessuno).
Ed è inevitabile che prima o poi i due filoni narrativi si ricongiungano, con incontri e scontri tra personaggi mossi da interessi opposti.

Nel complesso, il libro mi è piaciuto.
La narrazione è scorrevole (resa anche con una buona traduzione, va detto). La prima parte è senza dubbio più appassionante, poi la storia si fa più introspettiva e rallenta (mentre io amo le parti prettamente avventurose), però sono arrivata in fondo soddisfatta.
Per mia opinione personale, il finale è intimista e un pochino allungato: non sono una fan degli addii e dei congedi, quindi forse venti/trenta pagine risultano superflue. Tuttavia comprendo che un autore possa far fatica a lasciare andare i propri personaggi.
Ricorderò questa storia con piacere, soprattutto per l'originalità, e non mi dispiacerebbe incontrare di nuovo Jalis in futuro.

[David Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly entertaining undead fantasy.

First off, my thanks to Scott for providing me his book for a non-biased review.

The Blighted City is an entertaining mix of fantasy with a great cast of characters. From a tavernmaster half giant to a dual wielding blade mistress who takes no nonsense and a man who, to paraphrase Korg, has a pretty special and intimate relationship with his hat.

The novel is a stand alone book, yet manages to fit in substantial wold building without massive info dumps. Essentially the crux of the book is a group of "free blades" (think mercenary guild) are hired to retrieve a family heirloom from a city stamped with the deathshead (unsurprisingly meaning one shouldn't travel there). What follows is a lot of adventure, well written sword play, intriguing twists and of course, the undead.

All in all, if you're looking for a solidly written fantasy with intriguing characters, good humour and an intriguing plot, check it out.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blighted City is a tale about a mercenary trio. They are given the task of finding and retriving a family heirloom from a crypt. They decided to brave the blighted city, a place called Lachyla which has a reputation thatkeeps most people away. Will they be successful on their quest? Read this great story to find out.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Voracious Readers Only

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure I got the novel through the TBRindR thing which means I got it for free which does little to change my thoughts on it (even though as you saw in the rating already I really liked it)
The Blighted City is a novel that I feel is less about the characters and more about the bonds between them or the groups they form and how the past and current situation can affect that and yes I know that sounds cheesy but please hear me out!
When starting this book I took it for an simple adventure romp through some undead filled land with a bit or party banter to keep things fun enough for everyone. Just like the characters in the story I was wrong. Again yes I know that sounds so common or like a lot of reviews for different stories I just find it hard to describe but I’ll try my best.
I’ll start with the worldbuilding as it’s pretty simple we follow mercenary’s (or freeblades in this novel) on a dangerous quest and at first the world is as simple as that sentence.
We get glimpse of some sort of catastrophe that happened way back and rendered the City of Lachyla and the surrounding lands as unhospitable. We later get glimpses of what took the city and it’s inhabitants but never really get the why if there even is one and I really liked that you can take your own guesses on what’s behind the downfall and on how that can shape the stories of future novels. Apart from the deadlands where a bulk of the story takes place we don’t see much else but there is at the moment no need to and the story ends in a way that suggests we see more of this world we learned so little about. Again I have to say it sounds so common but it’s for me less about what it is and more about how the author executed it.
The magic system up till the end is very soft and we don’t really see everything the magic can do in this world only a few things here and there. It is explained a bit how it’s organised in this world and again alludes to a bit more than what we see but it doesn’t hit you over the head with it.
For the characters I will go through them through their groups and will leave one group out of it for spoiler reasons.
Our main protagonists are Jalis, Oriken and Dagra three freeblades who accept a lucrative and seemingly simple contract. Throughout the novel you get the feeling of how long and good this characters know each other through little jabs and conversations that take place or how they organise when they face danger. The characters themselves are greatly written and each is a fully formed characters with backstory that again doesen’t hit you over the head but is more subtle but as I said it’s less about the characters and more about the group and the dynamics within. You can include a few other characters like the guildleader Maros who goes after his friends and shares a lot of the same stories with his companions but it’s mostly about the leading trio.
Then we have a village which we follow a lot more after the first quarter of the book which is genius in the way it portrays and later subverts it’s inhabitants and how it sets up some of the things that happen at the ends with (and yes that kind of a theme for me here) the past of the village and how they each react to each other and their surroundings.
It like to tell you so much more but anything more and I believe I would be dangerously close to major spoilers and I don’t want that as I think this story is best experienced with as little knowledge as possible.