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The Returning: A Cautionary Tale From The Mercenary Realms
His lover betrayed him to an outlaw gang. They hunted him down and killed him. But he didn't stay dead long...
Undead lawman Vaska Karkov is a revenant - a ghost on a mission to be revenged on the robbers who killed him. His quest for vengeance will take him across the lawless lands he once policed, and leave a trail of carnage in its wake. It will also take him to the darkest corner of his own soul, forcing him to confronts truths about himself he could not face in life.
Undead lawman Vaska Karkov is a revenant - a ghost on a mission to be revenged on the robbers who killed him. His quest for vengeance will take him across the lawless lands he once policed, and leave a trail of carnage in its wake. It will also take him to the darkest corner of his own soul, forcing him to confronts truths about himself he could not face in life.
- GenresFantasy
80 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 2, 2019
19 people want to read
About the author
Damien Black
8 books151 followersDamien Black is an author born and raised in London. The first three instalments of his five-book epic fantasy series, the Broken Stone Chronicle, are available from Amazon and the Kindle Lending Library. Click here to check them out:
viewauthor.at/DamienBlack
Or to purchase them in audio format, please visit his publisher Podium at their new website here:
https://podiumaudio.com/book-author/d...
Damien has also published an anthology of horror stories, An Urban Pentagram, and a dark fantasy novella, The Returning, also available from Amazon.
The fourth book in the Broken Stone Chronicle is due out in August 2025.
Detailed map graphics of the Broken Stone world can be obtained by contacting Damien via private message. Just enclose a working email address and he will gladly send you hi-res versions!
Thank you for your interest.
viewauthor.at/DamienBlack
Or to purchase them in audio format, please visit his publisher Podium at their new website here:
https://podiumaudio.com/book-author/d...
Damien has also published an anthology of horror stories, An Urban Pentagram, and a dark fantasy novella, The Returning, also available from Amazon.
The fourth book in the Broken Stone Chronicle is due out in August 2025.
Detailed map graphics of the Broken Stone world can be obtained by contacting Damien via private message. Just enclose a working email address and he will gladly send you hi-res versions!
Thank you for your interest.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 26, 2020
I received a review copy of The Returning: A Cautionary Tale From The Mercenary Realms in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Damien Black.
The Returning is an exciting, bloody and gritty, revenge-focused novella by the talented Damien Black. These 25,000 words follow Yarka Karkov. We join him in revenant/ undead form as he is burying his own corpse. Two nights ago he was betrayed by an innkeeper to Crumlov Silkhand and his gang of outlaws. He was taken unawares and was whipped out of town to an agonising death. His partner and love Jenna also played a part in his downfall. For all who betrayed him, there will be a reckoning.
"The preachermen told how a revenant was a vengeful ghost, sent back to earth by the Unseen to right the imbalance caused by their unjust deaths. But to hell with what the priests said."
In life, Karkov was a soldier who then became a reeve. He followed certain Dukes' orders to keep the peace yet was also assigned to hunt down vagabonds and other criminals. He has the necessary talents to track, maim and kill his enemies. Being undead actually enhances Karkov and aids him in his mission. For example, he has double his normal strength in death and in sunlight, he cannot be seen which aids the ease of tracking and stealth. It isn't all good news for our antihero. He gradually starts to lose his memories, has moments where he completely blacks out yet also has some disturbingly clear flashback segments which can be quite haunting. He's pretty well crafted with surprising depth to say that this novella is only about 80-pages long.
The majority of the narrative is the shortish journey through this Western-tinted fantasy world to find, and hopefully murder Silkhand and his cronies. The novella is split into about 8 engagements and events along the way. Crossing paths with his former love and conversing with a fellow ghost who seems to know more about Karkov than he is comfortable with, are just a couple of examples.
The ending is fulfilling and was not what I predicted at all. It's quite fascinating reflecting on The Returning when the novella has been finished and I completely reanalysed certain sections in retrospect. The Returning is a fast-paced and well-written fantasy revenge drama that ranks pretty high on the grimdark scale and was just a fun, quick read. If you decide you may check out this bite-size grimdark tale, I believe The Returning is free if you join the author's mailing list. Recommended.
The Returning is an exciting, bloody and gritty, revenge-focused novella by the talented Damien Black. These 25,000 words follow Yarka Karkov. We join him in revenant/ undead form as he is burying his own corpse. Two nights ago he was betrayed by an innkeeper to Crumlov Silkhand and his gang of outlaws. He was taken unawares and was whipped out of town to an agonising death. His partner and love Jenna also played a part in his downfall. For all who betrayed him, there will be a reckoning.
"The preachermen told how a revenant was a vengeful ghost, sent back to earth by the Unseen to right the imbalance caused by their unjust deaths. But to hell with what the priests said."
In life, Karkov was a soldier who then became a reeve. He followed certain Dukes' orders to keep the peace yet was also assigned to hunt down vagabonds and other criminals. He has the necessary talents to track, maim and kill his enemies. Being undead actually enhances Karkov and aids him in his mission. For example, he has double his normal strength in death and in sunlight, he cannot be seen which aids the ease of tracking and stealth. It isn't all good news for our antihero. He gradually starts to lose his memories, has moments where he completely blacks out yet also has some disturbingly clear flashback segments which can be quite haunting. He's pretty well crafted with surprising depth to say that this novella is only about 80-pages long.
The majority of the narrative is the shortish journey through this Western-tinted fantasy world to find, and hopefully murder Silkhand and his cronies. The novella is split into about 8 engagements and events along the way. Crossing paths with his former love and conversing with a fellow ghost who seems to know more about Karkov than he is comfortable with, are just a couple of examples.
The ending is fulfilling and was not what I predicted at all. It's quite fascinating reflecting on The Returning when the novella has been finished and I completely reanalysed certain sections in retrospect. The Returning is a fast-paced and well-written fantasy revenge drama that ranks pretty high on the grimdark scale and was just a fun, quick read. If you decide you may check out this bite-size grimdark tale, I believe The Returning is free if you join the author's mailing list. Recommended.
October 25, 2019
The Returning is a thrilling story which sits alongside the larger Broken Stone Chronicle books but can easily be read without knowing anything about that world. It is a quick and enjoyable read: part Grimm's fairy tales, part fantasy western, part Japanese revenge cinema, part (a)morality tale. In places it is brutal and unforgiving (both in the action and the irony) and in others there is a deep sense of loss and sympathy. I highly recommend this.
July 12, 2021
Absolutely awesome!
Where to begin? I have never read anything by this author before. I liked the premise of the blurb so I thought I would give it a go. Wow! This is truly Grimdark in all its gritty glory! The characters were well developed and each one had a background and where three dimensional. The MC is truly
a frightening mofo! I was totally rooting for him (even towards the end). I won't give any spoilers away, But this is truly a badass short story with a hell of a twist at the end. You kind of see it coming but then you question is it really gonna be like this or that. The action is well described in beautiful brutal detail and it's description. I really hope the author does more on this character especially when he was a captain in the free companies. I will definitely be checking out this author's other works and I hope they are just as awesome as this one!
Where to begin? I have never read anything by this author before. I liked the premise of the blurb so I thought I would give it a go. Wow! This is truly Grimdark in all its gritty glory! The characters were well developed and each one had a background and where three dimensional. The MC is truly
a frightening mofo! I was totally rooting for him (even towards the end). I won't give any spoilers away, But this is truly a badass short story with a hell of a twist at the end. You kind of see it coming but then you question is it really gonna be like this or that. The action is well described in beautiful brutal detail and it's description. I really hope the author does more on this character especially when he was a captain in the free companies. I will definitely be checking out this author's other works and I hope they are just as awesome as this one!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews