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Sword and Sorcery #3
The Pyres
The mountains and valleys of Romaria echo with the calamitous sounds of civil war. A New Order challenges old gods and on the festival night of the Pyres, the tides of destruction are fully unleashed. When the great white city of Brasov turns black with ash, when the sky goes red and the moon hangs like a dark void above, who will stand against the darkness?
A Twisted Tale of Three Unlikely Heroes.
Heretic monk turned Sorcerer, Aldous Weaver. Infamous crusader turned fugitive, Kendrick the Cold. Aristocrat, rogue, monster hunter, and legend in his own mind, Theron Ward.
Three men condemned to die for their crimes find in each other both the will and the means to survive. A dark brotherhood with Sword and Sorcery is forged, and all monsters meek and mighty do fear the three.
Don’t miss the next thrilling instalment in the dark fantasy that reviewers are calling ‘gritty, fast-paced and compelling’—get your copy of The Pyres today!
“Grim, gritty, and good!” —Amazon Reviewer
Read all the books in the Sword and Sorcery series!
•Fire and Sword (Volume 1) •Catacombs of Time (Volume 2) •I Remember My First Time (short story) •The Pyres (Volume 3) •Ice and Stone (Volume 4) •As They Burn (Volume 5) •Black Sun Moon (Volume 6) •Embers on the Wind (Volume 7) •Graves of the Gods (Volume 8)—Coming Soon!
A Twisted Tale of Three Unlikely Heroes.
Heretic monk turned Sorcerer, Aldous Weaver. Infamous crusader turned fugitive, Kendrick the Cold. Aristocrat, rogue, monster hunter, and legend in his own mind, Theron Ward.
Three men condemned to die for their crimes find in each other both the will and the means to survive. A dark brotherhood with Sword and Sorcery is forged, and all monsters meek and mighty do fear the three.
Don’t miss the next thrilling instalment in the dark fantasy that reviewers are calling ‘gritty, fast-paced and compelling’—get your copy of The Pyres today!
“Grim, gritty, and good!” —Amazon Reviewer
Read all the books in the Sword and Sorcery series!
•Fire and Sword (Volume 1) •Catacombs of Time (Volume 2) •I Remember My First Time (short story) •The Pyres (Volume 3) •Ice and Stone (Volume 4) •As They Burn (Volume 5) •Black Sun Moon (Volume 6) •Embers on the Wind (Volume 7) •Graves of the Gods (Volume 8)—Coming Soon!
- GenresFantasy
335 pages, Paperback
Published August 24, 2020
85 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
Dylan Doose
16 books76 followersDylan Doose is the author of the Legendary and Sword & Sorcery series. He writes full-time in his home by the lake in Southern Ontario.
When he's not writing, he's reading or watching his favorite science fiction, fantasy, or horror story (of which there are many) play out.
Inspired by classics like Conan the Barbarian and modern masterpieces like Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, Dylan Doose delivers enjoyable, fast-paced, page-turning grimdark fantasy that is not for the faint of heart.
When he's not writing, he's reading or watching his favorite science fiction, fantasy, or horror story (of which there are many) play out.
Inspired by classics like Conan the Barbarian and modern masterpieces like Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, Dylan Doose delivers enjoyable, fast-paced, page-turning grimdark fantasy that is not for the faint of heart.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 30, 2022
Performance: ****
Story: ***
Although this is the third book in the series, this story picks up shortly after the events of the first book, Fire And Sword (available on Kindle Unlimited, so I recommend you read that first). The World-building is GrimDark and occasionally more course that I liked, but over all does a fair job navigating sensibilities (although some of the more grotesque/sensational details were a tad off putting). The setting is centered upon a powerful church/religion in a struggle against the corruption dark sorcery (so naturally all magic is condemned). That makes life for at least one of the protagonist a bit dicey, since he is a fire mage and former church monk. The other two are a disgraced crusader (with an iron fist) and a one-eyed rogue that provide the muscle for the teams purported monster hunting activity.
And that is where this story begins … right in the middle of a war between gods (The Luminescent) and demons (Dammar) and their avatars, The Patriarch and the Dog Eater. But this is a dark story, so the good guys have a dark secret and the bad guys seem to have a legitimate bone to pick (they just do it with monsters) … so we get our three (3) antiheroes to walk the line between. And The Pyres … the fires that burn sinners and pagans every “First Day” festival. After each chapter we also get an interlude that provides flash backs, out of sequence dialog and fortune cookie wisdom from some dude's diary/prophesy that may or may not have any direct impact on the evolving storyline. You do get a few surprises along the way … just to keep you motivated to continue. Ultimately it is the narration that saves what is otherwise a fairly typically fantasy.
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#ThePyres #SwordAndSorcery #FreeAudiobookCodes #KindleUnlimited
Story: ***
Although this is the third book in the series, this story picks up shortly after the events of the first book, Fire And Sword (available on Kindle Unlimited, so I recommend you read that first). The World-building is GrimDark and occasionally more course that I liked, but over all does a fair job navigating sensibilities (although some of the more grotesque/sensational details were a tad off putting). The setting is centered upon a powerful church/religion in a struggle against the corruption dark sorcery (so naturally all magic is condemned). That makes life for at least one of the protagonist a bit dicey, since he is a fire mage and former church monk. The other two are a disgraced crusader (with an iron fist) and a one-eyed rogue that provide the muscle for the teams purported monster hunting activity.
And that is where this story begins … right in the middle of a war between gods (The Luminescent) and demons (Dammar) and their avatars, The Patriarch and the Dog Eater. But this is a dark story, so the good guys have a dark secret and the bad guys seem to have a legitimate bone to pick (they just do it with monsters) … so we get our three (3) antiheroes to walk the line between. And The Pyres … the fires that burn sinners and pagans every “First Day” festival. After each chapter we also get an interlude that provides flash backs, out of sequence dialog and fortune cookie wisdom from some dude's diary/prophesy that may or may not have any direct impact on the evolving storyline. You do get a few surprises along the way … just to keep you motivated to continue. Ultimately it is the narration that saves what is otherwise a fairly typically fantasy.
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#ThePyres #SwordAndSorcery #FreeAudiobookCodes #KindleUnlimited
December 22, 2016
The Pyres takes off where Fire and Sword left so read that one first. To fully grasp the background story
it's good to read Catacombs of Time too.
Set within a 24 hour time span, Doose takes us back to the ultra violent world of Sword and Sorcery. There is a relatively standard pattern of characters losing faith and finding purpose again but as with everything in Doose's works, it goes way over the top. In a hack 'n slash very satisfying way. The author did a solid job in naturally evolving and powering up his characters: a catharsis leading to strength and depth.
Doose draws inspiration not only from fantasy lore, but also from natural phenomena. For example, I could swear he described a scene from BBC's Planet Earth as on of the plot drivers. This is good. It breathes credibility into a hyperbolic fantasy world.
At some points near the end the storytelling can get a bit frenzied but it is not too distracting. One could argue it reflects the story in general.
Looking forward to what Doose has in store next.
it's good to read Catacombs of Time too.
Set within a 24 hour time span, Doose takes us back to the ultra violent world of Sword and Sorcery. There is a relatively standard pattern of characters losing faith and finding purpose again but as with everything in Doose's works, it goes way over the top. In a hack 'n slash very satisfying way. The author did a solid job in naturally evolving and powering up his characters: a catharsis leading to strength and depth.
Doose draws inspiration not only from fantasy lore, but also from natural phenomena. For example, I could swear he described a scene from BBC's Planet Earth as on of the plot drivers. This is good. It breathes credibility into a hyperbolic fantasy world.
At some points near the end the storytelling can get a bit frenzied but it is not too distracting. One could argue it reflects the story in general.
Looking forward to what Doose has in store next.
March 29, 2023
I had rated book 1 with a generous 4 stars—3.5 rounded up, really. It reminded me a lot of The Witcher, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and other sword and sorcery inspirations (I see what you did there, Doose!) but the writing skill, at a technical level, wasn't quite... there yet, though there were elements to book 1 I enjoyed enough to make me curious. I'm glad I continued. With this book, the skill was so much improved I was glad my hunch was right, Doose is growing with every release. The character work especially. I'll definitely be going forward to see what happens with Aldous, Theron and Kendrick. I absolutely inhaled this book.
January 5, 2024
War of the Gods and Church.
Amazing imagination by the author Dylan Doose is endless.
This book reminds me of the many crimes that were done by the church, like burning of suspected witches or the Inquisition ( forcing people to change their faith or lose their heads ) and rapes, the collection of gold and land, all in the name of god.
There is also a reminder of Riddick who cut a monster belly open and the monster which was still alive started eating his own bowls and it all happens in Romania, the location of Dracula castle.
But this is only a thought which got nothing to do with this book.
Truly a beautiful penmanship by the author.
Absolutely unexpected twist which made it all worth it.
One thing for sure,
this series gets better as it goes on from book to book.
Excellent narration by Mike Carnes of each of the characters in this creation.
Got my recommendations !!!
Oded Ostfeld.
Amazing imagination by the author Dylan Doose is endless.
This book reminds me of the many crimes that were done by the church, like burning of suspected witches or the Inquisition ( forcing people to change their faith or lose their heads ) and rapes, the collection of gold and land, all in the name of god.
There is also a reminder of Riddick who cut a monster belly open and the monster which was still alive started eating his own bowls and it all happens in Romania, the location of Dracula castle.
But this is only a thought which got nothing to do with this book.
Truly a beautiful penmanship by the author.
Absolutely unexpected twist which made it all worth it.
One thing for sure,
this series gets better as it goes on from book to book.
Excellent narration by Mike Carnes of each of the characters in this creation.
Got my recommendations !!!
Oded Ostfeld.
May 15, 2025
“The Pyres”, third in the 'Sword & Sorcery' series, gets off to a solid start before gradually ramping up the action to scenes reminiscent of H. P. Lovecraft as mere humans (or perhaps more than human), battle ancient evil and a god.
There's so much happening by the end that I will leave it to Kendrick the Cold to give an outline:-
“Such a day. Blood in the breaking square. The swine’s prophecy. Yegarov’s corpse. A kidnapping. A murder or two. Or perhaps three. More death and blood at the end of my sword than I could ever quantify. And still the day, the battle, is not done.”
I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it greatly.
4 Stars.
There's so much happening by the end that I will leave it to Kendrick the Cold to give an outline:-
“Such a day. Blood in the breaking square. The swine’s prophecy. Yegarov’s corpse. A kidnapping. A murder or two. Or perhaps three. More death and blood at the end of my sword than I could ever quantify. And still the day, the battle, is not done.”
I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it greatly.
4 Stars.
July 18, 2021
Fills in some background for the character that wasn't built up in the 1st book. Ends with everyone scattered, not really a cliff hanger but definitely leaving you wanting more.
sff-ok-bx
November 11, 2024bx,Rokp
August 30, 2017
I am really enjoying myself
This story is not for those who have a delicate constitution! More blood and guts and unearthly monsters that Steven King would be proud of than just about any story I've ever read! I find myself rooting for the unlikely heroes and I'm desperately awaiting to find out their pasts in more detail! Keep it coming!
This story is not for those who have a delicate constitution! More blood and guts and unearthly monsters that Steven King would be proud of than just about any story I've ever read! I find myself rooting for the unlikely heroes and I'm desperately awaiting to find out their pasts in more detail! Keep it coming!
June 14, 2017
Another great read
I really love this series. The moment I finished the last book I rushed to buy this one. I recommend this to any fans of sword and sorcery.
I really love this series. The moment I finished the last book I rushed to buy this one. I recommend this to any fans of sword and sorcery.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews