No Land For Heroes

Legends & Legacies #1

by Cal Black

Mildred Berry is down to her last four bullets…

In a wild west where the only things more dangerous than outlaws are dragons, Deputy Berry is struggling to protect her town and keep her family fed. As a last resort, she robs a train for ammunition only to find that the cargo she needs so badly was owned by war hero Frederic Rousseau.

The same Frederic Rousseau whom she served during the Amelior Civil War. The same Frederic Rousseau she’s been hiding from for the last five years.

Millie knows a secret that could ruin Rousseau’s life, and he’ll stop at nothing to keep her from telling the truth. With her violent past bearing down on the life she’s built for herself, Millie has to decide how far she’ll be willing to go to keep her town safe.

Genres: Fantasy, Westerns, Dragons, Fiction, Weird West, Steampunk, Historical

374 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2022

About the author

Cal Black is a Canadian writer who enjoys telling stories about messy people who try to improve their situation, for better or worse. Cal has a short story published in the Advent of Winter anthology, was runner-up in the 2023 SFINCS novella competition, and is the author of the Legends & Legacies series, a gaslamp and western fantasy series full of adventure.

Reviews

[Lezlie The Nerdy Narrative · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friends, please bear with me on this. I loved this book so much that I'm overwhelmed with how on Earth to write a cohesive review.

How did this happen? I'm helping Team Bookborn judge for SPFBO this year and one of my books was a Fantasy Western, ( WHERE BLOOD RUNS GOLD by A.C. Cross, go read it!!) which I'd never read before, unless you count THE GUNSLINGER, which that one is sort of on an island by itself, in my opinion. After getting a taste of Fantasy Western, I wanted more.

Author Cal Black saw my feelers I put out for more of this genre and let me know of this one they had and before I even finished reading THE FIRST SENTENCE of the book description, I had purchased this book on my Kindle and I was gone. Well, actually I immediately emailed the author back and went ahead and asked if I could get my hands on the ARC for the second book that's on the horizon. I HAD NO SHAME. I read it every chance I got until I finished it.

What is it about? I'll give y'all more than what I gave myself, which I stopped reading the summary as soon as I got to DRAGONS. (Wonder how many folks I just lost here while they go to grab the book immediately...YES THERE ARE DRAGONS IN THE AMELIOR WILD WEST! *squees*) This tale opens up with a heist in progress - a train robbery! (Can you get any more Western? Yes, we can and we do!) But Lezlie, you say, I thought you said this was a fantasy Western? I did friend, the crew robbing the train is comprised of an albino elf, an arroyan, a human woman - among others. In true Wild West fashion, this heist doesn't go without a hitch in this crew's giddyup - when the elf, Millie, lights an arrow to fire into the air as a signal, she accidentally hits a dragon! After that, it all gets sideways REAL QUICK. Honestly, when that happened, everything paused in my mind like it used to in the old show, The Dukes of Hazzard, when the narrator would make some hilarious quip like, "Buckle up, ladies. This might get exciting."

The train heist is what starts a chain reaction of events, cons, adventures, mysteries and revelations that keeps the reader so caught up in the action and exhilarated - I kept thinking to myself that at some point, things would slow down for a bit, but it didn't. If there wasn't something making my heart pound because of the action, then I was falling in love with the characters and the relationships formed. CAL BLACK CAN WRITE AMAZING CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS! First, my heart was melting because of the relationship between a character and the man who adopted him...then it melted again because of those same two and the one's daughter. Then I was dying over the friendships...and a little bit of a romance...AND A SHOTGUN WEDDING! My heart almost couldn't take all the love that was filling it up.

There are some delightful magical creatures all throughout this story, which make living out in this setting very dangerous. I want to tell you about some of them so bad!!! It's really difficult not to just go full on spoilers here, lol. I also found out different races had different magical abilities, which made them unique and fun to learn about. Religion? Yep, we had different belief systems too! This story literally has everything - but the reader is never overwhelmed by all the information, it's not all thrown at you at once or info dumped, it's all introduced and explained in the natural progression of the story.

I want to tell you all the things I love, but I would spoil all of the wonderful elements of this amazing story that begins in NO LAND FOR HEROES and continues in the sequel that is expected to be published in March 2023. This was an amazing read that has absolutely cemented my love for not only this series, but for the Fantasy Western subgenre as well.

I cannot recommend this one highly enough!

[Andrews WizardlyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

A serious contender for one of my top books of the year! The story and characters are engaging in a way that is truly rare to come across. I have to say that this is my new favorite fantasy western and I NEED MORE!

The way the fantasy elements are woven into this book are just beautiful and seem less. Dragons, Orcs, elf’s, and basilisks. Throw in a disgraced war hero with PTSD and A chip on the shoulder mix in some gun fights and a pithy banker. Put in the oven for 350ish pages and presto and truly delightful masterpiece.

I really LOVED THIS!!!

5/5 great world building, characters, pacing, plotting. 100% fun.

[L.L. MacRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant story that had me hooked from start to finish!

No Land For Heroes is a gaslamp/western fantasy that takes the classical fantasy idea of elves, orcs, and dragons, and drops them in a setting you don’t see often - which was utterly refreshing!

With dragons, storm birds, and fire salamanders (is it really bad that I want one?!), this is a tale bursting with heart. There’s family, betrayals, shapeshifters, heists, deaths, stakes, shootouts, and edge-of-your-seat action set pieces.

The character work is nothing short of sensational. I adored everyone, both from our main cast and the colourful supporting characters. Mildred is absolutely brilliant, but I also loved Ryan, Sweetpea, Ayota, Di, Hal, Gilbert, and even the Willards!? They each have distinct personalities, desires, and a lot more depth than side characters have any right to have.

(Oh, and Fyodor was THE BEST)

I loved our community of women and the life they’ve built for themselves in Scorched Bluffs. There’s a strong sense of found family and community running throughout, which made this book incredibly grounded despite all the fantastical things happening.

There are some incredibly poignant descriptions of PTSD, themes of trying to be more than what people think you are, of acceptance of all the dark parts of yourself. There is magic, too, in small but powerful doses, which were wonderful to read.

Brilliantly paced throughout, with several laugh out loud moments, and somewhat reminiscent of Morgan Stang’s Murder at Spindle Manor/Murder on the Lamplight Express, and Rachel Aaron’s Heartstriker books. Extremely well-written with an engaging author voice - maximum impact with minimal words!

The audiobook was fantastic, very well narrated with a good range of voices :D

This was EXACTLY the type of story I was looking for and the perfect read to kick off 2024!

Highly recommend!

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So do you like the wild west, gaslamp fantasy, elfs, characters that have a lot of heart?

Do you like to chuckle when reading? Strong women? Dragons?



How about well written novels?

Then I HIGHLY recommend No Land For Heroes by Cal Black.



Not only is this book written, it's a story that has great world building a plot line that will keep you coming back for more it has some wonderful characters. Some that you will want drop over a cliff but you are meant to want to feel that way.



Oh if I haven't convinced you to check it out how about huge dogs, a lil bit of romance and something like a shotgun wedding. Some adorable kids that are for sure a handful. (Look out for salamanders)



I did mention the dragon, a storm bird anyone?



An all women town? Loyality and found family .



How about a good ol' train robbery, it is the wild west after all.



This is definitely one of my favourites of year without a doubt. I can not wait to read the next installment.

Originally posted ICanHasBooks

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, that’s it, I am now officially sold on the Fantasy Western subgenre. This book was a wild ride and an absolute delight, I loved it!!

This story opens up with our lovely albino elf protagonist, Deputy Millie Berry, who just so happens to be in the middle of a train robbery. This heist should have been easy for her and her crew of badass friends, but things quickly derail (yes, pun intended) when a dragon enters the scene.
The disaster that follows launches our characters into a whirlwind of dangerous adventures and jaw-dropping revelations.

Now, the plot here is full of fun and action, but at its core, No Land for Heroes is about friendship, (found) family, redemption, love and healing. The high stakes action scenes are broken up with beautifully tender and heartfelt interactions between our characters, which kept me super invested the entire way through.

The main highlight here is undoubtedly the character work. Millie Berry is an absolute delight to follow and I loved her character arc in this story! She presents herself as the tough and badass Deputy on the outside, but we quickly see that she is much more tender and complex than she would like to admit. Also, I loved the exploration of PTSD in this story. Millie’s past is catching up to her and it was wonderful to see her try to heal from everything that she did and that was done to her. I was honestly rooting for her from page one!

The side characters are also all amazingly well-crafted and the found family vibes in this book were top-notch. Each character was endearing in their own way and even the little kids, who I normally really don’t like in books, immediately captured my heart.
Also, I loved how casually diverse this cast of characters was! And because we have some interesting fantasy races here, we got to see some characters work hard on overcoming their own biases and prejudices, which I really appreciated.

The only little quibble I have here is that the antagonists were a little lacklustre for my liking. We get to read from their POV a couple of times, but I never really felt like they were as well developed as the rest of the characters and their motivations weren’t the strongest.
That made those chapters a little less enjoyable to me and I often found myself wishing to get back to my other favourites as quickly as possible.

So, overall I had an absolute blast with this story and now I just need more people to read this!!
This truly is a fantasy western, so even if you don’t normally like the western setting, I would still highly recommend any fantasy reader to just give this book a shot. Heck, I’d recommend any reader to check this one out, because there truly is so much to love.
Book 2 can’t come out quickly enough, Because I am dying for more adventures with these characters!!

[Patrick Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fantasy western heist story you didn’t know you needed!

This story answers the age old question… what do you get when a small town of outlaw women, a thieving family, a powerful man, an insurance banker, and a dragon are all interested in the same train filled with ammo and dynamite.

This was a fun story with fascinating characters, great world building and an interesting plot that keeps you reading as more and more layers of what’s really going on get peeled back.

I definitely recommend giving this book a chance and the audiobook was really well done.

[Kayla Kay's Hidden Shelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 Stars Rounded to 5 Stars

I received a physical copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

An enthralling action-packed story where things aren’t always what they seem. No Land for Heroes is book one in the Legends &Legacies series a self-published Gaslamp & Western Fantasy.

I want to start this off with some background. No Land for Heroes had been on my TBR for some time, but I was hesitant to pick it up due to the western fantasy genre setting. This was due to my own upbringing of watching old western movies on repeat while visiting family. The tropes and setting were just things I had “seen enough of”. However, I’d never tried reading a blending of the genre with fantasy, and I was determined to pick it up when the mood struck.

Well, the mood struck, and I dove right in with the physical copy and the audiobook for an immersion read. Before I knew it, No Land for Heroes had pulled me in for a wild ride I won’t soon forget.

The standout aspect for me was the cast of characters. The story follows multiple POVs and centres around Deputy Mildred Berry, also known as Millie. When Millie attempts to rob a train of ammunition to protect her town, it doesn’t go quite as planned and she quickly realizes the stolen goods belong to a man she’s spent years hiding from.

Millie, an albino elf and mother of two, quickly shot up my list of “Epic Mothers in Fantasy”! She is right up there with Misaki from The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang and Orka from the Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne. She has a violent past, is harsh and blunt, but would do anything for those she loves. The complexity to her character and her relationships was just spectacular.

I was also impressed with how much care went into the characters throughout the story. It’s evident that Cal Black’s character work was thoughtful and purposeful, creating genuine characters even among the side cast. There are plenty of memorable characters with their own distinct personalities and struggles, and even some animal companions.

Let’s talk about the world and genres because that was the surprising part for me. The world has plenty of familiar Gaslamp and Western aspects but seamlessly blends in Fantasy. Showcasing magic, dragons, basilisks, shifters, orcs, elves, and a variety of other races and creatures. Though this is set in the wild west, I often forgot about the western setting due to all the fantasy elements blended in. It all works naturally together, which made it easy for me to get lost in.

The action and suspense also kept a medium pacing with a whirlwind towards the end. There was always something happening, and the high stakes combined with shorter chapters made this a quick read. In addition, there was also a romantic subplot that added a nice touch to the character work and helped to balance the darker tones of the main plot.

As mentioned, I had listened to the audiobook along with reading the physical copy and the narrator Carol Abney gave a great performance.

Finally, the author explores multiple themes in this. Including found family, the bonds of blood family, PTSD, prejudice, the impacts of war, slavery, redemption, and healing.

I look forward to continuing the series to see what adventures our characters get into next. I’d highly recommend picking up No Land for Heroes for any fantasy reader out there.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realize that it's only May. So, it's far too early to be choosing my favorite book of 2022. But, honestly, when the time comes I won't be surprised if No Land for Heroes is on it. I loved this...and I'm saying that despite being someone who tends to be reserved in their praise. But I adored these characters...all of them.

Ok, yes, I disliked Gilbert in the beginning, before he shed some of his smarmy act. I felt sorry for the poor dragon, who was just following it's instincts. And I was a little uncomfortable with the way this seemed to re-imagine the aftermath of the American Civil War, without ever acknowledging it as the source material, thereby sidestepping the issue of enslaved peoples. I wasn't even sure if it the 'secessionists' were against freeing the victims of the African slave trade or if such peoples of color were entirely replaced by elves, orcs, and such in this re-imagined scenario. (Or if the war was about something else entirely, though I find this unlikely.) I suppose I could say the same about the way Millie's heritage was very clearly using some Indigenous American stereotypes.

But I felt like there was so much diversity and positive representation in the rest of the book (and it's outside my lane to truly make a judgement here) that I still greatly enjoyed the story. I liked the way Black played with gender expectations. I laughed often. The plot rolls along at a good clip. The writing is snappy and fun to read. And the 'found family' is strong in this one. I whole-heartedly recommend this book and look forward to more.

[Jamedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
Interview with Cal: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a copy in order for the book tour. This hasn't influenced either the score or the review.

No Land For Heroes is the debut novel from Cal Black, and the first instance in the Legend & Legacies series. As somebody whose last experience with Fantasy Western was The Gunslinger, I didn't really know what to expect from this book; but after finishing it I can say it's one of the most solid novels I've read, hooking from the start and with plenty of powerful moments.

No Land for Heroes starts with a really high action point, showing us how Deputy Berry and her band of women are robbing a train, in order to get supplies so they can protect their town from whoever threatens it. Just from this moment, we are establishing some common points that will resonate throughout the story, such as that Mildred and their band will do anything to keep their people safe. Robbery could have gone well, but here comes the fantasy to ruin everybody's plans, as let just says a dragon made this relatively easy operation an absolute disaster.

And this robbery helps to introduce us to the rest of the cast of characters, the ones in the frontier, and the ones from the city, Goldman, and Hal, which are sent by the proprietary of the shipment, Frederic Rosseau; the old "owner" of Millie (in a figurative sense) and the responsible of terrible acts. The investigation of Goldman and Hal marks the first half of the book, being used as a sort of way to join the story of Millie with Goldman, presenting more aspects of the world, while also introducing a new conflict.

Just in case, spoilers will appear in this paragraph, so in case you want to avoid them, I recommend you jump to the next one. The first act of the story is settled once Frederic Rosseau discovers who is behind the robbery, and decides to eliminate all the witnesses and people who could bring light to a secret that could end his whole career. And here comes probably one of the inflection points of the book, and probably one of the scenes with more feels and more strength of the whole book. When they know Frederic and his army plan to raid the town, they decided to fight, as despite not going for somebody in concrete, they could be the ones next time. Millie accepts her past, and what she had done in the service of Frederic Rosseau during the Amelior Civil War. Recovering her old equipment just in order to defend her beloved, accepting she was the Ghost and the Butcher of Bayou; it brings to my mind the scene of John Wick recovering his old equipment. It's the same dramatic charge, the same emotional impact. And with this, the second part of the book starts, and epicness enters this Western Fantasy.

Not going to talk much more about the plot, but seriously, the second half is just hit after hit. And now I would like to stop on how well depicted things such as PTSD or the past haunting you are depicted. With great use of flashbacks, we comprehend how Millie really feels and why she had been hiding from Rosseau these five years; and how she has to fight her inner demons if she wants to succeed.

Amelior is a really interesting world, perfect for depicting this Fantasy Western, and which is heavily based in post-Civil War America, and the conquest of the West. Twisting some elements, and making use of fantasy elements such as orcs and elves, she makes a convincing portrait of some aspects that usually can be overlooked such as slavery and racism. It has its own lore, as its own civil war and how the use of magic has influenced the world.

In summary, I was not really convinced of the idea of Fantasy Western, but Cal Black made all my doubts disappear. No Land for Heroes is a really brilliant novel, a strong debut, and something I didn't know I needed. Pistols, war witches, trains ... it has everything it needs. The only question I have is: when we will have the sequel?

[Jord MiddleofNowhere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please read my review at the following link:

https://escapistbookcompany.com/2023/...

Thank you for taking the time to read my review!! As always. happy reading and Stay Great!!

[K.E. Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a blast to read. I think I really like western fantasies even though I haven't read many of them. I really liked Black's narrative style and the creativity of the world. I was promised dragons, and I got dragons alongside cute but deadly fire salamanders. This book was full of a lot of great characters that it was hard to choose. A woman-run town and heist crew, yes please. Sweetpea, Millie, and Hal were some of my favorites. What I liked most about this book is that not every character is what they seem, not wholly good or bad--except for the handful that are unlikeable. Jeb surprised me, and I was rooting for him and Diamond even though his family does questionable things. Gil was just...so smackable. Didn't hate him, but I wanted to smack him so much. Rushed romances aren't my favorite thing, but I know Millie and Gil's marriage was more for legal reasons than pure love, so I'm interested to see how that becomes a problem for them/develops in the second book. I felt the pacing of the story was good, although the ending I felt could have been drawn out a bit more, and I actually wanted some closing chapters for Jeb and his family to kind of wrap everything up. I'm excited for the second one! 4.5/5 rounded up.

[Dom]

This is a novel that sits firmly outside of my usual comfort zone, being a gaslamp fantasy-Western, and sadly I was ultimately unable to connect with it. The overall story is a decent one, and the writing great, but for me it just tipped too far into the “Western” end of the scale for my liking. There were some fantasy elements throughout, but for the most part, they weren’t front and centre, so they were too easy for me to forget at times.

More fantasy elements did come in to play as I got further into the book, but by then they had missed the chance to gel with me. I think for those who want a taste of fantasy’s “Weird West”, this would be a really good place to start because the storycraft is really nicely polished, the characters generally likeable, and the action scenes really neat. The writing is very easily accessible as well, so it’s a book that I would have no hesitation in recommending to anyone who likes the idea of elves and dragons in the Wild West.

[Trinity · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 but holding off on rounding up because I see that five star on the horizon in book 2.

Cal has brought my so much joy with this story. I never knew I needed a tiny murderous elf with an overwhelming momma bear mentality until I read this. Millie has had a rough life but that hasn't stopped her from doing her best to make the most of it. With a strong group of fiercely loyal friends, Millie is forced to face her past head on. As her PTSD attempts to take over, her friends are there to remind her of all she's done and has tried to do to escape who she used to be. And, if she needs to become it again, they will be there to pull her back from the edge.

There are so many things I want to talk about but all of them are quite spoilery so I will leave it at this, read the book! You won't regret it.

[Michael Roberti · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is up at on Silverstones Books

https://silverstonesbooks.com/no-land...

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was in my review request pile (I’m really trying to address the runaway freight train effect ignoring it for 6 months has had) and this was also nominated for the SPFBO book club book of the month for September. Sounds like two good reasons to pick it up and give it a try.

Oh, look, another western? This is my third western in as many months after not reading a single one for years. Funny how that happens.

Millie opens the story and is one of the main characters. She’s an albino elf and at the start is robbing a train. She’s actually the sheriff of a town called Scorched Bluff, but thing is, she’s running out of ammunition and without bullets she will struggle to keep her town safe. She knows there’s some ammunition coming on train passing near her town, so she decides to rob it. She doesn’t do it alone, though. She’s got the help of a ragtag posse made up of entirely women, there are orcs, elves, humans, and some other fantasy race called arroyans which are kind of demon looking, kind of like the Drenai from WoW? Of the group, Millie is the leader and far more cold blooded than the rest, particularly the human named Ryan who seems to be fairly soft-hearted. The group being so different from one another creates an interesting dynamic between them and makes for good relationships.

Well, the train robbery to get that ammunition didn’t go as planned — surprise surprise. There are dragons and other people who are going after the ammunition and she ends up killing a brother from a family of outlaws. On top of that she inadvertently pisses them off even more trying to do them a kindness by burning the body instead of leaving it for the animals. Jebediah’s family believe that burning a body prevents the soul from recycling and starting a new life, which sets off a subplot of revenge from the POV of Jebediah, the eldest sibling in this family. I actually liked Jebediah more so than Millie which I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do? I guess I like the fact that he’s up front about who he is, even if it’s not great. He also has a deep attachment to his family and wants to do right by them. So, almost from the start there’s a deep tension between two of the main POVs which really does compel the reader to keep going, at least I felt that way.

Then we get another POV, his name is Gilbert and he’s a banker. Now this POV I didn’t like at all from beginning to end. I’m not into romances and the one he got into felt very rushed and weird and I just didn’t click with it. However, that’s not unusual for me and romance, and someone else in the SPFBO bookclub loved and shipped his romance hard. So, it’s definitely a personal preference thing.

Millie was an interesting character, she’s definitely Wild. She loves the west for the lack of boundaries and the scarcity of people. The more people and houses come into the West the more Millie gets pissed off. I don’t know why I never fully warmed up to her, I did like her, but I didn’t love her like some people did in the reading group. However, I do like the fact that she has a very troubled and in depth past that she’s trying to move on from and keep her family safe. You don’t see many mothers in fantasy that also have agency and go on adventures, so props there. I think a lot of the reasons why she never clicked with me would be fairly spoilery to talk about, even vaguely — best put, given her past I had issues with her present self.

The world building was neat as far as what was presented but I did have a few hang ups. I almost always nitpick about the island effect when it comes to Westerns. I really don’t know why the world at large is rarely mentioned in these. The setting is almost always focused on one small town and I have no idea how similar the world is to our own since the world itself almost never gets addressed. The other issue I had was elves taking the place of natives. I can’t recall a single reference to an actual native, and the elves wear moccasins and have tomahawks. Can’t say I’m a huge fan of replacing indigenous peoples with fantasy races, but I can understand not wanting to try and write about a culture you’re not from or wary of an overstep and portraying something inaccurately. I think this is a big reason why slavery, the civil war, and the slaughter of the natives never makes into westerns I read. They are undoubtably tricky topics but it feels like an elephant in the room that we’re all collectively ignoring about the West. This is definitely not unique to this author and would apply to all the fantasy westerns I’ve read so far. As far as the fantasy elements in this, we’ve got a bunch of different races, and we’ve also got dragons which is really neat, there’s a bit o’ magic from Millie’s people, but there’s not a ton of fireballs, spells, runes, and that sort of heavy handed magic.

The pacing was fairly slow at the start and built up as things moved along, I would call it a steady progression towards the end as things build on themselves. I also like to make a distinction between slow and dragging, dragging for me is when I’m struggling to get through a book, while I can still be enjoying a slower read. At 375 pages there wasn’t any meandering in the plot or things I felt were irrelevant, there was just framework to put up first before the plot could move forward. The writing was great. I really felt the prose was a highlight here. This felt very polished, very clean, very professional. I really loved both the dialogue and the narrative.. The dialogue was smooth and natural without overdoing it on the Western dialect, but it was there just enough so it felt atmospheric.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable book and I’d recommend it to people looking for in depth relationships, mother figures in fantasy, and dragons in the wild west.

Ratings:
Plot: 11/15
Characters: 13/15
World Building: 10/15
Writing: 12/15
Pacing: 12/15
Originality: 12/15
Enjoyment: 7/10
Final Score: 77/100

[Helyna Clove · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly entertaining fantasy western with a grumpy, mid-age mother main character whose tragic and blood-soaked past starts to catch up with her even though she does everything she can to escape it. Train robbery, shootouts, dragon fights, plus D&D-style magic and magical creatures, crowned by a very whirlwind love story! I was also really taken by the elven culture, apparently inspired by Native American customs. I almost wished for even more time and pages on discovering more of the backstories of characters, especially Millie's or Ryan's (btw my fave was Sweetpea, so yes, more Sweetpea, too, and of course, Fyodor, who was a very good boy). It's not a short book, but it felt almost too short, considering the depth and complexity of the story it wanted to tell. But it does mostly come together by the end in a satisfying way. And even though western is definitely not my genre, I really liked my time with the book and will probably get to the continuations in time! I'm especially curious about Gilbert's and Millie's continuing relationship after these chaotic beginnings!

[Doctordalek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I immediately bought this ebook after finishing another of Cal's books and was not disappointed. The characters are incredibly interesting, the story is exciting, and Cal is just such a strong writer that I didn't want the book to end. I bought the next book in the series, but haven't read it yet.

I won't do justice to the book by trying to summarize it, but it's basically the Wild West but with some characters and situations like you'd find in Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings. It sounds strange, but it works!

I will read any Cal Black book in the future without a second thought.

[Joseph Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was a fun read. Millie Berry is a fantastic lead character, multi-layered, wonderfully-written and as believable as a revolver-shootin' elven deputy in the Fantasy Wild West can get. Lots of fun action, train robberies, shootouts, sieges, and a big dragon! I docked half a point mainly because while Millie is the star of the show, I just didn't find the other POVs as engaging, well-written though they still were. Looking forward to the next adventures in Book 2!

Pew pew

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Land for Heroes is an adventurous fantasy western that follows Millie Berry, an albino elf who's made a new name and place for herself as a Sheriff's Deputy in the small town of Scorched Bluffs. While she's gathered a family of friends in town, it's hard to keep food on the table and protect those that she loves without resorting to a bit of less than legal behavior. When the attempt to snag some ammunition from a train at a nearby town goes south, Millie draws the attention of the last person she ever wanted to see or hear about again: Frederic Rousseau, a well-loved hero of the Amelior Civil War whose secrets only Millie knows. She had hoped to keep out of his sight forever but now to protect her family and her town, Millie will have to face her past.

No Land for Heroes is one of those stories that I can recognize as not necessarily being perfect but being such an engaging, adventurous time that I had a hard time putting it down once I picked it up. I'm rarely a fan of westerns but somehow sprinkling in some magic and dragons always changes that and I've found that I really enjoy this sub-genre so I'm not surprised that this ended up working well for me.

Even though this didn't involve space ships, the opening of No Land for Heroes reminded me so strongly of Firefly and in particular, The Train Job. I really loved getting to see the friendship and the banter between Millie and her friend Sheriff Ryan Collins as well as some of the other side characters that make up the found family that Millie surrounded herself with.

Millie herself is quite a prickly, morally grey character and she shows absolutely no hesitation in eliminating threats to her family. It's clear from the beginning that Millie is dealing with PTSD and a violent past that lead her to respond defensively in most situations. I think she's one of those characters that might not work as well for some readers because she's very hesitant to trust outside of her family and quick to take action, even if that's not entirely legal or moral. But I felt like Cal Black really made me identify with Millie and root for her even in those situations. I liked that she was also a mom who did everything she could to protect her girls and give them a better life than she'd had.

And while the romantic elements might not be for everyone because the love interest is on the arrogant, snarky side and enjoys pushing buttons, I found myself really enjoying it and wanting them to succeed together.

The place where No Land for Heroes works less well for me and the reason that I can't quite give it 5 stars is the setting/world-building. This story feels much more in the western half of the sub-genre, for all that it still has dragons and magic and fantasy races. The elves are clearly modeled on indigenous societies in the west and I honestly wish they'd had a bit less of that influence and more of their own culture instead of having moccasins and tomahawks and some of these recognizable elements. I'm hoping the sequel will maybe expand on the religions that are mentioned in the series as well and make them more of their own thing because there were elements that I really liked but again, it felt a little too familiar for my preferences.

Overall, I really enjoyed No Land for Heroes. On a character/banter level, it was exactly what I was hoping for and I'm really curious to see where Cal Black takes the worldbuilding and the characters in the future. This was an excellent debut and if you're at all interested in the blending of fantasy and westerns, I'd highly recommend it!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up as part of #SPFBO8 and wow. Where to start.

First, it's a Fantasy Western, which I didn't know I needed more of in my life, but after reading No Land for Heroes, I definitely do. It definitely leans more into the Western side as far as the story composition goes, even with a strong presence of Elves and Orcs (and Dragons too!) and I think that serves this story and it's characters well.

The plot is strong and engaging, full of heists, con jobs, and scams aplenty, and everything doesn't always go to plan, and some of the saves (and failures) are glorious!

Speaking of characters, the cast is large enough that I expected it to be hard to keep track of the everyone, or that some of them would feel flat, but each one is fully realized and memorable.

The protagonist, Millie, is incredibly likeable, and relatable, and I'm a huge fan of how she's juuuuust on the light side of morally grey, making choices with weight and consequences that are believable and understandable.

The world is well-realized and rich with different peoples who are good and not so good to each other, and Cal Black's descriptions of places make me want to visit some of the places and experience some of the vistas in the story.

Now the indie bits:
The writing and editing is top notch. Nothing in the prose made me stumble or scratch my head, and the style is consistent and enjoyable throughout.
The pacing is quick, at points breathakingly so, and the action scenes are clear and engaging.
The cover is great. It's clean and readable, fits the style, and is well executed.

I can't wait to read what comes next from Cal Black! (especially if it's a sequel to this!)

[Marilyn]

I need to mull over my rating. I have mixed feelings towards this story.
At first it feels like a cozy fantasy but then very real death events occur and you know you are not in a world you thought.
The Wild West is the location and there are humans who inhabit it but also arroyans, orcs, and elves. Although some characters are well developed and have some backstory, many others seem to just fill in supporting roles and don’t seem very important. Here be a dragon, but it is supposed to be a menace. It does blow up a train, but the next time it appears, it is just brutally slaughtered without doing anything. Only what Millie thinks it might do causes her to attack it. I didn’t see why a dragon was there at all. It had no purpose and we didn’t learn anything about its powers, if it had any.
So Millie Berry is the MC and has lots of conflicting backstory. She is tough and cruel, but kind and loving. I didn’t know who the true person was. I had trouble connecting with her character. And then Gilbert Goldman seems an egotistical and snarky fellow. He also shows signs of compassion and love especially with his daughter. All these side stories that introduce the children just didn’t add much to what was going on for me. So much emphasis on them being good, caring parents, but terrible adults in other ways.
Also the hint at religion was not explored enough. What did the religions mean and how do people worship? But I’m not sure this added anything significant to the overall picture.
Because I don’t usually read western gas lamp fantasies, I choose not to rate this book. I think others who enjoy the things offered here will probably enjoy it.

[Cat Rector · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Cal for the audiobook copy of No Land For Heroes! I read ebooks slowly, and the narrator is not to be missed on this one!

Mildred is an excellent hero, the kind we haven't seen a lot of over the last few years. She's many things, but what sticks out most to me personally is that she's a woman of a mature age. She has two young children, she's lived a long life before the moment we meet her, and she frequently tells the readers how she isn't a spring chicken anymore. While there's definitely been an uptick in 30+-year-old characters in the last few years, it's a newer trend, and one I love seeing.

I enjoyed following Milred the most, and I was irritated (like Mildred) to find myself growing *less* irritated about the men LOL. The combination of slow moments and high-speed action was fantastic. I loved the way fantasy aspects were woven into the classic narrative and the way it blended seamlessly throughout the worldbuilding. My one issue with the book is that I personally don't have that much experience with Westerns and I'm absolutely convinced that I missed a bunch of references and tropes that long-time fans of Westerns would be delighted with.

This was an excellent listen with a superb narrator! Thank you again to Cal for the chance to listen!

[Laura Shank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm generally not a fan of frontier and Wild West stories, but throw in some fantasy races like elves, arroyans and orcs, as well as creatures such as dragons and stormbirds, mix in some humor and a bit of romance, and I'm sold! I think the character work was really good and the plot was well-paced. Overall, I would recommend this fantasy novel to anyone who wants to give frontier fantasy a chance!

[Hannah Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters are absolutely amazing and I love them all so much! I cannot wait to see what chaos Millie gets herself into next!

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The journey to get to No Land for Heroes by Cal Black has been a long and winding road. I remember when this one had some hype around it back in SPFBO-8. It hit my radar but I never got it on my immediate TBR list until this past winter. I recall reading Cal's short story included in the Advent of Winter anthology leading up to the holidays last year. I really enjoyed it and wanted to get to this read in 2024. I ended up slotting it into August as my selection for the Domains Reading Challenge representing a desert theme realm.

The pacing of No Land for Heroes worked really well for me. There is plenty of excitement to be had throughout this tale. It isn't exactly non-stop action, though I would see there also wasn't really any moments I felt things slowed down to the point of disinterest. Even during scenes where there was wall to wall action, there is always something going on to build us up for what's to come or to fill us in further of what has happened in the past. I also didn't find any issues with names of characters or locations which always helps the flow of a read for my own personal enjoyment.

The worldbuilding was very strong in No Land for Heroes. I'll be honest and mention I didn't have any idea what I was coming into with this one. I knew from the cover it looked like some type of fantasy western themed story. I was not prepared for the amount of fantasy races and creatures that were brought into this story and I am here for it! Several types of fantasy races have been included into what I would consider a western frontier type of story. Cal did a great job in plugging these in and make them right at home in this world.

We also have a good mix of magic now included into this story as well. This wasn't a long read but there seemed to be a really good foundation laid before us with a history of the world as well which is always a huge plus for me. I mean I was immediately brought back to my childhood with the opening scene being a train robbery on said frontier and things just take off from there.

Then we have the characters, again simply awesome! I wasn't sure how to take the fantasy races at first but so many of them were just done so well that I quickly became enamored with them. Many of the characters had a good level of complexity to them. At first they may seem on the shallow side. However, it doesn't take long for a reader to see the depth hiding just below that surface. Then to see how so many of them interacted with each other was so much fun to watch. There is some serious character growth to be found in No Land for Heroes.

Mildred was such an amazing character. Definitely my favorite. From her initial grumpy appearance to where she ends up by the end. She may not be fully understood by those around her when we first started reading but I personally felt a connection right away. As we find out more about her history and how they have shaped who she is, that fondness only grew. The great characters don't stop there though. From the three small children to our villains, there are so many to choose from.

To wrap this review up, I'll say I can't wait to see where this story goes from here and what more we may learn from the characters introduced in book one. I'm certain we have yet to meet some other great characters still to come as well.

If you are a fan of both western fiction and fantasy stories, you must give No Land for Heroes a try! Even if not and you might only be familiar with one side of that and are just looking for something different to mix it and go a bit wild, pick this one up!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not expecting to rate this one as high as I have. For roughly half the book, I figured it was a 3.5, possibly a 4. Then some backstory happened. Ok, going along well. Then the twist.

Apparently, all I need to enjoy a western is an element of fantasy thrown in. Elves, orcs, dragons, etc.

I love the idea of a small town populated by women.

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

this did everything I was hoping for in a fantasy novel, it worked as a great beginning to the Legends & Legacies series. i knew this was going to be good from the cover and am glad it worked out so well. I look forward to read more in this series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Payson Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never realized I needed a Western with elves and dragons. But now that I've read this, how did I live without?

Great book.

[Nikky Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine the traditional fantasy races and monsters of our fantasy forebears—elves, orcs, dragons and whatnot—transposed from their traditional European, pre-industrialised setting, and placed in a fictional Wild West. Only you don’t have to imagine it. No Land For Heroes does exactly that.

Our protagonist, Mildred Berry, is an elf trying her best to forget a dark past and her role in the nation’s recent civil war. She’s found sanctuary in a small, but dying, frontier town where she is now raising her two daughters. However, when she and her friends rob a train to save their town, they unwittingly attract more attention than they bargained for.

While this book is pacey with plenty of action, it’s well balanced with character—from Mildred’s arc as she learns to face her demons to Jed, one of the (several) antagonists, who we see struggling under the burden of family duty. I particularly loved how Mildred’s PTSD and past trauma was handled, particularly towards the end of the story. It’s also worth noting that while the cast is large, each member is distinctly individual and with no confusion as to who is who, which is an impressive feat from Black in and of itself. That said, by the end, some of the characters didn’t feel as fully realised as the rest. But without giving away spoilers, I’m left with the distinct impression these characters and their stories will be explored in subsequent sequels.

The wild west world building was also another feature I really enjoyed from the wildlife to the mix of magic and lore with early industrial tech (pistols, trains, explosives, etc). We also get glimpses into a couple of religions and tantalising hints of a much bigger world beyond the frontier towns. It’s also worth mentioning this is not so much an alternative history story but an entirely separate fantasy world experiencing its industrial age. That said, the one area that troubled me was seeing the elves' taking the place of Native Americans in the story, with strong culture coding such as living in teepees, wearing moccasins, wielding tomahawks and magic connected to healing and animals (that we’ve seen so far). Perhaps there is a valid reason for the elves’ appropriation of this culture that will come, but as of book one, it was a little jarring.

In all, No Land For Heroes is a terrific swashbuckling ride full of adventure, daring and a fierce momma bear who really shouldn’t be crossed (or underestimated for that matter!). I’m excited to see what’s next for Millie and co and where the threads of this first instalment lead.

[Tabatha Shipley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I Did Like:
+Excellent opening chapter. Right away we get elves, dragons, and epic world building all while engrossed in a scene that feels right out of a western. It sets up the entire story well. If you’re on the fence about this one, see if it has a preview or look inside feature and check out that first chapter.
+Banter. This can sell me on a book every time. Characters in this one, specifically Millie and Gil, have amazing banter that carry the story and make the reader laugh out loud.
+Love the levels to the story. This has multiple characters in what initially feels like separate storylines but when it all crashes together, it’s beautiful.

Who Should Read This One:
-Fantasy fans. The dragons, elves, and other fantasy creatures are just commonplace in this world. It’s wonderful!
-Western fans. Of course, take that with a caveat of fantasy being included, but the plot to this one sings as a western.

My Rating: 5 Stars
When you combine 2 genres like this you take a risk that you’ll get both very wrong. But when it works and both genres can sing in harmony, it’s amazing.

For Full Review: https://alltherightreads.com/2024/01/...