The Faithful and the Fallen 4 Books Collection Set By John Gwynne

The Faithful and the Fallen #1-4

by John Gwynne

From Book 1: The world is broken...

Corban wants nothing more than to be a warrior under King Brenin's rule - to protect and serve. But that day will come all too soon. And the price he pays will be in blood.

Evnis has sacrificed - too much it seems. But what he wants - the power to rule -- will soon be in his grasp. And nothing will stop him once he has started on his path.

Veradis is the newest member of the warband for the High Prince, Nathair. He is one of the most skilled swordsman to come out of his homeland, yet he is always under the shadow of his older brother.

Nathair has ideas - and a lot of plans. Many of them don't involve his father, the High King Aquilus. Nor does he agree with his father's idea to summon his fellow kings to council.

The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle, but now giants are seen, the stones weep blood and giant wyrms are stirring. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. For if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind's hopes and dreams will fall to dust...

...and it can never be made whole again.


MALICE is a dark epic fantasy tale of blind greed, ambition, and betrayal.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

2800 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

I am the author of epic fantasy series The Faithful and the Fallen, Of Blood and Bone and The Bloodsworn Saga. I'm also a Viking re-enactor and enjoy nothing more than standing in the shield wall with my three sons, who are as passionate about swords and axes as I am (when I'm not stuck in my coat of mail; it's harder than it looks).
I live on the south coast of the UK with my beautiful wife, three sons and my daughter, and an assortment of animals (at the moment three dogs, a horse and a lamb who thinks she's a dog).
My dogs think I am their slave.

Malice, my debut novel, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2012 and went on to win the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Debut of 2012. That was a truly wonderful moment, as David Gemmell is a hero of mine and one of the reasons I write.

The following three books in the series - Valour, Ruin and Wrath, were all shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novels of 2014, 2015 and 2016, with Wrath winning the 2017 BookNest Awards for Best Traditionally Published Novel.

My second series, of Blood and Bone, is set in the Banished Lands, the same world as the first series. Book 1, A Time of Dread, begins 130 years after the events of the first series. A Time of Courage, book 3 Of Blood and Bone, made the Spiegel Bestseller's List in Germany.

My latest book, The Shadow of the Gods, book 1 of the Bloodsworn Saga, will be published in May 2021. It is inspired by Norse mythology, Beowulf and Ragnarök.

I am represented by Julie Crisp.

Reviews

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss Corban and co. Feeling the mega need to re-read my favourite series, especially after reading the Celtic works by Manda Scott.

[Lee Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this review I have posted a review of each of the 4 books in the series
The Faithful and the Fallen
Book 1 - Malice
Book 2 - Valour
Book 3 - Ruin
Book 4 - Wrath

These reviews should be free of major spoilers but do contain some very minor spoilers akin to the blurb on the back of each book - but nothing major - Enjoy


A review of
Malice
By John Gwynne

I had heard a lot of talk and good things about The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne so I decided I would take a look for myself and see what all the fuss was about. Malice is book one of Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen series and my initial reaction is wow, just wow. This book blew me away and has risen to one of my all-time favourite books. The prose immediately struck me as elegant. Gwynne’s world is beautifully described and brought to life characters whom I quickly found attachment to.
The setting is a realm called the Banished lands, a late iron age/early medieval style fantasy setting. The setting had a real feeling of post-Roman/ Dark-age Britain, but yet not at all Britain, this is a place with its own unique feel. It is a place of thatched wooden houses and farmsteads, and mail clad warriors and honour, a place of wild and as yet untamed country. The larger towns of the Banished lands had been built on the old ruins of an ancient race of giants, with men unable to recreate the stonework of a forgotten age. The culture Gywnne has woven feels rich and easily imaginable as realistic.
There are several point of view characters, each telling a part of the story from various realms across the Banished lands. I would say the main protagonist is Corban, a young lad coming of age in the fortress town of Dun Carreg, in the realm of Ardan. He is involved in a bitter rivalry with an older boy named Raffe. We also see the story from Cywen’s point of view, Corban’s older sister, who’s story is entwined with Corban’s. Also in Ardan is Evnis, a lord and advisor to the king who appears to have sinister allegiances and designs on the throne of Ardan.
We have Veradis’ perspective, a lords son from the kingdom of Tenebral who swears into the service of the high king’s son, Nathair. We have Kastell, another warrior-noble and his protector Maquin who lock horns with his spiteful cousin, Jael as they vie for favour with their uncle the king of Isiltir. Also there is the perspective of Camiln, a woodsman and bandit from the forests working for sinister overlords.
There is a whole host of other characters not yet mentioned, some fantastic villains, I won’t say who as I don’t want to spoil it but some are not noticeable on first meeting, and of course there is Storm (you will have to read it for yourself to find out who that is).
There appear to be great forces in motion and the characters of the book are embroiled in an inexorable wave of events sweeping them each onto either the side of good or evil, yet which side is which is not always obvious and even at the end I was eager to discover more. There are some cool monsters and giants too, but yet it’s done really well and is quite believable. There are some emotional moments, and I felt at times joy and humour, and at others, genuine sadness and shock – which is a testament to Gwynne’s writing. The intrigue, plenty of exciting events, sometimes intense jeopardy and various switching character arcs drive the reader onwards, making this book a fast paced joy to read. The book starts off intriguing and quite light but slowly descends into darker times, and I get the sense has potential to get darker still with only the truth and courage of the righteous to light the way. It is not particularly high fantasy but neither is it low, yet somewhere in between. One thing it could be definitely described as though is epic. This is some epic fantasy right here.
If you couldn’t tell, I loved this book and as mentioned it has taken a place on my shelf of favourite books. Everyone needs to read this book and take their own journey into the Banished Lands.





A review of
Valour
By John Gwynne

The next instalment of The Faithful and the Fallen is Valour and I dived in immediately after finishing Malice, eager to discover the fate of my favourite characters.
The story picks up immediately after the tragic events at the end of Malice. Corban and his companions flee Ardan, exiled from their homes they take a perilous journey to find safer lands. Queen Rhin continues her conquest and turns her eyes north to the remaining free realms in the west, and allied with Nathair their combined armies pose a formidable military threat to the Banished Lands.
We also get some new point of view characters, we get giants!! We have Uthas one of the Benothi giants in the far northwest, these giants guard the cauldron which Calidus and Evnis are so eager to get their hands on. So a further glimpse into the ancient culture of the giant clans is interesting. We have Maquin’s point of view now after the events with Kastell. We have Tukul also, who leads the Jehar not sworn to Nathair and introduces us to the lost fortress city of Drassil from the prophecy. We also get chapters from Fidele, Nathair’s mother, as she holds Tenebral in her son’s absence. We also meet Coralen, a giant hunter from Domhain who seems quite kick ass.
All our favourite characters who survived Malice are still in play. Lykos continues to slink around with his lack of morals and ruthless ambition and has point of view chapters. Cywen has a good storyline in Valour too. We get to discover more about Corban’s destiny, Gar also, and the brothers Halion and Connall’s backstory comes to the fore in this book.
In this sequel we again have some cool battles, the action is certainly not scant, nor is the deadly jeopardy of our heroes. There is a lot going on but it has been again expertly woven together by Gwynne without losing any of his elegant prose. The writing really transports you into his world of the Banished Lands and there’s a real empathy and attachment to the characters, or in case of a few a real loathing.
The story is slowly edging into darker places. The ending is both exciting and heroic and yet completely leaves us in dire circumstances as dark forces manoeuvre against our heroes, setting us up to eagerly dive straight into the next book.
Valour is another fantastic book, continuing what is turning into one of my favourite series’ of all time.



 
A review of
Ruin
By John Gwynne

Ruin is the third book in John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen series and it doesn’t disappoint.

Corban is emerging as a true leader of men, his destiny as the Seren Disglair now revealed and known. The identity of the Black Sun, the great enemy, although known to the reader, is finally revealed to the character in question. The fight to attain the seven giant Starstone relics takes precedence in Ruin as whomever can gather them all together will surely emerge victorious in the Godwar.
The end of Valour sees a great evil unleashed upon the Banished Lands, the Kadoshim, the demon servants of Asroth. In Ruin Calidus and the servants of Asroth now march to assert an evil dominion over the realms of men.
Reunited with his sister Cywen, but at heavy cost, Corban must make the decision to march south to aid Edana and liberate Ardan or follow the prophecy to Drasil. Nathair struggles with the great deception against him and his own place in the prophecy. Maquin is on the run from his enemies and rebellion is brewing. Maquin has become one of the most kick-ass characters in the series for me, along with Veradis, but he was always kick-ass.
The books are still gradually getting darker. There are some more gruesome parts than we have seen so far that come with the emergence of the Kadoshim. There are battles and plenty of well written fight sequences, as we have come to enjoy from Gwynne’s work. The ending chapters of ruin literally had me shouting out loud, there are some emotional moments, and the book leaves us on a tragic and uncertain cliff-hanger, more so than the previous endings which left me immediately wanting more. Gwynne is slowly notching up every aspect of The Faithful and the Fallen and in this third book the great and powerful forces we have been building up to are finally aligned against each other. If you loved the first two books, Ruin will not disappoint.



 
A review of
Wrath
By John Gwynne

The final instalment of John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen is Wrath, an incomparable conclusion to a stunning series.

Corban has been captured. Veradis and Nathair have made their choices. The last book as the name suggests left everything in ruin so I was intrigued to discover how our heroes could possibly pull victory from the jaws of oblivion and defeat. Gar does some super cool stuff in this book, as does Coralen. Maquin and Fidele have a heart-breaking storyline. Maquin is truly epic in his own right. The giants play a huge role in this final chapter and the various clans hold some final surprises. Alcyon has been one of my favourite characters throughout the series and he is great in Wrath. Lykos is possibly my favourite villain. This final book pulls no punches, even more of our favourite characters are going to die. There are some great twists. We finally get the huge Godwar payoff we have been building up to the entire series, but at a heavy cost. The battles are huge, in particular Drasil. The smaller fights are pivotal and full of jeopardy for the characters involved. It was such a fast paced page turner, I devoured it in superfast time, one of those books you don’t want to put down but you know will leave a hole in your book-soul when it’s finished.
As this is the final book in the series, the series highlights for me have been the characters, Veradis, Maquin, Alcyon, Camlin, Coralen, Gar and of course Storm. As villains, Lykos and Rhin I think I liked enjoyed most. The Kadoshim were awesome and the changing perception of the Giants over the series was really well done. The battles and fight scenes were excellently written and also gave an insight into the author’s impressive knowledge of combat and swordplay. There were so many great characters and plot arcs woven into the overall story it’s hard to choose my one favourite part. The other thing that stood out about the series is Gwynne’s prose, his writing and narrative voice is fantastic, I always felt the setting was beautifully described and found my self immersed and attached to each of the characters.

The Faithful and the Fallen has secured itself on my shortlist of favourite fantasy books of all time. If you haven’t read it I recommend you do. Go and start your journey into The Banished Lands, I wish I could forget it all and do it again.

Thanks for reading
Lee C. Conley

[S A M | The Book in Hand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviews can be found on the individual books. All five stars. All amazing

[Andy Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to be a short review of a huge series. By huge, I mean huge. Long. Very long.

Each book is long. (Have I said that?) With lots of characters. I felt that in Book One I was being introduced to every person in the Banished Lands. I’m guessing it’s the same sort of size as Western Europe (with/ without the UK…) and that’s a lot of people to get to know (+/- c. 66 million people) including several thousand giants and some talking birds. And that, was the first issue I had with the books. Until around the ¾ mark of Book One, I couldn’t remember who was who. Not helping that were the jumps in time and scenes. I had the same issue with David Gemmell’s Rigante series, which this series is similar to. (I’m sure I caught a blue and green cloak in The Faithful and the Fallen. If deliberate or not, it’s still a nice tip of the hat to Gemmell.) In both series, the story can seem to flip ahead and around. It's also a very slow starter, like many fantasy books. As a result of these three points, I almost quit at the halfway mark of Malice (Book One).

Before I get to the reason why I kept reading, a little more about the books.

It’s classic epic fantasy. You’ve got a vast cast: a reluctant chosen one, meddlesome gods and devious rulers, hardworking gentlefolk, esoteric master swordsmen & women, honourable warriors whose oath is their bond, feisty women, students who outstrip their masters, royal bastards, loving parents who would die for their kids, intelligent animals and a cantankerous crone. There are monsters and non-humans, traitors and bad people who are secretly good. There’s even a soldier who becomes a gladiator/ folk hero and rallies his fellow slaves in the arena. I missed the whore with a heart of gold and the hard-bitten alcoholic with marital problems but who is good at his job (sorry, wrong genre trope) but you kind of get the picture. Maybe I’m coming across too hard. There is nothing wrong with this mix of ingredients – they are a staple of this genre. But they sometimes grated. There are two main reasons:

MINI SPOILER ALERT.

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1 – they are essentially good or bad. There is some greyness. e.g. I can think of one ‘baddie’ who is secretly a ‘goodie’ (Camlin), and a couple of characters who are morally ambiguous (Conal and Meical). But what you see is what you get. The characters arrive fully formed.

2 – when it became apparent that there weren't going to be any deaths of any of the main characters, it took the tension away from the numerous fights. I was reasonably confident that most people would survive except those that 'shouldn't'.

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MINI SPOILER ALERT OVER!

The action is relentless. There are more fights and battles than you can shake a starstone stick at. That in itself is great. But almost every chapter finished with some kind of twist or reversal, a ‘you’ll never guess what happens next...’ moment. It makes for a great page-turner of a book but it gets wearing after a while. Knowing that each chapter is going to have some kind of sting in the tail, means that each sting doesn’t hurt as much. I would have liked some variety of pace.

But, despite this, I finished the series quickly. Having made this long list of issues, why would I do so?

Because I really enjoyed it. Yes, I’ve been critical about it but it was refreshing to read something I was familiar with: a classic good vs evil story line, familiar themes and characters, and, despite my gripe about the constant twists, it makes for compelling reading. And the tropes? They were part of the attraction. It's been a long time since I read something with such a simple divide between right and wrong.

Some other points.

I liked the book not having a wide range of non-human races. I find this more of an issue these days than I used to.

The names were pronounceable. (Some fantasy authors get carried away with their consonants.)

There was enough gore to evoke a realism to a brutal world.

A special shout out (howl out?) for the dogs. They were realistically portrayed and amusing.

And, finally, there are enough reversals and twists to keep the story interesting. I particularly liked the revelation about the prophecy.

So yes, there were things that didn’t always sit right but I enjoyed The Faithful and the Fallen and will definitely read more by John Gwynne. That, essentially, is all that matters.

PS The covers? Loved them.

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.4/5

Review: This was an awesome series. The magic is reserved and avoids being over-the-top at all costs. The major fail in this series is that our good guys constantly get shjt on yet manage to come out on top. Cywen is a major fail as a character. Why all of Gwynne’s female characters are spicey hot and full of fire but blush at the drop of a hat is anyone’s antiquated guess.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll have my individual review in each book and a general one in this one once I reread them before the year is out. But let's just say that it's one of my favorite series of all time.

[LambchoP · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second favorite fantasy series of all time! Everything I love about the genre is in abundance here. This series is the perfect example of a classical fantasy tale told in a modern voice. John Gwynne is now one of my favorite authors of all time and ANYTHING he puts out in the future I will take time off work to binge read as soon as I can! Do yourselves a major favor and READ THIS SERIES! One of my easiest 5 stars I've ever given!

[Kenzie Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing series. John Gwynne did a fantastic job writing relatable characters and builiding a dark and gritty fantasy world that constantly leaves me wanting to know more about it. I highly recommended this series if you like your fantasy with a little grit.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic book series. Tore through them. Everything else went out the window. Up there with my favourites. Will definitely read over and over.

[Mike Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for fantasy that’s fast paced and full of action with good characters and keeps you turning the page then this is for you

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ho finito ieri di leggere questa saga e WOW!!!

La serie è composta da quattro romanzi: Malice, Valour, Ruin e Wrath.

Ora, sarò onesta e dirò che ho avuto diversi problemi con il primo libro, Malice, e da quello che ho visto molte persone condividono questa opinione. Per me Malice inizia molto lentamente. E' stato solo verso la metà che ho iniziato a connettermi con i personaggi e la trama diventa sempre più avvincente, l'ultimo terzo mi ha conquistata, è semplicemente fantastico.

Dopo il climax di Malice, Gwynne non toglie mai il piede dall'acceleratore. L'intera serie è solo azione non-stop.

Questa quadrilogia ha tanti, tantissimi pregi a partire dai personaggi. John Gwynne sa come collegare il lettore ai personaggi delle sue storie. Mentre leggevo questa serie, mi sorprendeva continuamente quanto mi importasse non solo dei personaggi principali, ma anche dei personaggi secondari. Ho spesso cercato di capire perché esattamente mi sentissi così e credo che una delle ragioni più grandi sia che Gwynne sa come scrivere relazioni credibili e profonde. Che si trattasse di rapporti da genitore a figlio, da amico ad amico, da re a guerriero, o anche di rapporti romantici. La comprensione che John Gwynne ha di questi tipi di relazioni è chiara e descritta in un modo che evoca un'emozione completamente cruda da parte mia ogni volta che leggo di un personaggio ferito o che muore. Questi personaggi sono una famiglia l'uno per l'altro e per questo il legame è sentito e incredibilmente commovente.

Almeno la metà dei personaggi principali, che vengono seguiti, sono nella loro adolescenza all'inizio e questo ha dato a John Gwynne un'eccellente opportunità di esplorare la crescita dei loro personaggi in profondità e per tutta la durata della serie ogni personaggio ha una crescita credibile e guadagnata.


Le battaglie, semplicemente epiche. Se siete fan delle sequenze di battaglie, mettete giù qualsiasi cosa stiate leggendo in questo momento e leggete questa serie! John Gwynne non tira pugni, non risparmia i personaggi principali con la temuta armatura della trama. Perderete i personaggi che amate. La posta in gioco è alta fin dall'inizio e continua ad aumentare man mano che la storia si sviluppa.

Non solo, ma il linguaggio usato per descrivere le azioni in battaglia non è ripetitivo. La combinazione dell'unicità della descrizione di ogni battaglia, la tensione della trama generale e il preoccuparsi profondamente di ogni personaggio crea, forse, le migliori sequenze di battaglia che abbia mai letto.

La guerra non è mai glamour in questa serie, è mostrata come la brutta, dura, ma necessaria bestia che è. Non solo questo ha conferito una certa credibilità alla narrazione, ma ha anche reso i personaggi più relazionabili in quanto siamo in grado di vedere le conseguenze di una grande perdita in tempo di guerra.

Io e il romanticismo non andiamo d'accordissimo, ma ce una storia d'amore tra due personaggi molto ben fatta. Mi piace, in modo assoluto, una storia d'amore in cui le due persone devono passare attraverso tanto dolore e tragedia per stare insieme (per esempio Geralt e Yennefer in The Witcher), e la storia d'amore a cui mi riferisco qui era proprio così.


I compagni animali! Se amate i compagni animali amerete sicuramente questa serie. Non mi dilungherò troppo, ma amerete questi animali tanto quanto qualsiasi personaggio umano. Non avrei mai pensato di amare un corvo così tanto.


Ma questa quadrilogia è così perfetta? No, ha le sue pecche, come i capitoli che sono molto brevi, tipo cinque pagine in media. Generalmente mi piace, ma ho sentito, specialmente in Malice, che ognuno di questi capitoli di cinque pagine consisteva in tre o quattro brevi scene, spesso con salti temporali in mezzo, questo era un po' stridente, e rendeva difficile connettersi con i personaggi all'inizio perché ci si spostava costantemente da un evento all'altro. Sembrava un po' come leggere solo i punti salienti della storia. Ora, questo è migliorato nel secondo libro, e ho sentito che la narrazione era molto più stretta nel resto della serie, e nel terzo libro i capitoli erano in realtà molto più lunghi in media.

L'altro punto che non mi ha convinto al 100% è il world building, il quale risulta molto sempliciotto. Ho sempre avuto la sensazione che le Banished Lands fossero piuttosto vuote e spopolate: anche se visitiamo ogni nazione, tutto è incentrato sulla trama e sul godersi il viaggio. Questo ha i suoi contro, naturalmente, perché mi sarebbe piaciuto sapere di più sulla storia di ogni nazione e sulle loro culture. Sfortunatamente, tutte le diverse nazioni sembravano un po' un copia e incolla.


The Faithful and the Fallen è davvero una di quelle serie in cui devi solo goderti il viaggio. E' una serie incredibile. Leggete questi libri per l'avventura e l'azione, e i personaggi facili da amare, e dopo un inizio accidentato vi godrete questo viaggio come nessun altro.
Truth and courage!

[Charlie Beaudry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jusqu'à maintenant, cette série est de loin ma préférée. J'ai d'ailleurs quelques points forts à mentionner ci-dessous pour justifier cette information.

Les personnages:
La longueur de la série permet facilement de s'attacher aux personnages, sans mentionner les multiples POV qui permettent également de connaître la pensée de chacun. De plus, ces derniers sont toujours mentionnés dans un glossaire au début du tome et une brève description informe le lecteur des dernières actions de chaque personnage respectivement. Ceci est un gros bonus, puisque malgré la grande quantité de personnages, je ne me suis jamais retrouvée abasourdie devant un nom. Évidemment, tous les personnages sont développés à l'extrême (3D character comme on dit en anglais) et parfois même les antagonistes sont appréciés.

Les batailles:
Je suis une fan finie des bonnes batailles et je dois dire que je ne m'attendais pas avoir un tome complèt concernant la bataille finale (sans mentionner les autres combats de la série). Avec des moments épiques, des trahisons, du courage et autres, on est vraiment servis. Je dois même dire que j'ai eu plus de plaisir dans cette série qu'en lisant LOTR (mais Tolkien conserve son titre et continue quand même à inspirer tous les auteurs fantastiques de nos jours...).

L'histoire:
L'histoire en surface est peut-être un peu clichée: jeune élu qui doit sauver le monde de la catastrophe, un antagoniste sans coeur qui veut contrôler l'univer, etc. Mais malgré tout j'y ai trouvé une tonne de détails qu'à Gwynne qui font de cette série un ouvrage unique. Il faut simplement accepter le scénario.

Bref, cette épopée est à lire absolument. Juste à voir une photo de l'auteur, on comprend qu'il est la personne parfaite pour créer ce genre de série.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

So l finished the Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne the other day and while it was enjoyable in alot of ways, it was disappointing in others

Firstly, the main characters were out fleshed well, even though some characters seemed copied straight from other writers novels, and you either cheered them on or despised them accordingly, but most of the secondary characters seem to lack personalities and kind of blended into one.

The world building was interesting and yet not very deep, and their wasn't any real mystery to the story, you chould see most twists and story beats coming a mile away. But the books where fast paced enough that l chould bush over that and keep enjoying the story.

Where Gwynne excells is his battle scenes. One on one fights are done remarkably well with the reader feeling each blow, and larger battles leave you hanging on the each of your seat.

All in all a enjoyable read, but not an outstanding one in my one opinion.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I flogged myself to read these, but after 3.75 books, I ran out of energy and just couldn't finish this series.

I found these books to be overly long, overly depressing, and overly brutal. The first book was the most enjoyable, as it had character and world development, and the hope of a balanced story. But after that, it was simply make a long march here, have a few battles on the way and a big one when you get there - and repeat. And I got so tired of all the shallow characters, good and bad, that I just couldn't care.

If you like detailed description of battles instead of details of emotion, personality, and plot, this series might be for you (it seems to keep the Marvel Action movies on top), but if you are looking for a well-developed fantasy series, I'd skip this on.

[Duston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read the entire series and loved it. I loved the plot, charachter development was good and the ending was quite good as well. I'm a huge LOTR fand and this is my next favorite fantasy series.

There are a LOT of fight/battle scenes. More than any other book I've read I think, which makes it a pretty fast paced read. I thoroughly enjoy that. The story moves right along and there is no lag really anywhere in the series which is somehting I absolutely hate about other fanstasy stories. Even with the "edge fo your seat" pace, Gwynne still does a great job with plot and character development. The characters are relatable. The story line is good. I really can't say enough good things about this series.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, update after finishing Faithful & the Fallen — the series was compelling from start to finish.

The world-building and character development were terrific. There were a few head-scratching plot holes, but I find that true for most fantasy series. Books 2 & 3 were my favorites.

Book four/the finale was a mixed bag —it felt a lot like Return of the Jedi or the epilogue to Harry Potter—not enough nuance, a little rushed, and oversimplified character interactions.

However, similar to Star Wars (OG trilogy) and Harry Potter, it was the journey I loved, not necessarily the destination.

Overall, I’m giving the series a 4/5

[Daniel Malkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good books, can see why it got such high ratings. However, if you dont like books where the bad guys keep escaping in unbelievable ways just to keep the story going then avoid.

Spoilers- The worst part for me was the lykos, maquin and fidele storyline. By the end of the 4th book I got so bored of them being captured and tortured again and again it made me lose interest and almost stop reading the whole series. Lykos seemingly getting away in purely unbelievable ways as well was particularly badly written. And the tropes around bad guys stabbing good guys while distracted got old very quickly.

Also apparently castle walls meant nothing in this series!

[Christian Moskaluk · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books were a joy to read, hard to put down once started and when I wasn't reading them I wanted to be reading them. They made living my life quite difficult, my partner was not impressed when I would pull the book out at social gatherings but that is the pull these books had.

The characters were truly amazing and the world John Gwynne created felt immersive and intriguing, the plots felt varied and layered in way that kept you guessing how things would develop. I really enjoy John's writing style minus his habit to recycle descriptions of defeated enemies (so minor).

[Jandow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book in this series is great. However, after that most of the battles became predictable. The author creates and follows some characters whose only use is to torture the reader and do not provide any real use to the main story. This series is not a 4 or 5 star when compared to the other 4 or 5 star series. I really wish there would be a twist where the battles were not so predictable. I really wanted to love this series.

[Fernando Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic fantasy series!

Very fun read. John Gwynne does an amazing job with the pacing of his writing. If you're a fan of this type of story, with excellent plot and character development, epic battles, twists & turns, then you'll probably love this series. Malice was the first book I picked up in years and I blasted through the four books in this series in about a week or so. Definitely a new favorite for me.

[Jyn Fin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good series. The first book is a slow build to an exciting conclusion. The second also has some slow moments but it is all worth it for the character building. By the time you care about all the characters it is nonstop action for the final two books. The best part? THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY FINISHED THE SERIES.

[Richard Curran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming. Too long. Not satisfying. Doesn’t improve through the series, if anything book four is not as good as book one. Would be a good book to read if it is the first fantasy book you ever read. If it isn’t then I’m sorry to say you’ll be let down by the nearly five star rating average it has. It’s not 5, it’s not 4, it’s probably 3 and I have given it 2 as a democratic vote.

[Krystal Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a saga. This one has everything I love; Well written, relatable characters, hardship and battle, love and family, animals and magic, and a great fantasy world setting.

I’ve found it hard to find a saga writer that compares to my favourite author Robin Hobb, but John Gwynne is up there. These books are keepers and I’ll be revisiting them in the future as if to catch up with old friends.

[Brody · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved the multiple perspective happening at the same moment to show multiple angles of the same event, however i think towards the end of book 3 their were almost to many perspectives given which made the books read a little to slow for me. still fantastic series

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

[Hoang Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best!

[Lewis Banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. Fantastic bit of fantasy fiction.

[Deniz Uzun · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvellous world with a thrilling story that makes you come back to it every time you get a free minute.

[Martin Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't stop reading until I had finished all 4.

[Emily B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series elevated my expectation of Fantasy world-building. Obsessed