A Book Review: Malice by John Gwynne (The Faithful and the Fallen #1)

Last week, I read an epic fantasy novel. It was about: A prophecy, a war of good vs. evil, a chosen one, a young hero's coming of age, and the story is set in a pseudo medieval European (Celtic) world. 

So many tropes! 

Was I reading a classic fantasy novel from 1980s? Nope, the book was written in 2012, and despite its many tropes, this novel delivered a refreshing story that exceeded my expectations. This book is called Malice, written by John Gwynne, and it is the first novel to a quartet named The Faithful and the Fallen.

Synopsis:

Step into The Banished Lands, a dark continent echoing with a history torn asunder by violence and a great war. It was a history where armies of men and giants crossed swords and bloodied the battlefield crimson red. The struggles ended long ago with a defeat for the the giants. The lands, however, remain deeply wounded from the memories of war.

A new tide of threat is rising once again; on the edge of its wave rides harrowing news - sightings of great wyrms, stones that weep blood, and giants stirring in the heart of a shadowy forest. These signs bear an ill omen, and with it marches the coming of a war to end all wars, where the faithful and the fallen shall wage one final battle to settle the course of history, once and for all. Our story began, with a 14 year old boy called Corban, the son of a black smith from the humble fortress of Dun Carreg...

My thoughts on this book:

Malice is a character driven novel. Gwynne narrated this epic tale from the views of 8 or 9 characters, and their stories are styled in 3^rd person POV chapters. This is a narrating method similar to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Length wise, Malice counts to 640 pages, but Gwynne wrote these POV chapters economically, and every chapter in this book averaged from 5 to 10 pages. The chapters in Malice are quite short, but the story beats at a very good pace, and the chapters transitioned smoothly from one to the next. This is largely a credit to Gwynne's writings, full of suspense, where every chapter ended at a cliff hanger. Consequently, the book encourages you to keep reading it. When I was reading this book, I could not put it down. I kept turning the pages because I needed to know what would happen to these characters.

Speaking of characters; while Malice is a story about good vs evil, but no character in this book is a caricature. Instead, Malice depicted every single character with a stroke of well rounded portrayal, and these characters feel real. Every character in this book, even the characters who are fighting on the “wrong” side, is vulnerable, has a believable motive, and wrestles with self doubts. You will root for some characters, especially those characters fighting for the “wrong” side but sincerely believing their course is right. You will be hoping, these characters will see the evidence that their side is “wrong” and then change side. It suffices to say, Malice has one of the best characterizations I've encountered in the realm of fantasy fictions.

Some readers put Malice in the genre of grimdark fantasy. But I am not sure “grimdark” is a fitting description to be placed upon this book. In my opinion, while Malice is violent and gritty, but it is not necessarily grim and dark. This book takes tropes from the classical fantasy literature and did something interesting to it. Yes, Malice still tells you a story about courage and bravery, where hope is always moving in the background. But Malice also tells a believable story about how, out of a deep belief that their course is right, good people can be investing their heroics and qualities in the “wrong” side instead. I think this is the most fascinating and refreshing aspect about Malice. To my mind, Malice runs in the vein of David Gemmell's works and I believe it should be placed in the genre of heroic fantasy.

With Malice, John Gwynne made his debut as a fantasy author. This is an impressive book. It gripped me, from the start to the finish, with its memorable characters and vividly depicted battle scenes. As I am writing this review, I am already 60% into the sequel, Valor, and I am loving every page of it. If you like reading epic and heoric fantasy novels, then I strongly recommend this new gem to you.