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Thursday, October 19, 2023
Lord Of A Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones (reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)
Official Howard Andrew Jones
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Order “Lord Of A Shattered Land” HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Desert Of Souls
Order “Lord Of A Shattered Land” HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Desert Of Souls
AUTHOR INFORMATION: With eight collections edited for the University of Nebraska Press, Howard Andrew Jones is the acknowledged expert on historical fiction writer Harold Lamb. He has also written a number of short stories featuring Dabir and Asim which have appeared in a variety of publications over the last ten years, including Black Gate magazine, where he currently serves as the Managing Editor. The Desert of Souls was his debut novel.
PLOT SUMMARY: A vast empire's greatest foe. A conquered people's last hope. His name is Hanuvar, and he will set his people free!
The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its treasures plundered and its survivors sold into slavery. It is an absolute victory for the Dervans in every way but one.
Hanuvar, last and greatest general of Volanus, still lives. He now travels the length of the Dervan Empire that conquered his homeland, driven by a singular purpose—to find what remains of his people who were carried into slavery across the empire, and free them from subjugation by any means necessary.
Against the might of a vast empire, he had only an aging sword arm, a lifetime of hard-won wisdom, and the greatest military mind in the world, set upon a single goal. No matter what the Empire musters against him, no matter what man or monster stands in his way, from the empire’s festering capital to its furthest outposts, Hanuvar would find his people, every last one of them.
And he would set them free.
FORMAT/INFO: Lord Of A Shattered Land is 476 pages long divided over fourteen numbered & titled chapters along with a preamble and afterword. Narration is in the third person, via various characters. This is the first volume of the Chronicles Of Hanuvar. August 1, 2023 marks the North American Hardcover publication of Lord Of A Shattered Land via Baen Books.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: With Lord Of A Shattered Land, Howard Andrew Jones starts a new sword & sorcery odyssey that’s perfect for new fantasy fans as well as older ones who still recall the heydays of sword and sorcery. The story structure is a slightly unique one and especially for book one of a series.
The story setting is a pseudo Mediterranean one where Volanus is the Carthage analog in this world and the Dervan empire is the oppressive Roman one. The book begins with the destruction of Volanus the city and the scattering (read capture & mass scale slavery of its people). Its famed army decimated and its most famous general thought to be dead amidst its fallen walls. The story is set after the fall and we are given fourteen (mostly chronological) stories. It’s no spoiler to say that Hanuvar is not dead and the tales deal with his efforts to get his people freed.
Howard Andrew Jones is a lover of classical sword and sorcery stories and here he applies all of its tenets to create a world and revenge story that feels like a season of episodes that keeps us on tenterhooks. Seriously, this would make a fantastic TV series but that’s a discussion for another time. He considers the Chronicles Of Hanuvar to be his magnum opus and after reading this opening volume I can heartily agree with that assessment. Within these stories, he combines heroic fantasy escapades with the grittiness of sword and sorcery and all throughout are displayed some glorious characters (of both the heroic and villainous bents).
The author has added some nice touches with Hanuvar being a capable linguist and in another fascinating nod to his real life counterpart, has a very cute encounter with an elephant (alluding to how long an elephant’s memory can be). He’s part elderly statesman and part extremely capable warrior and as far lead characters go a very charismatic one. Best of all the author does a fantastic job of showing who Hanuvar is with his kindness, authenticity & brilliant nature rather than just telling us so. The author doesn’t just stop with Hanuvar but gives us many other characters to root for and rail against. The best part of the story is that this is a heroic story and in Hanuvar & the characters he meets, we find several characters whom we can cheer for. Some don’t make it but they leave a distinct impression with their heroic deeds (one such a character is a young female warrior who demonstrates how her nimble mind & quiet fortitude is more than what her patriarchal society expects her to be). Overall I loved that this was a world wherein I could read and enjoy heroic characters. Faced with the current global scenarios, this is exactly the type of story to take your mind off the worries.
The worldbuilding is also another rich facet as the world is focused on a Mediterranean setting and the author presents us with several nations and regions with their own norms and cultures. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about each new culture and facet in every story and one can easily draw some conclusions about where they might have arisen from. There’s also magic present in this world and while it’s not high fantasy kind, we get a distinct sense that there’s more to this world. There’s monsters, magical beings and possibly gods but not everything is laid bare in this volume.
The story is definitely one of a different kind and perhaps this will be tricky for some readers who would love a singular plot structure. In this collection, think of it as a TV season, with each episode propelling the story forward and revealing important facets of the past (how did the city fall, what was Volani culture like, how many times did the Derans attack, etc). The last story ends on a bit of climatic note and made me want the next volume immediately. The story also features a good amount of action and most of the time, it is narrowly focused (very much a feature of the sword & sorcery subgenre). While it is no less thrilling, however there are no over battle sequences. Nevertheless there’s the promise of epic action to follow in the later stories. Overall this opening volume has plenty to offer for fantasy fans and Howard Andrew Jones is successfully utilizing all of his literary skills to provide us with a fantastic tale(s).
CONCLUSION: Lord Of A Shattered Land is an exquisite start to a new series that is sure to enchant readers. With its mix of stalwart characterization, smooth storytelling and an in-depth world, this opening volume is sure to draw in lots of readers. This is the start of something special, do not miss the opening volume of The Hanuvid & find out why this series needs to be your next read.
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