Showing posts with label dreams of dust and steel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dreams of dust and steel. Show all posts
Official Author Website
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Price Of Power
Read Fantasy Book Critic interview with Michael Michel
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Price Of Power
Read Fantasy Book Critic interview with Michael Michel
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Michael Michel lives in Oregon with his wife and their “mini-me” children. When he isn’t obsessively writing, he can be found exercising, exploring nature, enjoying comedy, or playing Warhammer. His favorite shows are Dark, The Wire, and Scavenger’s Reign—clearly, he loves his heart to be abused.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Treachery looms across the land.
The Scarborn have deposed the once-great Ironlight family. With scores to settle, the lowborn shake rust from their knives and trade allegiances for a promise of blood while the highborn rally their armies.
Namarr’s future rests on a blade’s edge, and the heroes who might save it can no longer hide. Meanwhile, across the sea, Scothea has already succumbed to revolution.
Fanatics led by the Arrow of Light wrest the throne from an ancient line of kings. Now, their sights are set on a Third Crusade against Namarr. For most, it will be their last.
The pieces are set. The gameboard is chosen. For those unwilling to play, there’s only one peaceful place left…
The inside of a grave.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: There’s a standout scene early in this story when a character attends a funeral and sings a haunting lament over the deceased. Although we never met the departed, the scene brought me near to tears. Powerful, gut-wrenching emotions were laid bare, breathing depth and weight into this grim saga of an empire teetering on the edge of collapse.
This is but one of many examples throughout Michael Michel’s A Graveyard for Heroes that evokes empathy and compassion with characters of varying moral quality. One of the new POVs is a military general from the invading Scothean empire, and while he has committed atrocities under the rule of his king, Michel crafts him in a way where we can fully grasp his conflicts and motivations. Michel shapes his characters with a subtle, deft touch, building lifelike characters and conversations through realistic dialogue, emotion-fueled actions, and questionable decisions.
A Graveyard for Heroes further elevates the series in every way. Similar to book one, The Price of Power, the story uses rich detail, strong character and plot development, and shocking scenes of violence and darkness to tell a slow-burn tale of revolution, responsibility, and vengeance. I found the tale to be increasingly unpredictable, which was an exciting and welcome feeling.
While there is magic to the world, it is limited in its usage, and this helped create a sense of awe when unleashed. This decision pairs well with the methodical nature of the storytelling, but I must stress that at no point did I ever feel the book’s pacing had slowed. Every chapter pushed the plot further, and the characters into more interesting and tighter predicaments.
I must note two additional elements that caught me off-guard: first, the usage of music led to some of the story’s most powerful scenes, as Michel’s descriptive prose made me feel like I was attending and listening to these performances live. Second, there were some thoughtful philosophical ideas introduced that helped convince people of a stubborn mindset to quickly change their worldviews. Well-written speeches argued for new approaches to thinking and doing, and I was nodding my head along with the characters in the audience. It speaks volumes to Michel’s ability to approach different mediums and evoke strong responses through his storytelling.
A Graveyard for Heroes succeeds in delivering a compelling, entertaining, and satisfying sequel to The Price of Power. It further raises the stakes while getting the reader to care deeply about the fates of its characters and the direction of where this is all headed.
CONCLUSION: This is a promising and exciting series from a talented and careful author, and I can easily recommend it to fans of dark, thoughtfully crafted, character-driven sagas. I look forward to re-reading both entries before book three arrives in January 2026. Highly recommended.
3:00 AM | 
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Book review: The Price of Power by Michael Michel
Book links: Amazon | Goodreads
About the book: Prince Barodane could not hold back the darkness. Not even in himself. He laid an innocent city in its grave and then died a hero.
In his absence, war whispers across the land.
Power-hungry highborn dispatch spies and assassins to the shadows as they maneuver for the throne, while an even greater threat rises in the South. Monsters and cultists flock to the banners of a mad prophet determined to control reality…and then shatter it.
Destiny stalks three to the brink of oblivion.
A dead prince who isn’t dead. Barodane buried his shameful past in a stupor of drugs, drink, and crime. Now, he’d rather watch the world fall apart than wear the crown again.
An orphan with hero’s blood who's forced to make a harrowing betray her country or sacrifice her first love.
And a powerful seer who has no choice at all–her grandson must die.
If any of them fails to pay the price…
The cost will be the world’s complete annihilation.
Formats: Audiobook, ebook, paperback
Two empires have been struggling for decades. One side invaded and enslaved the other, but the slaves broke free and overcame their oppressors while unifying disparate territories into a sovereign nation. But as time passed, the oppressed became the oppressors; they enacted a horrifying tradition of permanently scarring the newborns of their old enemies. There are legitimate arguments on both sides for generational hatred, and the current balance of peace vs. rebellion is teetering on the precipice of disaster.
We follow several POVs across the continent: a powerful Grandmother tasked with training a doomed young boy; an isolated princess forced to prove her worth to save the kingdom from shattering into chaos; a disgraced war veteran-turned-drug dealer haunted by madness and regret; an ally of the veteran who traded honor for loyalty; a defeated and abused pig farmer who embarks on a suicide march up a cursed mountain haunted by demons and untold power.
The vast majority of the story has very little crossover between the characters, but the threads start to weave together near the conclusion. While there was some predictably with some of the later reveals, Michel’s strong character development and emotional growth elevated the reading experience.
The pacing was also strong, as I longed to return to each POV to see what would happen next — but was never upset about switching over to the next chapter POV. There was a good balance between action, plot development, and the emotional struggles each character was facing.
This is not a short book, but it still felt like it was all about setup — characters were introduced, stakes were raised, and pieces put in place for a long, complex, and exciting journey ahead.
I wouldn’t classify this as grimdark although it’s easy to see how others might. Just be warned that this is not an uplifting book — many terrible things happen to good people, and justice is fleeting. But for those who like grit and grime and no easy solutions, this is an easy recommendation to make. I already started the prequel novella and eagerly await book two’s release.
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