Book Review - Malice by John Gwynne

 

Books Read in 2022  - No. 2

Hi fellow Readers

Over three months it has taken me to read Malice by John Gwynne.  Three whole months.

That is not the fault of the book, or John Gwynne's writing.  Both are solid.  The story, world building and characters are well thought out, with great twists and turns.  There is also plenty of action.

John Gwynne's writing is fantastic for a debut author and the novel even won the David Gemmell Morningstar award for best debut fantasy novel in 2012.

The problem has been me.  I've been in a reading slump all year.  I should have realised when it took me two months to read a 350 page Doctor Who book.

I've even took Malice to Portugal and back, yet still never finished it.  The last 200 pages brought me out of my slump as I'd got used to the characters and there were lots of twists, betrayal and action.  Not all the characters we follow survive!

Basically the old God's are coming back to the Banished Lands, the fate of their battle decided between two champions, the Black Sun and the Bright Star.  But who are these chosen ones?

I've spoken to John Gwynne on Facebook and know that one of his author idols is my favourite writer, David Gemmell.

Malice is very similar to a Gemmell book, even more so than Joe Abercrombies First Law books.  

Malice also has a feel of a George RR Martin's Game of Thrones book, as each chapter name is named after the character the chapter is following.  With so many characters it makes it easier to understand which character POV we are following.

Overall - For a debut novel, this is a great start into a fully realised world.  With many countries and Kings to follow, as well as characters it can be daunting at first, but the pace is quick, with plenty of action, giants and monsters.

When I saw reviews of Malice on Booktubes some said it was slow and not much happens! They must have been reading something else, even in the first 150 pages, there are some fights, giants attack wagons, there's betrayal and an angel or a demon.

Now I can't wait for the sequel Valour.

Score  -   9/10  (slightly lower as I took so long to read it.)