Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen)

I struggled to maintain interest for the first 3/4 of the novel. This was due to the story feeling too generic (i.e. containing most every epic fantasy trope you can think of, and in the usual way) and the lack of surprise. It felt like a story I had read many times over the years. This is normally just fine with me, but something about this one just wasn't keeping me entertained. However, that all changed over the last 1/4 of the novel. One character really stepped up and took over the story. What felt a bit like 450 pages of setup, finally gave way to 170 pages of action, plot movement, THINGS HAPPENING. After struggling to care about anything in the book for so long, it was rather strange to be so interested that I couldn't stop reading. Every time I had a spare moment in the last 2 days, I picked up Malice to see what was going to happen next. In fact, the last section of the book was so good, not only do I plan to read book 2, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm hopeful that the series setup is behind us now, and the momentum from the last quarter of the novel will carry over right into the sequel.

First off, when one is speaking of something drawn tight, the word is "taut", not "taught". Sheesh! Elementary english. And using "chosen" when you mean elected or decided is just painful to read. Finally, unless you're talking about basketball positions, "forwards" is inappropriate to use when you mean "forward'. A little basic editing is needful with this otherwise decent novel.

Good action. Powerful characters. Plots eithin plots. One of the best books I have read in 2014. And I read a lot. Action is fast paced and secrets abound in this book. Love it. Love it. Love it. Well worth its price. I am actually surprised it was published two years ago and few people have heard of it.

Great coming of age saga with complex characters and exciting storyline. If you like Robert Jordan, you'll like this too...although not the same caliber it's still very good . For me, a captivating read.

Enough unpredictability, character development, action and scope to comprise an enjoyable read. Comparison with Fire and Ice ignore the infinitely more layered and wonderfully complex world created by Martin. Gwynne has borrowed to heavily from other authors and genres to receive credit for much creativity. Still, the characters are sufficiently intriguing to convince me to purchase the next book in the series.

What struck me the most is that everything that happens seems to have great portent, even long before the effects of the event or action are felt. That's John Gwynne's genius as a writer (exquisite plotting), as are his intense character studies. You get to know every player inside and out, and see their development throughout the unfolding of the story, which is a coming apocalypse type of tale. Lots of action, and very well described. It's mostly battle with swords and axes and spears, with just minor magic going on at this point. The political intrigue between kingdoms is intense. But it seems like magic will become prevalent in the future books as more powerful beings and forces are introduced.

It's a big story, with many kingdoms and a huge cast. Even so, Gwynne keeps you informed as to who and what they are throughout so you're never lost, as with Malazan. Another cool thing is that many of the protagonists are far more than they initially seem, and their pasts and previously unknown skills are divulged only when needed. Again, excellent plotting.

This is so obviously a classic in the making that I highly recommend it to all fans of Abercrombie and Erickson and Martin. The action is like Abercrombie, and the scale is like Erickson and Martin. I bought the sequel, Valor, the moment I was finished.

This is a fairly standard multi-viewpoint to create more volume, black and white, good versus evil, boy becomes man and savior fantasy. Want sword dancing? Done. Want wolve side-kick? Done. Fiery battle maidens? Done. A mish-mash of well trodden fantasy themes with very little original content. Still, not poorly written, so if you've gone through everything else and still need something to pass the time then this is for you.

Unless you count the dozens of characters and scope of the series. In which case, there's a few epic fantasy series that are "like GoT". Full disclosure: I didn't finish this book, and returned it. I got about 25% of the way in and couldn't stick with it. Which rarely, RARELY happens for me.

So, as many other reviewers have commented: it's got loads of tropes. Tropes within tropes within tropes. Even the dialogue follows tropes. Which is what killed me in the end. I can handle theme or idea tropes. I can't handle when dialogue is so ridiculously cliche'd that the characters come off as puppets, instead of real fully formed characters, on top of lots of fantasy tropes. It's just so in-your-face.

For a first book, the author's writing itself is fine, although not even in the ballpark of GRRM. It's smooth, although painfully slow, and is logical. Good descriptions of people and places, and the world-building is fine. Here's where I need to hit on the SLOW part again. Other reviewers have commented it's slow for the first 3/4 of the book. Like, it couldn't even keep my attention slow. And I read Robin Hobb- which I consider to be slow fantasy writing. So, take the comments about it being slow seriously.

My last big criticism is the number of names that start with V. I can keep dozens of characters straight if their names are dissimilar enough. That was not the case here. I had to keep flipping back to figure out who was who.

As far as being like GoT, I never got the sense of darkness that pervades GoT. There's no sense of true evil, but then I didn't finish the book. So maybe the "bad guys" become evil as the book wears on, I dunno. I didn't get that sense though. Bottom line: don't get sucked in by the other reviewers that say if you like GoT, you'll like this one. Cuz, if you're any type of discerning reader, you won't. They aren't in the same ballpark.

Unfortunately for the series as a whole, this first book - the debut for the author - is pretty rough. It struggles to gain speed, which can be okay for a first book in a four-book series. But the real killer is the strange narrative pacing: the author's voice is so idiosyncratic that it tends to pull the reader out of immersion. Over and over, the author uses a sentence structure I've never seen as a regular thing: sentences with commas, but no transition words or conjunctions, so that the result is a need to re-read the sentence in order to restructure the mental flow. It feels like having a heavy case of the hiccups throughout the book!

On the other hand, this "rough" book is, despite itself, the start of my *all-time* favorite fantasy series. That's right, better than Ice & Fire (Game of Thrones), Lord of the Rings, Riyria, all of my many other beloved series! This series is my absolute, all-time favorite. And once you push through the mid-point of the second book, you'll start to feel it, too - and you'll know that the hiccups in the first book were (more than) worth it! Take my word for it - I'll take it to the grave. This series is absolutely mind-blowing. Even the rough start is more than redeemed, and this novel gains a lot of retroactive depth later. Finally, when you re-read this book - because you will want to! - you'll have an appreciation for it that's impossible to see the first time around.

I bought this book blindly without reading reviews. The description on the back read there was inspirations of Game of Thrones. First, there is absolutely obvious parts throughout the book that feel similar to Game of Thrones. If you are even remotely familiar with Season 1 of the show or have read George R. R. Martin's first book in the series, you will clearly see similarities that may feel TOO similar. I don't wish to point these out as they ruin portions of the book.

Your biggest challenge reading this book will be remembering everyone who appears in the book. There are perhaps 3 dozen names, both major and minor as the book goes along, and the first 1/4 of the book was very difficult for me to keep track. The largest reason is because each chapter focuses on a different character. While the back of the book description mentions 4 primary people, there are chapters with focus to other characters throughout. Some of these individuals I felt were minor but experienced something major in the plot. Once I got about 1/4 to 1/2 way through, the names began to stick with me more. But reading 2 chapters without hearing certain names then having to revert back to them was difficult initially.

Chapter endings felt well placed with always something dramatic or exciting happening. This sometimes was frustrating to me because I would have to read another chapter or two before coming back to that "minor cliffhanger," which eliminated the suspense by that time.

As I developed favorites of certain characters, I found chapters involving those I wasn't fond of were not enjoyable to read. I'm not a fan of changing plot points, but the book does read like Game of Thrones where one episode of the TV show jumps around to unrelated events with the hopes of them coming together soon.

Finally, without spoiling the end, I must warn that if you are looking for a book that you can just read this one and feel a conclusion at the end and not continue on with the series, you will be gravely disappointed. There is little to no relief or solitude, and although not similar in plot I recalled the ending of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back ending where it wasn't a cliffhanger but events were still not resolved yet, leaving you to have to read the next book to find out what happens.

I realize the book was written as a series, but I didn't close the book with a pleasant sigh and satisfaction, looking forward to reading the next book to see the next series of events. I didn't anticipate reading all 4 books and was hoping for this one book to be self-contained for the most part with danglers to tempt me to read the next book. Instead it was flat out left opened to read the next one to even see what is going on.

So if you're not wanting to invest in reading these tomes, which are 600+ pages in length, I would not recommend trying to read just the first and leaving it as is.

By and large the book was a really enjoyable read. There were characters that were more developed than others, and I believe the plots were clever and challenging. I really enjoyed how Gwynne portrayed animals and their behaviors. They had character and personality of their own, and a reader gains a connection and love for them.

For his first book, John Gwynne did a surprisingly remarkable job writing Malice, though as I said earlier, there are tremendously similar elements from Game of Thrones in this book that at times made me raise an eyebrow. There is more magic in this than Game of Thrones, however, and it feels more fantasy. I plan on reading the next book in the series, but I felt like I need to digest this and perhaps read a lighter book before delving into Book 2 as these are truly marathons to read.

I feel I should preface this review by saying that this book is a commitment. I'm a fast reader, but this took me a looooong time to get through. Partly cause of the extensive word count (close to 700 pages here), but also because the plot was pretty slow going in some points. There was a lot of buildup and I think some of it could have been condensed, but it all added to either the characters or the story. And really, that's the only complaint I have. Everything else I loved. The history of the world, the politics, the amazing characters, the intense action scenes, and the explosive finale. While there were some moments when the plot was predictable and some of the characters I wanted to smack upside the head at times (I'm looking at you, Veradis), looking back I recall just how much I enjoyed the story. It's definitely an epic, but the many, MANY characters are fantastic. Corban is a great lead and side characters like Veradis, Cywen, Gar, and many others are terrific. I know who the villains are, but even they were relatable at times. That said, there are lots of characters and at times I had to remember who everyone was and what was going on. But I'm nitpicking. This truly is a great fantasy novel with exciting action and world-building that isn't heavy on the magic side. I'm willing to bet the series will get far more intense as it unfolds, and I can't wait to see where everyone will end up and what will happen next.

Malice is a book that manages to be entertaining even though it suffers from mistakes in the details and holds not much new for fantasy genre veterans. While clichés and tropes aren't inherently bad, they can hamper the enjoyment of a book and make it more easily predictable. Predictability might be another problem of the book. This book held no real surprises for me and I think I have a pretty good idea on where some of the plotlines are headed. This doesn't mean I could not be pleasantly surprised in later installments.

The most interesting part of the book is its setting, which remotely reminds me of a viking/barbarian-esque setting with grizzled warriors and shield-brothers, the wars being fought warrior against warrior in duels, without much cohesion. At least until now, as one of the characters adopts a roman-style shieldwall technique that makes his warband a force to be reckoned with. This tactic even proves effective against the giants, ancient enemies of mankind.

[...]

Prophecies can be done pretty well, especially if they are very vague or ambiguous. The prophecy in this book is rather straightforward and I doubt it'll hold a surprise for a reader. The characters themselves might be deceived, but there're too many hints for the reader to actually go along with the characters and "misinterpret" the prophecy. There's still room to actually surprise us readers in the next books, but that would really be an unforeseeable turn in the plotlines of the series.

To get onto something different next, I want to talk about the protagonist, Corban. If you've read some more of my reviews and posts, especially of the later ones, you'll know that I like training sequences and following the protagonist from an early age on. This is something we have here. Corban is young and we'll get to witness how he becomes a "man" and learns to fight, how he stands up to the adults the first time and acquires his "sidekick", a wolven (similar to an intelligent wolf), and how he grows into the "promised hero". I think he lacks a clear and prominent flaw, rather seeming not only a kind and righteous person, but a skilled fighter on top of it, with nothing to counteract this "true hero"-characteristic.

With his name, Corban, comes another problem that makes the beginning of the book somewhat confusing. Because there are actually three PoV characters that start with the letter C. Especially Corban and his sister Cywen are easily confused with each other, because they are very close to each other for large parts of the book. The third character is called Camlin. Not only do their names all start with the same letter, they are very similar in length, all things reader use subconsciously to distinguish characters from each other. I think using different names for these characters would have been better for the readers and it would not take anything away from the story.

[...]

The book's main potential lies in its charm for newer readers of the fantasy genre. While veterans might not see enough individualism in the book to be fully satisfied, it makes for a good recommendations for people just starting out in the fantasy genre. If they are teenagers, the book holds even more potential for them because of its protagonist.

A more extensive review can be found on my blog.

Having finished this book I really did enjoy it but I found the first half to be a harder read. Half way through the book, I was sure if I was enjoying reading it or not. By the end I had no doubt however. The big issue with this book is it was highly unfocused for a long time. You would follow one character for a while and when you started becoming invested in what was happening with that character the author would switch to following a different character. At one point the reader has to track half a dozen different characters, several without a clear indication of how they are fitting into the slowing expanding overarching plotting. Worse than that are the characters that you follow for a short while that then drop out of the book. It can become frustrating early on trying to get ahold of the actual plot as the viewpoints keep shifting. However towards the end of the book when the story starts locking in with less pointless side plots it becomes a fast and enjoyable read.

Gwynne is a very talented writer, does dialogue expertly and has a good sense for how to write characters. This is the biggest strength of the book as well as its biggest problem for me. If he wasn’t so skilled at writing characters the jumping from one to another would certainly be less annoying. That being said the handfuls of characters that are ultimately important to the plot are completely fascinating and enjoyable to read about.

While the first half of this book is a little thought to struggle through, hang in with it. Once you get to the second half the book reads very fast and is engrossing. Having finished it my only real complaint is that it ends on a cliffhanger and I am forced to wait for the next book in the series.

Having just finished 'Malice: The Faithful and the Fallen Book One', the only adjective that I can think of to properly describe my thoughts is, WOW! What a wonderful fantasy adventure it turned out to be for me. I simply must say, that I am going to have a hard time waiting for book two. John Gwynne can definitely hang with the big boys when it comes to writing epic fantasy.

The book follows along the line of 'A Song of Ice and Fire', in that each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character. However, unlike 'ASoIaF', there wasn't a single chapter that I didn't look forward to reading and continuing whatever characters story. John Gwynne, in my personal opinion, seemed to have a very firm grip on writing the book in this way, and intertwining each character into the overall story.

The main characters of the tale are Corban and Nathair. Corban is a young boy living in Dun Carreg helping his father the blacksmith in the family forge. Soon, he will be of age to take his warrior trial and set his long night outside the walls of Dun Carreg, returning in the morning as a man. Corban is surrounded by a mother, father and stablemaster that love him, but are withholding a very large secret from him. His sister Cywen loves him, and she has a habit of interfering with his interactions with Rafe, the local bully, and his cronies. Yet, Corban is called to so much more than dealing with a town bully, which I encourage you to read the book and find out what that is......

Nathair is the Prince of Tenebral. He is in almost every way the opposite of Corban. Not only is his dad King of Tenebral, he is the High King of the Banished Lands, making him king of kings so to speak. Nathair has ideas on dealing with long time enemies that his father would just assume remain enemies. Nathair is protected by Veadis, who though he believes Nathair is who he claims, is conflicted by the changes he begins to see taking place in Nathair as certain events begin to unfold.

There are giants, large white snakelike creatures called wyrms, large wild wolven that make large dogs seem as pups and a God-War between Elsyon and Asroth. All of which play a major role in the lives of the two main characters and the prophecies of old.

'Malice' is an outstanding debut novel. I am really looking forward to the second book, and I couldn't possibly encourage a person enough to take the time and read it

Wow, having just finished this, we just had to write a quick review.

For such a long book, we were never bored - and that is saying something!

Malice has everything an epic truly is. Fantastic world-building. A great and vast cast of characters, of both Good and Evil. A sentimental main character, who is surrounded by numerous interesting and varied characters. Loads of action and adventure that never lets up. Great fantasy creatures such as giants and wyrms and wolven.

We just received our new copy of Book 2 the other day. Can't wait to read it. Of all the thousands of fantasy books we have read in the past 40 years, Malice is easily one of the top best. Aye, it is that good.

Malice is that rare epic fantasy which bridges the gap between Tolkienesque high fantasy and more modern gritty realism. The world here is huge and much of the beginning of the book is taken up in introducing us to the many different kingdoms and the characters (and there are many) who will play central roles in the coming events of the story. This tended to slow things down a bit but if you are a fan of fantasy, just keep reading because things change and quickly.

Like much of traditional fantasy, this is a story of good vs evil as the world braces for a god war. The thing, though, that sets Malice apart and raises it above just another generic fantasy tale is the depth of the characters. The characters here are so well-drawn and nuanced that it is often hard to tell which side they are on. It is clear that, in many cases, they are not sure themselves. People change, they doubt, they evade, and they are deceived by those they thought they could trust. Even the bad guys tend to be sympathetic or, at least, likable.

The book is divided between differing POV and, despite the large number of these views, they always seem true to the character. There is Corban, the young son of the blacksmith, who longs for the day he can sit his Long Night and become a man and a warrior and whose closest companion is the wolven he raises from a pup; his sister, Cywen, best friend of a princess, but who regrets that, as a girl, she cannot be a warrior even though she is braver and more skilled than most men; Veradis, who is loyal to a fault and has become first-sword to a man who may be either saviour or curse; Camlin, the woodsman and bandit who is still an honourable man; and Kastell, a good man who has attracted the ire of his cousin and is forced to embrace decisions that are not his own. Throughout the book, they all seem to be going in different directions and it is only near the end, during more than one epic and bloody battle in very different parts of the kingdom, that we begin to get a glimpse of how all of these different people with their different POVs will converge. Like the more modern fantasy, it is not a guarantee that all of these people will survive to see the end of the story.

This is not to say that there isn't a lot of action in the book. And it is here where you see the influences of the modern gritty fantasy. Despite the presence of wyrms and magic, battles here are won by sword and strategy and they are heart-poundingly realistic, often reminiscent of ancient Roman battles with the use of the shield wall to break the defences of the enemy.

Malice is the first book in author John Gwynne's epic fantasy series, The Faithful and the Fallen and it's one fine read. It may start slow but it ends with one heck of a bang. Definitely a series worth reading and I recommend it highly to fans of both traditional and modern fantasy.

First off: spoilers. You've been warned.

So I got this book at Barnes and Noble today seeing that it was consistently getting 5-star reviews across the board. I'm sorry to say that this isn't a 5-star book. There's nothing that jumps out at me as being horribly wrong, and if you grab it from a bookstore you can probably kill some time with it. That said...

Picture every fantasy cliche ever rolled into one book and you've got this. We start with a Miltonian Paradise Lost scenario where Not-Satan is trying to destroy creation while God has gone off to do ...stuff. There's a chosen kid growing into an adult, the evil man who hates everyone giving his soul to Satan, the evil queen who is totally a slut(because characterization), tomboy fighter girl being treated like a girl, annoyingly cryptic mentor figure who is unhelpful, etc. What few twists there are hammered into the ground - the king trying to gather an alliance to fight evil is getting duped by Satan! Except instead of a big reveal it's more hammered in just as you meet this guy (with all the untrustworthy characters swearing allegiance to him) and when it's revealed that he's really being deceived by Satan and the untrustworthy characters are actually devils from hell the reaction is less "what a clever and subtly foreshadowed twist" and more "...duh?"

There are a few silly moments in the book that make me (probably not intended by the author) laugh such as the characters pointing out that shield walls are evil because they devalue individual warriors' skills and so on. But all and all if you've read any fantasy book ever you will probably not be surprised or interested in this book.

The only reason this book does not have hundreds of reviews is because of the price. 10$ is a lot for a first time author. the only reason i read it was because of a friend. But it is worth the money. Some people have complained about there being so many point of views in this book. Yes there r many BUT the story keep flowing between each POV. It does not stop for each character. I think in book 2 many of them will meet up.

pros
-I love the characters. This book probley has some of the best character building i'v ever read. ALL of them are well developed. The author keeps you guessing with a few of the secondaries(are they good,bad, or just being fooled.) there is no all evil or goodly to-shoe characters here. you care what they r doing.
-World building. after reading this book i understood why the world is the way it was and many of the main events that happened over the last 2 thousand years
-None of the characters feel head over heels in love the first time they meet a member of the opposite sex. Many authors nowadays seem to think is is a must in the fantasy genera.
-Nice detailed fights/battles. I rly felt like i understood what was happening.

cons
NONE really. there are a few speeling mistakes but not many. Did not take anything away from the story.

Im really looking forward to the next book. Like i said above; if the price were lowered many more people would read this. This book deserves to become a classic.

Excellent read. The author does a fabulous job with the characters and keeping you involved. I recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed Game of Thrones. Now I await book 2 of this fantastic series. My wait will be in the area of 3 weeks even though I am an the store prime member due to them having issues with the publisher. If you can find it locally I would go that route. Faster

Malice is a great book. The author's writing reminded me in some ways of George RR Martin.

There are sympathetic characters on both sides of the conflict (and some characters don't realize which side of the conflict they are on).

I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

It is unfortunate that unless a book is rife with foul language or smutty sex scenes it is dismissed by a certain portion of the population as a"children's book". I actually found this a very enjoyable read, and the fact that I don't have to worry about my teenagers being exposed to inappropriate situations, should they want to read it, is a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps not earth-shattering or groundbreaking, but a fun read with likeable characters (as well as some that you love to hate) and an interesting story line. It reminds me a bit of Lloyd Alexander's Black Cauldron series, which was a great coming-of-age story. I can't wait to read the next installment!

I absolutely loved this book. John Gwynne created a fantastic world where I truly loved the characters. This was a great read for those who are interested in medieval fantasy with an emphasis on a warrior's way of life. I highly recommend this book.

Whilst it may not be the most original of fantasy novels, which is why some people deemed it worthy of only 2 stars (pffffffffftttttt!), this is a brilliant read. If like myself you just want to read a great story, with a set of excellent and varied characters and don't mind if there's a young kid who just happens to be amazing with a blade, then buy this book!
I read this just after Blood Song, which has received rave reviews and is a very good book. But Malice is far superior in my opinion and has much more potential within its plot.

Don't take my word for it. At the time of writing this novel currently has a rating of 4.6 stars from over 100 reviewers on the store UK. Take theirs.

I bought the Audiobook version. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! Flawless adaption, i really liked the character development and the plot twists. I've already ordered book two and recommend Malice to everybody I come across whether thats online or in the street :)

I bought the Audiobook version. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! Flawless adaption, i really liked the character development and the plot twists. I've already ordered book two and recommend Malice to everybody I come across whether thats online or in the street :)

I heard about `Malice' from John Jarrold - he let me know that this novel was the closest thing he'd ever read to A Song of Ice and Fire, so I was intently interested as soon as I heard that. Being a massive fan of Mr. Martin, I thought the claim was bold and perhaps a bit too much, but considering John Jarrold's stature in Genre Fiction I knew that he hadn't meant it literally. So I managed to secure an ARC for myself through Julie Crisp and Laura Hammond, and settled in to read it.

I agree with John - Malice (the first book in The Faithful and the Fallen) is definitely an epic that fans of A Song of Ice and Fire will enjoy!

The Banished Lands has been witness to war (between humankind, giant-kind and vastly powerful supernatural entities) of such ferocity that even the principal creator-god of human- and giant-kind has turned his back on his creations. Humans are spread across The Banished Lands, living uneasily with each other and constantly defending against attacks and raids by the remaining giants, who were once united but are now fractured into various clans. Among the humans and giants, forces are at work that seek to tip the difficult peace into all-out war, and when the novel opens, various characters find themselves at the beginning of journeys that will force them to choose sides in the conflict.

We meet Corban, not yet a man, struggling against bullies, terrified of his anger, and keenly sensitive; his sister, Cywen, apprenticed to a stable-master; the stable-master himself; Veradis, brother to a respected and valued warrior and son to a very difficult man; Evnis, advisor to King Brenin; Kastell, whose family was killed by giants; Nathair, a prince who keenly feels the weight of his destiny - and plenty of others, connected or not.

The first strength of the book is the easy-to-read writing style - John keeps things simple, giving out information about the characters and the world in a way that doesn't bog down the narrative, and even keeps the chapters short and sharp, titling these chapters with character-names so that the reader knows who he'll be reading about next.

The book's world-building is also top-notch, in the sense that the detail and history of it grows and deepens chapter by chapter - the prologue sets the scene in terms of the encompassing conflict, and gains flavour and texture as the book continues.

Magic-wise, this novel doesn't have much to offer, neither in the use of the explanation of it, and it's the only issue I have - it seems to me that the book could still stand strongly without magic; but that also leaves me with the hope that we get to see more and understand more about John's particular brand of magic in the next book.

Character-wise, `Malice' is truly top-shelf - John writes them with a deep understanding and empathy, so that even the `bad' guys don't seem so bad, and the good guys have their own failings and troubles. My favourite character was Veradis - doing what he believes to be right and true even as he gets pulled deeper onto one side of the conflict. The same can be said of Nathair, and I hope we get view-point chapters of Nathair in book 2. Corban, the novel's central character, showed plenty of believable growth in the novel, though I'm hoping for much more `tempering' for him in the next book - he goes through a lot, but doesn't ever seem to really be in danger.

Comparing this novel to what we've experienced in A Song of Ice and Fire is slightly unfair but entirely warranted - it's a novel that focuses on the characters, their motivations, their inner-most thoughts and experiences, with the world brought in to give us the sense of `place' and `time' to ground them. The characters react realistically, making believable choices (whether those choices fall on one side of the fence or the other), and as such it's Epic Fantasy that readers of A Song of Ice and Fire will enjoy.

There's plenty of action (human versus giant, human vs human), plenty of cool surprises, and places where I had to stop reading to digest what had happened - mostly because I felt that I knew the characters and had to agonize over some of their choices, which means I cared about them. :-) This is where the novel's strength shines through - the characters and their interactions with each other. Some of the action scenes feature creatures who seem a bit too easy to defeat, or the presence is predictable, but the characters carry the novel through.

All things considered, this is an excellent debut, showing that John has an eye and heart for characters; the world should continue to evolve and broaden in the next book, and I can see a massive confrontation on the horizon, with both sides believing without a doubt that they are both right, or doing the right thing. Definitely recommended - a promising start to what should be an excellent Epic Fantasy series!

It is tough to argue that reading "Malice" doesn't feel like reading any of 5000 other fantasy novels of the last 30 years. Virtually every cliche, trope, meme, and standard plot device is thrown into the mix to create an overly long, unfocused muddle of a novel that really only becomes entertaining in the last 15% of the book.

The story, such as it is, is the story of many many characters. The "main" character Corban is on a typical boy to man fantasy journey. Other characters play out equally familiar tropes: prince rebelling against father (king); younger brother in shadow of older, more accomplished brother; girl with martial skills unappreciated except as a girl, etc. etc. The huge and scattered cast of characters is, I presume, the reason for the incredibly presumptuous comparison of this work to "Game of Thrones". Never has a critical comparison been further from the mark.

"Malice" possesses none of the originality, delightful characterization, nor even the real evil of the "bad guys" and gals of Westeros. Instead, all the evil of Malice is immediately reduced to the banal combination of insecurity and jealousy. No character has a flaw greater than envy. Which makes the whole thing pretty uninteresting.

The backstory is equally weak: some war between what could loosely be described as a god and a devil, complete with angels and demons. Magic is rarely present, and pretty tangential to the story and the world. What could be the more interesting elements (the society and role of the giants, the hidden city of the sword masters) are mentioned only in passing and with little to any authorial interest.

As a result, the whole reads as rather an muddled mess. With so many characters, and so few that we want to root for (and so few that we really care enough about to hate) the story meanders without focus for the vast majority of the very long novel. And when the pace and story do finally start to move at about the 85% mark, the only real conclusion is a cliff hanger--a heavy handed attempt to get the reader to buy the sequel (2 of how many? 3? 5? 10? neither the author nor the publisher will say). I for one will not be sticking around to find out. A near total miss that does absolutely nothing to distinguish itself from a myriad of competitors in the fantasy genre, nor from mediocrity itself. Yeuch.

I've read scores and scores of fantasy novels and this is one of the worst in recent years. It's predictable, the characters are flat and difficult to identify with, the number of POVs is confusing and unnecessary. I'm about 1/3 through the book and have not picked it back up in weeks. I tried to read more today but the first page I got to introduced yet another character. I have no idea what's going on. What a jumbled up mess. There was a time that plot-drive stories were popular...over 70 years ago. Today, stories have to be character-driven. This one is not.
I can't blame John Gwynne--he wants to be an author, as many of us do...I blame the publisher who thought this was good to go. But then, is anyone surprised Orbit published this?

For a debt book very impressive. First book ive read in a long time where ive wanted to pick up the sequel immediatley. Well done John, hopefully we wont have to wait to long for each one to be released.