![]() It is always difficult to make a new fantasy series stand out by itself, but for me this was a fairly standard plot of different kingdoms sending armies against one another and blaming it all on their gods. Although there is a rich array of characters and a few do manage to stand out as having the potential to become of greater interest as the story moves on – a one-eyed axe maiden called Halla being my particular favourite – in general I unfortunately did not find The Black Guard to be that strong, either on the plot or the writing. In the sacking of the city, the High Thain of Fjorlan’s brother from a country to the north has also been captured, leading to the launch of the Norsemen's Dragon Fleet against the Red Army, as directed by their giant god Rowanoco.Īs you can see from this attempt at a description of the story, there are a lot of different groups, gods and characters to keep track of and trying to figure out where they all are and what they’re doing can often be difficult. Bromvy and Bronwyn have been exiled and named as Black Guards, but have escaped, and the Seven Sisters have cast aside their loyalty to the fire god Jaa to instead raise another, more powerful god. The key to the action in this novel is the sacking of the city of Ro Canarn by the Red Army, directed by a king under the thrall of one of the Seven Sisters. ![]() Split into various lands whose populations serve different gods, there are also various orders of clerics, including the mysterious enchantresses, the Seven Sisters. The third-person narrative moves between a number of characters, including the exiled twins Bromvy and Bronwyn, a wise-cracking assassin, a young slave boy, and a squire, amongst others. The first in a new saga called The Long War, The Black Guard is AJ Smith’s debut and is set in a familiar medieval-fantasy world where men and women fight for their gods. And in the mountainous region of Fjorlan, the High Thain Algenon Teardrop launches his Dragon Fleet against the Red Army. The Lady Bronwyn makes for the sanctuary of the Grass Sea and the warriors of Ranen with the mass of the King's forces at her heels. Separated by enemy territory, hunted by the warrior clerics of the One God, Bromvy undertakes to win back the city with the help of the secretive outcasts of the Darkwald forest, the Dokkalfar. ![]() But still hope remains: the Duke’s children, the Lord Bromvy and Lady Bronwyn, have escaped their father’s fate. The city lies in chaos, its people starving, sickening, and tyrannized by the ongoing presence of the King’s mercenary army. The Duke of Canarn is dead, executed by the King’s decree. And the children of a dead god are waking from their long slumber. The armies of the Red march upon the northern lords.
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