Synopsis
With the realm falling apart, the fate of a people falls upon Laoch and Sura’s shoulders and the Gods’ weapons they now bear ‒ a thousand years of faith and lies reconciled in a single moment of hope and redemption.
For Laoch, the Crusades never ended, yet the embittered Ranger finds hope in his love for the dishonoured elven warrior, Sura. Together, they must face a new conflict when a powerful enemy crashes into a Meister’s alchemical experiment, setting off a wave of fear that ripples through the realm.
With the secrets of the Gods’ scripture exposed and whispers of an ancient evil’s return, Laoch and Sura are left reeling by the power their enemy wields when an even larger threat rises from the forest depths. One even the Gods’ weapons fear.
In a world no longer devoid of magic, a thousand years of secrets and lies spill out, and cracks form in the last bastion against an ancient foe.
For cast in iron and spiritfire – here be dragons.
Review
A Dragon of the Veil is a dark and festering cauldron of early sword and sorcery menace, epic fantasy adventure and the twisted concepts of alchemical science fiction. If it were a dark red wine it would have notes of skesis from the legendary Dark Crystal, the legs of Krull and the body of Beastmaster all glugged down from a belt-strapped wineskin in a dense and tortured forest.
“On the eve of battle, so many find their God in the flames of a campfire.”
Snape’s characters are brooding, believable and expertly damaged. Voiced with precise craft and dripping with his trade mark sardonic slant. Each character bears their own grudges, goals and vulnerabilities. Some of which take time to ferment in the story, being hidden deep in a psyche not yet willing to share but as the reader joins this desperate and often frantic quest they will be rewarded with blood soaked puzzle pieces.
The action in this book, the first of Snape’s new series, bursts from tense landscapes that have been carved with an artisan’s eye. The heart beat pulses an unavoidable rhythm that never fails to lodge in the throat. The vulnerability of each character causes this building threat to always have you by the throat, forcing each page to turn lest it becomes too much to bare.
Action and danger lurk around every corner, despite any emotive reflection of desperate characters. Snape manages to give tone and backstory to each voice while rarely giving them a break from threat and fear. The result is extremely immersive. There are times when confusion steals the what and why from the narrative but again this just adds to the overall malice and threat of the landscape.
“Two curved horns rose from the massive, metal enshrouded skull, like a crown of promised pain.”
Not only would I label this book sword and sorcery due to its themes but also due to the nostalgic transportation to a time when magic and science was a true mystery. You will not find any tired old fantasy concepts here. The esoteric mystery of diabolical magic and alchemical mayhem gives a dark Sheen to everything, I can almost imagine the video tape scratches as they dance across the screen in my minds eye. A beautiful homage to a vital and founding era to this genre.
“You bastard, wyrm. I will see you in hell.”
That is not to say that Nick Snape’s writing is primitive or not in keeping with more modern styles. He manages to hide his sci-fi roots well but they are there to be found in the more ephemeral sections of this story. Concepts and vivid ideas are plenty and are savagely punched into your guts at any opportunity whether you are braced or not. The balance between Sword and Sorcery and Science Fantasy is a taught razor wire stretched between solid genre pillars.
“The inhabited armour shifted, helm turning, sensing the shift-a thrill lined with dread.”
An intense book, one that punishes you if you don’t pay full attention as it’s characters and world cry for help. To me, whether intentional or not, Snape’s tone and inventive unfurling echoes, in places, the majesty of the Malazan series. A barrage of twisted concepts that roil against bitter and deep emotional conflict.
Honestly, I need a breath before embarking on the next book but you can be certain that when my pulse stabilises and the bitter taste of emotive carnage mellows in my mouth I will be looking forward to sightseeing in the City of Ashes.
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