Synopsis
The last of a dying breed, a holy warrior must rise up against a growing darkness in Evelium.
The most unlikely of heroes, a lowly itinerant mercenary, Umhra the Peacebreaker is shunned by society for his mongrel half-Orc blood. Desperate to find work for himself and his band of fighters, Umhra agrees to help solve a rash of mysterious disappearances, but uncovers a larger, more insidious plot to overthrow the natural order of Evelium in the process.
As Umhra journeys into the depths of Telsidor’s Keep to search for the missing, he confronts an ancient evil and, after suffering a great loss, turns to the god he disavowed for help.
Compelled to save the kingdom he loves, can he defeat the enemy while protecting his true identity, or must he risk everything?
Review
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy for review. I also purchased a book plated edition of this one!
I’ve never read a DnD style book before so I had no idea what I was getting into when I started Paladin Unbound. I’ve played a grand total of one DnD session, but my brother plays a lot so I have a decent idea of what goes on. I know DnD style books aren’t to everyones tastes but I really ended up enjoying this.
I have to mention that it took me maybe 30 pages to warm to the story. It was a big difference to what I had been reading recently, and it took me a little bit to get used to how Speight writes. After that though I found it to be a really enjoyable story!
Paladin Unbound starts the way that all good fantasies do. With a prologue detailing events that happened millenia ago, leading to a prophecy being left behind that becomes the catalyst for the rest of the book. Speight does this incredible well as it immediately pulls you into the mythology and history of Evelium.
Umhra is our central character, somewhat of an outcast and hiding an important secret he will give up anything for his companions and makes for the perfect hero. Selfless, brave and unafraid to do what must be done it’s great to see through his eyes as he moves through Evelium chasing a cult that are trying to raise an ancient evil.
Paladin Unbound hits all the beats of a great DnD Campaign. Our characters have clear classes that even I could follow, and they all fit their role incredibly well. We see cults, ancient places, spirits, gods and trap filled buildings.
There isn’t crazy amounts of conflict within the book, everyone is quite agreeable and events pass by in a flash. I’d love to see the next book in the series take its time with some events and even be longer! Speight has the makings of a great series here and I can’t wait to see how it continues!
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