Synopsis:
REDLIN OF THE WOLVES
VANGUARD, LEGEND, ASSASSIN, REAPER
Listen to my story:
I wasn’t always the monster they see me as. Half of the songs they sing are stories of my grandeur. The other half are tales of my misdeeds.
The sad truth is that they’re all true.
So, listen to my tale and learn why it all happened. Learn the reason for the war, the reason for all the death.
Listen to my tale and listen well. I won’t be alive long enough to tell it again.
A moody, banter-laced, violent, and poetic framed story – Z.B. Steele presents Whispers of the Storm, book one of Song of the Damned.
Review:
Coming into this book, I heard a lot of talk about ZB Steele as an up-and-coming new voice in grimdark fantasy. It’s not talk, he is the real deal. Whispers of the Storm is a book that sets a high standard while thankfully skewed slightly to the left of many others. It takes tropes and genre themes, and twists them sideways, taking the reader to places they expected perhaps, but not the eventual outcome, and throwing in curve balls at just the right time. To some, the ‘school training’ aspect that kicks in after the first ten percent will be off-putting, not because it doesn’t work, but because the world of fantasy has been invaded, perhaps overwhelmed, by this approach. However, Steele’s is essential for you to understand Redlin, the central character and first person POV throughout the story, and his take on how he became the Prisoner, a Reaper, and many other layers of anti-hero. It leads you into his world as he perceives it, and the intention to reveal a society beset by religious indiscretion, fervour and political back-biting in which his personal story evolves, succeeds.
You will both love and hate Redlin. Perhaps recognise your own indiscretions as a teenager, as well as understand that this journey is only just starting, and what is to become will be beset by his own failures as much as success. The losses along the way are all poignant, and heartfelt, though we may not agree with where Redlin draws the line in blood.
Is it perfect? There are times when I felt things were a little rushed in the lead up to some events later in the book. Important encounters were ensconced in superb prose, but skimmed as they built up towards them. Minor and only my personal opinion. Read it, you won’t be disappointed. Simply superb.
Leave a Reply