The Ant-Man of Malfen (The Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf, #1) by Derek Prior

The Ant-Man of Malfen (The Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf, #1) Reviews

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  Bookwraiths

  Originally reviewed at
  Bookwraiths Reviews
  
  The Ant-Man of Malfen (Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf #1) is a novella that doesn’t put on any pretensions about what it is. Nope, this is a sword and sorcery extravaganza that throws you right into the action, casts you adrift in a complex world, beguiles you with twists and turns, makes you chuckle with dark humor, and never lets you get off its entertaining roller coaster ride. This story is gritty! It’s blood-soaked! Yet, somehow, it is also insightful and fun!
  
  For those new to D.P. Prior’s world, the Nameless Dwarf is a character from his indie masterpiece Shader. In the concluding volume of that trilogy, readers are introduced to a manic-depressive dwarf who succumbed to the vile enchantment of a cursed axe, committed genocide of his own kind, and was rotting in prison for his deeds until Deacon Shader rescues him. But even painted as black as any villain, Nameless shone on the pages of The Unweaving, becoming a character of such ferocity, bravery, innate goodness, and dark humor that he instantly became a favorite of readers. And so he now has his own series!
  
  In novella one, Nameless is desperately following the trail of the remaining dwarves, hoping to save them from the fate they are running toward. But he realizes that they won’t listen to his warning. No, he must find a way to prove to them (and himself) that he is a changed dwarf – someone who can be trusted, not feared. And so, he doggedly trails behind his people to the cusp of Qlippoth, the land of nightmares, ready to do anything to prove himself to them and save them – including confronting a horror from the ancient times of Aether (world of the dreaming, as it’s known in Shader.) The Ant-Man as the legends name him is a huge, half-man and half-ant creature that rules over an army of giant ants and has established himself as the brigade lord of the town of Malfen: the gateway to Qlippoth, and no one has ever returned from confronting him!
  
  There are lots of things to love about this novella. Where to begin, where to begin.
  
  Naturally – since this is sword and sorcery – there are battle scenes galore. Punches are thrown; noses get crunched; blades are drawn; blood is splattered; and lots of people and creatures die! And the king of this battlefield is the Nameless Dwarf, whose mighty axe wreaks havoc on his enemies even while he sings randy, dwarven songs. Of course, he basically starts most of the fights with his insults and taunting and jokes at his enemies expense, but once the combat starts, Nameless’ ass definitely pays off the checks his mouth has written.
  
  In between the fights, Mr. Prior does some amazing characterization with Nameless, turning this genocidal murderer into a person that you not only begin to feel sympathetic for but also to like. No doubt, the scheming characters who might have had a hand in Nameless’ descent into madness help this feeling, but as so many other reviewers are fond of saying, there are no black or white characters, just real people with motives and beliefs that lead them to do horrible things. And this description fits Nameless perfectly, as he slowly becomes someone you can rout for yet still revile his past actions.
  
  And finally, the world building of Aether, the world of the dreaming, is really amazing. In such a short novella, Mr. Prior is able to seamlessly show the depth of history and wonders of this fully realized world that was introduced in The Unweaving. Reading through this story will merely whet your appetite to learn more about this inventive and colorful world of magic, science, and gods.
  
  While I realize that The Ant-Man of Malfen title might seem silly, I can’t express enough how entertaining this novella is. Other reviewers have compared Nameless’ adventures to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Lieber, but I can’t do that, having never read those classic stories. What I can compare it to is the Robert E. Howard Conan stories and the sword and sorcery epics of Michael Moorcock, where amazing characters swept their mighty weapons through countless hordes as they attempted to find their way in the world, thwart a vile sorcerer, or save themselves from a horrible fate. That is the type of story that The Ant-Man of Malfen is, and anyone who enjoys those types of fantasy adventures should really try this one out.
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  Montzalee Wittmann

  A Dwarf With No Name (Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf #1) or The Ant-Man of Malfen by D.P. Prior has the Nameless dwarf traveling to his fellow dwarves but along the way he encounters lots of trouble. This book he battles ant men. Doesn't sound scary? Wait til you read about them! Great action, battles, and plot. Great characters and dialogue. Getting to feel like I know these characters and traveling along with them but I will let them fight, lol.
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  Chris Salch

  Very well written! The world of the Nameless dwarf has a great deal of depth and richness to it. Reading through this story has made me want to go hunt down other books in the Nameless Dwarf series just to explore the world Prior has put together. The forward also struck a cord with me as I've done a bit of role playing on in the past and often wondered about writing something based on an old character. One thing I will say for Prior, he is very good at describing combat and his Nameless dwarf does "Kill. A lot." If you're a fan of dungeon crawling definitely get a copy of this book.
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  Melinda

  StoriWith tongue firmly planted in cheek, the author starts off with a bang and never looks back. This is one of a series of stories about a Nameless Dwarf and you cant help but fall in love with him. The characterization of the dwarf and his companions is lush and complex, the wordsmithing beautifully targeted to achieve the proper feel and tone for each sentence, paragraph and scene. The plot is tight, the pacing never lets up and the vocabulary is spot on for each circumstance. There is humor here too - a black kind of humor that makes you laugh and smile and shake your head and sometimes groan, but it is definitely funny.
  
  I can't decide whether my favorite parts were the battle scenes or the scenes other bits in between the battles. Nobady can write a battle scene like Prior - especially with blades and edged weapons. With limbs flying, blood spraying, blades stabbing and noses crunching, you also get your everyday, run-of-the-mill bites, kicks, punches, cuts, scrapes, abrasions and contusions. Ambercrombie comes close, K. J. Parker too. The Nameless Dwarf wreaks havoc on uncounted enemies with his double-bladed axe and a randy tavern song on his lips, be they interfering thugs, arrogant wizards, beautiful assassins, gigantic ant-men and even just gigantic ants. He's always happy to be startin' somethin'. He'll taunt them 'til they attack. No matter how big, no matter how tall everyone is fair meat for taking. His partners in crime help out sometimes, but Nameless is the star attraction.
  
  In between those times when Nameless is killing everything that breaths, you get some lush worldbuilding and character development of Nameless and his ever increasing set of companions who are in the world of Aethir - the world of dreaming. Nameless has done unspeakable things in the past under influence of an evil axe. Now to atone, all he wants is to save his people, the dwarves , from the fate they are running to, the fate that will kill them. He is a changed man. So he follows the dwarves to Qlippoth, the land of nightmares to save them and send them back home once again. Qlippoth, of course, can kill him too, but not caring he charges ahead to atone for his deeds. Prior makes you not only love Nameless, but feel protective over him and deeply sympathetic to his plight - there are many scheming characters here who crossover from Prior's other series - like Aristideus - who is up to his neck in this evil axe business. No telling what his real motivation was at this point, he's just back there pulling strings as usual.
  
  Even though it has a silly title, the Ant-man of Malfen is so excellent, so Fafhrd and the Mouser type good - you remember those stories by Fritz Lieber, that you have to read at least three of these Nameless Dwarf stories to appreciate how absolutely fantastic they are. I would recommend these stories to people who like adventure and a thumping good read. You don't even have to appreciate fantasy, just appreciate a well written story by a storyteller of the first degree. You can't go wrong here!
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  Thomas Edmund

  Not being familiar with the world, I wasn't too sure what I was going to get myself into with this novella. Prior provides a helpful foreword introducing Nameless - a dwarf supertank whose origins lie in the early role-playing games of this author's youth.
  
  Its probably a no-brainer to point out this is fantasy adventure at its most pure. In a short novella Prior packs in a massiva amount of world-building and history, and despite the actual story being fairly basic (hey it is a novella after all) the characters have just enough depth to remain interesting and tempt one to continue following the Nameless Dwarf...
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  Stewart

  I give this four stars for two reasons. The first is that this is too short and the nameless dwarf is awesome. Really though, I gave it four because of all the names and places in it. By that I mean I felt a little bogged down with all of them. Not necessarily in a bad way, and there is a glossary in the back, it was just kind of hard to keep up. Otherwise this was really good and I am going to find more of this nameless dwarf.
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  Doug Ward

  I really liked this book!!!  Nameless is an intriguing character. It is del edited. If you like fantasy give this one a try.  WARNING!!!  I am a little hooked so I am off right now to buy the next in the series. The only con I can find is that I really wish it was just a longer novel. I tend to burn out early on serials. I have to add a new note. I just purchased THE NAMELESS DWARF which contains all the books. Now I don't have to fear the burnout. So happy now!!!!!
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  Scott Collins

  Pretty solid fantasy read in my opinion. There's a lot of back story that I'd like clarity on, but as a quick jump into the action to hook me into the story, great job. I like the twists in the story, the dark past of Nameless (and I love that others call him Nameless). It's gritty, it's exciting, it's funny. I'd recommend it for the teen and up set.
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  Oscar

  Great novella
  
  This is a wonderful and fast read about a dwarf with no name. This is your basic fantasy about a dwarf on a mission and the people that he meets. Great beginning to what I hope to be an enjoyable series.
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  Moses Siregar III

  Great character (the nameless dwarf), great language skills from the author, great fantasy world-building. This is worth a read, and it seems to be listed for free now.
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  Terry

  Not bad. It was too short though. Reading book two.
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  Chuck

  Short book, but fun!
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  Gerald Black

  A rollicking ride but a bit short
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  Flurries

  Excellent entry to the series
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  Michael Kelly

  A fairly short novella, first in 'The Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf', which does a good job of introducing its main character and supporting cast in a solid but straightforward fantasy yarn.
  
  The Dwarf is nameless as his name was stripped from him by his own people for his behaviour. He further made the social faux pas of slaughtering many of them while possessed by a cursed axe. The remaining Dwarfs fled in the most dangerous direction possible. Now Nameless has set out - freed from the curse - to save the surviving Dwarfs if he can. He shaves off his hair and beard in contrition and follows on their trail.
  
  There follows much ultra-violence against a wizard and his lackeys, then against the titular Ant-Man, a mutant hybrid who controls the only route into the cursed land the Dwarfs have led to.
  
  It's a very easy and entertaining read, with lots of hacking and slashing and a little touch of humour. Very satisfying.
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  Christopher Ainsworth

  A decent start to a series, likeable characters, contant looming or direct peril. Place names tend to scramble the brain somewhat with names like "Qippoth" and others that have already skipped my brain due to their oddess, does make it a bit a problem getting the lay of the land. A story of a hero (possibly) with a dark past not even he knows on a quest of atonement, battling not onlythe forces arrayed against him but his own personal demons. Gritty and grim with well written fight scenes, I'll seriously consider picking up the rest of the series.
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  Sue

  I had a somewhat difficult time with the language of this book to begin with, but as I read along it seemed to get a little easier. Had I already read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it might have been a little easier. Of course, the language (names of characters and places specifically) would be different in both books, but it does take a little practice to get used to those things. Otherwise, it was all right. I bought this as a package, so I will continue on with the others in the series.
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  Catherine Vickers

  Great little story, though too much going on for a small book, so I got a little confused at times. A little on the gruesome side, but only a wee bit.
  
  Characters come together in their own little quests, for a big finale. Great characters portraying as I liked them all. Big baddie is bit of a monster, but he's not in it much.
  
  Loved the ending. It just seemed right though it also seemed a little rushed.
  
  If you love dwarves, as I do, then this story is for you.
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  Seth Tucker

  A great start. This is a very quick read but is well worth it. A sword in sorcery piece that hints at greater mysteries yet to come. A fun read for those who like their fantasy not too heavy.
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  D

  - Quote: “Little men often carry big ideas of who they are,”
  - Thoughts: An overpowered ass-kicking dwarf, a wannabe son of a rogue, an apprentice magician with a book of darker than dark magic and an assassin shapeshifter girl that of course has been paid to kill the dwarf. I bet playing Dungeons and Dragons with Mr. Prior is nevet dull.
  ▶◀
  These are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it.
  Book Storyline
  - Originality: 5/5 stars
  - Development: 4/5 stars
  - Enjoyment: 4/5 stars
  - Writing stile: 4/5 stars
  - Funnyness: 2/5 stars
  - Epicness: 2/5 stars
  - Scaryness: 1/5 stars
  - Smartness: 2/5 stars
  - Addictiveness: 3/5 stars
  - Plot twists: 1/5 stars
  - Pace: 3/5 stars
  - Storyline planning: 3/5 stars
  - Ending: 3/5 stars
  - Holes: 2/5 negative stars
  - Self contained (Y/N): ✓
  - Cliffhanger (Y/N): ×
  - Adult (Y/N): ×
  - Mystery (Y/N): ×
  - Treasure Hunting (Y/N): ×
  - Violence level: Torture and death
  - Tech level: Axes and spells
  - Religion level: Some sacred texts and sacred stuff are mentioned.
  - Main genre: Sword and Sorcery
  - Subgenre: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons
  - Point of view: Alternating chapters between the main party characters
  - Best of it: Hack and slash rpg atmosphere
  - Worst of it: It seens the author is rewriting the story
  - Aftertaste: Mead and beer, like any dwarf
  Cover
  
  
  - Quality: 3/5 stars
  - Traces: 4/5 stars
  - Colors: 3/5 stars
  - Style: 4/5 stars
  - In a few words: Old school Fantasy and DnD style, thumbs up!
  World
  This story is a little too short to give anything but a passing glance in the world of the Nameless Dwarf, it's a very rich world with lots of deepness, but it's not much explored here.
  - Originality: 4/5 stars
  - Variety: 2/5 stars
  - Consistency: 4/5 stars
  - Impact on the story: 3/5 stars
  - Maps: -/5 stars
  - Fantasy world (Y/N): ✓
  Setting
  - Setting overall score: 4/5 Stars
  - Tension: 3/5 Stars
  - Atmosphere: 2/5 Stars
  - Uncommon enemy boss: ✓
  - Dwarfs: ✓
  - Axes: ✓
  - Hippie elves: ×
  Characters
  A nice party setting for this and the following books, stereotype characters that manage to break convention.
  - Consistency: 4/5 stars
  - Connection: 3/5 stars
  - Dialogs: 3/5 Stars
  - Interactions: 3/5 Stars
  - Underworld Crew (✓/×): ×
  - Training (✓/×): ×
  - Notable best characters: Nameless, the ant-man
  - Notable worse characters: Nils
  Series Storyline
  - Probability that I'll read the next book sometime: Already read the next one
  - Can be read as a standalone (✓/×): ✓
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  Tristan

  This novella is a rather generic Dungeons & Dragons inspired fantasy adventure, detailing the gathering of a company of trope-heavy characters through a few battles with baddies. It’s well enough done, somewhat predictable and skippable, with way too many POVs and way too much backstory and lore, leading to endless exposition. Definitely a case of trying too hard to shove in as many legends of evil lords, tragic events, and convoluted origin stories as possible. Sometimes less is more, especially when there’s precious little story in this episode. Not sure I’d seek out the rest of the series.
  
  This novella is a freebie, published and republished under many guises and titles, so I might have read it before … hard to tell.
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  Burns

  Excellent read this is how a series is to start, Just enough loose ends to make sure you get the next in the series but not too much so you lose interest, excellent
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  Suzie Quint

  
  
  Included in
  Dark Matter & Dragons
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  J

  Grimy.
  The setting, the characters, the dialogue, and the narrative. It's grimy.
  Not necessarily in a bad way. It's done that way on purpose and quite well.
  
  It feels like an episode out of the sort of cheesy over the top action series that one might enjoy to chuckle at on occasion when they are flipping through channels in search of some raucous destruction.
  There is very little in the way of thematic development and so there really is no message or greater meaning to find. It's just fun--a gore-laden, roaming badass, punch-them-all-in-the-face sorta fun.
  
  It's not badly written and actually is rather enjoyable for what it is.
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  Derek Prior

  Nameless is a manic-depressive pariah whose past is littered with atrocities. With an almost elemental ferocity and a gift for violence, Nameless alternates between bouts of crippling depression and boisterous episodes of elation, which are usually brought on by the prospect of a good fight. He also has an eye for the women - particularly those under four feet tall.
  
  This story also introduces Silas Thrall, a student of the mantic arts with a dark secret that consumes him more each day; and Nils Fargin, son of the most feared guildmaster in New Jerusalem.
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  Arwen

  Since I read all of these back-to-back I’m going to just do one review for all of the books. This series felt like the author put all every conceivable science fiction, fantasy and horror troupe into a bag and just started pulling stuff out. Lets see an um Dwarf, next an Ant-Man, zombies, a cyclops, oh and here’s a Biblical reference to Jonah. Then lets also have a changeling, a novice wizard and a helpless but good-hearted boy. Out of a blender and onto the pages of your Kindle. Entertaining, but not amazing.
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  Gen Giggles

  This book was boring. I could hardly finish it. Prior spent far to much time describing the world and far to little on character development or action. Hell the title should have been a clue, he renamed it Nameless Dwarf Book 1: The Dwarf With No Name should have seen the horrible pacing and lack of action coming a mile away. But like a sucker I tried it any way.
  
  Don't make my mistake.
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  Shawn Fairweather

  Pretty generic on most fronts, a plus because it was free however. The story is a very fast novella to read which gave the impression that it was taken out of a larger piece rather than being stand alone. I would have prefered a little more development rather than racing through the story.