| Title | : | Dawn of War (Blood War, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 262 |
| Publication | : | First published July 1, 2011 |
For hundreds of years, the bestial Grol have clawed at the walls of Lathah without success. Now armed with O'hra, mystical weapons of great power, they have returned, to conquer.
Witness to the Grol advance, Arrin can abide his exile no longer. He returns to Lathah, in defiance of death, with hopes to save his beloved princess and the child born of their illicit affair. He finds her unwilling to abandon her people. At her behest, Arrin searches for a sanctuary for them only to be confronted by the Sha'ree, a powerful race long thought gone from the world. Through them, he learns it is not just the Grol that threaten the land.
Empowered by a magic never before seen, the savage nations spread chaos and ruin across the realm. With Lathah under siege, and the world on the brink of cataclysmic war, Arrin must strike a deal with the Sha'ree to take the fight to the Grol, or forever lose his one true love: his family.
Dawn of War (Blood War, #1) Reviews
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Maybe 2.5 stars. A sprawling mess of a fantasy. The narrative jumps between many characters, with only the suggestion that all will be brought together at some point in this volume. (It isn't.) At best this is a 300+ page introduction to the extended story. The characters are more like caricatures of fantasy archetypes. (At least they aren't the usual human, dwarf and elf ripoffs.)
Yes, I understand this is a fantasy, but the moons play an important role in the supposed plot and their physics as described doesn't work. For an apparently earth-sized planet to have two moons, with one in approximately the same orbit (30 day period) as earth's moon, but the other to be closer at least almost as large (because it occludes the distant moon when they come into conjunction and in a polar orbit, simply doesn't work. Not for long. Oh, and the closer moon would necessarily have a much briefer period than the distant moon. Meaning that it would occlude the distant moon several times a month, not once every nine years. (At least Marquitz didn't stoop positing to six-legged mammals.)
That said, it's not a bad story. It's just indistinguishable from the dozens of similar fantasy offerings. -
This is Tim Marquitz's first effort in writing an epic fantasy and as far efforts go, this is a good one. The story opens with one of the main protagonists witnessing the destruction of a city by the Grol. This deeply disturbs him as he sees that there's more to the Grol as they are utilizing weapons which are beyond their ken.
A fast paced, dark epic fantasy from the mind which gave us the Demon Squad series, Dawn Of War is a good book with a lot to look forward to, more to come in FBC review... -
Epic fantasy is a descriptor which gets tossed around a lot but we rarely have any idea what it is. What is epic? The short, not quite Webster's definition, is "big." The events have a huge scope and far-reaching consequences for massive numbers of people.
Oddly enough, I've always felt The Lord of the Rings straddled the line of a fantasy epic and only really became so because we got the perspectives of so many individuals within the Fellowship. It's not just Frodo's view Sam's, Aragorn's, Merry's, Pippin's, Eowyn's, and a half-dozen other characters of varying backgrounds as well as social-classes.
What does this have to do with The Blood War Trilogy? These books are an attempt to analyze a somewhat typical fantasy premise (Orc-like Humanoids and their savage allies invade a Medieval fantasy kingdom) from multiple perspectives so we have a sense of their scope.
Dawn of War begins by giving us the perspective of a border guard in love with a Princess and their doomed romance but moves to a farmer's son, a group of religious tribals, a pair of Not-Quite Elves, the Orc-like Humanoids themselves, some impoverished lower-class citizens, and even a group of 'civilized' members of their race who are disgusted by their kind's behavior.
If you were to do a story about World War One from the perspective of, say, a gentry-born officer then you'd have a very different one from a man recruited from South London. The same for German, French, or Italian troops. That's not even getting into the women, children, and other noncombatants in the story who still might have vitally important stories to tell. The event was huge and impacted countless lives.
These books, basically, try to answer the question, "So, what would Sauron's invasion have looked like to people not in the Fellowship?" Well, not quite, since we get the start of a group of heroes not-too-disimilar from Tolkien's in their own way but a lot of time is spent getting their perspective on the events around them. They are not in control of the story but being swept up in the flow of events and that's an interesting angle to take.
So what is Dawn of War about?
On a purely superficial level, it's about an invasion of the kingdom of Lathah by the Grol who are a bunch of wolfmen who behave in a fashion similar to Tolkien's orcs. The Grol have armed themselves with a bunch of magical items they've (apparently) seized from the Sha'Ree (similar to elves) and have gained an insurmountable military advantage against humanity.
The Grol are irredeemably one-dimensionally evil but Tim Marquitz is smart enough to make it clear it's not because of their race but because of their culture (with the Tolen being another nation of their race which considers them the murderous savages they are). The book follows a variety of characters as they struggle to deal with the horrors of war brought to their borders by a people they can't realistically fight.
As my father was want to say, "war is incredibly heroic in movies but it forgets most people who fight are terrified of getting killed, which can happen at any time and any place." There's more going on, including a conspiracy related to how the Grol got the equivalent of magical V2 rockets, but it's really all about how shocking and terrible all of this is.
The book isn't perfect, Tim Marquitz opens the story with its primary viewpoint character having a long and involved backstory involving a princess explained to us rather than showing it in text, but this is a small quibble over an otherwise excellent book. Once I figured out what he was doing, I became invested in understanding this world and everything going on. War is hell and that includes fantasy war, which the author beautifully brings to life in all its pathos as well as angst.
Also, this book has orc-werewolves, so what's not to like?
9/10 -
Dawn of War is the introduction to Tim Marquitz's epic fantasy Blood War Trilogy. The central plot line involves a race of monstrous creatures known as the Grol. Previously, they had not been a serious threat to the inhabitants of their world, but through the capture of ancient relics, they have newfound power that makes them not only formidable, but almost unbeatable. Arrin, a disgraced warrior from the land of Lathah, goes to warn his people about the dangers that they face, but the prince of Lathah has a hatred for Arrin and ignores him. In years past the Sha'ree, an ancient and powerful race, would have been able to stop the Grol, but the Sha'ree are dying and now members of various races must unite to stop the Grol.
This novel is a distinct departure in terms of tone and style from Marquitz's Demon War series, so much so, that it doesn't even read like the same author. This novel has a more serious tone and tends to be a bit more gritty. The novel has a slow build filled with intrigue from the beginning. The big battle doesn't come until the very end of the novel and the pace is just about right. There is a large ensemble of characters, which was fairly easy to navigate. The various races, which don't fit typical epic fantasy categories, can be a bit unwieldy to keep track of and left me confused from time to time. The characters are well-developed. Despite the flaws of some of the protagonists, they are the kind that you want to root for. The writing is top-notch. As expected with the first entry of a trilogy, nothing is resolved in this novel, but the setup is there for the next book in the series, which I eagerly anticipate reading. A must read for fans of epic fantasy.
Carl Alves - author of Blood Street -
Was going through my "to read" shelf to figure out what to read next and I realized that I completely forgot that I had read this book a few days back already.
I was introduced to this author through the Demon Squad series where I really liked the way the author weaved humor in all his narrations. Was quite intrigued to know how Tim handles a completely different genre.
Unlike the Demon Squad series, this book has quite a serious undertone to it. Although, the story gets predictable at times, but the narration still holds you to it. Where Demon Squad was pure unadulterated entertainment from start to finish, this book does have its ups and downs. While it is really a 3* book for me but considering that Tim has been very generous by letting the readers get a free copy (this is available on Amazon kindle for $0), I think this book definitely deserves a 4*. If you liked Tim's Demon Squad series then this book is definitely a MUST READ!!
Will look forward to reading the next book in the series. -
The Grol, a monstrous race that has long sought to overrun and destroy the fortified city-state of Lathah, now appears to have the mystical weapons they need to do it. Unfortunately, no one in Lathah is willing to believe that the Grol can now succeed where they failed before, and it is up to an exiled, disgraced former royal guard named Arrin to somehow convince them of the threat--or, failing to do that, to find allies to stand with Lathah in its hour of need.
This is the first book in Tim Marquitz's epic Blood War Trilogy, more grim and brutal in tone than you'd find in his Demon Squad series. It's set on a complex world with a lot of layers and twists that held my interest, and more than enough bloody and gruesome battle scenes to give it a very visceral kick. I'm looking forward to seeing how things get worse for the protagonists in the next volume. -
It started if...sort of decent. But then came the wolf people, the cat people, the other race, the other race. The race that got totally wiped out in a day since everyone lived in one city? I do not know maybe they killed off villagers first, I just do not care.
It was about some boring people wandering. That one guy who got the princess preggers were interesting. Of course he was a whiny idiot. His boring kid was boring. The princess was boring. The evil prince was a stereotype of a evil prince. Those wolf people riding to kill off the other bad wolves seemed nice.
It was a mess of too many races, people, no world building. You can not just create a bunch of races and run. Spend some time creating too.
yeah, not for me. I skimmed. If this was not for the joint discussion it would have been a dnf -
Well done. Waiting for the next installment. Lot of characters, all of them likable and fleshed out. I don't read in this genre often, but I enjoyed this story enough to wish the author 'fair winds and following seas' on the journey to completion of the series.
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Here at Fantasy Book Review we have been giving Tim Marquitz quite a bit of love and publicity lately. For good reason too, this guy really knows how to write an entertaining story that appeals to a range of people on a number of different levels. This time around Marquitz has decided to move out of the Urban Fantasy / Horror genre to write epic fantasy, and while the the story is not without a few notable issues, this is his first attempt at the genre and on the whole it is an impressive one.
Dawn of War tells the story of a murderous and violent race called the Grol who have come into possession of some magical artefacts that have finally given them enough power to wage war on the entire world. We get to experience this story through many different viewpoints, from the plethora of characters whose cities and entire races are being threatened by this incursion, through to the monstrous aggressors of this war, and even the powerful race who have been embarrassed by the loss of their magical artefacts and are on a mission to get them back and in the process stop the war. The multiple viewpoints give us many unique insights into this story and do a lot to demonstrate the massive scope of this story, however, these viewpoints are also the source of most issues that I had with the book, in particular the sheer quantity of them.
The prologue and first six chapter contain six unique viewpoint changes, each with their own separate and distinct sub-plot which eventually tie in to the main story. This creates a very steep learning curve at the start of book which is then exacerbated by having 4 – 6 chapters before a viewpoint character is revisited. Unless you read in big chunks it can be quite hard at the start to keep track of every detail as the book progresses, but once you get through chaotic first third of the book, everything settles into a more natural rhythm with viewpoints starting to interweave and with a clear main plot becoming established. It is here where the book really starts to shine, and you can begin to appreciate the depth and breadth that Marquitz is striving to achieve in this story. Unfortunately the viewpoint issues rear their head again as we head towards the final chapters, with the persistent viewpoint rotation taking the reader away from the final battle to explore characters that are not involved.
Viewpoint issues aside, the rest of this book has been constructed to a very high standard that is hard to fault. The characters that Marquitz has created are unique, driven by their own motivations, troubled by some hideous inner demons, but always seem to retain some positive / realistic attitudes that make these characters relatable and interesting to read about. Arrin for me is a favourite character, his whole world view is slanted by a severe case of cynicism and it is fun to see the content of his inner monologues while he is presenting a far different exterior. While Arrin probably meets the definition of chief protagonist, these rest of the characters are far more than just a support cast with their own motivations driving a number of different sub-plots that are just as intricate as the main plot. It creates a story that is driven by both character and plot in equal parts, and introduces many layers of complexity that make this book more than just your stock standard epic fantasy.
Each scene, when treated independently, has been written with skill and finesse with Marquitz showing his trademark flair for writing beautiful yet brutal action sequences. The words just melt off the page with Marquitz achieving a balanced pacing that uses small climactic moments to punctuate some intricate lead up work. While these small climactic moment work great for each individual scene, the overall story seems to lack that big climactic moment, that one scene that wraps up a bunch of sub-plots and leaves you filling fulfilled. I know that this is the first in a trilogy, and the book does a great job of resolving a few plot threads and leaving enough to make you want to read the next book, but it does this by not resolving any of the bigger plot threads and this really impacts on that feeling of satisfaction.
Reading this book creates a bitter-sweet feeling for me. I really liked each individual scene but I just have to wonder what could have been if Marquitz had just managed to get the viewpoint rotation and structure right. While there are a number of plot threads left hanging, this book is obviously trying to establish a solid foundation for the events to come in the rest of the series. There is a lot to like about this book and if you are fan of epic fantasy that has many levels of complexity and takes a more brutal approach to its story telling than most, then you will definitely enjoy Dawn of War. Bring on Book 2. -
As you know I am a big fan of Trig in the demon squad series so I thought it was time to branch out to Tim's fantasy offering. While it would be fair to say that this is very different from demon squad the skill that tells the story is the same and I raced through this book. Sometimes when reading fantasy its all to easy to get bored or distracted from the sotry by how similar it is to other books you have read in the past. I'm glad to say that while I could see some of the roots of this book it is nicely original and with a good cast of characters that have come together quite nicely into a group to stand against the evil.
The world created is really nicely detailed with a nice kick with the influence of shall we call it the evil moon! The magic feels quite natural and quite believable and really the only cliche in this book is the old race that have let dangerous magic fall into the hands of the lesser races, have fallen into decline and now need the help of mortals to sort their mess out for them. The book does not in anyway suffer from that and being fair most fantasy books share some broad themes so if you like fantasy that is well written with good characters and what looks like an interesting storyline across the next few books then I'd recommend you get stuck in.
I'll be hooking myself into the next installment shortly! -
I found this a pretty good fantasy. At first I was concerned that it was going to be a little wordy, a little to verbose for my tastes, but quickly I fell into the story and the words flew by and simply painted a vivid fantasy world and story.
This is a broad tale with a number of threads, plot-lines and characters that come together well toward the end. Well some of them come together, some are still out there waiting... hence the fact that this is a first in a trilogy. So if you expect everything to all come together, well, at to spoil it, but it's not... Not yeat at least.
I found the story interesting and I liked how quickly it kicked off. By the first couple pages the story was running hard.
If you like epic fantasy, different races (as in very different), magic and heros, this might be a book for you... -
Great story! The setting is very interesting, and it's nice to see "non-standard" fantasy races used. The writing style pulls you in pretty quickly. The characters are dynamic, each with their own flaws and unique abilities. I was very disappointed when I found out the next book is not yet available.
One negative thing I will say: be prepared for extreme detail on the gory effect of a battle. At times it was a little much; all the flesh tearing, muscle flapping, bone shattering, blood spurting and eye popping. It doesn't detract from the story or get in the way of what's going on, just sometimes I felt like "Yes, I get it, he's in a battle and has killed a lot of enemy's, and he's covered in it". -
Thanks to Tim sending me a map of the land, I got a handle on this book and loved it. If you like action fantasy this is a great read. Lots of new breeds and lots of magic weapons. This is only the first book, come on Tim Hurry up with the rest.
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kindle freebie. if you typically avoid fantasty because of way too many players or covnaluted linguistics. or. dragons...you may be pleasantly surprised with this book. read it! off to book two soon.
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My review
here. -
Dark (and gory) fantasy with an interesting array of fantasy races, a gripping plot, and a wide variety of engaging characters. Can't wait to find out what happens next!
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This review is based on Audible audio-book version.
This could have been a so much better story than was delivered. On the plus side Marquitz avoids the standard fantasy races for new interpretations which could have lead to an interesting story but for me it fell flat. The world building was poor. At the beginning new characters, races, cities etc. are thrown at you with alarming rapidity that it was hard to initially sort them out and that meant that their role in the story became blurred and difficult to follow. The characters were not of high quality either, the evil prince for example was archetypal evil prince, self serving, arrogant, and ignorant of everything around him and let's his own petty squabbles take on a higher importance than threats to his realm simply because of the person bringing the warning. I didn't feel that the fight scenes were well done, there was no tension and it was difficult to feel connected the way I have with other fantasy battles (for example Adrian Tchaikovsky - Shadows of the Apt).
Alongside all of this was reading by John Pruden. I found this a somewhat tedious monotone, in which it was difficult to tell descriptive passages apart from those that were supposed to full of action or suspense.
Will not be carrying on with this series and will probably steer clear of the narrator as well. -
I almost got into this book. Espeically when I thought something good was going to happen when the exiled guard came back to notify the prince about the Gor. But then the next chapter was about a kid Gomor and it lost me again. I'm sorry for the low rating but if a book can't keep my interest it's not worth finishing.
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🎧📚
Dnf 60% - and I really tried!
Narrated by John Pruden
🌟
First, I liked the cat people 😍
Other than that, this was a jumbled mess.
The narrator might have done the book a disservice.
-and he goes on my No-list (= if a book is narrated by him, I'll skip it). -
Good premise, usual fantasy epic, which I'm fond of. But too wordy, overblown, little character development, too much concentration on people vomiting. And needed better editing.
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Giblets sword play do not a good book make!
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The story idea was good but the actual writing was off for me. The dialogue was a little too stiff and unrealistic.
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Dawn of War is an extremely fitting name for this book, as a massive fight reminiscent of Helm’s Deep (Lord of the Ring reference!) is constantly threatening, and the reader is made aware of its obvious inevitability. Groups from all over the world, made up of a variety of species and races (a la Five Armies), are dealing with their own small scale battles, but our hero winds up combining the lot into one big mess of a war. There are cat people, wolf people, blood-bound companions, beasts that defy description, weird mythical beings, and others that resemble humans in varying levels of likeness. A diverse world is not something you’ll have to worry about if you choose to read the series.
However, in order to have a host of creatures of that magnitude, the “main cast” has to be rather large. There are seven major points of view used in Dawn of War, some of which are obviously connected as the story moves along, others still uncertain even when the book comes to a close. So as to not drone on for ages, I won’t describe them all, but there are a few notes I’d like to make concerning the cast of MCs in the book.
The “hero” of the book is Arrin, and his POV is the one we see most of. Thankfully, his arc is also the most interesting, fleshed out, and impactful. Arrin is an exiled warrior, and has been on his own for 15 years, and is driven by his former love (a princess) but more importantly his child that he’s never known. Marquitz does his best work with Arrin, making him funny and stubborn, fierce but kind, and a badass to boot. I loved his POV.
The other POVs I’ll hit up in quick summaries of my feelings.
The Good: Domor/Jerul – blood-companions with a typical brain/brawn combo respectively but enough humor and badassery (now a word) to make me care about them. Cael – a young kid thrust into the action because he has a special artifact, and one I didn’t care about until a stunt near the end of the book that has me considering him as something more than a tagalong. Warlord Vorrul – awesome bad guy that I’ll get more into later.
The Indifferent: Ellora – young orphan girl with hints that she’s important to others in the main group, but nothing certain yet, and otherwise uninteresting.
The Blah: Sultae – I re-read some of her bits and I still don’t 100% know for sure what she is (possibly one of the mythical Sha’ree beings), and I have no clue what her role is or why I should care. Braelyn – I know about as much of her as I do Sultae, except even less about who she is or why I should want to. She’s a decent fighter and has good endurance, but that’s about all I got.
So, as with many epic fantasy books, especially the first in a series of them, Dawn of War has some hits, and some pretty rough misses with its characters. However, one area where it succeeds while others have failed is making a truly intriguing “bad guy” force. These guys are fierce werewolf-esque monstrosities, but the leaders among them, particularly the aforementioned Warlord Vorrul, are extremely cunning and tactical in their efforts. Sure, these guys eat their victims, and can be mindless hordes at times, but when necessary they are as swift and efficient as a Roman army. Werewolves, with the fangs and claws of beasts, but able to use swords and other weaponry, and eventually even scarier attacking powers? Sign me up!
The world Marquitz created is rich and detailed, vast and foreboding, dark yet stunning in its vibrancy. I wouldn’t want to live in much of it, but his descriptions are spot on when creating every scene. Lush forests, treacherous deserts, forsaken deadlands, and sprawling cities. Dawn of War has something for everyone.
The action in the book is also a plus, though there are a few lulls, which I actually found beneficial to give my brain a chance to catch up. The only issue I have with the pacing is the interruptions by POVs I didn’t care about. Sultae and Braelyn each had adventures and discoveries, but neither of them made me compelled to find out more. I just wanted to get back to Arrin and all the craziness surrounding his arc. Those characters felt like throwaways, and while I have no doubt their significance will be explained in later books, in this one they messed up the immersion a bit.
Overall, Dawn of War is a strong book one to an epic fantasy series. I’m interested enough that I might read the rest to see what happens and how different arcs develop, especially with how some intertwined late in this book. If you want something that feels like a darker LotR meets a Stephen King novel, than this series could be for you. It’s not up to the standards of those references just yet, but it is solid in its own right. -
I was a big fan of the authors Demon Squad books, as well as his other work, so When I had a chance to listen to this one, I jumped at it. I can't say enough good things about it It is a sprawling world, With multiple different original races, Magic that is rare enough that when it's used, it is a shock to the characters, and fully fleshed characters with actual motivations that make sense. The main character, Arrin, a disgraced guardsman exiled after an illicit affair with his charge, The Princess of Lathah, which resulted in a child. He has no plans to return, until he witnesses the bestial Grol (think beast form werewolves), destroy a city a few days away from Lathah. He knows he must warn the city, even if it means his death, to ensure that his love and their child can escape. The story only takes off from there. There are other story lines, leading a diverse group of characters to meet with members of the worlds elder race, long thought dead, who themselves are declining due to magic that has become poisonous to them. If this sounds intriguing, believe me, it is, and only got better as the story progressed. The characters are rich, fully fleshed out people, with realistic motivations, who are trying to survive in a world gone mad, or are the ones trying to make it go mad, in the case of the villains. The magic of the world is mostly invested in items, except for the elder race, who can personally wield magic, which is slowly killing them. This book should appeal to any fan of Mark Barnes Echoes of Empire books, or any fan of sprawling epic fantasy. I listened to this at 1 1/4 speed, since John Pruden's narration seems to have longer pauses in it, and this made it much more enjoyable. That's just a preference thing, though. I can't wait to get to book 2 of the series.
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Fantasy covers a broad spectrum. You have high (Wheel of Time) and low (much of Memory, Sorrow & Thorn), lighthearted (The Hobbit), dark (Imajica), sci-fi mixes (Coldfire Trilogy) and so on. Some fantasy is so epic as to define the genre (King Arthur, Lord of the Rings). Some is interesting but doesn’t go anywhere (Dance of the Rings). And some is kind of fun but forgettable — such as Dawn of War.
Marquitz has an interesting premise. He’s got an interesting world with a comatose goddess and twin moons that cause all rivers, lakes, oceans, etc to boil every so often. He’s got some cool magical artifacts and a number of diverse characters. Add it all together and what do you get?
A fairly flat story.
Part of it’s the writing style. Marquitz tries to be a little too flowery at times. Instead of clever, however, it came across as annoying most of the time. Another problem is the scope. Admittedly, Blood War is a trilogy, which allows for some expansive writing. Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is a good example of how this can work very well. But Dawn of War feels like it lacks focus. It’s broad instead of deep. I think the story could benefit from scaling back. Pick a few of the best nations — human and non-human — and focus on those. Most of the rest are so sketchy and similar as to run together anyway. The same goes for individual characters. This is an approach that worked fairly well for Wizards First Rule.
I picked up Dawn of War free on my Kindle. If the other two came free, I might read those, too.
If I can remember to look. -
I got this book for free, and I try to approach those books with an unbiased nature.
Pros: As far as epic fantasy goes, this book hits all the marks. Likeable characters, dislikeable characters, drama, and just enough to leave you hanging are all good points. I like the hanging points the author leaves you with, and I found all the characters enjoyable, from the lowest supporting character to the ones that were supposed to be more "prominent". It was engaging, and kept you interested from page 1 to the end. That being said, there were some cons.
Cons: At the beginning of the novel, I was confused as to what was going on - the author didn't do a whole lot to explain the world, or the types of people that lived there, unless you were actively reading the chapter about that character, and even then it sometimes left you hanging. that, really, the confusion between what the background was and where exactly the characters were in relation to everything, etc, is the primary reason I couldn't give this 5 stars. I think a map in the front, or a glossary, or both, would have done it justice. -
Interesting book and good read. At first, the setting and world seem almost childish with different types of animal-featured people living in neighboring kingdoms, but with little interaction. But it turns out to be much richer than it initially seemed and brought up some interesting situations. I particularly liked how some of the non-warrior races keep their kingdoms from getting repeatedly raided. It starts out with several different viewpoints which helps introduce the setting, but most of the characters eventually met up to form a band. The backstory is revealed to be much deeper, with a dwindling race that used to have massive amounts of magical power. Making the setting realistic with the different races/species in different kingdoms was a difficult task, but the author did an excellent job. I didn't totally like the main character, he is a bit of jerk and blowhard, but I connected with many of the secondary characters. I look forward to finishing this series.
*I won this book from the author on a Bastard's Books Blog giveaway.
