There is something about a nice sunny Sunday afternoon that just demands sitting out and enjoying a good book. The last few lovely weekends have been spent reading and enjoying Mannethorn’s Key by Simon Lindley
Blurb: Slumped over the toilet bowl in his slum apartment, Bart’s high-rolling lifestyle isn’t exactly coming up roses. Alcohol, affairs, and a skill exploited for short-term gain have rewarded him with divorce, bankruptcy, and unemployment.
A world away, a wizard-apprentice confronts a foe as threatening as the once-dominant age of Dragon’s Rule. But to triumph, he will need Bart – a washed-up derivatives broker – plucked from a last-ditch job interview and thrust into a testing ground, where a knight with a penchant for lopping off heads will either groom him for the world beyond or murder him in the process.
Exiled dragon-lords, grass-eating giants, impetuous warriors, troll assassins, ribald dwarfs, evil men, and vengeful women seek to save themselves from a flawed world of failing magic. With hungover Bart at its epicenter, what can possibly go wrong?
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykKjOoLmqOE
Rating: 6/5 (I know that’s not really allowed but some books just deserve the extra point!)
My thoughts: Bart’s life is a mess, unemployed and living in a run down apartment the only relationship he has is with the bottle – not exactly what a hero is made of. A hero is exactly what he needs to become if he’s going to help battle the evil growing in another world.
It took me a couple of chapters to properly settle into this book. I think with fantasy novels set in other worlds you need a bit of time to get to grips with who (or what) the characters are but as I read further I became completely immersed in this fantastical world. There are several story lines running, all of which slowly begin to entwine each one adding to the others.
The characters are a varied bunch, human like and not, good and evil or often a little bit of both, and Bart is our touchstone. The “normal” man trying to understand exactly what is going on while hoping he can find his way back home.
If you’re a fan of fantasy then you will love this book. If you’re not a fan of fantasy just try it anyway, you might well become a fan!
The only thing about this book that was disappointing was getting to the end and realising the next instalment is not yet out!
*Sits waiting patiently for part two*
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