#BlogTour ‘Hammer Of Fate’ by GN Gudgion

About the book…

“No surrender. No retreat.”

With twenty enemy swords at their backs and a broken bridge ahead, the last knights of an outlaw order turn to fight. A young woman with forbidden magic joins their final stand. And as blade meets blade, she starts to sing…

Adelais was raised in the far north, learning stories of the old gods and the skill of weaving runes into magic. Now, she is locked in a convent far from home, forced to kneel to a foreign god.

When inquisitors arrive with plans to torture an innocent man, Adelais cannot stand by. She aids an attack to free the prisoner and joins the raiders as they flee into the night.

Her new companions are the last of the Guardians—once a powerful holy order, now ragged fugitives, hunted almost to extinction.

The knights carry a secret treasure, precious and powerful enough to shape kingdoms. Their pursuers, desperate to possess it, will crush any who stand in their way.

Nowhere is safe—in city or chateau, on the road or in the wilds. And even disguised as a boy, Adelais draws attention wherever she goes. Is she angel or demon, priestess or witch?

Adelais must summon all her courage and all her memories of the old gods’ magic as the noose tightens around her and a thunderous final reckoning approaches.

Discover a thrilling new series, with a rich world and action that will leave you breathless. Hammer of Fate is inspired by Viking magic, medieval combat and the fall of the Templar knights—perfect for fans of Mark Lawrence, Andrzej Sapkowski and Robin Hobb.

Published by Second Sky Books, ‘Hammer Of Fate’ is available in paperback, I received my e-arc by kind permission of the publishers in return for an honest review.

In view of that, I have to admit to being an older reader who struggles with e-books, I prefer a paperback with family trees and maps in so I can flip back to see where I am going, in terms of who is belonging to whom, and how far such a place is away from another place and so on. This is particularly the case in fantasy novels, I love to be swept away to other lands, explore other mythologies and situations, there is no greater a gift that an author can give to a reader than to whisk them away from the day to day ness of reality, and place them amongst mountains, wolves, and nefarious schemes hatched in darkened corners…

Does GN Gudgion do this? In this opening volume, does he manage to establish a world far removed from our own, with a culture, society and political hierarchies, which invites the reader to step aboard, for the wildest of rides?

Yes, dear reader, yes he does.

We have a runaway from a convent of evil, powerful nuns, hiding the talismans of her clans for fear she will be accused of being a witch.

We have the son of a disgraced knight, hiding in plain sight whilst believing his bloodline has been destroyed.

We have an evil king who takes the second son of all royal families to become his knights , known as Guardians, along with a tithe of gold, who has ordered all of these knights to be killed, in order to avoid paying the gold debt back. These knights, the best of the best, are decimated and tortured, burnt to death in a public exhibition of power, leaving the citizens of this world in no doubt who sits on the throne wields the ultimate power.

We have a  revenge plot, a religious sect who could be friend or foe, ancient magic about to raise its eerie spectre again, gods and old ways battling with the new regime.

All of this is cocooned within a well realised landscape of castles, keeps, roads, cities, citadels, islands and so much more, where danger, infamy , and rebellion all mingle to create a tense and uncertain atmosphere-are the good guys those in white robes? Who can our protagonists, Adelais and Guy trust?

The book starts out fast from the blocks with a mysterious prisoner being transported in the back of a wagon, chained up, -for his benefit or that of others?-and an attack trying to kill him, witnessed by noviciate Adelais, which is the fulcrum on which the story is balanced. Who, what and where this is happening are all questions both the reader and Adelais are asking, so you are immediately thrown into the action, before being introduced, through Adelais’ eyes, to the ‘them versus us’ society . She represents a Norse/Viking perspective which is ‘othered’ and her alliances are more or less beaten out of her, in order to make her the perfect ‘bride’ of the one god.

Malory, another protagonist and priest, represents the ‘Christian’ aspect of Hammer’s culture, seeing the old ways, of Adelais as a temptation and wrong. Guy is the secular lead, showing how the convergence of state and church, old ways and new , can potentially work for the benefit of all -if he lives long enough to survive that is…

Nobility, unflinching fealty to an overarching regime and blind faith are all aspects of the story which is engagingly told, through well realised battle scenes and alliances. Who will prevail? Will Adelais and Guy realise what they need to do to stake their claim to their born inheritance? What side will Malory take in all of this?

The conflict is real, human , and therefore not easily resolved, leaving room for the characters and story to grow in future volumes whilst providing the reader with a fully rounded reading experience during ‘Hammer’. With a grim future facing them, and backs truly against the wall, you have to know what you are fighting for before you lay your life in the line for a false prophecy…

I found this a book which I had to go back and forth in to check who was who on occasion, but as I eased myself into the story and stopped trying to remember every single name, the book flowed effortlessly from page to brain. I really cannot wait to see what happens in book 2!

About the author…

G.N. Gudgion (‘Geoff’) grew up with his nose in a book, often one featuring knights in armour. A later search for stories where women didn’t have to be either beautiful damsels or witches led him to the fantasy genre and the works of Guy Gavriel Kay and Mark Lawrence.

After Geoff gave up a business career to write, it was natural to gravitate to historical fantasy, to stories with complex, conflicted characters that a reader can bleed with, cry for, and perhaps fall in love with. They live in worlds where you can smell the sweat and the sewers, as well as the roses.

Geoff lives in a leafy corner of England, where he’s a keen amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist. He spends much of his time crafting words in a shed, fifty yards and five hundred years from his house.

He is also the author, as Geoffrey Gudgion, of supernatural thrillers ‘Saxon’s Bane’ (Solaris, 2020) and Draca (Unbound, 2020)

Links-http://geoffreygudgion.com/

Twitter @geoffreygudgion @SecondSkyBooks