Assassin: A Dark Epic Fantasy Novel (Darkblade) Paperback – 9 Aug. 2021

Absolutely loved this book. Lots of twists and turns plus tremendously well described battles! I felt as though I was there. Can’t wait to start the second in this series.

Seems to be a good read, I am unsure of the content, enjoying the first quarter of the book.I will reserve my judgement until fully read.

I picked up this rather chunky tome with quite high expectations and I am pleased to say it did not disappoint. The opening scene is action-packed and the story doesn’t much let up from there because it sets off a house of cards type chain of events that takes not just the Hunter of Voramis on a ride but the reader as well.If you like your dark fantasy… well…dark. And, if you love Diehard’esc none stop action only harder with more blood, more deaths than Attila the Hun and more twists than a curly whirly then this might just be the book you are looking for.The story is set entirely within the city of Voramis whose underworld is ruled by the Bloody Hand, and they’re not even the worst crooks (okay, they are the worst but the nobility is not far behind). The city is well-imagined and the descriptive narrative paints it in all its glorious filth, squalor and splendour. You can almost smell it. In fact, smell is often used to expand on each location and, most intriguingly is one of the protagonist’s most used senses. I liked the scent profile the Hunter had for literally everyone he came across, wonderful and imaginative. So many books of all genres talk to the eyes and ears but not many to the nose.So what is it all about I hear you say? Enter stage right, The Hunter of Voramis.The Hunter does not know what he is and lives with so many faces it is hard to get a read on him except to say that it is clear, pretty much early doors, he is not entirely human. He does not know his name, how long he has lived or where he is from, just that he came to Voramis many decades ago. Oh, and he is kind of immortal maybe, possibly. I say kind of because he heals from wounds that would kill any ordinary person, and quickly. Though that said, he is not without his kryptonite and in The Hunter’s case, his kryptonite is much more readily available than Superman’s bane. I could argue, justifiably, that it is right up there with vampires and sunlight. I found this to be a massive flaw and one that could be easily exploited which is great because it creates tension the story would otherwise have lacked. After all, an indestructible superhuman is not much fun now, is it?But that is not all. Very cleverly (in my mind at least), it could be said the Hunter has another weakness only you’ll have to read the book to figure it out for yourself. But I liked this ‘frailty’ because it could also be argued it gave him his strength. I mean comeon, if you’re not intrigued by now why are you still reading this…yeah, I know, I have a point, that’s why I said it.I dither, so, back to Voramis and our story’s beginning where the Hunter has forged a name for himself as the ultimate assassin. He fears no one and nothing. Until that is he takes a commission for a job that sets him against the Bloody Hand.I will say that despite the action sequences that play out early on I did get a feeling of, so what? It felt like wacko-mole. Bad dudes popped their heads up and the Hunter would lop them off but then, there was a change and little twists and turns started to wriggle and worm into the story until the undercurrent subtly swept me under and the narrative became so much more.Overall a remorseless, brooding and menacing tale. The Hunter is pretty hardcore but tantalisingly not always. As ever, if you like the sound of all this or if you are still not sure, then have a read of Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’ feature and read the first chapter. That will give you a real feel for what is to come.

Both the start of the book and ending are, for the most part, great.Characters, other than Hunter himself, are barely developed. It's his story throughout, so it suffers when it comes to others. He gets all the time of the book and is great characters, with lots of flaws and far from perfect hero.Combat is top notch. If there's one thing author does well, it's fast paced combat. Incredibly well written and I enjoyed it.The problems arise in both middle part of the book, as well as near ending, with too many words.I know it sounds silly to say that for a book, so let me explain: author does not know when to stop. When enough is enough.So there may be 20 pages in a row of same thing happening.Hunter experiencing certain emotion? Repeated ad nauseum.Hunter stalking someone? Expect 10 pages of buildings detailed.While something like that would be great short montage in tv show or a movie, in a book, it's just a big pile of nothing.Not to spoil the end, but near the ending author pulls certain things out of his hat that were never mentioned or hinted throughout the book, which adds tons of pages just before final confrontation. Completely unnecessary and ruins otherwise really good finale.I am really glad to see next book in series has whooping 360 pages less (600 compared to 966 of Assassin) because there was a lot that could have been trimmed down without losing anything.

What these 3 books encompassed,had covered every base for fantasy,mystery thrill seekers everywhere. So much depth,so much action. Superbly written. I have read exceedingly great books but this I do think goes beyond. Its almost an ancient believable history wrapped around some great characters. I am so glad this trilogy is not the end for The Hunter.

Thoroughly enjoyed this story. I loved the villan/hero take, and was caught up and felt emotional by the deaths of those he loved and felt a connectedness with the feeling of isolation he felt.It was refreshing to have him not easily win all his battles, which I find happens in a lot of books I read.Overall a very enjoyable read would definitely recommend 👌