Review Detail

Kemp has sold over a million books. Ever heard of him? He's a shared world author(Forgotten Realms, Star Wars), so if you haven't, that'd probably explain why. 'The Hammer and the Blade' is his first book for Angry Robot Books and is set in a world of his own making.

The book revolves around Egil and Nix a pair of grave robbers. Their the typical bad boy duo with soft hearts. One has a tragic past the other a rags to riches story. There also be beautiful whores, damsels in distress, scarey demons, an evil sorcerer, a few moral dilemmas and there's even a feministic message chucked in there for those who need it. The book starts out with the duo finishing up their latest tomb raiding job and deciding it might be a good time to retire and enjoy their money. Things go badly for them from that point on. Unbeknownst to them, they killed a demon with connections. In brief, said connections "persuade" the duo to come out of retirement, go on a journey through demon infested wastelands and rob another tomb to make up for killing aforementioned demon.

'The Hammer and the Blade' is pretty much a cookie cutter sword and sorcery fantasy book. Which means if done right, it's a fun read, if done wrong, it's a clichéd ridden piece of crap. Sword and Sorcery according to Wikipedia for those of you unsure exactly what the term means(that's me), is defined as "characterized by a strong bias toward fast-paced, action-rich tales set within a quasi-mythical or fantastical framework. Unlike high or epic fantasy, the stakes tend to be personal, the danger confined to the moment of telling." 'The Hammer and the Blade' fits the build and though clichés abound it's written well enough that you just don't care. You just sit back and enjoy the ride.

My ride went like this: mmmm this is good, ahhhh kinda lame, ummmm fak yeah!

My only complaints are that my lovable rougues kinda went all whimpy and kumbaya on me during the middle of the book and the use of fak and shite as expletives. C'mon if you going to have swearing you might as well and go the whole hog!(excluding this review as I wish to demonstrate how lame it is....the language not the review dipshite!)

If you're looking for a light, fun and not to serious read, then this might be a book for you. If not, faking look elsewhere!

This review is based on an eARC received for free through the Angry Robot Book Army program.