For many fantasy roleplaying fans, Erik Scott de Bie bounded into the spotlight in 2005 with his first Forgotten Realms novel, Ghostwalker, published by Wizards of the Coast. This gritty fantasy novel, with its dark portrayal of vengeance, was certainly one that explored the boundaries of WotC’s adherence to a PG-13ish rating for its content. Since then, the author has racked up quite a number of Forgotten Realms novels, most notably the Shadowbane series, as well as contributed to the design of a dozen or so Dungeons & Dragons products.
Just this month, Dragon Moon Press released de Bie’s new Shadow of the Winter King, the first novel in his new fantasy series dubbed The World of Ruin. And clearly, the author chose to delve into the darker aspects of fantasy fiction, unfettered by the content restraints of Hasbro’s personal RPG company.
As the novel opens, the main character, Regel, also called the Lord of Tears, contemplates the cold blooded murder of the woman speaking to him from across a table in an inn called the Burned Man. His thoughts are brutal and ruthless, appropriate for a man once called the Shadow of the Winter King – once a spymaster and assassin for the now-dead ruler of the city of Tar Vangr. The woman Regel contemplates murdering by blade, garrote, and other grisly methods, is called Ovelia Dracaris the Bloodbreaker, so called for her own crime of regicide against Regel’s sworn lord. With each new paragraph, the tension and anticipation of violence of this scene is utterly tangible to the Reader – a fitting introduction to a post-apocalyptic fantasy world falling more and more into chaos and corruption.
De Bie’s World of Ruin is the dying remnants of a realm where a great war of magic destroyed a vast shining empire, leaving only a few noble houses to scrabble for the little pieces of civilization left behind. This world is in its “End Times”, and every one of its inhabitants knows it. Resources are depleted, crops and forests are dying in acid rain and snow, and mage-forged marvels, such as cities built in layers upon crystalline glass, are falling apart as corruption spreads across the world. And the Children of Ruin, the barbarians storming cities and leaving nothing but destruction in their wake, are evocative of the gasoline-thieving marauders in the movie The Road Warrior with a touch of the Reavers from the Firefly TV series. Prone to bizarre garb and self-mutilation, these Children have that very corruption which eats at the heart of the World of Ruin as an integral part of them – their souls are gone, and they themselves are just another facet of the spreading Ruin.
This world has many aspects of Steampunk, of a sorts, which might be more properly termed Arcanapunk – that blending of magic and machinery to create “modern” marvels in a medieval age. Airships, powered armor, alchemical mortars and grenades are just some of the marvels found in the World of Ruin, but the secrets of much of that magic-powered-technology were lost in the cataclysmic war between the mages. Now all that remains is “dust” magic, enchantments that are temporary with limited uses, and nothing like the artifacts created in the times before Ruin.
The pacing is a bit slow in the first couple chapters, where the Reader is bombarded by a plethora of unfamiliar terms and jargon lacing every sentence. But once that gets sorted out, de Bie’s choice of vernacular in the World of Ruin transports the Reader to a place tantalizingly familiar, yet still quite alien. Feudalistic politics play a major role in this novel, but the depth and complexity of that landscape among the various cultures, unfolds throughout the entire book in a series of revelations while the characters travel, and in their flashback sequences of memory. The World of Ruin slowly unfolds throughout the novel, revealing multiple layers of convolution – its history, politics, cultures, and customs are presented in a natural progression, so that by the end of this first novel, the Reader comes to truly feel the death-throes of the once-wondrous realm on a visceral level.
The depth and intricacy of the main characters is a main focal point in the novel, and they feel quite dynamic, reinforced by the remembrances and flashback sequences which reveal the tragic events that sculpted their lives and personalities. De Bie’s heroes, and villains for that matter, are unrepentantly Byronic in nature, filled with pathos and flaws which make them so complex and yet driven to redeem themselves. Regel and Ovelia are unlikely co-patriots given their first scenes together, and yet they are driven by honor and vengeance to seek out the mage-slayer Mask, who murdered the Winter King’s daughter – a woman both heroes had sworn to protect and failed. Ovelia is surprisingly tortured by her role of the assassin of the Winter King, and all that transpired since that day - she offers her life to Regel’s retribution once she has avenged herself against Mask. Regel himself is constantly questioning her motives, as well as his own, but gives himself over to the quest hoping for some sort of catharsis. Their proximity to each other during their “final” mission is a source of constant pain for each other, and even the sexual undertones in their relationship are flawed and corrupted, torn by self-loathing on one hand and raging jealousy on the other.
That sense of creeping corruption is an all-pervading force in the World of Ruin, as is demonstrated amply by the author in the many acts of sex and desire in the Shadow of the Winter King. De Bie’s characters use the act of sex more as exploitation for power, information, control, or degradation than as an act of love and affection. This element just adds to the gritty “punkiness” of the novel, and makes the World of Ruin just that much darker in its scope.
Erik Scott de Bie’s Shadow of the Winter King turns into quite a page-turner the deeper the Reader delves into this dark fantasy novel of intrigue, swords, and wizardry, with plenty of plot twists and surprising turns. De Bie’s vivid descriptions continuously draw the Readers onto the next page, with the anticipation of some new insight into the evolving story. And despite the hardness and ruthlessness of the heroes, it becomes easy to empathize with them the more of their backstory is revealed. Even some of the villains evoke a bit of sympathy from time to time, although their acts of profound cruelty and viciousness can wipe that away in a second.
The World of Ruin series is definitely off to an amazing start, a recommended must-read for diehard fans of dark fantasy. Readers of Shadow of the Winter King will almost certainly put down the novel with a longing to read on to the next in the series - high praise indeed for any creative word-smith forging their own new and unique world.
Shadow of the Winter King is available from Amazon.com in both Trade Paperback and Kindle versions.
This Reviewer received an advanced copy of the book in PDF format from which this review was written.
Just this month, Dragon Moon Press released de Bie’s new Shadow of the Winter King, the first novel in his new fantasy series dubbed The World of Ruin. And clearly, the author chose to delve into the darker aspects of fantasy fiction, unfettered by the content restraints of Hasbro’s personal RPG company.As the novel opens, the main character, Regel, also called the Lord of Tears, contemplates the cold blooded murder of the woman speaking to him from across a table in an inn called the Burned Man. His thoughts are brutal and ruthless, appropriate for a man once called the Shadow of the Winter King – once a spymaster and assassin for the now-dead ruler of the city of Tar Vangr. The woman Regel contemplates murdering by blade, garrote, and other grisly methods, is called Ovelia Dracaris the Bloodbreaker, so called for her own crime of regicide against Regel’s sworn lord. With each new paragraph, the tension and anticipation of violence of this scene is utterly tangible to the Reader – a fitting introduction to a post-apocalyptic fantasy world falling more and more into chaos and corruption.
De Bie’s World of Ruin is the dying remnants of a realm where a great war of magic destroyed a vast shining empire, leaving only a few noble houses to scrabble for the little pieces of civilization left behind. This world is in its “End Times”, and every one of its inhabitants knows it. Resources are depleted, crops and forests are dying in acid rain and snow, and mage-forged marvels, such as cities built in layers upon crystalline glass, are falling apart as corruption spreads across the world. And the Children of Ruin, the barbarians storming cities and leaving nothing but destruction in their wake, are evocative of the gasoline-thieving marauders in the movie The Road Warrior with a touch of the Reavers from the Firefly TV series. Prone to bizarre garb and self-mutilation, these Children have that very corruption which eats at the heart of the World of Ruin as an integral part of them – their souls are gone, and they themselves are just another facet of the spreading Ruin.
This world has many aspects of Steampunk, of a sorts, which might be more properly termed Arcanapunk – that blending of magic and machinery to create “modern” marvels in a medieval age. Airships, powered armor, alchemical mortars and grenades are just some of the marvels found in the World of Ruin, but the secrets of much of that magic-powered-technology were lost in the cataclysmic war between the mages. Now all that remains is “dust” magic, enchantments that are temporary with limited uses, and nothing like the artifacts created in the times before Ruin.
The pacing is a bit slow in the first couple chapters, where the Reader is bombarded by a plethora of unfamiliar terms and jargon lacing every sentence. But once that gets sorted out, de Bie’s choice of vernacular in the World of Ruin transports the Reader to a place tantalizingly familiar, yet still quite alien. Feudalistic politics play a major role in this novel, but the depth and complexity of that landscape among the various cultures, unfolds throughout the entire book in a series of revelations while the characters travel, and in their flashback sequences of memory. The World of Ruin slowly unfolds throughout the novel, revealing multiple layers of convolution – its history, politics, cultures, and customs are presented in a natural progression, so that by the end of this first novel, the Reader comes to truly feel the death-throes of the once-wondrous realm on a visceral level.
The depth and intricacy of the main characters is a main focal point in the novel, and they feel quite dynamic, reinforced by the remembrances and flashback sequences which reveal the tragic events that sculpted their lives and personalities. De Bie’s heroes, and villains for that matter, are unrepentantly Byronic in nature, filled with pathos and flaws which make them so complex and yet driven to redeem themselves. Regel and Ovelia are unlikely co-patriots given their first scenes together, and yet they are driven by honor and vengeance to seek out the mage-slayer Mask, who murdered the Winter King’s daughter – a woman both heroes had sworn to protect and failed. Ovelia is surprisingly tortured by her role of the assassin of the Winter King, and all that transpired since that day - she offers her life to Regel’s retribution once she has avenged herself against Mask. Regel himself is constantly questioning her motives, as well as his own, but gives himself over to the quest hoping for some sort of catharsis. Their proximity to each other during their “final” mission is a source of constant pain for each other, and even the sexual undertones in their relationship are flawed and corrupted, torn by self-loathing on one hand and raging jealousy on the other.
That sense of creeping corruption is an all-pervading force in the World of Ruin, as is demonstrated amply by the author in the many acts of sex and desire in the Shadow of the Winter King. De Bie’s characters use the act of sex more as exploitation for power, information, control, or degradation than as an act of love and affection. This element just adds to the gritty “punkiness” of the novel, and makes the World of Ruin just that much darker in its scope.
Erik Scott de Bie’s Shadow of the Winter King turns into quite a page-turner the deeper the Reader delves into this dark fantasy novel of intrigue, swords, and wizardry, with plenty of plot twists and surprising turns. De Bie’s vivid descriptions continuously draw the Readers onto the next page, with the anticipation of some new insight into the evolving story. And despite the hardness and ruthlessness of the heroes, it becomes easy to empathize with them the more of their backstory is revealed. Even some of the villains evoke a bit of sympathy from time to time, although their acts of profound cruelty and viciousness can wipe that away in a second.
The World of Ruin series is definitely off to an amazing start, a recommended must-read for diehard fans of dark fantasy. Readers of Shadow of the Winter King will almost certainly put down the novel with a longing to read on to the next in the series - high praise indeed for any creative word-smith forging their own new and unique world.
Shadow of the Winter King is available from Amazon.com in both Trade Paperback and Kindle versions.
This Reviewer received an advanced copy of the book in PDF format from which this review was written.
