An afterlife under threat. A reborn Prophet in peril.A ragtag band of faithful Knights, grumpy Nomads, mad Wizards and corrupt Corsairs on a death-defying quest to rescue him. Will swords and sorcery prove enough?A Dwarvic city buried in the desert, the site of an ancient tyranny. Mutants and Demons abound.The dead walk again.And the God of the Nether waits patiently for all the souls to be his … the souls to be his …
The year is 311 AC. Welcome to Maradoum.
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**** SPOILER ALERT ****
“A Dead Wizard’s Dream” is a well written story. The author does a superb task of world building and character development.
This tale has it all.
Wizards, Check!
Prophets, Check!
Valorous knights, Check!
Gods, Check!
Capable barbarians, Check!
Terrible Evil Villains, Check!
Zombies, wait, Zombies?? Check and CHECK!!
YES! ZOMBIES!
I got your attention with that last one, didn’t I?
Normally, I do not get excited about zombies in a fantasy story, but Hughes does a fine job of incorporating them into the tale. The zombies are there, but are not the end all, be all of the story. The tale is well written, action packed and is very gripping.
I highly recommend this story to anyone. I can hardly wait for volume two of this series to be published because I would love to see where the author takes us, the readers, along this story arc.
In the interest of transparency: I was given a free review copy of this book. I am voluntarily sharing this review. It is my own honest opinion.
A Dead Wizard’s Dream (Convent Series), my first read from author Ross C. Hughes, caught my attention in the opening pages. I was given a review copy of Secrets of the Ashlands (Convent Series Book 2) & since I’d gotten this book back in November of 2019 I wanted to read it first, I’m glad I did. 360 pages but reads longer due to the detail & development of the story. I look forward to reading more in this series & from this author. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
Ultimate Epic Fantasy!
An intriguing action packed tale of wizards, knights, royalty, pirates, sorcery, demons, and zombies set in an exotic fantasy world. The prologue sets the stage for series ‘The Convent’ storyline, then the author wove three separate adventures into a single tale. A great cast of characters and beautifully described scenes built his fantasy world. It was a slow start but once the action started it just didn’t stop. I can’t wait to read the next book. I received this book as a gift and am happy to leave my honest review. Enjoy!
At the beginning of this book, we meet a band of mercenaries set out on a quest ‘to rescue a dead elf from a hole in the ground so he can save the world.’ But very little further info is given, even the why is vague. When we meet them, they’re fighting their way down a dwarf-made maze, constructed from underground tunnels, a city, mines, workplaces and other excavations.
We also meet Gastar, God of the Nether, set out to not only devour the souls of those bad people that deserve to suffer eternal torture, but also those on earth and in ‘Citta Pacia’ (heaven of eternal peace, made by the dead elf). So he sends his ‘Thaksir’, a sort of brain dead zombies, after the rescuers.
There are also 2 secondary stories. The first is about a boy-witch who’s persecuted by his village and turns eventually into an evil warlock. The other one is about a highland prince who turns 18 and in sent on a tour to learn about the lay of the land, the different people occupying it and about his responsibilities. The first one, I can see where it will fit in with the main story, but where the young highlander will lead us, I don’t know yet.
Despite the mysterious start and the many unanswered questions, I did enjoy the book. Maradoum is an interesting world, just different enough to be recognisable and yet interesting as well. It is a long read and -luckily- there’s more to come, so I’ll have to wait patiently for the next volume. There was a little bit too much fighting for my liking, as it seems they never have a moment’s rest with this ever-growing band of zombies after them. Also, be prepared to say goodbye to some of the (at the start of the book) main characters as all this fighting also leads to death (at least that’s realistic), even if they escape most of the time and they pick up some new characters along the way.
I received a free ARC through StoryOrigins and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
A Dead Wizard’s Dream is Book 1 in the Convent series by Ross Hughes. This is a well written story even though at times I skimmed over some parts of the descriptions. There are lots of well developed and interesting characters — it also has zombies. There is lots of action which is nicely paced. I enjoyed this fantasy adventure and recommend it to epic fantasy fans. Received a copy from StoryOrigin as well as a free copy on Amazon and this is my voluntary review.