“A remarkably assured fantasy debut that mixes of the inventiveness of China Miéville with the fast paced heroics of David Gemmell.”—Anthony Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of The Legion of FlameSet on a postapocalyptic frontier, Blackwing is a gritty fantasy debut about a man’s desperate battle to survive his own dark destiny… Hope, reason, humanity: the Misery breaks them all. Under …
Hope, reason, humanity: the Misery breaks them all.
Under its cracked and wailing sky, the Misery is a vast and blighted expanse, the arcane remnant of a devastating war with the immortals known as the Deep Kings. The war ended nearly a century ago, and the enemy is kept at bay only by the existence of the Engine, a terrible weapon that protects the Misery’s border. Across the corrupted no-man’s-land teeming with twisted magic and malevolent wraiths, the Deep Kings and their armies bide their time. Watching. Waiting.
Bounty hunter Ryhalt Galharrow has breathed Misery dust for twenty bitter years. When he’s ordered to locate a masked noblewoman at a frontier outpost, he finds himself caught in the middle of an attack by the Deep Kings, one that signifies they may no longer fear the Engine. Only a formidable show of power from the very woman he is seeking, Lady Ezabeth Tanza, repels the assault.
Ezabeth is a shadow from Galharrow’s grim past, and together they stumble onto a web of conspiracy that threatens to end the fragile peace the Engine has provided. Galharrow is not ready for the truth about the blood he’s spilled or the gods he’s supposed to serve…
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Upon starting Blackwing it quickly gained the rare distinction of being one of those books that felt as if it had been written especially for me. Ryhalt Galharrow, grizzled veteran and reluctant servant of the Nameless, spends his days hunting traitorous agents of the Deep Kings in the magical wasteland known as the Misery, until a face from the past drags him into a dark conspiracy which may lead to all-out war. Ed McDonald handles the action with a deft hand and has created a compelling central character who remains likeable despite a lengthy list of flaws. A remarkably assured fantasy debut that mixes of the inventiveness of China Mieville with the fast pace heroics of David Gemmell.
Please note this is a review of the series rather than just Blackwing.
I first read Blackwing when it came out in 2017. (I think I even wrote a piece of flash fiction to go into a competition to celebrate that event.*)
I loved the book. It reminded me of a combination of William Gibson and Joe Abercrombie, Neuromancer set in Angland. It is dark and unpredictable. It combines fantasy with hard-boiled detective tropes. The magic system sparkles. The non-human monsters are vile but brilliant. It is one of the few books I’ve read where I don’t mind the combination of swords and guns. (The Gutter Prayer has since joined that list.) Blackwing features one of the best bit-part characters ever: Battle-Spinner Rovelle. All 22 lines that he features in are wonderful and the man deserves his own spin-off series. There are nasty gods and nastier people, great action sequences and has a twist in the tale that is superb and seems to come from nowhere.
In short, it is brilliant.
Ravencry is not quite as fresh as its predecessor but is still good. It twists and turns but the literary teeth aren’t as sharp, they don’t bite as deeply. This is despite it having a nastier antagonist and a superb death scene at the end – so few words used to express something so devastating.
I’m not entirely sure why the book is not quite as gripping as Blackwing. Maybe its purely because the concept is not as new, the story is not as quick. Maybe because Galharrow is too maudlin in places. Maybe I’m being too harsh. It’s a good book with some great lines in it and some bitterly true observations. But it didn’t sing like the first one.
Then came Crowfall. Before we get to it, indulge me.
When I was younger, I watched a film where a spaceship (earthship?) was tunneling to the centre of the earth. I can’t remember the name of the film. I think Kurt Russell may have been in it. I had no issues with the spaceship (earthship?) using a laser to dissolve the rock so it could make its descent. I did have an issue with someone at the centre of the earth using a mobile to make a call to the surface. “How do they get reception?” I asked, ignoring the rock-melting laser. I guess it was one step too far for me.
Back to Crowfall.
Of the three, this was the weakest. That doesn’t make it a bad book, it just doesn’t shine as much. The bitter gloriousness of the writing is smudged. Again, there are good action sequences, wonderfully awful monsters and some nice twists. The end sequence was well done, as you would expect from this author.
Why did I struggle?
The main issue was that it was a shade too weird. And of all the oddness, Galharrow’s Misery changes were the main culprit. I know he had a plan. I know he was building towards something. But it was too much, it didn’t seem to fit. I’m not sure why I’m happy with people spinning light from the moons or a talking crow coming out of someone’s arm but not what happened to Galharrow, but there you go. Maybe it was over-stretching the reality. And that weirdness was my rock-melting laser vs phone-reception-at-the-centre-of-the-earth moment. It stuck out too much.
Given how good Blackwing was, producing not one but two books of that calibre was always going to be hard. Ravencry was almost there but Crowfall didn’t make it.
That said, the series is good.
It’s worth reading.
Book One and Two are worth rereading.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Ed McDonald writes next. (I believe he has a new series in the works). In the meantime, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the appearance of a Battle-Spinner Rovelle spin off series.
*It didn’t win.
If you like The Black Company or the Bridgeburners in Malazan Book of the Fallen, you’ll probably love Blackwing. Blackwing is soulmate to these other works, in tone, in thematic content, in style. I don’t like to write summary reviews, so I’ll only say that this book has everything a good work of grimdark should possess and more, that it’s richly imagined, gloriously detailed and rewardingly profound.
Blackwing was a gritty, satisfyingly, surprise of a treat. I was so engrossed in in Ryhalt’s journey that I could not stop reading. I loved the different characters and don’t get me started on the creepy, vicious, darlings that jump off the page when they make their first appearance in the book. it is well written and creative and It left me wanting more adventures and more characters and more creeps. I can’t wait to see what this author is up to next.
Blackwing is unique in the way the story flows.
You stumble upon Misery, picture nuclear wasteland (Wasteland 2/ Borderlands??)
The story is being told by Galharrow and you instantly try to figure out if he is “…desperate, stupid or greedy” oh and a raven actually rips out of his tattoo.
Galharrow has companions, including an old sweetheart, a navigator and a warrior. The narrative is full of wits, weird and scary sh!t and magic. I see Johnny Depp playing this.
Awesome read and if you have plans for the evening, don’t pick it up.