Zombie rottweilers were not what his friend promised when they went out for a night of adventure, but that is what Will got. Like many of his generation Will Blackwood finds himself deeply dissatisfied with his lot in life. A part-time job as a theatric jouster isn’t enough to keep his older brother from worrying about him, nor is it enough to keep him from worrying about their younger brother. But dead end jobs, a sad dearth of romance, and a general ennui take the back seat when their father’s oldest friend appears to arm them for a mystic battle, just before getting kidnapped by something that should not exist in the twenty-first century.
Layton Green has created a complex and enjoyable fantasy world and has set his modern characters in it while skillfully balancing their twenty-first century ethos with their surroundings. The main characters are all well developed and engaging. The storytelling flows well and the writing is technically good. His merging of the fantastic world the titular brothers have to face and the mundane world they come from is smooth and doesn’t distract from the story over all. He has an especial talent for remembering the more mundane details of the fantasy world; from the taste of the bread to tired muscles after unexpected exercise.
The story frequently becomes formulaic in the telling and there are few true surprises and plot twists. The author does have a tendency to “tell and not show” especially when developing the main characters personalities and some of the secondary characters can feel two-dimensional.
The story is aimed at a slightly older audience with plenty of sexual (though not explicit) interaction and parents will probably want to give the book a once over before letting younger readers pick it up. There is also the usual sword and sorcery violence to consider.
All in all it was an enjoyable fantasy romp with the promise of more to come in later books. Enjoy and read at your own discretion.
Layton Green has created a complex and enjoyable fantasy world and has set his modern characters in it while skillfully balancing their twenty-first century ethos with their surroundings. The main characters are all well developed and engaging. The storytelling flows well and the writing is technically good. His merging of the fantastic world the titular brothers have to face and the mundane world they come from is smooth and doesn’t distract from the story over all. He has an especial talent for remembering the more mundane details of the fantasy world; from the taste of the bread to tired muscles after unexpected exercise.
The story frequently becomes formulaic in the telling and there are few true surprises and plot twists. The author does have a tendency to “tell and not show” especially when developing the main characters personalities and some of the secondary characters can feel two-dimensional.
The story is aimed at a slightly older audience with plenty of sexual (though not explicit) interaction and parents will probably want to give the book a once over before letting younger readers pick it up. There is also the usual sword and sorcery violence to consider.
All in all it was an enjoyable fantasy romp with the promise of more to come in later books. Enjoy and read at your own discretion.
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