Bane of the Liche Lord - D. P. Prior

RATING: THREE STARS

Silas made a terrible mistake and did not heed the advice of his friends. They tried to tell him that following the dark arts of Otto Blightey was folly. He failed to listen. The liche lord destroyed Silas so he could rise again and recognised Nameless as one who stood against him once in the past. Blightey is determined to have his revenge on the dwarf and intends to do everything he can to destroy their race forever.

Yet Nameless is first and foremost a warrior. He will not simply stand by and allow the last vestige of his people to disappear, but he may not like the choices he has to make to save them. They are not world-changing decisions, rather they concern himself and any absolution that is his to claim. Can he forgive himself for the sins of his madness? Can he accept the friendship, love and trust of his kin in order to destroy the dreaded liche lord once and for all?

The Good

D. P. Prior has written another fast-paced novella that is packed with action and adventure. He has let his imagination run wild once again and I found Bane of the Liche Lord to be a great ending for the series as a whole. Prior ties up all the loose ends nicely and manages to set up a chance for the subsequent books without leaving the core story unfinished.

The Bad

There wasn’t anything that bothered me with this book, aside from the points I have made in the series previous reviews. As ever, Prior over uses his fictional profanity ‘shog’ and there are minor grammatical errors throughout that had my internal editor waving a blue pencil about at time!

Final Thoughts

Overall, though, Bane of the Liche Lord was an exciting read and ended The Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf well. The book, and series as a whole, make for quick, easy reading and are perfect for anyone who’s looking for a bit of light-hearted fantasy that isn’t too heavy in lore and world-building.

The Ebon Staff - D. P. Prior

RATING: THREE STARS

Nameless did not expect his reunion with his dwarven kin to go well, and, unsurprisingly, it didn't. After escaping execution at the hands of the sappers with the unlikely help of Nils and Silas, he is forced to flee the dwarven encampment for his life. He has given up on his quest and plans to leave the dangerous dreamland he's led his companions into before more harm can come to them, but Silas has other plans. The sorcerer has become obsessed with Bightey's journal and all of his will is focused on attaining the infamous Ebon Staff. If his companions won't help him unlock the dark powers of the occult willingly, then he will have no choice but to bend their will and force their hands . . .

The Good
The Ebon Staff is as fast-paced as D. P. Prior's other books in the Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf and it did not disappoint me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his characters, which he has continued to develop and deepen, and found it a satisfying penultimate instalment to the series. What's more, the relevance of the Ebon Staff is beginning to become clear and I was pleasantly surprised when I realised that it's probably more important to the overall storyline of the series than Nameless finding his kin, which was established from the go in the first book.

The Bad
Once again, though, I couldn't help but notice a few spelling and grammatical errors in the book. Luckily they weren't too bad and (frustratingly), could have probably been corrected with a little bit more time spent with the editor. Aside from this, there was just my favourite gripe about the series that I should probably mention, which is, of course, the overuse of the word: 'shog.'

Final Thoughts
Overall, however, The Ebon Staff is a great novella of fantasy and action. It's quick to read, easy to relate to the characters and Prior has clearly let his imagination run wild while writing it.

The Scout & the Serpent - D. P. Prior

RATING: THREE STARS

The unlikely adventurers' continue their journey through the dreamland created by a demented god and Nameless must use all of the powers contained in the Axe of the Dwarf Lords if he is find the last remnants of his people. But even with all of this power, he is helpless to aid his friends when they are scattered by a pack of werewolves. Trapped on a small island with only Ilesa for company, Nameless must defeat a terrifying serpent if he is to escape and find his people; his companions.

For Nils is alone and surrounded by goblins, alone except for an injured scout who knows exactly where the dwarves are . . .

The Good
I'm pleased to say that D. P. Prior is writing in proper sentences again, which makes the book much more fluid and easy to read. This really adds to the excitement and adventure in the book, and it's every bit as action-packed as its predecessors in the Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf.

Another aspect of the book I liked was Prior's continued development of the protagonists other than Nameless and it's nice to start to see the dwarf's companions really start to come into their own, with their own personalities, issues and motivations. This helps to add depth to a somewhat superficial story and I hope it continues throughout the series future instalments!

The Bad
There are still editorial mistakes dotted throughout the book that I picked up on and, as I've said in previous reviews, Prior heavily overuses the fictional word 'shog' as a profanity. The editorial mistakes are noticeably less frequent than in the other books, which is good, and although the swear word still becomes a bit annoying at times, I think I'm finally beginning to accept its use and it hasn't irked me as much in The Scout & the Serpent as it has previously.

Final Thoughts
Overall, The Scout & the Serpent is a decent book and I enjoyed it as much as I have the others in the series. Prior has kept true to his earlier works and the story is every bit as gristly, faced-paced and exciting. It's a perfect time killer for that short commute or spare few hours!

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords - D. P. Prior

RATING: THREE STARS

With only his trusty companions at his side: Nils, Silas and Ilesa, the Nameless Dwarf continues his search for the last remnants of his people. His quest takes him deep into the dreamland of a demented god, a strange world that is apt to change and filled with terror. From flesh-eating zombies to an unstoppable horror that destroyed the dwarves of old, Nameless finds his skills with an axe are needed as much as ever if he is to succeed and keep his friends alive.

But the axe he has now is an unremarkable and common weapon, unable to defeat everything that stands in his path. If Nameless is ever going to find the vestige of his people, he needs to forgive himself and concede to magic. He needs to take up the Axe of the Dwarf Lords and accept the power of the Immortals that runs through his veins . . .

The Good
Once again D. P. Prior has produced a fast-paced and exciting story. It's fun to read and is fairly immersing, being filled with fights and humour. Prior has added a new element to this story as well, which he achieves by separating many of the main characters. This provides a few more story arcs to The Axe of the Dwarf Lords so he is able to explore and develop his protagonists more fully.

The Bad
One of the issues I had with book was Prior's sudden aversion to using words like 'the' or 'a' at the start of sentences. I didn't pick up on this in A Dwarf With No Name, so I'm not sure whether it was done less often or if it's a new technique Prior is working with. Either way, it means many of his sentences start in odd places and they don't really flow correctly, with the following quote being a good example: "Whole leg was rot all the way to the knee, which was about as far as he could see from his belly." This didn't really spoil my enjoyment of the story, but it broke the natural flow of my reading and required a bit of thought to get through some paragraphs, not to mention the effort of ignoring my internal editor!

Aside from this, the issues I mentioned in my review of A Dwarf With No Name are still present and I couldn't help but notice the odd spelling or grammatical mistake dotted throughout the book, not to mention the continued overuse of the word 'shog!'

Final Thoughts
Despite a few flaws and problems here and there, The Axe of the Dwarf Lords is a good sequel to its predecessor and I enjoyed it. Prior's writing makes for fun, easy-going fantasy and certainly doesn't lack for excitement!

A Dwarf With No Name - D. P. Prior

RATING: THREE STARS

When Nils is sent to meet a renown mage by his father, the head of the nefarious Night Hawks, he does not expect the simple introduction he was paid to facilitate to go wrong. The mage quickly proves unreasonable and decides that there is much more money to be had in robbing Nils and the hapless dwarf. Yet the dwarf is nameless for a reason, and is none other than the dreaded madman that destroyed his kingdom as he attempted to burn the world to ashes around him. The so-called 'Nameless Dwarf' has no fear of the mage and will not let one man cease his search for the vestige of his race. His adventure will continue, with the few new friends he makes that will be essential if he is to succeed in his quest and survive the terrible city of the Ant-Man.

The Good
A Dwarf With No Name is an interesting spin on the dwarvish race, telling the story from the perspective of a warlord that was driven mad with power and is now looking for absolution. It's short length enables D. P. Prior to keep the story moving at a fast pace, meaning that it never lacks for action! It's pretty much just a book of the dwarf fighting and killing people, but Prior doesn't go too over the top and it makes for fairly entertaining, superficial reading.

The Bad
One of the main issues I had with A Dwarf With No Name was its grammar and my internal editor cried out at times and wanted me to get scribbling with a blue pencil. It wasn't really a huge issue, but Prior got tenses and clauses muddled up on more than a few occasions and used writing tricks such as adding an 'sh' into the middle of words to signify that a character was drunk and slurring their speech. If you read a lot of my reviews you probably already know that I'm a big advocate against tricks like this and I think the cheap trick detracts from writing and gives the book a slightly amateurish feel. When have GRRM, Patrick Rothfuss or Robin Hobb ever used such a technique?

Another of the qualms I had with the book was Prior's use of swearing. Just like its use in real life, swearing has to be done properly or it just looks foolish. Throughout the book, Prior uses the word 'shog' in various tenses as a generic insult. I have the feeling this insult has been created to avoid offending the reader or as an attempt at world-building, such as how Battlestar Galactica uses 'frack' instead of, well, you know . . . This works in BSG because 'frack' sounds so similar to the word it's used to replace and is used in the same contexts as Western Cultures use it so we can relate to it. 'Shog' doesn't really sound like existing profanity and just makes me think of 'slog,' which isn't offensive in the slightest and makes the word's use a bit ridiculous really.

Final Thoughts
A Dwarf With No Name is a fair read overall and I enjoyed it. The pacing and excitment of the story made up for any issues there were with the actual prose and the fact that I read it in about an hour probably helped as well. It's a perfect time-killer for that short bus ride and is certainly a good example of easy-to-read fantasy that doesn't take a few weeks to work through.