Blackdog [Paperback]

K. V. Johansen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 20, 2011

Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils...

And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods...

And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…

In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.

Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... Johansen's characters project believability, and her world is full of rich and vivid detail... High fantasy for lovers of mythology and of powerful beings in human form, this adult fantasy debut should appeal to fans of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series." - Library Journal, Aug. 2011

"...intelligently written and allows the reader to become a sympathetic co-traveller ... I like large books when the story is well told. The better the story, the longer I want the book to be. Blackdog was almost 600 pages long. It was much too short."
- View from Valhalla, Nov. 2011

"This is a fantasy with a similar density to Steven Erikson's Malazan books, though with many fewer POVs ... It has that epic feel without bearing the cross of a million recycled tropes. Anyone who enjoyed the Malazan epic series will most likely enjoy this one as well ..."
-Bookspotcentral.com, Nov. 2011

"The book is so thoroughly developed, its mythology so complete, that it often gives the impression of being a single chapter of a much larger story, a window into an actual living breathing world. A must read book for those who love high fantasy." - Elizabeth Goss, Portland Book Review

"I’m hooked. The mix of magic, Tibetan-style religion, and Harold-Lamb-style adventure is pretty addicting."
JAMES ENGE, World Fantasy Award nominated author of Blood of Ambrose and The Wolf Age

"Interesting and absorbing; Blackdog takes as its heart, and its strength, a subject that most fantasy writers shy away from—the Gods themselves."
TOM LLOYD, Author of The Twilight Reign series

About the Author

K.V. Johansen is a successful author, editor, freelance journalist, and illustrator.

Product Details

• Paperback: 547 pages
• Publisher: Pyr (September 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616145218
• ISBN-13: 978-1616145217
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The author of Blackdog, K.V. Johansen was born in Kingston, Ontario, and has written numerous works for children, teens, and adults, including the "Torrie", "Warlocks of Talverdin", "Pippin and Mable", and "Cassandra Virus" series. She predominantly writes secondary-world fantasy, but is also the author of some science fiction, picture books, and literary criticism, and of a collection retelling medieval Danish ballads. With an artist friend, she is also working on a manga-style adaptation of a short story set in the Blackdog world. Johansen has an M.A. from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. Her lifelong interest in ancient and medieval history and the history of languages has had a great influence on her writing and world-building. Johansen was the editor of Stalin Versus Me, the final, posthumously-published volume of Donald Jack's "Bandy Papers" series. She is hard at work on more Torrie books and on further works set in the world of Blackdog.

Her websites can be found at www.pippin.ca & www.kvj.ca and she has blogs at www.thewildforest.wordpress.com and www.mangasaga.wordpress.com .

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid fantasy with a few issues February 14, 2012

By Elemental Warp

Format:Paperback

Blackdog, on the whole, is a solid fantasy with great concepts slightly spoiled simulatneously by insufficient explanation and bloat.
How can it be both?
The book is 546 pages long (my edition, anyway) and there are precious few books over 350 pages that couldn't benefit from some cutting. At the same time, there are a lot of things going on - gods and goddesses manifest in natural features, various cultures and tribes, scattered priestesses, devils, wizards - and it's hard to keep it all straight.
That being said, the storyline is quite interesting and engaging. A too-human-yet-too-divine avatar of a goddess is torn from her land and forced to flee for her life from an evil wizard. While a fugitive, she both finds her humanity and her godhead, while her journey is criss-crossed by others divine and demonic beings.
Magic and divinity pervades the story but doens't overwhelm it. Spirits possess people ad become a hybrid of both, skinchangers walk with immortal assassins, wizards use their offspring for their own corrupt purposes.

It's all very interesting, but unless you can read in more or less one stretch (I've been trying to read it during NaNoWriMo and that doesn't really work), it would have a lot more emotional impact. If you break up your reading sessions, or if it takes too long to finish it, you'll lose some of the punch and have to be reminded of "who is this again?" and "what are they doing here?" time and time again. The wide cast isn't necessarily a problem, but there is no appendix or list of them, and many of them are largely interchangeable, especially when it comes to the caravaneers.

But, all in all I really liked the story and was pleased with the conclusion which felt natural and unforced. I still have some confusion over certain concepts and the meaning of certain scenes, but that was probably my fault as a reader more than the author's writing style.

I wouldn't anti-recommend this book, but I will say that you should be a fan of fantasy epics and epic fantasy casts before you pick it up. On a less charitable day, I could probably be convinced to give this book only 3 stars, but on a more charitable day, I might give it 5. So solid 4 stars, if you can keep the different characters and their storylines straight in your head

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A new Realm for Fantasy at last! May 14, 2012

By Debra Terry

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

For years now I have been looking for a fantasy book that is set in a non European setting and is as satisfying as the classics of the Fantasy genre. I have at last found this in "Blackdog". The setting is a mix of Tibetan and Mongolian settings, the plot is intriguing right from the first page; grabbing a hold of you and keeping you glued to the page until the plot come to a most satisfying ending. I would recommend this book to anyone but especially those who have some interest in Tibet and other oriental regions. It's simply fantastic! I do hope the author decided to give a us another book from this world!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars really good November 25, 2012

By nickkkk t

Format:Paperback

a good fantasy read, i really liked the main characters and how gods and demons appear in this book quite easily compared to other fantasy novels