Customer Reviews

The Mace of Souls

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If you are tired of sugarcoated heroes and cotton-candy lands, this is the book for you. The characters in this book are dirty, mean, nasty, and clearly self-interested and far from the typical selfless hero. Each individual's motivation to survive drives them to noble ends despite their contrary desires. This book contains adult themes and graphic, but not overdone, imagery. It has been several years since I read this book, but I can still pull up a number of mental images drawn by the author's narration. If you have read the classics and the pattern of the genre is beginning to get overly apparent, try this refreshingly new take on heroism.

"The Mace of Souls" is Book 2 in Bruce Fergusson's Six Kingdom's series. In this installment you're introduced to Falca Breks, a street thief living in the dock city of Draica. Breks is the leader of a small time gang who prey upon and extort protection money from dockside Timberlimb (think halflings) war refugees. Falca and his gang are constantly searching for the "One Mark" that will make them rich. When they happen upon Amala Darr, a well dressed, beautiful young woman in the docks area they can't help but set up a scheme to rob her. But Breks gets more than he bargained for when he finds himself developing feelings for the same woman they're attempting to extort. This of course complicates things between Falca and his gang. Then, when a former gang member they recently believed dead returns for revenge, Falca and Amala are suddenly caught in the middle. Here are my thoughts on this grim second tale of the Six Kingdoms;


Pros

+ Fergusson stays true to the gritty writing style of his previous novel "Shadow of His Wings." The main character Falca Breks is definitely an anti-hero.

+ Grim story with interesting characters.

+ Well written with an interesting ending.

+ Some brief but interesting mentions of things from "Shadow of His Wings" like the Erseiyr and the Kingdom of Myrcia. These mentions really give you a completely different perspective of how other people lived and viewed the rest of the world.


Cons

- Author continues to use some fictional/vague vocabulary and assumes you know exactly what he's talking about. A perfect example would be the initial and persistent use of Timberlimb race.

- Last book written in the Six Kingdom's series.

- Once again, no map.

- Cover looks too SciFi-ish at first glance.


Fergusson clearly has a talent for writing grim-realism fantasy and this novel is no exception. His writing style seems to have improved a bit from his previous story. I enjoyed this book slightly more than Shadow of His Wings and the main character of Falca Breks feels a bit more fleshed out than Fergusson's previous hero, Lukan Barra. That being said, it's real shame the author didn't write any more stories in the Six Kingdoms. When I finished this book I really wanted to keep reading about the people, places and things in the world. While there is no direct connection between either of the Six Kingdoms books you really start to get a good sense of the world. Things were just starting to come together nicely. Oh well, it was good while it lasted!

Mace of souls is a unique fantasy book, in that its author, Bruce Fergusson, centers the story around the characters makeup and interactions with each other. Many fantasy books are lacking when it comes to good characterization. Fable telling and epic heroes are often the rule. Here Fergusson created believeable characters who have individual motivations and flaws. The setting is also not "run of the mill". It covers things not often seen in mainstream fantasy. Drug addiction and its effects on the medieval society for example. All in all this is one of the better fantasy novels I have come across in recent years. It has a feeling of depth often missing in this genre.

I picked up the hardcover version years ago at the library and just loved it. Since then, I've been trying to track down a copy for myself and was frustrated by it being out print.

Interesting characters and a snappy plot keep this book rolling along. Check out the book that I've been looking for for years!