Overkill [Paperback]

Steven Shrewsbury (Author), Joshua H. Leet (Editor), Matthew Perry (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

Deliverance will come... A great flood once wiped clean the earth, destroying everything upon it. Before the deluge, in a time now forgotten, the world was a place of warriors and witches, conflicts between kingdoms, and, until their extermination, dragons. In this world, men may live centuries, fallen angels have begotten terrifying spawn, and sometimes, the best hope can be found in a brothel. In the land of Transalpina, a new religion spreads, and important men are dying mysteriously, slain by what can only be the fire of dragon breath. Summoned by the Queen Garnet, the legendary warrior Gorias La Gaul returns to the place where he once saved the queen's young granddaughter from treachery and enslavement. The Princess Nykia is gone, and soon others may try to claim the throne. The queen has little choice but to turn to the only man who ever told her no. With the aid of one of the queen's elite guard, the battle maiden Alena, and the young palace servant Orsen, the old mercenary will face pirates and traitors, monsters and foul magic in the quest to find the missing heir and learn the truth behind the disconcerting murders. Deliverance will come for Gorias La Gaul, but for now there are women to love, secrets to discover, and killing that needs doing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Seventh Star Press, LLC (April 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1937929809
• ISBN-13: 978-1937929800
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,353,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Move Over Conan, You've Met Your Match April 26, 2012

By W. Bentrim VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Overkill by Steven Shrewsbury

Gorias LaGaul is back and as I said in my review of Thrall, he would kick Conan's butt. This is the second book in a dark heroic fantasy with an aging protagonist.

Gorias is a protagonist that I can identify with in many aspects. Pragmatic to a fault he is accepting of his age and doesn't let it stop him from doing what he wants to do. I'm not sure I can identify with his ruthlessness but it certainly is effective. He has skewed soft spots that pop up with surprising frequency. He is a much, much larger than life character. That is what makes him so entertaining.

The story provide Gorias with a quest. Requested to quest by a former love, he acquiesces reluctantly. His personal code of ethics demands he remain loyal to past loves. In his case, it means a wealth of women for whom he must be loyal.

As fantasies go, there are the requisites of Dragons, monsters, demons, wizards, pirates and assorted nefarious characters. Steven adds his own personal twists to the standard hosts providing them with identities that enable them to be unique.

Action runs amuck as well as libidos, the easily offended may want to pass on this book. For the rest of us who enjoy rollicking good humor and raucous action this is a book for the must read shelf.

I highly recommend the book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One Sexy funny wild gory romp! April 25, 2012

By Scarletwoman

Format:Paperback

If you take a 700 year old legendary warrior, and dragon slayer, add Smartass with a dash of finesse, and more charm than a 700 year old man ought to have at his time of life. Toss in shocking violent fight scenes and a lot of humor, sex, gore, and more sex, and even more gore... you have Gorias La Gaul!

Overkill is a wild romp through, dragons, monsters, demons, pirates, bounty hunters, and yes WOMEN!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mr. Shrewsbury's, book "Thrall", and have not been disappointed with "Overkill." It gave me more of what I want in a Hero.

Gorias La Gaul, perfectly flawed, sexy as hell, smartass... just what I wanted!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Deliverance has Come May 7, 2012

By CabinGoddess

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Overkill is a fast paced novel introducing Steven Shrewsbury's Gorias LeGaul to new fans in the form of a stand alone prologue. A 700 year old warrior who is known for his prowess on various fields of war and action. Be ye wizard, dragon, fellow warrior, queens or whores on the beach, battlefield, hammock, standing up... in the bushes, on a boat.. OK you get the picture! He is a well-rounded individual to put it very mildly!

With many fantasy stories reaching for epic proportions, there is a tendency to tell so much back story the actual action takes time to get ramped up. Not with this story.

"Nykia opened her door and watched her bodyguard's head roll past. She took one step out into the hall and looked to her right following a trail of blood to where it originated." (page 1)

The story starts off with the beginning tale of a princess who will soon become lost, but not before her love is professed on the back of a horse with the aging warrior Gorias. He comes in with a swoop of his dual swords to rescue the princess! But do not mistaken this for any old fantasy, it is far from it.

Step forward a few years and we have the introduction of Orsen, a well-groomed courtier who the queen has sent to bring Gorias back so she can enlist his help in finding the princess, her grand-daughter Nykia who was apparently kidnapped after he rescued her the first time and to solve the mystery of the murders by dragonfire. Since Gorias killed the last dragon, even wears the skin of a Wyvern as armor, this is baffling to all involved.

Confused? I know I was! But honestly I did not care most of the time. Gorias is a fun character to read, listen to and laugh with. Shrewsbury balanced the humor, action, mercenary behavior and lecherous actions of our hero well.... Our warrior is well aware of his age and continually reminds those around him he is not invincible.

As mentioned above we have Orsen who brings equilibrium to Gorias' boisterous and crass personality with his soft court padded life one made more for velvet than chainmail and will face more than things that threaten to stain his tunic, including his lunch. Athena is one of the queens personal guards, and is perhaps my favorite character. Not a frilly little paper doll facade many royals have, and not a black wearing assassin that others have used in the past, but the daughter of a well decorated General who has served the monarchy for generations. She and her sisters guard the queen with their lives till hers end and will continue to serve the crown till they die themselves.

Oh one major note. Shrewsbury knows his weapon use and what it takes to use each one. He did his research and not just with a d20 roll. Even Orsen has been trained in a weapon appropriate for the proper protecting of ones back and kidney's while still maintaining the no blood approach to death, though he does get a bit messy in the end.

This prequel to Thrall steeps you in adventure, action of all kinds and intrigue faster than dragon's fire licking up the side of a priestess eaten away with ruthless revenge. Remember this when you pick it up because you are not going to want to stop. You will feel a bit taken away from reality and wondering at the same time what type of message is trying to be given to you betwixt and between. But I say let it go and move on you will be wondering what is next before it all ends.
There are no gentle magics and romantic flighty princesses in this tale. Even Orsen has his balls drop in the end while we find out just how large Athena's are!

Over all since I need to give this solid number I am going to give it a four. I was fluttering around a mid 3.5 because of my own issues with blending obvious modern religion into my fantasy, but at the end after the mind-boggling surprise (which I really hope are answered in the next book) I am happy to give it a four! Plus I cannot have issues with anyone who is as big of a red-head lover as Gorias is! Thanks Seventh Star Press for another great thrill! Deliverance will come for more than just Gorias, deliverance will come to many within the pages of this book! Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SpecMusicMuse Review: Overkill April 21, 2012

By Scott M. Sandridge

Format:Paperback

Another tale of Goria La Gaul, set in the pre-Flood period, in the land of Transalpina, Overkill is just as gritty and blood-soaked as Thrall. Gorias gets summoned by Queen Garnet to find and rescue her lost granddaughter, Nykia, who Gorias once saved when she had been a child. Aided by Alena, one of the Queen's elite guard, and a palace servant named Orsen, the grizzled old merc must do what he does best: namely kick ass and take names.

This story takes place on land and sea and contains all the action you'd expect in an epic fantasy and a plot twist that just wouldn't be a La Gaul story if it wasn't in there. While he avoids making the characters two-dimensional, don't expect enormous character depth. There's just enough for a story of this genre without sacrificing the story's pace. And for such a story that's all you really need.

The action scenes are vivid. The world and culture feels real once you become immersed. And the story never bores. If you enjoy Sword & Sorcery or Epic Fantasy with a dark edge, then you will love Overkill.

Best read while listening to: the soundtrack to any Conan or Beastmaster movie. Oh, and Viking Metal, because Viking Metal rocks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Overkill~ Fast Paced Great Fantasy Read May 7, 2012

By Robin Blankenship

Format:Paperback

First I would like to say that this is another great cover by Matthew Perry. He does amazing art for many of the Seventh Star Press Books.

I want to start by saying. That is is another story with Gorias La Gaul as was Thrall but this actually takes place before Thrall.

I love Fantasy stories and I often find that sometimes they fall short of my expectations of what a fantasy story should be. Crazy as it sounds I like my fantasy to be realistic. I know, I know how is that but what I mean by that is that the story makes sense and the author does not have to juggle the story line for it to make sense and Shrewsbury has managed to do this well. He has written action, suspense, humor, adventure and connections and they flow flawlessly from one part to the next.

This is book is what I look for in Fantasy. Magic, Dragons, action, and very very great characters. Characters that are interesting and impressive. The twists and turns kept me reading and characters keep it impressed. Nothing beats well developed characters, that I become invested in. I love that Gorias is a wicked cool warrior but there is so much more to his character then muscles and brawn.

All in all really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for an adult crowd. There is quite a bit of bloodshed which is to be expected from a book about a warrior. And some language and adult themes.

I really enjoy the author's writing style and look forward to reading more books of his in the future.

When I first read Thrall I had the thought if ever I was going to have to go into battle (heaven forbid I would be in trouble) I would totally want Gorias to have my back. For a 700+ year old guy he kicks some serious butt.

Overall I give this a 4 out of 5. I liked it quite a bit.... This is a great writer. Yea for wicked good fantasy!!!!!

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Read more ›