The Horns of Ruin: Akers, Tim: 9781616142469: Amazon.com: Books

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The Horns of Ruin Paperback – November 30, 2010

by Tim Akers (Author)

35 ratings

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Eva Forge is the last paladin of a dead god. Morgan, god of battle and champion of the Fraterdom, was assassinated by his jealous brother, Amon. Over time, the Cult of Morgan has been surpassed by other gods, his blessings ignored in favor of brighter technologies and more mechanical miracles. Eva was the last child dedicated to the Cult of Morgan, forsaken by her parents and forgotten by her family. Now she watches as her new family, her Cult, crumbles all around her.

When a series of kidnappings and murders makes it clear that someone is trying to hasten the death of the Cult of Morgan, Eva must seek out unexpected allies and unwelcome answers in the city of Ash. But will she be able to save the city from a growing conspiracy, one that reaches back to her childhood, even back to the murder of her god?

Print length

269 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pyr
Publication date

November 30, 2010
Dimensions

6.06 x 0.74 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

9781616142469
ISBN-13

978-1616142469
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Akers (Heart of Veridon) creates a complex steampunk world in which rival brothers Morgan, Alexander, and Amon are revered as gods. The last of Morgan's Paladins, Eva Forge, is tasked with providing security for Barnabas, the Fratriarch of the Cult of Morgan, just as a plot is set in motion--ostensibly by the remnants of the Cult of Amon--to destroy the Morganites. As she travels from the monorails above the city of Ash to the hidden underground lairs of the remaining Amonites, Forge is forced to face her preconceptions and question her training and her understanding of the world in which she lives. Ash is a vibrant city, and the cults of the three brothers have a relationship as ambivalent and complicated as the relationship among any actual siblings. (Nov.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Tim Akers was born in deeply rural North Carolina, the only son of a theologian. He moved to Chicago for college, where he lives with his wife of thirteen years and their German shepherd. He splits his time between databases and fountain pens. You can visit Tim’s Web site at shadoth.blogspot.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1616142464
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pyr; 0 edition (November 30, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781616142469
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1616142469
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.06 x 0.74 x 9 inches

Customer Reviews:
35 ratings

About the author

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Tim Akers

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Tim Akers was born in deeply rural North Carolina, the only son of a theologian. He moved to Chicago for college, where he lives with his wife. He splits his time between databases and fountain pens.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

35 global ratings

5 star		64%
4 star		9%
3 star		11%
2 star		13%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Juanita Redfield

Could not put it down

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2021

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Tight plot and gripping narrative sprinkled with hilarious dialog: “a duck in the water of genius.”

Steam and Magic blended perfectly!

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2015

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Love this! I profoundly enjoy much of the Steampunk genre, and just the nostalgia of fantastic days gone by that never were, but sometimes too much of the creative Science focus comes at the expense of any sense of... Soul or Grander Mystery. Rarely have I found one that is SUCH a great blend of Steam and Magic as this: Just finished my third read (my first as a Kindle download) and I continue to be impressed by this amazing world that Akers has created, especially in regards to the structures, traditions, and mythos involved in a society that has its Gods so vibrantly present among its people. And intelligent, humorous, driven characters make for just an outstanding package. Great stuff, and ABSOLUTELY worth the read!!

Harvey A. Lewis

The ruin of my expectations

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2011

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I had high hopes for this book, but they were lost in the murky verbiage. The book is clearly a fairytale/fantasy. Wherever it is set, they do not have the same physics we have. People there can gain strength, speed, set up force fields and break down doors by saying secret phrases. I am not necessarily against any of that, but I need a little context. At any given time you do not know how the heroine should be reacting, because you do not know how she could react, or what she is up against. Maybe she has a magical phrase to take care of the problem, maybe she is in real trouble. The whole book is like that. Without some framework it is as if half the words were in English and the other half in Etruscan.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Tim Akers style of writing is engrossing and imaginative. I appreciate writing that makes you want to absorb the plot and characters and not just fill in paragraphs to meet word quotas... The colorful and original descriptions are invigorating and kept me from just skimming over parts of the book. Which I am inclined to do with most books. Thanks for the great read, Tim. Keep it up.

Spellbinding Steampunk

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2010

Verified Purchase

Eva Forge is an intimidating figure who bull rushes her way through to the city of Ash to try and save her cult. Akers artfully interweaves magic in a steampunk world in this well-crafted story. "Buffing" (i.e., invoking before a battle) never sounded so cool.

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Good reading or listening....

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed reading this book, a friend suggested audiobooks, so I tried it, and enjoyed it again. You will need the Audible manager to do it though.

Amazon Customer

Diesel Punk is awsome

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2011

Verified Purchase

I read one of this authors other novels (heart of veridon) and greatly enjoyed it. This book was very good and i reccomend it to anyone enjoying punk, noir, and a complex tale.

Morgan's Bulldozer

Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2011

Years ago circumstances which are never quite explained caused three human brothers to take up arms against the Feyr, the race holding the world's god-hood. They fought magnificently (and honestly, the Feyr were feeling a bit guilty about completely exterminating *their* predecessors, the Titans, and didn't fight as hard as they might have). In the course of a still epic war, somehow god-hood left the Feyr and descended on humanity in the personages of the three brothers. They were all fighters, but the end of the war let each follow his own inclinations and nurture his own cult to realize them. Amon was the scholor and inventor who established humanity's capital as a floating city on a Feyr and Titan lake, Alexander was a healer and administrator while Morgan remained a warrior defending the borders with his cult from all the forces trying to tear humanity down and assume the god-hood themselves. It was a golden age -- until Amon turned on Morgan and slew him by trechery and Alexander and the cult of Morgan likewise slew Amon.

Now years, possibly centuries later, the cult of Amon is enslaved and tolerated only inasmuch as they maintain the mechanisms of the city, while with no living god, the cult of Morgan has dwindled down to a last forlorn few -- still powerful individuals, but very aware their time is almost done.

Eva Forge is the last paladin of Morgan, a warrior who can invoke her slain god's battle prowess to be an almost invincible fighting machine. A woman with a mysterious past she was dropped on the doorstep of the temple of Morgan at an early age, abandonded for reasons she was never told, and raised by the kindly Fratriarch of Morgan. Now, against all reason he wants to confer with a representative of the Amonites, and she needs must go with him to provide security. He provides no explanations, and despite all her warnings and exhortations picks a young Amonite woman to accompany them back to the temple of Morgan. On the way home, they are waylaid and the Fratriarch and Amonite abducted. Now Eva must take on the entire city, clockwork zombies, and perhaps a god to get him back and to do that she has to understand the mysteries undergirding her world.

Eva is an appealing character. In comic-book terms she is a "tank" a super-strong character like the Fantastic 4's "Thing" who sets out on a course and bulls her way through on sheer strength and determination. She is not stupid by any means, but neither is she much given to introspection, at least before her life is completely thrown off course. If Eva *likes* you, she will probably only knock you senseless as she does what she feels she needs to do. You'd best hope she likes you..

The setting for this book, as you can probably tell from my first few paragraphs is somewhat complicated. Despite the names of some of the characters Eva's world appears to have no connection with our Earth, so while there are recognizable "steam-punk" elements, they are not tied to our Victorian age (or indeed to Egypt or Greece as you might expect from the names Amon & Alexander). That has plusses and minuses. Given how alien the setting is, we don't really have any pre-conceptions (Are the brothers "really" gods? What lies beyond the city?) but it becomes a bit awkward when terms from our world leak in (as when Eva describes her invoking her battle magics as "buffing up").

Eva is a very isolated character and I was hoping for a bit more bonding between her and the Amonite scholor and the Alexandrian policeman, but events largely moved in another direction. However, the basic mystery of Eva's past was never examined, so there is obviously a sequel planned. Eva's journey is not finished, and I hope to see more of it.

One person found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Dil

Horns of Ruin - the start of a journey or a one-off?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2010

Verified Purchase

I very rarely write in these reviews in spite of being a prolific reader but felt thatthis book stood out from a lot of the "stock" fiction I've read in recent years. If you like this type of fiction then this is a great book. It is faintly reminiscent of some of the early David Gemmell and/or David Eddings books in its chracterisation. The setting is rather more "fantasy noire" (if there is such a thing) than steampunk. In fact, I think a hard core steampunk fan would be a bit disappointed. A hardcore fantasy fan on the other hand would probably be plasantly surprised. However, that is more about classification than content - the content is great, the heroine is great and the setting is great. A book that I read in two sittings - one taking me into the early hours. The ending is a bit ambiguous - the reader is left to work out for themselves the direction of the journey that the heroine is about to embark on and I suspect that there could be as many directions as there are readers - and I'm kind of hoping that this is deliberate and is the set-up for a sequel.

2 people found this helpful

R. J. Tysoe

A fast paced romp

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2011

Verified Purchase

A highly enjoyable fast paced fantasy romp! The main characters are a bit thorny to begin with but you soon join their side. I particularly liked the way the magic worked in this setting which gave it its own consistency. I hope there is a follow up as I would like to learn more about the world and the story of Eva Forge.

Like the previous reviewer I wouldn't necessarily pigeonhole it as steampunk, but I guess steampunk is what was being pushed in 2010.

I've also read Tim Akers first book Heart of Veridon and I'm looking forward to his next one, so I'm becoming a bit of a fan.

One person found this helpful

Samuel Palk

A good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

Full of well-turned phrases and great description, and resides in an intriguing and exciting world. The story turns a little predictably, but it's still a fun ride. I just wish I'd gotten along with the main character a little better - in places her viewpoint wasn't an enjoyable place to be at all.

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