The Forgetting Moon: Volume 1 (Five Warrior Angels)

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The royal family, divided into the king, who is the eldest brother, and his two sisters, was so complex and intricate to read. Each of the siblings has a completely different personality, which is why it is not boring in this palace. Jovan turns out to be the gruesome ruler who is so fanatical about his faith in Laijons that he causes unrest even against his own family. Then there is Jondralyn, who, as is often the case with male heroes, wants to become a legend, but unfortunately was born into a woman’s body and now opposes the fantastic faith and its path of her brother’s prophecy. And finally yet importantly Tala, who I liked the best of this royal family despite her childlike nature, who actually has nothing to do with this religious war within the family and is dragged into it by lies and intrigues. Each of these three characters contributes its own individual part to create a complex work out of this classy story that puts fanaticism and intrigue even more in the foreground. A long time ago, in a far away land, it was once possible to go into a bookstore and browse for all I cared, and so begins my story about this book 📷 Honestly, I bought the book at the time because I was so impressed by the German cover that I thought, if the cover is already so grandiose, then the content must be at least as good. In addition, I already knew that the book was going to be breathtaking, since the German publisher Hobbit Presse put it out and this publisher has never disappointed me before. Moreover, I bought the book, despite the fact that the blurb didn’t excite me at all and you can see from this example again that you shouldn’t get too hung up on the blurb, because it somehow doesn’t say anything about the book. In the meantime, I also own the English editions of the book and have now read it in the original language. In the preface to the book, Durfee calls out Tad Williams and George R.R. Martin as influences. The influence of both writers/storytellers is writ clear in the narrative. Readers familiar with both may see some parallels between King Jovan and the Storm King from Tad Williams’s Memory, Sorrow and Thorn or Mad King Aerys from Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Aside from those comparisons, the world-building in general is quite robust and the rotating POVs works quite well, too. I have to say; however, I think I admired what Durfee was doing more than I enjoyed it. His imagination and storytelling comes across quite impressively, but the grimdark and unsavory elements made it somewhat difficult to fully enjoy the narrative, if that makes sense. There is a teeny-tiny glimmer of optimism, so I hope that Durfee is able to build on that in the next volume(s) of the series.

The brave and pure of heart are recorded in scripture, to be sure, but so are the craven, the venal, and the foolhardy. No man is perfect. Rememeber, even the Warrior Angels were once brawlers, rogues, and thieves. One single man, even be he the reincarnation of one of the Five Warrior Angels, cannot be totally without blemish. Only the reincarnation of Laijon himself is to remain spotless of all stain." Jenko Bruk remained. He sidled up to their table, looking at Nail unflinchingly. “My father’s right, you know. All the gold was stripped from the mountains centuries ago. No Mourning Moon Feast was ever held for gold digging. Grayken hunts are what Gallows Haven was built upon. The grayken are what sustains Gul Kana. Spend your days at sea doing men’s work, Nail. Bring home a grayken or a load of salmon. Feed the entire town. Now that’s a true living. When is your master going to realize that?”Does it look like I give a goat’s fart what’s in the stew? Could be pigeon shit for all I care. I’m only the innkeeper’s big fat errand girl.” With that she stomped away.

Nail was written with so much dedication and detail that he is one of my favourite characters. He’s not a special guy, and his environment makes him feel that way all the time, but you can see how he grows and becomes more and more the person he was meant to be. The relationship that is built between Nail and the reader is unique, as you can relate to each of his actions – even if they sometimes don’t produce the happy ending you want. His loving, almost naive nature makes you want to be there for him and help him along the way. This way is strengthened by his interest in art, and if you know a little more about the author, who is also an artist, you can imagine that the author finds himself in Nail. Even if Nail always wants to do the right thing, in some situations he is a person with doubts and capable of making decisions that make him seem human, but also vulnerable and also vicious. Nail is simply the character that every story needs.So clearly, this is a grimdark book, based on the aforementioned aspect alone. There are plenty of bloody duels, assassination attempts, viscerally bloody battles, gruesome torture scenes, and squeamish moments that many a grimdark fan will delight in. With the nihilism in the book, and dubiousness of the prophecies, and few seemingly morally upright characters, one has to wonder if there is any possibility for a “happy” ending for this series (I doubt it), but I will definitely be reading to find out! Caution: there are a lot of bad things that happen in this book that may make you cringe. Durfee does not pull a lot of punches when it comes to in particular abuse and torture. About the pacing ... That is probably the place where all the problems I have with this book meet. Beyond what I've already mentioned, Durfee has a tendency to over-describe things. Nearly all the time. And frequently this tendency teamed up with the info dumping, turning what might have been a fast-paced action scene into an excruciatingly slow narrative. It took me out of the moment every time it occurred. I love stunning visuals, but stunning visuals do not have to be lengthy, nor do I need a narrative aside about what happened years before while I'm in the middle of reading what is supposed to be important dialogue/action. Another enormous turnoff for me with this book is the ungodly number of info dumps and their length. I get it--believe me, I get it--it's a fantasy work, and info dumps are a necessary evil of the genre; you just have to have them at some point, to explain the world to the reader. But they really should fit within the flow of the story, and be kept as streamlined as possible, not interrupting the pace of the scene you're in the middle of. All I am saying is our armor is naught but rusty relics dug out of that old keep. We can’t stand against Sør Sevier with but forty of us village conscripts and a few codgy sailors and farmers with rakes. Jubal Bruk. I know he’s the baron of our lands, the owner of the grayken-hunting ship upon which I work, but sometimes I think the man’s brain has been addled.”