Assassin By Author’s Name

I picked up this rather chunky tome with quite high expectations and I am pleased to say it did not disappoint. The opening scene is action-packed and the story doesn’t much let up from there because it sets off a house of cards type chain of events that takes not just the Hunter of Voramis on a ride but the reader as well.

If you like your dark fantasy… well…dark. And, if you love Diehard’esc none stop action only harder with more blood, more deaths than Attila the Hun and more twists than a curly whirly then this might just be the book you are looking for.

The story is set entirely within the city of Voramis whose underworld is ruled by the Bloody Hand, and they’re not even the worst crooks (okay, they are the worst but the nobility is not far behind). The city is well-imagined and the descriptive narrative paints it in all its glorious filth, squalor and splendour. You can almost smell it. In fact, smell is often used to expand on each location and, most intriguingly is one of the protagonist’s most used senses. I liked the scent profile the Hunter had for literally everyone he came across, wonderful and imaginative. So many books of all genres talk to the eyes and ears but not many to the nose.

So what is it all about I hear you say? Enter stage right, The Hunter of Voramis.

The Hunter does not know what he is and lives with so many faces it is hard to get a read on him except to say that it is clear, pretty much early doors, he is not entirely human. He does not know his name, how long he has lived or where he is from, just that he came to Voramis many decades ago. Oh, and he is kind of immortal maybe, possibly. I say kind of because he heals from wounds that would kill any ordinary person, and quickly. Though that said, he is not without his kryptonite and in The Hunter’s case, his kryptonite is much more readily available than Superman’s bane. I could argue, justifiably, that it is right up there with vampires and sunlight. I found this to be a massive flaw and one that could be easily exploited which is great because it creates tension the story would otherwise have lacked. After all, an indestructible superhuman is not much fun now, is it?

But that is not all. Very cleverly (in my mind at least), it could be said the Hunter has another weakness only you’ll have to read the book to figure it out for yourself. But I liked this ‘frailty’ because it could also be argued it gave him his strength. I mean comeon, if you’re not intrigued by now why are you still reading this…yeah, I know, I have a point, that’s why I said it.

I dither, so, back to Voramis and our story’s beginning where the Hunter has forged a name for himself as the ultimate assassin. He fears no one and nothing. Until that is he takes a commission for a job that sets him against the Bloody Hand.

I will say that despite the action sequences that play out early on I did get a feeling of, so what? It felt like wacko-mole. Bad dudes popped their heads up and the Hunter would lop them off but then, there was a change and little twists and turns started to wriggle and worm into the story until the undercurrent subtly swept me under and the narrative became so much more.

Overall a remorseless, brooding and menacing tale. The Hunter is pretty hardcore but tantalisingly not always. As ever, if you like the sound of all this or if you are still not sure, then have a read of Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’ feature and read the first chapter. That will give you a real feel for what is to come.

Great book. Loved the story.

Peloquin has achieved the impossible: dragging my rent and bloody heart through 750 pages of pure heartbreak only to leave me grinning like a fool through the final pages. Yes, heartbreak. Darkblade: Assassin is not for the squeamish, and every twist and turn of The Hunter’s tale is bound to leave shredded pages or bent plastic (for you Kindle readers) beneath your white knuckles. Let’s dive into this dark fantasy masterpiece.

The Hunter is one of the three pillars of power in the festering sore that is Voramis. King Gavian might rule in broad daylight, but a vicious criminal syndicate, the Bloody Hand, owns everything else. The flesh trade, the brothels, the black market. If it’s worth even an offal-caked bronze drake, they have a finger in it.

A tenuous peace exists between the Hunter and the Bloody Hand. He ignores their wanton degeneracy and corruption, and in return they give him free reign to carry out assassinations—ones he is forced to execute to sate the ravenous bloodlust of a magical dagger inexplicably bound to him. It is not a tranquil relationship, but there is peace. For now . . .

What follows is grim, bloody slaughter. Peloquin is a master of sensory storytelling, rooting you in the Hunter’s unstable mind as he battles through reeking back alleys, incense clogged parlors, musty catacombs, raucous taverns, and elegant soirees. I cringed at every blow the Hunter struck and received. Tasted the coppery blood in his mouth and curled my noise up at the stench of death he was so Keeper-damned efficient at doling out. Every thrust, stab, slash, hack, chop, and any other method of dealing immense bodily harm was accounted for, and I reveled in the amount of detail I was being given.

But for all Peloquin’s emphasis on action, does his world-building and characterization suffer? Hardly. If anything, these are the true strengths of Darkblade: Assassin. In the middle of all the death, despair, and suffering, my favorite segment was three subsequent chapters that consisted of nothing but the Hunter and a side character talking about lore while climbing a seemingly infinite staircase. Peloquin’s mythology is riveting. The talk of gods, demons, ancient civilizations, lost continents, frozen seas, forgotten wars, and alchemy could be ripped from the twitching muscles of this book and would still be fascinating on their own. Bravo, well done!

And characterization? The Hunter is, quite frankly, a mess. But for all his brutality and bloodlust, he is a compelling, likeable mess. He must kill, but he chooses who, why, and when. Even in the midst of his long-term amnesia and despondence at the unending cycle of death and mayhem he must engage in, the Hunter has a code he follows. And, perhaps, even people he cares about. I fell in love with the brooding bloke, and my heart ached when the vicious Peloquin inflicted the unthinkable upon him.

“In these quiet moments, the Hunter became the prey, and he could never escape the lifeless eyes and accusing faces.”

This low point in the novel might receive criticism from other reviewers, but not from me. Depression is not something that evaporates with one minor success or simple kindness. Guilt and shame are not overridden by direction or purpose—at least not entirely. They are ever present, like ghosts lurking just out of sight, waiting to drag us back down into the darkness at the slightest weakness or crack in our armor. The Hunter encapsulates this perfectly, and I applaud Peloquin for not shying away from these hard truths.

I could gush for hours about this book, but the highest praise I can give it is this: read Darkblade: Assassin for yourself. It will hurt you. Yet, at the same time, it will also give you hope. Hope that we can rise above our heritage, our circumstances, and our past. Hope that we can be the light in the darkness; the good that doesn’t yield to evil. And we don’t have to be pure ourselves to take up that fight. We have all sinned, we have all fallen, but as long as we rise to our feet once more, we will never truly be beaten.

Just like the bloody Keeper-damned Hunter of Voramis.

80s action movie, revenge story, dark fantasy, action packed, easy to read, gripping, I will definitely be continuing this series