The Darkslayer: Wrath of the Royals - Book 1 - Hardcover

Halloran, Craig

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1946218286 ISBN 13: 9781946218285

Publisher: Two-Ten Book Press, 2018

Synopsis

#1 Amazon Best Seller Epic Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery!

Fans of R.A. Salvatore's-Drizzt Do' Urden, Frizt Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, David Gemmell's Druss the Legend, Raymond E. Feist's Pug the Wizard, and Robert E. Howard's Conan, delight in The Darkslayer series ... perhaps you will as well.

A world of corruption and carnage has an indomitable defender...

The all-powerful immortal being, Trinos, created the world of Bish for her own amusement. There an eternal war rages between good and evil under the gaze of the bored goddess. Humans battle monsters and each other in a savage, never-ending conflict--from the world's lush and perilous jungles to the streets of its decaying cities, rife with horror, death, and corruption, to the desolate wastes of the Outlands. And there is one who is charged with maintaining the delicate balance between light and darkness: the warrior Venir, the Darkslayer.

Armed with the mantle of power, his helm, war axe, and his shield, Venir must defend what is good from those who would destroy it. Whether it's the monstrous underlings, emerging from below ground to wreak havoc and terror upon humanity, or the cruel and greedy Royals oppressing their own vulnerable race, no base, ruthless creature will escape his wrath. But now a sinister threat looms on the horizon that even the Darkslayer may be helpless too oppose. For a second immortal has entered the great game--and this new god will not rest until evil reigns supreme for all time.

More ...

On a volatile, savage world created by an entertainment-seeking goddess, the warrior known as the Darkslayer is the champion of good, battling monsters and men to maintain a fragile balance and prevent the world from descending into total chaos and desolation. From the mind of bestselling fantasist Craig Halloran, comes an epic sword and sorcery adventure set on an ingeniously imagined world where bored immortals play with the lives and fates of the unsuspecting beings inhabiting it. Once again Halloran proves himself to be the equal of R.A.Salvatore, Raymond E. Feist, and even George R.R. Martin when it comes to fantasy world-building and page-turning storytelling. With The Darkslayer, the author of the acclaimed Chronicles of the Dragon series gives his devoted fans yet another reason to rejoice.

This fantasy romp through the wastelands has something for all Dungeons and Dragons lovers to thoroughly enjoy! A heavy mix of all the races and magic one would expect in a classic sword and sorcery adventure with some science fiction mixed in.

About this title

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From the Back Cover

"Do as they say or die in the dungeons," the poor storekeepers would say. "Do as they say or disappear," the commoners would warn. But Venir and Melegal could not have cared less what anyone had to say. They had been this way since their childhood.

As the underlings rally all of the evil forces they can muster to destroy the mystical and legendary Darkslayer, something unexpected has upset the delicate balance between good and evil on the world called Bish, making the Darkslayer a pawn in other insidious disputes.

Strife and turmoil are constant features of life as humans struggle to survive among a wide array of creatures, including orcs, ogres, and the most evil of all--the underlings. When recklessness provokes a Royal household, Venir is forced to flee the city, along with his comrade, the skinny thief Melegal. The Royals and underlings soon unleash some unusual powers against him and start to close in. Facing the final showdown, nothing unfolds as it should.



5 out of 5 Stars!
A pure "smash and bang" in-your-face action fantasy, calling back to the days when heroes wore chain-mail and the villains wore cloaks. The story of Darkslayer focuses on Venir, a muscular, blonde, ale-imbibing adventurous hero of Bish, a world galaxies away. Venir is also known as The Darkslayer to the Underlings, a race of hairy humanoids with a fetish for killing humans. Venir might be the key that will free the world of man from the guileful underlings, or he could be the apocalyptic destroyer. In Craig Halloran's first outing as an author, he shines in giving a compelling narrative. He is able to tell the entire history of the world, and at the same time, plunges back into the main adventure. Every fantasy subspecies is jam-packed into the book. From Giant Dwarfs, to hot chicks in armor, to crafty halflings and the occasional half ogre. The character designs pop in large part to exceptional illustrations by Ernie Chan, whose past works include both Marvel and DC comics. While the main characters will punch a hole in your heart and settle down in it, it is the minor characters that add the depth to the plot. My favorite is Eep, the evil imp from another dimension. Eep may have been evil and nasty, but he had a humanistic loyalty that was admirable.
--Sacramento/San Francisco Book Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Two-Ten Book Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1946218286
• ISBN 13: 9781946218285
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328