I love stories told from multiple points of view, and John Gwynne’s Malice contains a sizeable cast.

Malice

In a nutshell, The Faithful and the Fallen series, of which this is the first book, is all about a coming war between the god of good and the god of evil. The war will be fought on earth, and each side will be championed by a human: the Black Sun and the Bright Star. If the series were a game of chess, Malice introduces the reader to the important pieces on the board, their relative positions and their opening moves as the two sides prepare for war.

Some readers have complained that the first half of the book starts off slowly. While I did enjoy both halves, I did find myself constantly drawn to Corban’s coming of age story and the main characters in his life: his sister Cywen, who’s handy with knives; the crippled stablemaster, Gar, who teaches Corban how to wield a sword; Brina the healer; and Corban’s nemesis, Rafe, a bully and more. Corban even gets to rear a wolven pup. Another interesting character is Nathair, a young prince who starts out with the best of intentions but is slowly corrupted and lured to the ‘dark side.’

Towards the end of this first instalment, Gwynn does a great job of getting most of the individual storylines to converge towards a conclusion. Some of the main characters die (or at least we’re led to believe they’ve died), and the main protagonists are forced to leave home and set off on a new set of adventures.

Malice is filled with giants, white worms, huge lizards, angels and ancient prophecies. In places, the story reminded me of the themes and subplots found in Game of Thrones and Star Wars, which isn’t a bad thing. I’m looking forward to the second book, Valour. I want to know how Corban transforms from being an inquisitive and likeable boy into a deadly warrior and  just how rotten the deluded Nathair becomes.

Image: Amazon: 18-Jun-19

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