This is one book I've been aware for for a long time but never felt a longing to actually pick up until recently. But now I did. Let's take a looksee. Spoilers ahead.
Tungdil is a dwarf who was raised among men by a wizard. One day he is sent on a quest and meets some actual dwarves, the first of his kind he ever meets. From there on he finds he is swept away on a huge journey to save the world against the undead, Alves and the evil wizard Nudin.
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this other than a standard fantasy, and while that's certainly what I got I think there's enough good and unique stuff here to keep the story engaging. Does it really do much new or interesting things with the fantasy genre? No, not really, but all the same there's some cool concepts in here.
For one, I like that this time we have a fantasy series written from the dwarves' POV, which so far I haven't encountered yet in fantasy. They're often side or major characters, sure, but I've yet to read one written through their eyes. So this made for a nice change of pace. I also really like the culture of the dwarves the author came up with. It genuinely had me interested and I especially wanted to know which of their tribes Tungdil would end up belonging to, since his past is a mystery that keeps changing depending on who you ask. The concept of the dead land with its undead creatures was also pretty neat and I like how becoming undead does not instantly mean that one is evil. Yes, most of them are, but at one point one of Tungdil's friends becomes undead and while he struggles with this condition he doesn't become a villain or even an antagonist really, he's still helpful.
The characters I also enjoyed. While not all of them leave an equal amount of impact, our main squad of dwarves I found to be very likable and rounded characters (or unlikable, if we count Bislipur). Tungdil isn't the most unique protagonist out there, but he's still interesting and just a really likable guy you root for. I also really found myself enjoying the brothers Boïndil and Boëndal, as well as Bavragor. The other characters vary in likability and how three-dimensional they feel, but I definitely liked the core cast and thought they were well-written and distinct enough.
Aside from that I don't have that much to say. It's a solid fantasy. It doesn't really break any new ground as far as I can tell, but it's unique and interesting enough to keep the reader engaged and guessing. I see in quite a few of the reviews that people didn't read it all the way through but I've got to disagree. It's good enough to keep me going and I'm even curious into the future books, which I may pick up eventually.
Rating: 3.5/5
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