Others: Positive War casts a shadow over the land dragons once ruled. Only the courage of a young woman with the mind of a gambler and loyalty to no one stands between hope and universal darkness. An age of madness and death approaches, with only a few doomed heroes to stand in its way. The high and powerful will fall, the despised and broken shall rise up and everything will be remade. And a jaded mercenary and renegade priest begin a terrible journey with an impossible goal: destroy a goddess before she eats the world. - Back cover.
Genres: fantasy
Lists: …
Glen Cook
1984 · 320 pages · 2 reviews
Others: MixedWhen the Black Company discovers the mute girl they have rescued and sheltered is the White Rose, they strive to protect her from the evil mercenary soldiers who are out to destroy her and everything she stands for.
What made the match, strongest first
Duncan M. Hamilton
2019 · 304 pages · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveA dangerous tale of lost magics, unlikely heroes, and reawakened dragons. Once a member of the King's personal guard, Guillot dal Villevauvais spends most days drinking and mourning his wife and child. He's astonished- and wary- when the Prince Bishop orders him to find and destroy a dragon. He and the Prince Bishop have never exactly been friends and Gill left the capital in disgrace five years ago. So why him? And, more importantly, how is there a dragon to fight when the beasts were hunted to extinction centuries ago by the ancient Chevaliers of the Silver Circle? On the way to the capitol city, Gill rescues Sol ne, a young barmaid, who is about to be burned as a witch. He believes her innocent...but she soon proves that she has plenty of raw, untrained power, a problem in this land, where magic is forbidden. Yet the Prince Bishop believes magic will be the key to both destroying the dragon and replacing the young, untried King he pretends to serve with a more pliable figurehead. Between Gill's rusty swordsmanship and Solene's unstable magic, what could go wrong?
What made the match, strongest first
Lois McMaster Bujold
1991 · 472 pages · 6 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveA man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is as assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions. but it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. And only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge -- an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a tool of the miraculous ... and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death.
What made the match, strongest first
Carol Berg
2003 · 467 pages · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveBrutal imprisonment has broken Aidan McAllister. Once the most famous musician of his generation, celebrated as a man beloved of the gods, his voice is now silent, his hands ruined, his music that offered beauty and hope to war-torn Elyria destroyed. Even the god who nurtured his talent since boyhood has abandoned him. But no one ever told him his crime. To discover the truth, he must risk his hard-bought freedom to unlock the mind of his god and the heart of his enemy.
What made the match, strongest first
Evan Winter
2017 · 576 pages · 14 reviews
Others: Mostly positiveThe Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He'll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.
What made the match, strongest first
K.J. Parker
2008 · 419 pages · 4 reviews
Others: PositiveHoping for a better life, five war veterans colonize an abandoned island. They take with them everything they could possibly need - food, clothes, tools, weapons, even wives. But an unanticipated discovery shatters their dream and replaces it with a very different one. The colonists feel sure that their friendship will keep them together. Only then do they begin to realize that they've brought with them rather more than they bargained for.For one of them, it seems, has been hiding a terrible secret from the rest of the company. And when the truth begins to emerge, it soon becomes clear that the war is far from over. With masterful storytelling, irresistible wit, and extraordinary insight into human nature, K.J. Parker is widely acknowledged as one of the most original and exciting fantasy writers of modern times. THE COMPANY, K.J. Parker's first stand-alone novel, is a tour de force from an author who is changing the face of the fantasy genre.
What made the match, strongest first
Loved itDragon's Path and King's Blood, books 1 and 2, were pretty close to equal in experience for me, but there's some specific scenes in this second book that pushes it ahead of the first just a little bit, especially towards the end. There is a character moment in book 2 that had me just full chills.
