Tuesday 17 June 2014

The Leopard - K.V. Johansen

In the days of the first kings in the North, there were seven devils…

Ahjvar, the assassin known as the Leopard, wants only to die, to end the curse that binds him to a life of horror. Although he has no reason to trust the goddess Catairanach or her messenger Deyandara, fugitive heir to a murdered tribal queen, desperation leads him to accept her bargain: if he kills the mad prophet known as the Voice of Marakand, Catairanach will free him of his curse. Accompanying him on his mission is the one person he has let close to him in a lifetime of death, a runaway slave named Ghu. Ahj knows Ghu is far from the half-wit others think him, but in Marakand, the great city where the caravan roads of east and west meet, both will need to face the deepest secrets of their souls, if either is to survive the undying enemies who hunt them and find a way through the darkness that damns the Leopard.

To Marakand, too, come a Northron wanderer and her demon verrbjarn lover, carrying the obsidian sword Lakkariss, a weapon forged by the Old Great Gods to bring their justice to the seven devils who escaped the cold hells so long before.

My thoughts:
It started off nicely. A woman is searching for an assassin because her goddess told her to. And I will start with that. I liked this world, there are Gods and Goddesses everywhere, every spring, lake and river. A very old sort of religion. There are also wizards in this worlds, and a few devils that has come into the world. Nasty beings. There is also talk of demons as we meet a half demon.A lot to work with. A world of clans, fights and citystates

Ok so that is the world so far. Deyandara is the woman riding to find her assassin. Her story was interesting and I liked her. Ahjvar is the assassin and his story is even more interesting. He has some serious issues. He has a servant called Ghu who I at first did not think much about but then he grew on me. I really wonder what he is about.

And then there were more! Yes I would have liked to follow these first few along but suddenly a lot more sprung up and I did not see much of any of the previous characters. I did miss them and I will not you about the rest cos some things can be secrets. But, the book changed.

Anyway, the book takes place mostly in Marakand. A city where old Gods fell and the Lady become the prime Goddess. But who is the Lady, she was not like that before. It's a city where her soldiers are to be feared, a city where something is wrong.

Conclusion:
An interesting start. A war is coming too, I do like war. And what will happen to Marakand?

Cover
nice

Paperback, 432 pages
Published June 10th 2014 by Pyr
Marakand #1
Fantasy
For review

40 comments:

  1. I love the cover. But I have to agree with your assessment of the story. I read this, and loved the first part...but then the second part I couldn't care less about any of the new characters.

    ~Mogsy

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    1. The first part made all awesome and then, then everyone disappeared and I was all what?

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  2. War books are not my favorite as I get anxiety over who is going to die, lame right?

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  3. This sounds super good! I'm prolly biased because I'm totally on an assassin's addiction thanks to the games. xD

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  4. Not my kind of book, but I do like the cover :)

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  5. Wow, never heard of this book before! The world-building looks interesting with the gods, wizards, assassins! Nice review! :D

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    Replies
    1. I so liked the world, and I am curious about what will happen.

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  6. Srsly, where the heck are you finding these fantasy books of yours????

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  7. I tried to like Blackdog, but ultimately failed. As pretty as this cover is, I just couldn't get the desire to try again.

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    1. I do think that if that one failed then this is just not for you

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  8. I always love when we have god and goddess, it's always really interesting to see them.

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    1. I think there should be more gods and goddesses around :)

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  9. Yes, you like your wars. This sounds like an interesting start and who is this Goddess?

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    1. I can't tell you about the Goddess, it's tricky...

      And yes wars, yay...in fantasy

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  10. Sounds like a good one. I love assassins AND war ;)

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  11. That leopard guy on the cover is creepy.

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  12. Hmm, I've kind of paused at the halfway point, and I'm not sure this does anything to prompt me to continue. Seems to be a general consensus among reviewers that the transition weakens the overall story.

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    1. Up to the half way point I was all awesome! And then, I was mostly confused. So In the end I am really confused. I both really liked it, and not so much

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  13. Other than the issue with the characters, which doesn't sound good, this really appeals to me. And that you want to keep reading is recommendation enough. Hope the next book is good!

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    1. I do want to keep on reading cos I need to know what happened to my fav peeps

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  14. I do love when war comes, lol

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  15. Hmm, war is coming. You might have to continue for that reason. :) Maybe you'll see those that you loved in the beginning again too.

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    1. You know I have to ;)
      I hope so, cos it got a bit confusing but I hope it all works out

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  16. This sounds like a cool story, I also like when gods and goddesses everywhere, influencing everything. Hope the rest of the series is awesome!

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  17. I like the cover and this book sounds like something I would like, but I think I'll wait until you read second book to decide. ;)

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  18. Glad you liked it. The cover scares me, lol.

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  19. Sounds interesting, plus incoming war is always good :D

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  20. I love that I can always get some of the best high fantasy recommendations. This sounds like it is Viking inspired. I am going to have to check this one out.

    And yes, that cover is AWESOME!

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    1. Viking, eh not really. The north in the book yes but we do not get to go there. The mythology is more nature based

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  21. Assasins and war, sound good!

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