Goodness, it’s been ages since I’ve participated in an online book/blog tour! I had high hopes for The Coward by Stephen Aryan and gladly agreed when Angry Robot Books reached out and asked if I’d like to participate. If you’d like to check out any of the other tour stops the graphic below has over a month’s worth of exciting stops – reviews, author interviews and more!
Published: June 8, 2021
Publisher: Angry Robot Books
Series: Quest for Heroes #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 400 (Paperback)
My Rating: 4.25/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Who will take up the mantle and slay the evil in the Frozen North, saving all from death and destruction? Not Kell Kressia, he’s done his part…
Kell Kressia is a legend, a celebrity, a hero. Aged just seventeen he set out on an epic quest with a band of grizzled fighters to slay the Ice Lich and save the world, but only he returned victorious. The Lich was dead, the ice receded and the Five Kingdoms were safe.
Ten years have passed Kell lives a quiet farmer’s life, while stories about his heroism are told in every tavern across the length and breadth of the land. But now a new terror has arisen in the north. Beyond the frozen circle, north of the Frostrunner clans, something has taken up residence in the Lich’s abandoned castle. And the ice is beginning to creep south once more.
For the second time, Kell is called upon to take up his famous sword, Slayer, and battle the forces of darkness. But he has a terrible secret that nobody knows. He’s not a hero – he was just lucky. Everyone puts their faith in Kell the Legend, but he’s a coward who has no intention of risking his life for anyone…
This is almost a traditional fantasy story, but the main character who’s supposed to be a monster slaying hero is actually just a lucky coward. That whole twist on the eager farm boy trope is what led me to request this in the first place (that and the pretty cover). I couldn’t wait to see what the author would do with this little twist and ultimately, I was delighted with the results.
Kell Kressia was the lone survivor and slayer of the Ice Lich a decade ago and while he may be lauded across the lands as a hero, he feels like anything but. He’s been living out the intervening years on his family farm, tilling the land and sowing his crops, rarely going into town because he just can’t stand the crowds or the attention. The crops aren’t doing so well now, and it’s begun to feel a little, but Kell thinks perhaps it’s just the natural change in weather. Until one of the Kings sends for him and he goes reluctantly to the capitol city for his new mission. He has every intention of making his way north with plenty of money and supplies… and just slipping off into the unknown, never to be heard from again. Until he gets an eager young hanger-on, much like he was ten years ago. He can’t escape his fate (or is it destiny?) so easily now. North he goes with a growing band of companions to see if the source of lingering nightmares has once again returned to the land.
The Coward was what I would consider a classic fantasy story – hero goes to slay a monster – but with the added fun of the hero not wanting to go slay a monster because well, he’s not into dying. I like a reluctant hero and Kell Kressia certainly fits that description. There is more depth to the story than what my brief synopsis explores, so if you like a little bit of kingdom politics then you’ll be pleased to know that’s in the story too. There is a strong religious presence in the kingdoms and they don’t like Kell so much and are determined to have him assassinated. We’ll certainly be seeing more of that in the next book and I’m really looking forward to it!
Overall, I was really pleased with how entertaining The Coward was. The minor characters that get added along the way were fascinating, there was a smidge of romance, a tinge of heartbreak, plenty of action, and so much potential for future books. I’ll definitely be adding Stephen Aryan’s Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies to my audiobook TBR (because that seems to be the only way I can get to older books nowadays).
Stephen Aryan is the author of the Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies. His first novel, Battlemage, was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy novel. It also won the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award in France. He has previously written a comic book column and reviews for Tor.com. In addition, he has self-published and kickstarted his own comics.
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