When Chel is tasked with escorting a Prince to safety, he meets the rag tag band of mercenaries – The Black Hawks. But who can he really trust?

The Black Hawks is a fun fantasy with a streak of sarcasm and humour woven into its writing style (although there are no real laugh at loud moments that I was expecting from the hype). This makes for a fun read which flows well and keeps you engaged. However, as far as the fantasy genre goes it isn’t exactly earth shattering. The plot is quite basic, there’s some nice moments but the arch is a little generic and ends on a complete stop-dead cliff hanger which I never really enjoy too much. It took quite a while to get going and seemed to slow down towards the end as well. There’s also nothing really new in the worldbuilding of the piece – no interesting political structure or combat system, no very different cities or animals or class systems put in place. It all just feels a little generic and a little too unimaginative.

What makes up for The Black Hawks lack of solid plot and worldbuilding though is its characters – all of which are very strong. There are some great female characters in The Black Hawk team – Lemon, Loveless and Whisper, all of which pull their weight and are pretty badass but also with some flaws as well. The other characters such as the creepy Spider and Rennic are also interesting and there’s some great moments where they are all together which make for a fun read. One character I didn’t find as interesting was unfortunately the main character Chel. He seems to lack personality – perhaps particularly when compared to the others. He also seems to change half-way through the book – from being what I had assumed was a confident fighter to a bit of a pacifist and whining almost as much as the Prince when it came to danger.

Overall The Black Hawks is a fun read but it’s unimaginative plot and basic world building has to be propped up by its interesting characters. Thank you to HarperCollins UK – HarperVoyager for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very strange story but very compelling. Lots of action, fighting and death, for no real purpose. The conclusion was just as strange because it wasn't. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book because it was always unexpected.

Absolutely loved The Black Hawks! It has great characters, a cracking plot and plenty of action. I really liked how the story progressed and I found myself becoming more invested as the chapters progressed. Highly recommended for sure!

I was excited when I first saw this blurb. I just don’t read enough funny books!

I loved the set up of this Chel is clearly totally out of his depth here, and it makes for a great read. I loved that the protagonist felt like more of a normal person surrounded by more unusual characters. Chel goes through this novel constantly in danger and not really having a clue what’s going on.

My personal favourite character though was Lemon. I loved that she really didn’t care what people think of her and just goes along how she wants.

This was a fun adventure read. The downside for me was the amount of fighting throughout the story. I tend to find those scenes hard to follow, so there were definitely pages I skimmed over a bit. But if you read a lot of epic fantasy I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you.

Overall this was such a fun read. While there were parts I didn’t totally follow, I enjoyed the overall story and can’t wait for a sequel!

3.5 Stars

I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but the artist who made this cover also created the cover for one of my absolute favourite books - Kings of the Wyld - so I was naturally very much drawn to this book! As it was also described as a humorous dark adult fantasy, it seemed right up my street and didn't hesitate to apply for an ARC.

So it was a little bit humorous, a little bit dark and it can indeed be classed as adult fantasy. The problem is, it just wasn't quite enough of any of those things for me. I didn't find it anywhere near as funny, dark or fantastical as I had hoped and that left me a little disappointed.

That is not to say that this is a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. This is a fun adventure and a nice introduction to a new fantasy world. The minor characters in particular are a real stand out aspect of the book. My favourite parts were those involving the other members of the Black Hawks - particularly Lemon, Whisper, Foss and Loveless. I would love to explore their backstories more and find out what really makes them tick. As for the main character, Chel, I'm not such a fan. I've just read a whole book about him and still know next to nothing about him other than he gets beaten up a lot? He doesn't have much of a backstory or a personality. Honestly, I found myself just not caring about him. That's a dangerous thing when you don't care about the main character of a book. It makes it so much harder to read. This is only my own opinion and I know many readers will be big fans of Chel.

The plot largely made sense and was quite fun and interesting once it got going. Though once things really get going there is only a few pages left of this book leaving us with a bit of a cliffhanger and needing to read the next book to find out what happens next.

David Wragg, you tease!

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I struggled with this book.

I couldn't connect with the characters, because I had no idea what they're goals were (other than not die). What were their desires and needs that they were pursuing? What did they enjoy doing when not attempting not to die? This was no more obvious than for the MC, Chel, who lurched from scene to scene, determined to keep a snivelling prince alive because... it was a duty he agreed to in place of another duty?

They felt so 1D, and most of their personality can be summed up as trying to fit as many expletives in a sentence as possible (I'm not a big fan of swearing, and there's a LOT). There is a betrayal at about 15%, but I had no attachment to betrayer to betrayee, so when the guy turned it took me a while to work out what was happening.

The lack of a concrete desire for anyone made it hard to work out what the plot was. Get away from the people hunting them and get to safety. But what does the MC stand to gain from it? As I was struggling to pay attention, I found it very hard to follow what was going on, no more so than the first three chapters when so many names, places and alliances/factions were name-dropped without knowing who anyone was.

Following a company of mercenaries, as they protect/ransom the prince across the country. A group of misfits that nothing seems to go right for, but they're banded together like family.
I heard good stuff about this book, but I found it hard to really enjoy, I felt it was boring and tiresome. Also the ending was a let down, I know its leading to the second book but it doesn't make me want to pick the next one up.

“For fans of Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch,” they said. And just like that, I was hooked.

The Black Hawks feels like a bit of a throwback to those older fantasy novels where a close-knit group of warriors would dash off on some quest, explore the world, meet a lot of interesting people, and then dispose of some of them. You know the types. Those books where our mighty heroes take the Magic Item to the pre-destined Wherever, and in doing so save the world.

But The Black Hawks is also nothing like that at all. Don’t get me wrong, The Black Hawks can feel like a traditional quest fantasy on occasion, but it isn’t. Not really. Our “heroes” aren’t really heroes. They’re mercenaries. And there’s no magic item (or much magic at all, really). Instead, the item that our very unheroic heroes are transporting is a kidnapped prince. They aren’t doing it to save the world, either. They’re doing it for money. The best of motivations.

Our main character, Chel, very unfortunately stumbles into the middle of all of this. Despite being told on numerous occasions that he’s supposed to be lucky, he consistently finds himself in some of the worst possible situations. His life races ahead of him like a Formula 1 car and he is dragged along the road behind it, banging his head against pothole after pothole.

I should say that I thought the beginning was a little bit rough. The reader is sort of thrown into things, and while I’m generally not adverse to this kind of opening, I did find it a little bit disorienting in this instance. I wasn’t really sure what kind of book it was going to be.

But after those rough early chapters, The Black Hawks comes into its own. The humour, understated at first, grows into itself, and the cast of characters expands to include The Black Hawk mercenary company itself.

I’m not keen to give too much away about the character arcs, but I will say that the group dynamic was one of my favourite parts of the book. There are witty jokes, cutting remarks, and found-family feels. This is the sort of book where you get to know most of the characters along with the protagonist, and that creates a sort of bond between them and the reader. I was very fond of them all by the end, and very invested in their stories and continued survival.

I know. When will I learn?

Chel is a main character that you can really empathize with, and I enjoyed that he had a bit of a backbone to him. He’s not arrogant by any means, but he’s willing to bet on himself if it comes to it, which is a nice change of pace from those protagonists who are more inclined to doubt themselves.

The world is pretty standard euro-medieval low-fantasy. There is a lot of politicking, but our characters aren’t really politically-important enough to have any impact on that. Besides, y’know, the whole kidnapping a prince thing. But other than that minor detail, they are definitely victims of politics rather than major players. Definitely.

The humour, however, is the star of the show. Most of it comes from the dialogue — with Scott Lynch-esque insults and banter — though there are also some absurd situations, none of which break the flow of the story. I’m also giving bonus points for a written Scottish accent that actually wasn’t horrendously terrible. Believe me, that’s rare.

I do think that the plot, which was fairly simple throughout most of the book, maybe pushes the limits of believability towards the end. This may be something that breaks immersion for some readers, but I was willing to roll with it since I thought it fit in with some of the other ridiculous aspects of the story.

For those of you searching for another series that can scratch a bit of your Locke Lamora itch, this may do the job. I’ve seen some people compare this to Kings of the Wyld, and while I do think that fans of one will enjoy the other, for me this is a very different book beyond the surface-level similarities. The Black Hawks is a bit more serious, and much more grounded.

To sum up, if you’re a fan of coarse, violent, and funny fantasy books, this is one for you. You should read it.

But for now, I’m going to leave you with three nonsense sentences that should make no sense whatsoever until you decide to pick this one up:

I love lemon. Spiders freak me out. Long live Pigfucker.

This was a good ride. I quite enjoyed my time with this humorous, dark and nicely built fantasy world.

I thought the book had a good pace and good focus on the plot. It wasn't dragging and dragging. I liked the writing as well, and thought it was also creative.

So, I'd recommend it if you're looking for a new fantasy.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

e-ARC provided by the publisher through netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This book was touted to be for fans of Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie, with the cover done by the same artist who did the covers of Kings of the Wyld - which explains why I decided to pick this up. Kings of the Wyld was one of my favourite reads of this year and from the blurb of this book, I was expecting something similar. There are similarities - A band of mercenaries, a quest, some funny banter and action, but the similarities end there.

The story follows Vedren Chel, who is bound by oath to a dead-end job in the service of a lazy step-uncle. Chel no longer dreams of glory – he dreams of going home. When invaders throw the kingdom into turmoil, Chel finds opportunity in the chaos: escort a stranded prince to safety, and be released from his oath.
All he has to do is drag the prince from one side of the country to the other, through war and wilderness, chased all the way by assassins and people who want to see him dead.
His path tangles with that of the Black Hawk Company – mercenaries & misfits, and this is where the story actually starts to get interesting.

My main problem with this book was the lack of world-building. We are thrown right into the middle of action with hardly any explanation. I would have loved to know more about the kingdoms, the role of church, the history but instead I was left to make assumptions. This also led me to be strangely detached from the characters and I couldn't get myself to care for any of them for the most part.
The first 20% of the book was the most difficult to get through, but the story picks up after The Black Hawk Company comes in. 70% is where shit starts to go down and then the story ends so abruptly that I feared I was missing a few chapters. I'm all for cliffhangers but with this one I just felt denied.
All that said, after things started making sense (at around 50%), I was really enjoying the banter and might have learnt a swear word or two. You thought Scott Lynch was imaginative with his swear words? Wait till you read this one! Chel is a loveable character, fiercely loyal, and making up for his very poor fighting skills with luck and sheer persistence.
Overall, I enjoyed this debut and will definitely be picking up the sequel because that ending was just cruel. I just wish I had loved this one more because I had such expectations!

My thanks to Harper Collins/Voyager and Netgalley.
This year was going to be the one where I read more fantasy. As it turns out, I'm a bit particular about my stuff. I absolutely adore epic. Unfortunately my epics are few and far between. I love Robert Jordan. He's the one who introduced me to this mess. Sanderson? I only love one series of his, and the way it's going I'll be dead before he's finished. Luckily, I have Mark Lawrence! Grimdark? I love that shit. This? I should have known as soon as I saw the cover. Still, I may have just loved this except for the fact that it ended way too soon. In a way it did remind me of Abercrombie. These crazy people got to me. I can't even give this a proper review. Mostly because sometimes I love the book, but need to see where it's heading.

An amazing, gripping, dark and funny at the same time fantasy novel that I couldn't put down.
I loved everything in this book: the cast of characters, the world building and the plot, engrossing and entertaining.
The style of writing is amazing and I liked how creative this author is.
I cant' wait to read the next instalment in this series.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Brilliant debut novel from David Wragg.

Vedren Chel is a knight, though the life of said knight isn’t quite what he had in mind. He’s in service to his step-uncle and bound by oath, all Chel wants is to pack up and ship out. Chel passes his time by doing dares with other soldiers and it is on one of these dares that he is tripped up by an unknown character, he chases this person and gets into a whole heap of trouble.

Chel’s relatively boring life is flipped when invaders threaten the kingdom. After an encounter with someone he thought to be a friend, Chel is injured and in danger.
After hiding in a cart, he finds one of the Prince’s hiding in it with him. This Prince, Prince Tarfel, is a bit useless. He offers Chel a deal, if he swears fealty to him and get him safely to his brother, he will be freed from all oaths. Agreeing and sworn by oath, Chel has no option but to oblige him in helping him to escape to safety.

Chel and the Prince travel by land to what they assume is safety, only to be asked to return from where they came from to show a defensive front. Upon their return, things go amiss again. Invaders are closing in and the gates are open, Chel tries to warn people but it all falls on deaf ears. After losing some guards, realisation sets in and they try to bar the doors, only for Chel to encounter his mystery character again.

Following a lot of death, Chel is knocked on the head and later wakes up in the hold of a barge at the mercy of a group of mercenaries. Though he seems at a loss to be kidnapped with the prince, he’s about to go on a whole new adventure.

From there, the humour picks up! The characters are fantastic and well written. The banter and language is something to behold. If you’re not a fan of swearing and rather creative insults, this isn’t a book for you.

I have a lot of love for Lemon, Foss and Rennic. Even Prince Tarfel even though he’s a bit tapped. The whole dynamic of the Black Hawk company is fantastic and contains the most creative greeting and insults I think I have ever read.

It has ambushes, cannibalism, alliances, betrayals and a weird religious cult. It is a brilliant adventure fantasy that will have you laughing the whole way through. You get sucked in and feel for this motley crew.

The ending, how rude! I need to second book now to see what happens! Simply, this is a brilliantly foul-mouthed debut from David Wragg. I can’t wait to read more.

Vedren Chel is supposed to be training as a knight. Supposed to be… The reality is somewhat different. In a dead-end indenture, he dreams of going home. The problem is he cannot break his oath of allegiance to his step-uncle any time soon. However, when the kingdom is invaded and the opportunity to be released presents itself, Chel takes it with both hands. But like everything in his life, this doesn’t work out quite the way he intended. Kidnapped by a murderous band of misfits and pursued by ruthless assassins, Chel has just jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.

In The Black Hawks, David Wragg is not reinventing the wheel in terms of fantasy writing. Yet, by paying close attention to excellent character development and a frenetic plot of constant peril and close calls, The Black Hawks entertains in a way that, before you know it, the story has finished, and you want to know what happens next.

I did like Chel. He has a very strong sense of right and wrong, standing his ground valiantly against injustice but more as a knee jerk response, rather than thinking through the potentially terminal consequences of his actions. There is an interesting internal juggling act between his bravado, sense of duty and desire to save his own skin.

All the main characters have something to commend them in terms of depth. Even the spoilt and whinging Prince Tarfel, whom Chel has sworn to protect, has his merits. The band of mercenary misfits who are keeping Chel and Tarfel one step ahead of the assassins are nicely fleshed out and have an intelligently considered mix of personality traits and fighting skills.

I enjoyed that the fact that we were not neck deep in wizards and magic. The plot relies instead on good old-fashioned stealth, intrigue and hand to hand fighting, as well as healthy portion of wry humour, courtesy of Chel, who largely saves the day more by incompetence and accident than well thought out strategy.

The Black Hawks is an easy, entertaining and smooth read that will appeal to a wide audience from older young adult to adult.

For some reason, I just couldn't get into this. I think there were too many characters doing too many things and it felt 'bitty'. I tried to like Chel and tried to find the humour, but failed at both. To be honest, I think flagging humour is never a good idea, because it makes me expect something to make me laugh and it's such a disappointment when it doesn't. But I see that others have really enjoyed this book, so I'll give it three stars instead of two.

This book promises a lot and delivers on every one. It’s hard to know where to start as there was hardly an aspect of this book I didn’t enjoy. From the characters to the world building and the intricate plot this really is a great read.

The characters are fantastic. Told from the perspective of Chel, a rather hopeless guard who in an attempt to get out of his sworn oath ends up the soul protector of a rather pompous little prince during a time of extreme upheaval in the Kingdom. Chel is great, he has such a charm about him even though he is mostly inept at his job, it comes across that he generally wants to be a good person. Prince Tarfel on the other hand, at times I wanted to punch him but as the story went on he grew on me. I will say I did find the story a little hard to get into at first. This first few chapters focus on Chel and the prince and they are not the most exciting of reads. However, when we are introduced to the Black Hawks this book really takes off. This is a rag-tag bunch of morally grey misfits formed into a found family band of mercs. Each has such a strong personality but they still manage to shine through and play off each other with such natural humour and grace. By far my favourite is Lemon, who has a very Scottish wit to her. Each of the gang was so intriguing and I cant wait to follow them forward in the series.

The world-building was subtle yet detailed. Never once did it feel like info-dumping. Instead we got bits of the worlds history and culture and religious beliefs through the various characters telling their stories. As we traveled with them we got information of the landscape of the world, its various populations and how they came under rule of the kingdom all in a very natural conversation way. The use of dialogue and dialects is also asset to the world-building, the conversations are natural. The communication between the Black Hawks is filled with humour that just makes it a joy to read about them.

The plot is also filled to the brim with twists and turns. After the introduction it is filled with varied and plentiful action. There are all kinds of battles, ambushes, plots and plans that keep you guessing. All building up to a quick paced ramp up and a reveal at the end that I can forgive the cliffhanger. All in all this is a smashing debut and I am looking forward to the story continuing

This was a strange one for me. For most of the book, I was pretty underwhelmed and often a little bored, and then the last 50 pages has made me now want to read the sequel! This tells the story of Chel, who finds himself sworn to a prince and attempting to protect him through a journey with the eponymous Black Hawks. Firstly, I think that the synopsis is a little misleading. It makes this sound like a funny book along the lines of Kings of the Wyld, but this is actually quite a gritty and brutal book and what humour there was, just fell completely flat for me. The characters were a little stereotypical and again, tried to play up the rogue band of warriors trope, but didn't quite cut the mustard (although I did really enjoy Lemon). The plot was meandering and convoluted and I often found myself a little lost, both to where we were in the world, and who the characters were. With all that being said, there are some really intriguing reveals towards the end of the book that have set up the next book really well. Overall, this was a bit of a frustrating read, but I will try the next instalment to see if some of the issues have been ironed out.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book but I found myself having so much trouble getting into it. I felt like the story was slow and I honestly didn't care for any of the characters. I ended up DNFing it at 37%.

This might be a book I try again in the future as I didn't have a problem with the writing style but at this moment in time it just wasnt for me.

I received an ARC provided by Harper Voyager via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and I am grateful to both for that opportunity.
I loved the Black Hawks and look forward to my next helping of some great characterization, twisting and turning story lines, unexpected and unanticipated events, and some very likable rogues!
I read the book at pace, and while I did put it down occasionally, I was always eager to return to it. I think being on holiday at the time made that easier, but only because I had more time to spend reading. It helped that I was also flying long haul for one of the days it took me to read it!
The Black Hawks are now firmly fixed on my book reading radar, and David Wragg occupies his own shelf, which is not the case for all authors that I read!
For those who love this genre of writing, I highly recommend it!

I was invited to read this book and I’m glad I did. Don’t be deceived by marketing campaigns. This is not in the Vein of Nicholas Eames. That isn’t to say it’s not funny – it is – but most of the humour is in the form of witty one liners and banter. The tone is pretty dark and while I have a very dark sense of humour, I certainly wouldn’t say this was laugh out loud rip roaring fantasy adventure. That said, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book filled with difficult choices and morally ambiguous characters – two of my favourite things. Recommended for all the dark and low fantasy fans out there.