He disfrutado muchísimo con The Black Coast, una obra que a pesar de no ser una novedad muy reciente o precisamente por eso y por tener ya publicada toda la trilogía ha entrado en mi radar. Y me considero afortunada por ello, porque es una historia fantástica con perspectiva de género, con algo de magia y con un uso del idioma que parece chocante al principio pero que luego encaja perfectamente en el relato.


El libro comienza con lo que parece una escaramuza más de las muchas que sufren los poblados costeros de Narida, a manos de los temibles Irwenians. Esto nos puede recordar mucho a los ataque vikingos a las costas británicas y no iríamos muy desencaminados si no fuera porque Mike Brooks decide que los invasores en este caso vienen en son de paz, buscando asentamiento lejos de sus propias tierras, que penden amenazadas por un poder superior. Un poco como los movimientos de los pueblos germanos que se vieron empujados por los hunos a bajar por Europa.

Décadas de recelo y de mala sangre, así como el código de honor de los invadidos impedirían inmediatamente un entendimiento, pero el sentido común, quizá el menos común de los sentidos, prevalece y se llega a un acuerdo tenso e inestable para ambas sociedades. Pero que la sangre no llegara al río de primeras no significa que las diferencias culturales no dejen de provocar conflictos, para los que se necesitará mucha mano izquierda, sobre todo cuando se de a conocer el acuerdo al que se ha llegado entre los responsables de cada facción.

Sin entrar mucho más en el meollo de la novela, me gustaría hablar un poco más sobre cómo está escrita. Los dos pueblos que cruzan sus caminos hablan lenguas distintas y su concepción del mundo es tan distinta que a veces resulta casi imposible entenderse, por no poder expresar ideas que no tienen acogida en el idioma que se está aprendiendo. Por ejemplo, la cabecilla de “los invasores” empezará a llamarse a sí misma hombre porque en el idioma de Narida es imposible que una posición de poder la ocupe una figura femenina. Para esta situación quizá un tanto rocambolesca, el autor hace uso de un singular mayestático y varias perífrasis para reforzar el género percibido, que no tiene por qué ser el biológico. Como cuando se dice: “pues tu hermana me dijo no sé qué ” en vez de decir “pues Lola me dijo no sé qué”. Como si hacer uso de los nombres propios no fuera suficientemente explícito en el lenguaje. Es una cosa muy curiosa y que a pesar de la extrañeza que cause en un principio, una vez se entra en el juego te permite entrever lo que piensan los personajes a través de los diálogos sin necesidad de monólogos interiores.

El clan invasor no conoce el papel y no tiene registros escritos, lo que sorprende sobremanera a los habitantes de Narida, ya que se preguntan entonces cómo saben qué pertenece a cada uno. Y la respuesta es lapidaria: si una persona no sabe si una gallina es suya o no, es que no le hacía mucha falta desde el principio.

Aunque hay poca magia a lo largo de la novela, hay dos puntos de vista un poco más marginales a lo largo del relato que yo creo que tomarán mayor relevancia en las siguientes entregas y van dejado el camino sembrado para lo que pretende recoger Brooks. Yo al menos no creo que pase mucho tiempo sin leer el siguiente.

You may be familar with Mike's work thanks to his extensive Warhammer 40,000 work. Treat yourself and expand your horizons with his original fiction.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was different than some other fantasy books I've read. We saw two main characters from different areas, who used to fight against eachother. But now they want to work together and improve things for both sides.
This made Daimon and Saana the most interesting POVs. But sadly there were a handful of other POVs throughout this that felt like they were there to prepare for future books.
Overall this felt too long. By the end I was bored. The first half was more interesting. Learning the characters and world.

I did like that this book showed importance to gender, culture and identities.

I am unlikely to carry on this series unless I have the audiobooks.

DNF @ 20%

I tried reading this book twice and yet I stop at the same spot everytime.
The writing does not work for me and the story is not within my interest.
I will try to read it again in the future.

I am so sorry.

I am so sorry for the delay in reviewing!

This book's premise is exactly my cup of tea when I read fantasy. I love politics, I love war in fantasy, and of course dragons.

I think the main issue with this book and many other fantasy novels is the length. Fantasy is expected to be long because of all the world building but sometimes this is hard for the author to find the right balance of keeping the story moving and the reader entertained, while also providing enough explanations to how things work in the world.

It's me! I've lost the ability to enjoy high/epic fantasy.

A cast of characters - a knife-throwing princess, god-kings, dinosaur-riders,...

Interesting plot and sub-plots.

And I still couldn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I attribute it to the current situation out there, it's making me crave fluffy romance and AI sci-fi.

Mea culpa, Mr Brooks.

The Black Coast is a good example of the type of fantasy I'm into these days. It's got different cultures that actually feel different. It's got gender expression, sexual diversity, etc. And these things contrast and compliment one another amongst the main protagonists of the book.

I liked the characters, even the ones that were hard to like because that meant they were well written enough for me to see their flaws, become irritated by them, and yet still be intrigued by the character's actions.

The magic was softer than I usually liked, but interesting.

I read this way after the publication date and proceeded to read The Splinter King in quick succession. I'll be looking forward to the third book.

What makes an epic fantasy tale epic? That book with the Rings in it has sort of set certain things we perhaps too readily expect in what epic fantasy should look like. There needs to be an overall adventure with a quest and a band of characters all coming together from various countries, races or social orders to tackle a dark lord/power/insert choice of villain. Prior to the good Professor though an Epic could also be a more local adventure a tale of one or two heroes doing great deeds – their song would be sung for many years. In Mike Brooks’ excellent fantasy novel, The Black Coast we have a slightly different start to a new series and while I think it’s not following quite the usual template it offers an epic adventure of a different kind.

The sight of Raiders on the sea is traditionally a source of danger when they can be spotted from the small town of Black Keep. When Ser Daimon the young half-son of Lord Blackcreek arrives with his father and half-brother they are puzzled as the leader of the Raiders appears to want…a truce. Realising the raiders are both in bigger numbers and better skilled in fighting Daimon disarms his family and agrees to working together even as his father curses him for cowardice. Daimon and Saana the leader of the Brown Eagle clan needs to work though their differences; manage their respective groups and avoid death and destruction unfortunately the reason the Raiders fled their own islands is following them closely across the seas.

Elsewhere on the continent Tila the practical sister of the erstwhile God-King is once again worried about the line of succession and threats from a family of pretenders across the sea – The Splinter King who threaten her family’s reign. Happily, her skills also lead to organising assassinations and dealing with criminals. But a young thief known as Jeya may be about to throw these plans into disarray.

Now I finished reading this with a huge grin on my face. I was enjoying the adventure, characters, plot and rather brutal fight scenes in a way I have not for ages with epic fantasy. I am though going to warn you this doesn’t follow the flow of stories we have come to expect in epic fantasies. Yes, there are various plot threads and chapters follow various characters but rather that the usual plot convenience of slowly all these characters merge together at the end for the larger story Brooks makes the more adventurous decision to focus in this book much much more on the story of Daimon and Saana while the other threads move forward but not in a massive completed story but more scene setting for future books (I’ve immediately picked up the sequel). This can be a little unusual as you realise those other threads are not going to be wrapped up in the way many books do. But I liked the originality of this approach and trust be the Daimon and Saana storyline is a chef’s kiss of fantasy storytelling.

More often in fantasy the focus is on the war between two groups. Brooks tale is more interesting as it’s how two groups have to work together for survival. We have with Daimon a group that resembles your standard medieval town with knights, honour systems and legends. But they also have metalwork and large war-beasts known as dragons that resemble dinosaurs too! (Told you this was going to be fun!) With Saana we have a group that could be more allied to Viking Raiders who while dismissed as savages by Daimon’s people have medicine, their own systems and are highly skilled sailors and warriors. They also have decades of history fighting each other. Daimon’s intervention has stopped a war between them for now. But can that last. To help push the tension in the Islands Saana’s people led a magical and dangerous leader known as The Golden had forced the various clans to work together and now has sent a young ambitious warrior with a fleet to retrieve Saana. The clock is ticking until a mighty battle. For me this is a different type of epic and as we get to know these people so we as readers care what happens to them. The stakes are simple the survival of a few hundred rather than the fate of the world but its still quite epic in approach

Brooks creates a tension exploring how two different cultures can either hate or start to understand each other. We get to see what happens when you find the person who killed your family member is now living among you. With the focus largely on Daimon and Saana we see two leaders both trying hard to see the bigger picture and go against their traditions. There is a fascinating hot and cold relationship between these leaders and both also have to accept other cultures have different approaches. Daimon’s people are very patriarchal, so men have the senior roles while Saana’s are against same-sex relationships and are puzzled why Daimon’s people are so accepting of it. This social side makes for interesting plot developments, and I loved how neither side is shown as a shining example of progress. In the other plot threads, we even get the concept of five genders and people who choose what they want to be known as. These ideas are only just starting to be explored in this book, but I can’t wait to see how they develop further in later books. But for inventive worldbuilding and plotting this book is recommended!

Character wise Daimon and Saana are really easy to get to known. Daimon the young inexperienced leader who just wants to do the right thing while Saana is a middle-aged woman; a seasoned fighter and trying to do something different to save the future. Both flawed and yet also smart, funny and not afraid to fight if required. There is a sense of humour in this book that has some neat insults and one liners when you least expect them to turn up. Brooks creates a fascinating cast that in this first novel in the series I want to get to know a lot more. Another surprise is Tila who we discover is far more than just your usual smart princess. But if I told you more about her I would have to kill you!

When the book needs action Brooks delivers in spades. Expect to feel punches; cuts and slices as characters fight and this is not a book to spare the blood and death. Throwing in huge dangerous dinosaur-dragons into the mix also is a smart choice and can’t wait to see more of these creatures too! The final battles at the end are epic and by ensuring the Golden’s fleet are shown to be very skilled themselves we know the outcome is not assured.

The Black Coast is the kind of smart, unusual, and inventive epic fantasy I will always be in the market for. I was a fan of Brooks’ science fiction stories, but this move into fantasy shows they are a very accomplished author, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Did I mention I have the sequel? If you can be prepared for a slightly different take on epic fantasy, then you’ll enjoy this ride a hell of a lot. Strongly recommended!

This was a very convoluted story which was difficult to follow. The gender identity problem was totally unnecessary and detracted from the story. There were some interesting parts but the book didn't flow smoothly enough to make it an enjoyable read overall.

The Black Coast is one of the biggest books I’ve read for a long time. Often I’ll look at the size of a book and think that maybe I don’t have time to spend on such a chonky tome given the state of my TBR pile. But in this case I was invited to take part in the blog tour, thought that book sounds great! War dragons! Daemonic despots! Shenanigans!

Then the book turned up and it was (and indeed is) huuuuge, clocking in at nearly 650 pages.

Reader, I need not have worried. Yes, it took me a week to read rather than a weekend, but it was so worth it. Yes, there are a lot of characters to remember, and a lot of interweaving plots (and the aforementioned shenanigans). But it reminded me what I love about epic fantasy. The worldbuilding is splendid, told through the eyes of multiple characters. Saana, the chief of the raiders on the lookout for a new place to settle. Daimon, law-son of the leader of the Black Keep, who sees the approaching fleet and must battle with his conscience and family. Jeya, young thief who finds the purse she picked belongs to someone far different from who she expected.

And that’s just a few of the characters we follow through the book. There are war dragons, battles, skulduggery and political chicanery. The story looks at prejudice and what it means to change your mind, to look at things from another’s point of view and see that deep down, we’re all just people. It’s not done in a heavy-handed way, but feels like a natural part of the story.

This is the first instalment in The God-King Chronicles.

The people of Black Keep stand in fear and awe at the number of ships approaching their shores. The clanspeople of Tjakorsha have long been their fearsome enemies and have continually raided their borders, but never with a high a number of ships as what they now approach with.

When they land, Saana, their female leader reveals they are arriving in peace and with a plea. She wants a new home for her people and is willing to ally with the Black Keep to do so. If they fail to agree she will use their vast numbers to force their way into this new kingdom, however. These two groups of people become forced into close confines and must learn to either accept their differences or die defending them.

I immediately fell in love with this story! Each part of the book opened with an extract from a fictional text that revealed different cultures and customs prevalent in this kingdom. I was especially interested in how they viewed people as containing six genders and how they altered between them fluidly and when in different social situations. I loved this progressive and different view of gender that was delivered.

In other areas the people of this land were not so innovative. There was an accepted belief in men as the strongest and most capable sex, even when it was proven, time and time again, that this was not always the case. Most individuals did not actually agree in it and yet continued to allow for tradition to dictate who became heirs, inheritors, and leaders.

The new people to their land allowed women to lead them without discrimination but held their own prejudices in the form of m/m or f/f relationships. It was often hard to read characters who were so immediately beloved to me succumb to such prejudiced thinking. Thankfully, as the two cultures intermingled the more abhorrent beliefs were continually challenged and called out.

The multiple POVs allowed the reader an insight to each side of the two groups now sharing land. Daimon was the leader of his people and Saana was the leader of hers. Their cultures intermingled, beliefs collided, and I was absorbed in witnessing them discover the new way to live their lives.

Other storylines were also simultaneously delivered and I was just as impressed with and intrigued by these. I loved seeing them slowly build to have more bearing on the main focus and am eager to see how all the groundwork laid here will be built upon in the sequel.

So I was really surprised by this one. I did not predict to give it a five star but I really enjoyed it.

I will say that getting used to the narrative style was a bit challenging to start with. Having people refer to themselves in third person is not something I’ve come across. Or not in a sense that all the characters do it.

However after I got used to it I think it was actually a very unique way of telling the story. Not to mention all the discussion around gender and how it refers to them socially and also how it comes into play in their hierarchy status too.

Also I love political fantasy and I’ve not read many where previous enemies need to come together to defeat a higher power. But because of past discretions, not everyone will be as willing to accept trying to live together civilly
Also because of religion and culture it was fascinating seeing the characters try to develop an understanding of one another..

The characterisations were amazing and so in-depth. I really enjoyed that they are all flawed and willing to admit to their faults.

I will say that I enjoyed some POVs more than others. However I can also see how they are needed to create the storyline for what I guess is going to be explored more in the sequel!

All in all a great action packed epic fantasy worn really high stakes. I already ordered the sequel as I’m so excited to continue and discover more from this world!!

Here are a few things you can expect from this book…

Fantastic world building;
A solid foundational book to start a series;
LGBTQ+ rep;
Political intrigue; and
Epic battles.
On to the full review…

The Black Coast first appeared on my radar when I was browsing through NetGalley, and if I am being honest, I probably would have kept on scrolling if I hadn’t loved the cover. It is amazing what a good book cover can do.

So, as you do I checked out the Goodreads page. The book sounded a little different but definitely intriguing and it had a few good reviews already attached to it so I decided to request it from NetGalley. I am happy to say that I am glad I did. While, I only rated this with three stars on Goodreads it was still a good solid read and a series I will continue.

This book was an interesting one, namely due to its focus on finding a peaceful resolution when war is the usual choice in such books. I honestly think this is what gave this read such a refreshing feel to it. Brooks still managed to create enough tension and hostility in his writing without it being outright war between these peoples.

I am not usually one to sing and dance about a books world building, I always appreciate it and will openly praise it, but as a reader I don’t need too much of it. I am the kind of reader that needs a little here and there and a good few distinctive features thrown in to the mix, then I can let my imagination run wild from there. However, saying this I was continually wowed by Brooks’ ability to build such a seamless world, and yet have so many different cultures woven into it. Brooks managed to throw these people together and create a believable environment, one in which some preferred certain elements of the others way of life and vice versa. Which as you can imagine was a great way to create tension between several character in a authentic and exciting way.

Brooks’ writing was easy to read and despite the level of detail found in its genders, cultures and languages it was still accessible and enjoyable. It is not easy to introduce such a new and detailed world and it not feel to the reader like you a trudging through mud to understand it, but this was not the case for this. It was easy to follow and you understand each cultures way of life quickly.

Brooks also deserves much praise for his dialogue in this book. I laughed, I frowned and I scowled. No word is wasted here, and all of it seems to go that few steps further to showing you who the characters are.

In terms of the characters I found myself enjoying certain ones over others and I found myself wanting to get back to their POV’s more often than not. I felt at times there was quite a disparity between several of the characters we meet, some were a lot more fleshed out than others which led to me not really connecting with some of them. I think we will definitely see more of them in the future books and learn more from them but in this instalment many fell into the background for me.

However, those that seemed to fall into the background a little were ones which seemed to be crucial to the beginnings of future plots. Those relevant to the main plot were utterly brilliant.

I enjoyed this book and the audiobook is great! While I had a few issues with the characters I am excited to see those that fell into the background grow and become more crucial to the plot. This book is definitely a foundational book and brings with it some of the flaws of focusing on preparing for the overall series but in the same breath has me so excited for the next book.

I believe that this will be a brilliant series, and once we get to know all the character to the level we have reached with some of them in this instalment, it is going to be magical.

THE RANKS:

BUY THE HARDBACK | BUY THE PAPERBACK | BUY THE EBOOK | LIBRARY RENTAL OR SALE PURCHASE

This is a book I would currently rank at BUY THE PAPERBACK, or audiobook with a credit. I was honestly going to rate this as a BUY THE EBOOK but then I remembered how much I liked listening to it via audiobook and if I am spending £7.00 on it via a credit then I would also spend that on the PB!

The Black Coast was a solid foundation to a series and one I will continue to read, I feel like this will be ranked higher when I have read more of the series because there is SO much potential here!

A gripping, inventive and wholly original fantasy that's got dragons, warring sides and secrets to boot. Brooks is an author to watch out for - I can't wait for this series to develope.

With deft strokes, character and plot are painted together in a way that's entirely page-turning.

I loved this one!

With a number of threads, the connections of which are subtly (and not so subtly) hinted at, this book promises to be a fantasy epic.
The majority of the tale is of Black Keep - on the Black Coast - where the main and incidental characters are well fleshed out and are given (mostly) likeable and believable roles. The other arcs' characters promise so much for future volumes.
My only fear is that - reading of how long it took for this volume to be created - it may be similar to GRR Martin's 'Winds of Winter' if we are to hope for the full story to be brought out with the development it deserves rather than a rushed affair which may spiral down into something more comparable with Morgan Rice.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc for review! This is an epic fantasy in a viking-esque world that had me hooked from the very first page. I loved the characters, the plot and the writing was nothing short of easy. Overall, highly recommend!

I didn’t know anything about the author, very little about the plot and essentially picked this book based on the absolutely beautiful cover. I eventually picked it up physically after finishing my arc because I loved the book and its cover so much.

The first couple chapters had me hooked. A desperate clan, similar to Vikings, crosses the sea to try and make peace with the land they normally plunder. Turns out they are in need of refuge from their home. And now a town that considers these invaders as their enemies has to find a harmony with their new neighbours. That premise alone had me requesting the arc.

From there, the character really shone through in this book. I found myself attached to multiple characters and their understanding of their cultures. One of the reasons this book was so enjoyable was the clash of the cultures and it was done with plenty of attention to detail to both cultures. Typically in fantasy books the world building is dense at the beginning and peters out over the course of the book but in this one due to the nature of the plot it was continuously evolving and developing as I read.

I’m sure the book will keep evolving as the sequels release, and I can’t wait to read the next one.

Epic fantasy readers, rejoice!

In The Black Coast, you get:

- A solid start to an epic fantasy series
- Varying and rich cultures
- Imaginative language structures
- Political intrigue
- Multiple POVs across comfortably short chapters
- The requisite (and let's face it, indispensable) romantic entanglements
- Dragons (but dinosaurs, I think?)
- Perfectly balanced world building
- Fantastic and thoughtful LGBTQ+ rep
- Seemingly all-consuming battles and conflicts that actually pale in comparison to the little-referred to but horrifically looming threat behind it all (á la the White Walkers in GoT)
- Some good ol' life lessons (why can't everyone just get along?!)
- An author who is as comfortable writing about his own made-up world as he probably is describing the real one (sounds like a given, but it isn't always the case in fantasy)

I think all of the above speaks for itself, but I'll just end my review by saying: I enjoyed the living crap out of this, and I WANT MORE.

On the outset, this book had everything I would want in an epic fantasy but when I started reading I found myself unable to connect to any of the multitude of characters in this book nor interested in any of plotlines. I thinks it’s mainly to do with the type of prose employed by the author with the third person referral system being particularly jarring. I think if you can get used to the language used, many would enjoy this story but it unfortunately is not for me. The rating given is an indication of the fact that I dnfed than any judgement on the content.