Faithless

The claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere in the dark passages and caverns of the mine pervades through the writing and is a real testament to the burgeoning talent of Graham Austin-King.

This novice author builds a unique and haunting world within the backdrop of the Fallen faith of the Forgefather. The Forgefather is beautifully described as "an echo of the whisper that brought light to the darkness... a glorious accident that brought fire to the flames".

We are introduced to Wynn, a farm boy sold into servitude by his father. Unfortunately, Wynn is for most parts of the novel a bit of a dullard. Any reader reading the sample of this novel is only exposed to this rather weak main character and may have little enticement to persist in purchasing this novel. It would be a grave mistake to judge Faithless by its opening chapters.

It is only with the introduction of the Kharios that we begin to appreciate the promise of the author's writing and the world that he is creating. Kharios is by far the more interesting character, the tortured Novice who is battling with his faith within the strictures of the temple.

There is also a fantastic twist towards the end as the worlds of Wynn and Kharios collide, a twist I certainly did not see coming.

Persevere through the opening chapters and you are in for a real gem.

In the temple of the Forgefather, fallen priests chant endlessly to an absent god, shaping metal through ritual and half-forgotten arts. Beneath them, in the subterranean city of Aspiration, miners scrabble for ore in cramped tunnels and try to resist the lure of the hungry dark.

Once, the Forgefather's voice rang in every hammer blow, and priests wielded divine power to strike down enemies of the faith. But the Forgefather has been silent for countless years now, and much of the priesthood's power has been lost.

When an attempt to regain that power goes terribly wrong and unleashes horrors into the temple, a novice flees down into the darkness of the mines. Deep under the death, he seeks salvation, redemption, and the last whispers of a dead god. 

I really enjoyed Faithless. It's a story about complex morality and difficult situations, and the author doesn't pull punches. Neither the mines nor the temple are easy places to survive, and the characters face consequences for their choices. The book is gritty without being grimdark, realistic rather than gratuitous.

The setting is original and interesting. The author builds up a complex society and culture effectively, without spending too much time showering the reader with information. That's a definite achievement when so much of the setting is outside the standard fantasy parameters. The society in the book hangs together convincingly - it's clear how all the different parts fit together, and what life is actually like for the characters. There are only a few, brief places where the strings are visible and the world loses that sense of realism.

Throughout the book, the atmosphere is dark and oppressive, which is fitting for something set almost entirely underground. Darkness both is, and feels like, an actual character. The claustrophobia and fear felt by the characters comes through really strongly. A real strength of this book is that character emotions are convincing and understandable - when they make the wrong choices out of fear or shame, you sympathise, rather than judge.

Graham Austin King makes some unusual structural choices, and it takes a while for the grand shape of the narrative to come through. That's not a criticism - not everything should be linear, and it's done for a clear purpose. It is a little unexpected though.

My only real gripe with Faithless was that some scenes progressed a little too quickly, which meant that some of the emotional punches weren't that hard. In a few places, there needed to be more build-up and preparation for a change in character mindset or goals. The changes made sense, but more justification was required to make them feel real.

All in all, Faithless is one of the most original and engaging works of fantasy I've read in quite some time. It's got a complex world and interesting ideas. I'd strongly recommend it.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

It’s really ironic that for a book titled ‘Faithless’, it instead did the opposite by restoring my faith in self-published fantasy.

My friend who recommended it to me told me that this is a “New fantasy seriously worth your time.” and hey, she’s damn right about it. I’ve read plenty of grimdark fantasy and in my opinion, this is one of the most original ones. In fact, I can safely say I’ve never read any grimdark fantasy like this book.

The plot in Faithless is quite dark, like the title, it deals a lot with heavy topics surrounding faith and religions. Honestly, I love the plot, it’s not a comfy read for sure, and it’s never meant to be. I’ll mention this part right from the start of the review, there’s a scene that happens off screen dealing with child molestations and pedophilia, these parts are not easy to read, seriously I’ll be surprised if anyone found it easy to do so. Do know however that this is appropriate for the story the author is trying to tell. It’s not there just for the sake of making the story darker, it’s not, these events provide a lot of color and meaning to the motivations of the characters in the book.

“History is full of brutal and ruthless men. They usually call them ‘victors’.”

The pacing may be slow paced, and yet it’s very compelling to read. This is due to the growing tension of the story with the turn of each page until it eventually reached the eventful and thrilling climax sequence. Admittedly, there was one moment somewhere in the middle of the book where I feel the pacing drags a bit but that’s really the only minor con I had on this book. Unlike most books I’ve read in the genre, Faithless brought something new to the genre, which I’ll get into later on. However, as good as the plot is, it’s not the best factors of the book. Judging solely from the plot, it won’t make this book reached the marvelous quality it has. It’s all the other elements surrounding it that made Faithless burned brightly.

There are only two main characters to follow here. Wynn, a 15 years old innocent boy who was sold by his father to work in the mines of Aspiration, and Kharios, a novice in the Temple of the Forgefather who’s facing many obstacles, that I can’t tell to avoid spoilers. The characterizations towards these two characters are something I truly appreciate. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t lovable characters but they’re very realistic. These characters at the core are good people, but they made some questionable decisions that maybe from reading alone, you’ll probably think “what the hell?” cause I certainly did think so, but, let’s not hastily jump to conclusion. I always try my best to put myself in the character's situation to know whether their decisions, good or bad make sense or not and you know what? Thinking about it, I honestly have no idea what I’ll do if I were put in some of the characters shoes here. This is a sign of great characterization in the grimdark genre for me, combined with Graham’s beautiful prose; I really enjoyed reading how the main and side characters develop throughout the whole book.

“His faith was not built from a belief in the existence of the Forgefather, it was from a need to set things right.”

The best part of the book for me hands down lies within its world-building. You won’t see the characters here travel the world; the setting of the book took place mostly in a maze of a gigantic mine. However, don’t let this fool you into thinking that there is no sense of history or mythologies to be found just because of the constricted setting. This is where Graham excels in, despite the setting being mostly in a mine, there is still enough history for you to dive into. Plus, as someone who has worked in a mining industry, I can guarantee you that Graham has successfully captured the darkness of the mine and the implication of the setting towards the characters greatly. Last but not least, Smithing. Personally, this is a huge plus for me because growing up as a gamer, I’ve always been intrigued by the process of weapon creation and strengthening. Up to this day I still follow and watch all Man at Arms videos on YouTube, obviously that’s about all the real knowledge I know on the topic, I’m not an expert here unless it’s in video games. The intricacy that was done towards its world-building shows how much research was done by the author, and in a way, it’s also what separates Faithless from other books in the genre and made it a new experience to read.

If you’re skipping on this book just because it’s labeled indie, I think you’re making a big mistake because it’s better than most published books out there and you ought to give this a try if you want something original in your grimdark read. The story also concludes itself within one book while saving some stuff in case there is a continuation, regardless whether it's a standalone or a series, this is definitely a great book. To compare it with other Indie fantasy I’ve read so far, I think of Faithless highly as I think of Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. They’re totally different from each other, but both are some of the best Indie fantasy I’ve read so far and something I’ll definitely recommend to fantasy readers.

"What little we know of the truth is remarkably dull. There was no cataclysm, no day of judgment. No voice called down from the heavens condemning us all as sinners. There was only silence, but even a silence can be terrifying if it falls in the right place. Between one day and the next the voice of the Forgefather fell silent. Our priests could no longer hear him in the fires of their forges. Holy rituals ceased to have any meaning, defenders were unable to call on the powers they relied on in battle. In a single night our church ceased to have any meaning."

A world without a God. Everything they ever relied on gone in an instant. A Church trying to bring back the power they relied on for centuries. Slaves mining for precious metals in a crammed underground city with no way out. One boy making his way from the mines to the temple only to be pushed back down for trying to do the right thing...

"Hope is an illusion, a distant ethereal dream."

This was one intense book! The atmosphere was depressing and it felt like there was nowhere for any of the characters to go. The things that happened somewhere in the middle came totally unexpected, and wow was it dark... I don't usually go for books that are enjoying such a hype because I usually get burned, but in this case I am really glad I gave in and gave this a chance. It was difficult to read at times, and I set it aside a number of times because it was so crushing, it felt like they would never have any hope to change their lot. Watching Wynn claw his way out of the mines was a depressing ride, and I loved that he wasn't simply a whiny chosen one who resented the fact that he had the power to change things, that he was a coward, and a bit of a failure, and that in the end, he managed to rise after all he had been through. If you like your fantasy dark and with a touch of horror, go check this out, it is well worth it!

<em>If the mines had taught him anything, it was that it was never a good idea to stick your neck out. Especially when the headsman is already looking at somebody else.</em>

Introduction

‘Faithless’, authored by Graham Austin-King, is the first book in his new fantasy series. ‘Faithless’ is set in a claustrophobic minimalist setting – a temple and the mine that supplies it. The book is dark, brutal and does not shirk away from reprehensible issues like child abuse. Ultimately, this is a book about human nature – what does faith mean, how do we aspire to become better and the abuses of power and authority.


Recommendation

I strongly recommend ‘Faithless’ to readers of general fiction. I loved this book for its realistic protagonist, supporting characters and general writing.

The protagonist is not your cookie cutter typical fantasy force of destruction. He is flawed as are all the other characters. He has been driven base cowardly behaviour as a means of survival due to his being beaten down by the world. His hero’s journey is basically a reflection of his climb back towards more moral behaviour

The book was brilliant. I think the best way to summarize it as a mix of ‘Fountainhead’, ‘Thud!’ and ‘The Cleric Quintet’. ‘Faithless’ is the alloy which we get out of these very different books.

The first two thirds of the book are heavily focused on craft and faith. The religion in this book is based on smithy. The god who used to express himself in the process of smithing (not smiting though he did that too) has now been missing for a long time. The church is trying to carry-on without its god and faith (or the lack of it) takes the focus. While no gifts and miracles are forth coming, the smithing craft is still revered and is a core tenet of the church. But the dark underside to this is the mine which supplies the church with its ore. Aspirants are taken to the mine first and only those found worthy are brought to the church. These two settings form the background for the story. Our protagonist (and others) struggle to survive in the mine and the church. I found this part of the book outstanding.

The last one third of the book focuses more on spirits and divine magic. While this section provides the climax (of the book and the hero’s journey), I found it to be less enthralling. I felt that the change in tone was abrupt and the book suddenly seemed to veer in a direction that is more commonly travelled. Don’t get me wrong. The book is still good. It is just that this transition was probably not needed and could have been dealt with better.