No, just no. I tried not to let the reviews on Goodreads sway my opinion and with it being less than 200 pages I thought I could breeze through it. But no, I couldn't over look the random change in scenery, it was hard to follow who was speaking to whom and it was just no. A DNF at chapter 3

I'm not really sure what to make of this novel. The premise sounded like a grand adventure but the execution was a bunch of violent scenes pieced together in a fast-paced of nothingness. I wanted to explore genres not familiar to me but this made me want to run and hide. I didn't finish.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The main character Renault, leader of Merlin's spy network, is tasked the seeming insurmountable task of rescuing General Crixus from a heavily guarded moving train.

I really wanted to like this book. I love the idea of a steampunky Merlin story. The book moves very quickly but seems to jump from one thing from another without any real connection. It would greatly benefit with some character development and sadly, Merlin is only ever mentioned in the book...he never is an active part. The book needs some editorial work. Parts are repeated and some contradict what was just stated on a previous page. With some cleaning up, this could be a fun story but it's not quite there yet.

The Hound of Hell by Rory D. Nelson. I wanted to like this book but it felt very disjointed and hard to read. Maybe it needs to be cleaned up a little bit more. Had a good storyline just wasnt for me.

I thought this would be an excellent book while I was searching genres outside my wheelhouse but found it was too violent for me. The writing is good but I'm sorry that I DNF.

I wish the author the best of luck!

I received a free ARC of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review. What follows is that honesty.

I am really not sure what I just read, in fact I think I finished it more out of curiosity than enjoyment. The book is billed as coming from the Arthurian tradition, but seems to sit in a weird steampunky world with guns, trains, saloon bordellos, and psychic killer heroes. The action comes thick and fast with characters coming in and out with no development or hint of any back story. Given that the description of the book states that it is an offshoot from a previous series, perhaps the reader needs context from the previous series to understand what's going on here.

I won't be reading any more of the series.

Did not finish. Too many grammatical problems (punctuation of dialogue, possessives). Story did not hold together well. Little time spent situating reader in the space-time continuum of the story or who characters were and how they tied into the novel. Could tell from 1st paragraph that the novel was problematic but read through chapter five, and things did not improve.

I received a copy of this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I did not finish reading it. The blurb promised an Arthurian tale which is very misleading. Just because one of the 2-dimensional characters is named Merlin, does not make the book about Arthur or his world. There is very little description of characters or the world but there is way to much gory violence. There is also a demented scene where a boy is tortured that placed the final straw on this camel's back. I don't like to read anything about hurting children. I really wanted to like this book and I hate to give up on it. I've read 191 books so far this year and this is only the third I didn't finish. I cannot recommend it.

I was unable to finish this book. I got about 30% of the way through it, and it was a mish mash of 2-d characters, and no discernable plot. I was very confused by the world and language that was used in the book, and not clear on the time period either. I'm not someone who needs a big info dump, but I do need some explanation. Also the author gives more graphic details about people's deaths than he does in developing his own main character. I had high hopes for this book, I am a huge Aurthurian nerd, and well as someone who enjoys a good steampunky fantasy. Would not recommend.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to dive into this book because the premise is right up my alley. I love anti-heroes, spy stories, and anything Arthurian/Merlinian, so a book about an anti-hero spy working for Merlin should be a match made in heaven for me.
Alas, that was not the case at all. According to Netgalley's listing for the book, The Hound of Hell is a spin-off series of the author's previous series, The Brotherhood of Merlin, which I have not read. Being the first book in a spin-off series, one would expect a bare minimum of enough worldbuilding and context to understand why the reader is supposed to care about the characters, but unfortunately, Nelson fails in that regard.
The Hound of Hell dumps the reader into the plot with no backstory, no context, and no idea what is happening. POV changes happen with no notice or reasoning, simply expecting the reader to figure it out on their own, and the same happens with flashbacks -- not even a divider or formatting change to help the reader catch on. The grammar and sentence structure is a hot mess, thus making following the practically non-existent plot utterly impossible.

Even without considering the bad formatting and lack of context, the characters (particularly the main character, Renault) are one-dimensional, boring, and predictable. Renault is essentially a homicidal and blood-thirsty Gary Stu who revels in bloodshed, and Nelson caters to this, spending more time describing gruesome (and completely unnecessary) killings than furthering the plot or worldbuilding. He then tries to force the reader to like and sympathize with Renault in exceedingly more and more absurd ways. Renault also apparently has psychic mind-reading abilities, but that seemingly doesn't help him in his spying duties...?

The author can't even seemingly decide what era this novel takes place in. Both it and its parent series are seemingly meant to take place "several hundred years after the death of King Arthur" -- which would still put them several hundred years before present day according to Arthurian legend. Nelson mainly focuses on typical Medieval and just-after-Medieval era hallmarks for the practically non-existent world building that is done, but then he throws in words like "bubble butt" (referring to a courtesan, and one of the least problematic things said about or done to courtesans and women in this novel) and "pixie stick."

It takes a lot for me to DNF a book, especially for an ARC and/or before the 50% point, but I had to for this novel. It genuinely reads like badly written fanfiction for a person with homicidal desires. Upon reading other reviews and seeing that the author aggressively messaged another reviewer for their bad review, that just confirms my dislike.

This novel left a bad taste in my mouth, and I'd suggest avoiding it at all costs.

I feel genuinely bad about this book and the review I have to write. I know it's a struggle sometimes to create, and people have different talents.

But I couldn't finish this book. At a basic, grammatical level the writing doesn't work. Some of the sentences are ungrammatical, and many are missing essential words. It's a chore to understand each sentence in itself.

What's more, it attempts the very difficult challenge of using present tense for a novel, but all it succeeds in doing is confusing its pacing. It was almost impossible to follow for more than two or three paragraphs at a time.

The story itself is riddled with confusing scenarios. Like a shackled prisoner being left armed, or having terrycloth available to cover his hands so no one will notice his open manacles?

This just didn't work as a story, unfortunately.

The Hound of Hell (The Hound of Hell #1) by Rory D. Nelson is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. Ugh! I wanted to like this book so much, I mean look at this cover! The writing was so humbled that I couldn't keep track of what was going on most of the time. The strange language just left me totally uninterested. I was so looking forward to this book!😢

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I tried with this book, i honestly did.
I struggled through the horrendous language and seriously misogynistic writing for two chapters. But when i got to chapter 3 i just couldn’t continue any further.

This book is most definitely one to add to the DNF collection.

The sheer misogyny annoyed me through the writing and the repetitive, poor use of language (language and grammar that doesn’t even make sense, by the way. One wonders if the author realises that his protagonist is running around in chaps and underpants??)

As an aside - the misogynistic language used in the book i was willing to overlook, and soften this review at a later date.

But the fact that the author had the downright nerve to message me directly on Goodreads , to dictate to me REPEATEDLY that i couldn’t possibly have read his book (in such an aggressive tone) just beggars belief, and tells me that i was absolutely correct in my assessment of both the book and the author himself.

To other writers out there - if someone gives you a sh***y star rating, maybe don’t aggressively message them and dictate to them that they couldn’t possibly have read YOUR book.

A gentle enquiry will endear you in greater stead, and in the past i have been known to reattempt books after a civil conversation with the authors.

Definitely not in this case!

#netgalley