This was a super cool book. I had a fun time reading it and was entertained the entire time. I think fans of Gareth's and grim dark fantasy will find this as good as I did. I really enjoyed the The Black Iron Legacy trilogy and I think this one shares some of the same dark themes and has a similar feel as well, but just better.

The Sword Defiant packs an efficacious mixture of Joe Abercrombie and Nicholas Eames; one that is deeply rooted in Hanrahan’s adoration of RPGs.
Gareth’s imagination is staggering and his skills are, once again, on full display here.
Buy. Read. Love.
Definite Grimdark recommend.

The Sword Defiant was a fun, refreshing read. It was wonderful to read through the lens of a tired hero called back yet again. The characters and world building held my attention but most I appreciated the banter and excellent humor. I enjoyed the book overall and thank NetGalley and Orbit for providing me this ARC.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5

Thank you Orbit for an e-arc in exchange for a review!


The Sword Defiant is a masterfully crafted fantasy novel that takes readers on a thrilling adventure through a richly detailed and immersive world. This book is a true masterpiece, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves epic fantasy.

Perfect for fans of The Lord of the Rings, Empire of the Vampire, or Critical Role!

Plot -
This is your warning: this book contains HEAVY world building. And it is fantastic but it is dense so if that is not your thing than this book is not for you. That being said, the world building was stunning. We meet our main character Alf on his journey 20 years after his heroic deeds, with 8 other heroes, ridding the realm of Lord Bone, a conquer with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Alf has Bone's sword, which is in fact a talking sword, that has the same thirst for blood as its former master. As we follow Alf, things are not as they seem and there has been a betrayal in the former heroic 9. The twists and turns beyond that will keep you turning the page wanting more!


Characters -
Each character could definitely be classified by D&D tropes but that makes me love them all the more. These are not young teenagers with no braincells running off on some fantasy quest. These are retired heroes who are tired and weary. They were all incredibly interesting and were contributing to the story in some type of way.


Writing -
From the first page to the last, Hanrahan's writing is engaging, vivid, and utterly captivating. The characters are well-developed and believable, and the world-building is top-notch. The story is filled with twists and turns that keep readers on the edge of their seats, and the action sequences are expertly written and truly exciting. The way Hanrahan weaves together magic, politics, and religion to create a fully realized world that feels both familiar and unique. His attention to detail is impressive, and he creates a sense of depth and history that is rare in modern fantasy novels.


Overall, The Sword Defiant is an excellent read that I cannot recommend highly enough. If you're looking for a new fantasy series to sink your teeth into, this is definitely the one to check out. With its incredible world-building, gripping storyline, and unforgettable characters, The Sword Defiant is sure to become a classic of the genre. Five stars, without a doubt!

This is a good book, not a great book but definitely interesting. I can tell the author plays some tabletop RPGs because it reads a lot like an epic game. The story takes place 15 years after a group of adventurers saved their world. Age is catching up to them, there are enemies hiding in the shadows and our main character Alf, a soldier and bit of a bezerker, is left with a new warning about darkness. He's gotten old, slower and is stuck with a bloodthirsty magic sword of dubious trustworthiness. The world is interesting, the characters interesting and well written. Some interesting names though I found the name Lord Bone to be too silly really. But all in all a pretty good story with interesting villians and the answers to the problems aren't straightforward. I will definitely be reading the sequel . Thanks to Netgalley and The publishers for letting me read a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found myself struggling to stay engaged in the early stages of the book. Once I got past the mid-point though things started to come together and I was able to read through much more quickly.

I've recently really begun to appreciate the look at what life is like for "heroes" after their escapades. Life and time continue to march on and even heroes are not immune, so seeing that reflected in how characters have changed, at least in their peers/friends eyes, and the changes to dynamics that result is gratifying.

Ultimately, I found it to be a satisfying read and while it might not be my first recommendation I would encourage friends to read it if they're interested.

Right from the start I loved the interaction between Alf and Spellbreaker. I would say overall I enjoyed the first half of the book better than the second half. I felt it started pretty light and comedic and went on to be a little grimdark. Which I like both types of fantasy but it felt a little disjointed. I just felt that the plot was not as thought out as the world was and the tone was all over the place.

The world building was big if not a little confusing. There was some backstory but maybe not enough to make sense of all the references made. Olva’s story didn’t really interest me to be honest. I found hers easier to follow but Alf’s more interesting.

There was a good amount of characters to the story as well, of different places and types like wizards, dwarfs, elves and changelings. It made it more fascinating to follow. And it was interesting to see a dark lords city being run by others after he’s gone, I found Necrad really interesting for that reason.

But I feel like the premise of the book was very different than what actually went on. It simply started like that and expanding into a whole different thing and it was maybe less interesting? It just didn’t work that well for me past the 50% mark. I would even say a couple parts just made no sense to me and that lessened my enjoyment of the book.

This is how you do fantasy! A tired and worn out aged hero is called to fight yet again against a feared and growing darkness. There is an amazing cast of characters and absolutely breathtaking world building. It was so interesting to watch the story unfold and expand into something bigger than what I was originally introduced with. There are heartbreaking moments, excellent humor and banter, mystery, politics, just about everything I could want in a fantasy novel.

I want to thank Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

The sword defiant follows the (former) hero Aelfric of the fellowship of nine who saved the world by defeating Lord Bone and ending a long war. Although the dark lord was defeated, many relics of his evil magic remain and his remains, once hidden and the grave a secret known only to the nine, have been desecrated and removed. Which of the nine betrayed the others and how will the remains be used to fuel dark magic is the primary plot of the story.

It is very clear that Gareth Hanrahan is a fan of Tolkien and, similar to GRRM, wants to explore/deconstruct some of the tropes popularized by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The heroic fellowship is old and washed up, some turning to greed and dark magic, others drinking themselves to oblivion and very reluctantly doing their duties. Overall, it is quite an interesting take and the novel is quite fascinating from that angle.

However, this book unfortunately has very inconsistent pacing and a ton of exposition. A huge amount of worldbuilding is done at almost every point and the novel often slows to a crawl making it a very difficult read. Honestly, I often found myself wishing that the author had simply written a prior novel on the war of the nine with Lord Bone as I think that would have had me more invested in the characters and introduced to the world rather than being dropped into a world with so much info and not necessarily the emotional connection with the characters to care.

Again, thank you to Tor who provided me with this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher Orbit in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be an entertaining novel. This in the story of Aelfric, a legendary hero, who with The Nine, a colorful group of races and humans, defeated a Dark Lord, Lord Bane, and liberated Necrad, a city of darkness. Our story begins, with Aelfric more than twenty years later with his only companion now, a sentient sword, a trophy from his past glories. Our hero has tired of the hero game, but the hero game is not done with him.. Now after an encounter with one of the members of The Nine, he realizes with his sentient sword, the dark is rising again in Necrad. But things have changed, as will happen with time, to where he doesn't know who of The Nine are his allies or foes. Also, there is brewing something on the horizon that even the hero and liberator of Necrad may be too strong for our elderly hero to defeat.

While the books is dark at times, there is some humor sprinkled throughout. The exchanges between a reluctant, war weary Aelfric and his talking blood-thirsty sword with its own agenda brings some levity to the novel.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I am so happy that Orbit gave me an opportunity to sample his work. The most enjoyable aspect of this book is the large diverse cast of characters. I keep becoming more an more impressed with the line of fantasy books Orbit is publishing in 2023.. Not to spoil the discovery too much, you will find the following set of characters throughout the book: to name just a few: dwarves, wizards, wraiths, wood elves, vampiric elves, knights, spirits, shape changers, and the most exciting, a sentient sword..

It is impressive with this large group of characters how you get to know their different cultures and motivations..

With long fantasy novels, it takes some time to get invested in the characters and an understanding of the world that the author created. With good fantasy, though, there gets to be a point where you can't read the novel fast enough to find out how the story will end, as with this novel.

With the number of characters, though, while I enjoyed the journey, I was not emotionally attached to the character's plights or triumphs. For me that emotional attachment to the characters is what makes a great fantasy novel, instead of just a good fantasy novel.

Still with that said, I look forward to the next book in the series. As with a good first book of a new fantasy series, I want to know where the author will take us next and can't wait for the next novel in the series.

A classic fantasy world with a long history, likeable main characters, and mysteries to unfold, The Sword Defiant had the bones to be a great read, but lacked that necessary 'oomph.'

While the writing isn't bad per say, there are no cringe lines and it is clear to understand, there was a lack of dynamism. The plot never fully gripped me. It is meandering at times, full of exposition (which is needed for this world, but it wasn't written engagingly), and even the fight scenes lacked excitement. Several times through the book I found myself wishing I was reading the tale of The Nine defeating Lord Bone instead.

I really wish I enjoyed the book more than I did, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it sucks.

The Sword Defiant left me with such mixed feelings that I needed to take some time to really process it out. If I'm being honest, I still find myself struggling with my feelings on it. Its a book I really want to like, but am not sure that I do. The pacing is a bit all over the place; very slow at times, and at others, extremely engaging. It never quite lost me, but it also never quite hooked me. There's a lot of nothing happening.. which I actually have nothing against character exposition, I enjoy it quite a bit, but it does need to be interesting. And maybe that was the problem, I never quite found Aelfric (the main) interesting. He some how both annoyed and bored me. The second POV in this book, his sister, Olva, I found to be much more captivating, as we never really hear about what happens to the hero's family or how the hero's journey effects them. But even then, I feel like her story gets cut short/overshadowed towards the end.

I think my biggest issue however, was the ending. The ending of The Sword Defiant. It was extremely jarring. We finally, finally get some questions answered, some action going.. things are escalating and then.. we're in the future? For a book that meandered so much in little events, I found this to be quite lazy and frustrating.

Overall, it was an OK read. I might pick up the sequel if I remember to, but despite some of the great world building (which was really the only super positive), I don't find myself intrigued enough to actively continue. Which is a shame.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

High fantasy at it finest. The plot, characters and world-building were amazing. Hooked me from the start.
Can't wait for more.

E-ARC provided by netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review, as always thank you!

had an absolute blast with this story, I've had Hanrahan on my radar for a while now, the gutter prayer has been something I wanted to check out, and then I got approved for this and decided to read it before I went back into his older work.

A sentient sword, some inventive magic, and decent characters made for a fun read, and I will definitely be checking out more from Mr. Hanrahan, probably reading the gutter prayer next, as the authors story telling really worked for me.

Actual score is a 3.5/5 star, but closer to a 4 than a 3, so I rounded up.

If you love Dragon Age, Runewars, and D&D you'll really enjoy this book. It has epic quests, dark lords, monsters, magic, dwarves, and many other creatures. I was instantly hooked, and had to finish it immediately. Absolutely love that the sword has a voice and a mind of its own. Loved the Nine as it gave nostalgia of Lord of the Rings. The dual pov was a favorite especially as the characters were siblings. I hope the the author will write a book on the first quest against Lord Bone because I need to know more. Overall, I absolutely loved the book and will be on the lookout for the next installment.

If you’ve been looking for a classic take on the fantasy genre with maybe just a few tweaks, I highly recommend that you pick up The Sword Defiant. While there is a lot that’s familiar here, there is just enough uniqueness to this story to make it really shine amongst all the other fantasy books out there. What I loved best, however, was the fact that our hero really wanted to do what was best for the every day people. He wanted to uphold his oath, when it felt like everyone else threw theirs away. Alf is a knight, an old, tired, worn-around-the-edges knight, who has an evil talking magic sword. He’s tired of fighting, but he just does it anyway. And he will not allow anyone else to take the sword from him. The sword is his duty, and Alf doesn’t want to give it up.

Anyway, the gist of the story is that a fellowship of barbarians, knights, paladins, dwarves, elves, etc, knocked down the old evil necromancer/lord. Twenty years later, one of them gets a vision that an evil is rising again. Alf is given a task to do, and while attempting to do said task, he tries to track down the old fellowship again. Unfortunately, they’re all old, or jaded, or crazy, or just plain absent. It’s this tweak to the classic fantasy tale that really makes this book standout. We’re not fighting with young men here. Everyone’s old. Everyone’s frustrated and ready to be done with fighting evil. Alf tries to get them to see his side, but he’s unfortunately left sort of…almost on his own.

The other main character is Alf’s sister. Her son has run away/been kidnapped and she’s doing everything in her power to get him back. As a mother should. She didn’t back down once when someone told her to go home. She wasn’t going home without her son, thank you. She wasn’t a warrior, or a paladin, or anything. She was just a mom. I loved her. (Though I really would have loved to find out what she thought about something that happens at the very tail end of the book. We don’t really get a reaction from her. Maybe in the next book?)

The world building here is insane. I don’t want to give too much away because it’s really neat to see it all unfold in the novel. There’s the city that the Nine overthrew, and are now occupying — Necrad. It’s seemingly evil, but everyone who lives there is just trying to get on with their lives. The magic is interesting, but it’s pretty vague on how it works. There’s sigils and spells, wands and staffs. Nothing’s hammered out, but for this world it works. The villains are stand out, and pretty phenomenally powerful.

All in all, this is a fantastic fantasy, one that really feels like a grittier Lord of the Rings. Not necessarily darker, just grittier. Four and a half stars.

The Sword Defiant
by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
Fantasy Dark High
NetGalley ARC

Years ago, Alf and the rest of the Nine saved the world, killing the Dark Lord and locking up his cursed weapons and the city he populated with the monsters of his experiments, but many, including the monsters, still search for these magical weapons so to become rich and powerful.

But when Alf gets a warning from another of the Nine he goes back to the city to find the darkness that is trying to claim it, only to find out that even heroes can succumb to the city's darkness.

The blurb sounded so interesting. Monsters, heroes, and quests, but sadly the monsters really don't get a lot of attention, and the quests are the heroes traveling from here to there, and bad guys only show up once or twice. The heroes, eh. Only Alf really gets any attention, sure he's the MC, along with another, but the rest, including the nine, aren't really described. And the monsters are also left behind with the descriptions.

As to the story, it started off great, I was hooked, then it started to ramble, talking about the adventure and the battle the nine did to save everyone. I kept checking to see if this book was part of a series, and honestly, I would much rather read about them fighting The Dark Lord, it sounded as if it would have had a lot of action, which this book didn't.

It wasn't that bad of a read, but it was slow because of the lack of action, and I really didn't feel much for Alf, his sister I could relate to, and everyone else were just there as filler. The sword, even though it was part of the plot, it didn't impress me much.

With a little more action, blood, guts, and gore, I would have given this book at least one more star!

2 Stars

As always Thank you Netgalley and Orbit for this advanced copy.

Such a good book to start a series. The action? Epic. The characters? Badass. The plot line? Interesting. No complaint for this book. Enjoyable from the beginning until finish.

Full of dark, but gripping characters in a similar world. I loved the magic- the sword is one of my favorite magical swords I've read in fantasy! Highly recommend for those who like a high detail fantasy world and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty.

3.5 stars. The summary promises daring warriors, living weapons, and bloodthirsty vengeance, and the book mostly delivers on those elements. The story follows Alf and the deterioration of his relationships with his former companions.

It is clear that Hanrahan is a Tolkien fan, and the familiar dwarves/elves/human relationships make it easy to acclimate to the world. One aspect of the book that stood out was the exploration of what happens after a great war. The characters are not the eager heroes they once were but are now weary leaders. It's primarily told from Alf's and his sister Olva's points of view, and it would have been nice to see more perspectives from some of the other Nine. The sword, Spellbreaker, is my favorite character in the book. However, the emotional impact of the story was not as strong as it could have been. Aelfric's PTSD was not dealt with in depth, and the emotional notes fell short for me.