If you didn’t know, Marcus Heitz is one of Germany’s top SFF authors and famous for his series of book The Dwarves, which has also been turned into a video game.
The Return of the Dwarves is the sixth book in the series and mainly follows the fourthling dwarf Goїmron, a gemcutter and collector of artefacts. When Goїmron buys an old chest, he discovers something miraculous inside. A diary belonging to famed Dwarven hero, Tungdil Goldhand, except this recounted Goldhand’s adventures in the present time. Convinced that the thousand year old dwarf must be alive, he sets off to get some aid from the Fifthling King and subsequently ventures off on a quest to find the legendary hero.
Set quite sometime after the original books, the Dwarven people are now living alongside the humans in their towns.
This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were some aspects that I really liked. Heitz writes good high fantasy, but therein also lies the problem. Whilst I do like high fantasy, I can get a bit despondent when it gets a bit flowery, especially in the dialogue area. To be honest, I like modern language in my fantasy and when the writing starts to get all fancy and tries to be all archaic, my brain switches off.
However, that being said, there were some good aspects of the story. I did like the introduction of the various fantasy monsters, particularly the flight mare, a kind of evil cross between a unicorn and a Pegasus that likes to eat human flesh. In addition to this, there was lots of intrigue that kept my attention.
One of the things that I felt impacted on the book was the translation. I felt that it did not seem to get the nuances of the original language which ultimately impacted on the story.
Another problem that I had was the characters. The book was a multi – pov, and I did not really gel with the characters at all, including the main character.
Ultimately, this was an enjoyable book, but unfortunately it did not leave a lasting impression on me.

I really enjoyed the previous series and this was a thoroughly enjoyable return to the world. A classic quest fantasy with great characters which allows the reader to be elsewhere for a few hours. Great worldbuilding, a Tolkeinesque / Garneresque/ Nordic feel and plenty of action. Can’t wat for the next one.

First of this series of books I have read and it is enjoyable classic quest fantasy. A band of Dwarves go in search of a legendary character and it includes dragons! Similar at times to the late, great David Gemmell but lacks that author's sense of action and world building.
Fans of the series will doubtless enjoy the return of the Dwarves.

I the enjoyed this story. The characters were great & author did a great job with the story itself. Looking forward to reading the next one.