Blackwing

I received an advanced copy of Blackwing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Ed McDonald, Orion Publishing Group and Gollancz. *Minor spoilers may follow*

McDonald begins this tale by placing the reader in the Misery - following the action of Captain Galharrow and his crew of Blackwing mercenaries during their latest mission. The Misery is a post-apocalyptic, shifting wasteland under a broken and wailing bruise-coloured sky. This vast expanse of land is unpredictable, frightening and full of unspeakably grotesque mutated creatures. Only the bravest dare venture throughout these parts, navigating under the guidance of the three moons.

Captain Galharrow is a unapologetically unlikable, battle-hardened military veteran whose actions and experience inspire the loyalty of his squad and the book is presented through his first person perspective. He has had a blood filled and chaotic past and when he isn't acting as a sort of bounty hunter, he spends his time drinking himself unconscious and he occasionally talks to an extremely powerful being presenting itself in the form of a raven. The camaraderie and banter between Galharrow and his crew are excellent and reminiscent of The Bonehunters from Malazan: Book of the Fallen, incorporating characters who are just as colourful. My personal favourites were Tnota, the sex addicted navigator and ranger and Nenn, a nose-lacking intemperate and deadly soldier. During quieter scenes, when Captain Galharrow isn't describing the current events, depth is created to the world and his character when he ponders and reflects on relationships, histories and present-time happenings. The world building is one of the best I have seen presented in the first person and in my mind, is on par with Mark Lawrence's similar works. It was great to follow Galharrow's viewpoint, whether he is fighting, getting drunk or in some sort of political turmoil - so much happens to him throughout this narrative.

Blackwing places us in the middle of the action and McDonald has created a large number of unfamiliar names, places, and world terminology that are present from the beginning. I had to take notes for the first few chapters but after that everything seemed to flow smoothly. Initially confusing phrases such as "spinners", "drudge" or "skweams" quickly became identifiable regarding how they fitted into the world's vocabulary. They were understandable due to the context in which they were presented. The created world combines the post-apocalyptic elements discussed above with typical modern fantasy stories cities, factions and combat. The whole world isn't the Misery, that is just a proportion, albeit a vast amount, that was the result of the last war and the battles between the God-like Nameless and Deep Kings. The bigger picture of this world's happenings is all being orchestrated by these unbelievably powerful and malevolent beings. Certain characters also have destructively powerful magical wrecking potential that can destroy entire armies. Without going into too much detail, the magics created in this story were admirable, original and scientific-like.

This is quite a dark story full of gritty and macabre deaths aplenty with a good, but not an overwhelming amount of adrenaline fueling action. Certain sections are superbly intense though and this book is highly unpredictable. It features twists, betrayal, political disputes and half the time when I thought I had analysed where the story was going, I was then blindsided or completely shocked by a revelation. The publisher stated that this as being "gritty epic fantasy for fans of Mark Lawrence and Scott Lynch" and I cannot disagree. I count myself amazingly lucky that I have been one of the first people to review this. Blackwing is a splendid debut that is brilliantly written and I found it amazingly difficult to put down. It superbly presents a completely original, complex and epic fantasy world with incredible and believable characters. Guaranteed already, this will be one of the best books I will read this year. I can see Blackwing becoming a big deal in the fantasy world and I can't wait for the next book in the Ravens' Mark trilogy.

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One of the top tier fantasy debuts of this year.
A brilliant, bloody, brutal and sad story - that was a fantastic read
Excellent world building and stage setting, Great characterisations - Galharrow is a compelling character. I like the dry humour and interactions with Nem and Tnota.
Only downside was that Galharrow seems like quite a passive character. Things always happen to him, rather than him taking the initiative. It seems like he is just stuck in a rut which can get tedious and annoying. For eg despite his last minute promotion to Acting Range Marshal, at the end of the book he is still back as a Captain in the Blackwings. Still drinking the same stuff in the same bar.
Not much character development.
Hopefully we see more of that in the next book.
Looking forward to the next book
So many unanswered questions

5/5 Ribbons for this awesome & dark fantasy book!

Blackwing is a job not everybody is allowed to do- not everybody can manage. The Nameless choose them for different reasons. Why Crowfoot chose Galharrow, he doesn’t know himself. The Nameless have been fighting the Deep Kings for millenia and humans are just like bugs under their feet at worst, a means to fight each other at the best of times.

Once he had been something, someone else but now, he is Blackwing and when he is not, he rides through the war-born wasteland that is the Range. Magic seeps though its air and creeps into your skin, blinds you, deceives you, makes you sick. The creatures that live there are born of hate and the darkest magic imaginable. Galharrow is hunting in the Rage…

This book is gory, dark, critical and wonderful and it had me hooked from page one guys! In recent weeks, I haven’t had time to read a lot of books but this one was just so awesome, I just had to read it through within a week which is the equivalent of my usually 24 hours 😀

There is a major conspiracy in the book and I really don’t want to tell you more about the plot- which was awesome. it had the gore, it had the social criticism, it had the setting, the world and even some very fitting romance and self-reflection. What stood out for me above all was the amazing main character. That’s why i can really recommend this book to everybody who wants to try out something new.

I loved and hated Galharrow and it was amazing to unravel the mysteries that surround the biggest secret the Nameless have. I really urge you to all go and read this wonderful and gripping start of a new fantasy series that I’m sure will blow your mind! I am usually a little bit stingy,m but I WILL buy this one in August ❤

This is what makes the fantasy genre shine.

It's original, it has depth, it's clever. It's also dark and kind of gory, but lacks the gratuitousness of certain recent trends. The darkness is a part of Blackwing's world, a world where "evil" Deep Kings and "good" Nameless, almost god-like beings, fight for supremacy. Except the Nameless are losing, and as they're on humanity's side, things aren't looking good for humanity.

The main character is Ryhalt Galharrow, a fallen man who now works as something little better than a mercenary. He's tied to work for one of the Nameless, Crowfoot, who instructs him to keep a woman safe at the start of the book, leading Galharrow into a lot of awful situations because apparently everyone wants this woman dead.

Ezabeth is no damsel in distress. She's a badass mage-type with a mastery over the mathematics of the magic system. She can also blow, like, everything up. If she wasn't also slightly off her rocker, I would totally want to be her when I grow up. She's a totally atypical fantasy heroine, and I love her. She's also not the only awesome woman in the book!!!!!

Nenn is this badass mercenary working with Galharrow, and while she can't blow stuff up, she can stab everything instead. Which she does a lot. Prince Herono (also a lady) is a badass hero too. It's sooooo refreshing.

The rest of the characters are fantastic too. Galharrow's gay navigator, Ezabeth's foppish brother, and too many other people to count, are bursting with character. We don't necessarily spend a lot of time with them, or getting to know them, but their mannerisms are described, their features, their clothes, in just enough detail to make them feel real. The dialogue is perfectly characteristic of each.

This leads me to the writing, which is pretty much flawless. It's detailed, but not long-winded, it's full of images, but it's not waffle-y irrelevance. It's just tight writing that gets you where you need to go in the exact time you need to go there. It's all written in first person from Galharrow's perspective, and I'm not normally a fan of first person, so this is genuinely impressive to me. The only other book I really enjoyed in first person was The Name Of The Wind, which was incredibly long-winded, so I guess McDonald is actually one-upping Rothfuss here?

World building. This is how you do world building. Blackwing has one of those worlds where it feels like the author has an entire notebook of world building behind it. Whether or not that true, this world is presented as a complete and complex thing. There are obviously secrets going on between the Deep Kings and the Nameless, but the human's don't know what they are, so we don't. I have no doubt they're there. The magic system is really cool, the way society works is just slightly different to our world which keeps it interesting, and there are certain weirdnesses with no answers that will keep me reading this series because I have so much curiosity for it. I'm not going to go into it here because you should just read this unless you really hate gore and swearing.

The gore and swearing is ... prevalent. Lots of fucks are thrown around. Loooooots. Most of the characters are mercenaries or similar and they're pretty jaded and also stressed, so it totally makes sense. The gore is ... disgusting, but somehow in a good way? It's not a case of 'lolol blood look at how hard-core I am', it's more a case of showing that killing people is a brutal, horrible thing, and not glamorising that for the reader. In my opinion, it's not done for shock value: it's a warning which is rarely tackled in fantasy.

There are other warnings too. <spoiler>Galharrow is an alcoholic. It unfolds, showing us his behaviour and the frequency with which he reaches for a drink. It's sad, but again, it's good to see what a life of struggle can do to a person.</spoiler>

The plot is just great. It's a complex tangle of people's motives, and some of them don't fit, but it's hard to tell why until it's revealed, and there's a sense of being slightly lost, but in a good way. The characters are lost because they have so much to deal with, and now you do too. The pieces all fall into place really well at the end. Better than I thought they were going to. It's been a long time since I read a satisfying ending, but this managed it on all accounts.

All in all, I'm really excited for the next book. Really excited. Why did I read it pre-release? (This was a NetGalley book, free in exchange for an honest review) I'm going to go look up everything about Ed Mcdonald and see if the next one is done yet ...

Blackwing is the first in a new series by a new author who, in my opinion, with this one book is going to blast onto the fantasy scene and prove that there is new talent out there.
Blackwing follows the story of Ryhalt Gaharrow - captain of a band of mercenaries, unwilling messenger boy for Crowfoot and a member of Blackwing - as he gets a message from the 'god' that owns him and the subsequent adventure that message brings him on.
The story opens with Galharrow in The Misery, a large wasteland created when the war between The Nameless and The Deep Kings came to a head and the sky ripped apart and shit hit the fan. Drudge, Gillings, Darlings and weird twelve legged creatures live in The Misery and it's these beasties that Galharrow and his band of mercs - Tnota and Nenn are key throughout the book - must avoid at all costs.
One of the key things that happens in the book is when the raven tattoo on Galharrow's forearm rips itself out of his skin and delivers a message - this message sets in motion a series of events that ultimately prove and disprove several theories by the cream (nobility) and The Order of Aetherial Engineers.
Oh yes. That was another thing that got me hooked - it's bloody steampunk! To a point. There isn't an over abundance of goggles and gears and such in the clothing if the characters but there's an Engine and a hell of a lot of phos tube lights (I'm guessing similar to tube lighting we have now) but to gather the phos energy requires a Spinner to gather it from the 3 moons above Valengrad and The Misery.
As much as I want to describe every single detail that happens in the book I won't because that will easily ruin the story for everyone who reads it.
Just know there is utter betrayals, plenty of death and war, and some secrets that have no revelations (Ed, please tell me they're revealed in the next book?) There are gods and near immortals, a creepy Fixer with a buttload of magic and a shockingly good noblewoman - heh geddit?
There's a brilliant connection between Galharrow, Nenn (a noseless woman with a penchant for chewing blacksap) and Tnota (the band navigator) they've clearly been through a lot together and it shows through their communications together and what Galharrow will do for them and vice versa - it's a heck of a bond to try and sever.
The overall writing style shows a clear British twang to parts of it, particularly the humour which at times could be quite dry but also perfectly sarcastic; other parts of the writing style had a touch of monologue to them but it was miniscule and the fact that Blackwing was written in the first person point of view rather than third person like a lot of books was really great. It gave a distinct look into the inner workings of Galharrow's mind which I really liked.
I said yesterday when I'd finished the book that if I was wearing a hat I'd tip it to Ed because it was brilliant. An outstanding debut from an author who can definitely take this story to even bigger heights. It was also really nice to meet Ed and when I asked him where the tattoo idea came from I have never had a better answer to a question - he didn't even have to think about it it just rolled off his tongue so easily:
"My swordsmanship instructor has this really cool tattoo on his forearm of a sword and I thought one day that it's be really great if he could just pull it out of his arm to use it." - Ed McDonald 20th April 2017, Orion Blogger Event.

Blackwing by Ed McDonald

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication date: 27 July 2017



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.



Blackwing is a book I heard about on Twitter, a trend I’m noticing more and more for myself. I was curious about it, but not hugely compelled to seek it out. I requested a copy when I saw it go up on NetGalley, and I’m so glad I did. Blackwing was a huge surprise for me, and Ed McDonald has quickly became a new favorite author.

Set on the ragged edge of a postapocalyptic frontier, Blackwing is a gritty fantasy debut about a man’s desperate battle to survive his own dark destiny…

Nothing in the Misery lasts…

Under a cracked and wailing sky, the Misery is a vast and blighted expanse, created when the Engine, the most powerful weapon in the world, was unleashed against the immortal Deep Kings. Across the wasteland, teeming with corrupted magic and malevolent wraiths, the Deep Kings and their armies are still watching—and still waiting.

Ryhalt Galharrow is no stranger to the Misery. The bounty hunter journeys to a remote outpost, armed for killing both men and monsters, and searching for a mysterious noblewoman. He finds himself in the middle of a shocking attack by the Deep Kings, one that should not be possible. Only a fearsome show of power from the very woman he is seeking saves him.

Once, long ago, he knew the woman well, and together they stumble onto a web of conspiracy that threatens to unmake everything they hold dear and end the fragile peace the Engine has provided. Galharrow is not ready for the truth about the blood he’s spilled and the gods he’s supposed to serve… *

Everything about this book was incredible. The plot, the world building, the characters – everything. It has a strong magic system and a compelling history and culture set in an incredibly well-constructed fantasy world. The story doesn’t start at the beginning of the conflict – although this would make for a fantastic series on its own. We are thrown into the story about 80 years after the devastating battle that stalled the war. There is a level of tension that lurks beneath the surface as you see the human side begin to slack and defences waver. As the narrative progresses, the tension grows and all the characters can feel it.

I loved concept of the Misery, a twisted stretch of land that adds to this tension and is almost another character in the story. I don’t often get unsettled by books, certainly not by settings, but the Misery is just so creepy and bizarre. The descriptions of the shattered and broken sky, the weird creatures that inhabit it, and the directionlessness of it just felt so fresh and new. The frontier in fantasy is a favorite setting of mine and Blackwing puts a new twist on it.

Blackwing is written in the first person – we see everything through the eyes of the grizzled Blackwing captain Ryhalt Galharrow. He’s the perfect grizzled fantasy hero – he’s beaten up from years in and around the Misery, he’s abrasive and rather unpleasant, and has a secret past that unfolds as the narrative progresses. He’s much like Logen Ninefingers, one of my all-time favorite characters, but he is very much his own character. You can’t help but love and root for Ryhalt as he struggles against the odds.

I’m calling it now: Blackwing will be one of the best fantasy debuts of 2017. Ed McDonald is a writer to watch – his skills with world building and character creation are just fantastic and he writes a cracking story. I’m looking forward to the rest of this series and anything else he chooses to write.

Rating: 5/5

*Copy courtesy of Goodreads