The Forgetting Moon: Volume 1 (Five Warrior Angels)

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The royal family, divided into the king, who is the eldest brother, and his two sisters, was so complex and intricate to read. Each of the siblings has a completely different personality, which is why it is not boring in this palace. Jovan turns out to be the gruesome ruler who is so fanatical about his faith in Laijons that he causes unrest even against his own family. Then there is Jondralyn, who, as is often the case with male heroes, wants to become a legend, but unfortunately was born into a woman’s body and now opposes the fantastic faith and its path of her brother’s prophecy. And finally yet importantly Tala, who I liked the best of this royal family despite her childlike nature, who actually has nothing to do with this religious war within the family and is dragged into it by lies and intrigues. Each of these three characters contributes its own individual part to create a complex work out of this classy story that puts fanaticism and intrigue even more in the foreground. Hooked to the leather thong was a small carving of a turtle no bigger than the end of Nail’s thumb. He held the carving in his hand, admiring Ava’s delicate workmanship. Every display of her talents filled him with desire.

While the eldest son of the fallen king of Gul Kana now reigns in ever increasing paranoid isolationism, his two sisters seek their own paths. Jondralyn, the older sister, renowned for her beauty, only desires to prove her worth as a warrior, while Tala, the younger sister, has uncovered a secret that may not only destroy her family but the entire kingdom. Then there's Hawkwood, the assassin sent to kill Jondralyn who has instead fallen in love with her and trains her in his deadly art. All are led further into dangerous conspiracies within the court. And hidden at the edge of Gul Kana is Nail, the orphan taken by the enigmatic Shawcroft to the remote whaling village of Gallows Haven, a young man who may hold the link to the salvation of the entire Five Isles. There are going to be some players you’re going to love to hate, who you’ll laugh at or squirm at their gaffes, mourn over their misfortune that is not of their own making. Sometimes the characters will outright befuddle you with their actions, and keep you guessing as to which side they are truly on. Epic World-Building. As the first book in a new series, this one needs to do a lot of heavy lifting to establish the universe of the Five Isles. Durfee doesn’t waste time: the opening chapters threaten to overwhelm you with eye-popping detail as Durfee introduces his point-of-view characters and the world they inhabit. It’s a setting both intimate and huge—geographically, it’s fairly contained, giving us an opportunity to orient ourselves. But the history and culture are sprawling, from a Christianity-inspired religion, to a social structure whose basis in familiar Western European-inspired hierarchies is only a staring point. He seeds in details that slowly blossom into something unique and refreshingly messy. Readers will play catch-up throughout the early chapters as a torrent of detail builds the world piece by piece—but it’s well worth the effort to follow along.

The forgetting moon

I see Ava still sets her charms about you,” Stefan said, pulling Nail’s drawing across the table. “Calls you m’dear whenever you’re in the Grayken Spear.” In Sør Sevier, to be saved, one must only proclaim Laijon as the true One and Only and swear fealty to Aeros Raijael as Laijon’s living heir. There was no vicar or Quorum of Five Archbishops in Amadon to pay homage and tithes to. There were no temple prayers, lists of good works, flagellations before holy statues, or ceremonies of ember and ash to earn your way into heaven. In Sør Sevier, belief was simple: study the Illuminations and believe in Raijael, Laijon’s only son, and Aeros, his living heir and warrior for the faith. The author has noted some of his influences are Tad Williams and G.R.R.M., and I could definitely see those writers’ imprint on Durfee’s work, which surely is a great thing.

Dokie is burnt, but not bad.” The baron motioned for Stefan and Nail to sit. “Bishop Tolbret watches over him. With the blessings of the priesthood, Dokie’ll recover.” Another enormous turnoff for me with this book is the ungodly number of info dumps and their length. I get it--believe me, I get it--it's a fantasy work, and info dumps are a necessary evil of the genre; you just have to have them at some point, to explain the world to the reader. But they really should fit within the flow of the story, and be kept as streamlined as possible, not interrupting the pace of the scene you're in the middle of. In the preface to the book, Durfee calls out Tad Williams and George R.R. Martin as influences. The influence of both writers/storytellers is writ clear in the narrative. Readers familiar with both may see some parallels between King Jovan and the Storm King from Tad Williams’s Memory, Sorrow and Thorn or Mad King Aerys from Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Aside from those comparisons, the world-building in general is quite robust and the rotating POVs works quite well, too. I have to say; however, I think I admired what Durfee was doing more than I enjoyed it. His imagination and storytelling comes across quite impressively, but the grimdark and unsavory elements made it somewhat difficult to fully enjoy the narrative, if that makes sense. There is a teeny-tiny glimmer of optimism, so I hope that Durfee is able to build on that in the next volume(s) of the series.Let him up,” Stefan said, motioning Zane to hold his dog. “Be wary.” He released the baron’s son. Jenko stood, brushing the mud from his greaves, smiling, his teeth stark white shards in the lamplight as he walked toward Nail. Nail didn’t know whether Jenko was going to help him up or what. Either way, he wouldn’t allow himself to accept any help. He’d stand on his own no matter how much his body ached. Where is Shawcroft?” Baron Bruk tersely asked. “Still pissing his time away at the mines, I wager?”

This series, completed with book three just last month, is all the rage lately on booktube as one of the most underrated epic fantasies out there. As a big fan of epic grimdark I was immediately drawn to it and the promise of themes I usually like - flawed heroes, conflicting ideologies and political and military machinations all bundled up in a bright red gory envelope. Did I get what I bargained for? Another thing of note is that many of the perspectives are around 17-18 years of age. This offers us a sort of grimdark YA feel in that we have immature characters having to deal with their own emotional and personal growth as humans while dealing with horrible tragedy, graphic violence, war, rape(which occurs ‘off stage’), and secrets within secrets. It’s not an unusual choice for the beginning of an epic fantasy story but it’s used to great effect here. Most of our POV characters are trying to hold on to their religion and family and the life they knew as these things are cruelly ripped away from them again and again. Nail and Stefan sat alone, Nail’s charcoal drawing unrolled on the table between them. The Grayken Spear Inn’s tavern was abuzz about Dokie Liddle. Late winter days along the southwestern shores of Gul Kana were likely to bring sudden bursts of rain that ofttimes turned to snow. But lightning strikes so close to town were rare indeed. Dokie’s injury had reined in the normally boisterous mood of the tavern to a somber crawl.Does it look like I give a goat’s fart what’s in the stew? Could be pigeon shit for all I care. I’m only the innkeeper’s big fat errand girl.” With that she stomped away. Fantasy fans lend me your ears, please welcome a prominent new voice in the Epic fantasy genre, Brian Lee Durfee. As we all wait on pins and needles for George R.R Martin to finish the Winds of Winter (going on 10 years now), we are left to search the horizon for new authors who can scratch that Game of Thrones itch we have been seeking for far too long. The Forgetting Moon far exceeded my expectations as a book that A Song of Ice and Fire fans would love and has catapulted into my top 10 epic fantasy series of all time and a must read if you are a fantasy junkie like myself. Right, thanks.” The words felt strange on Nail’s dry tongue. He swallowed hard, still trying to regain his bearings. His satchel held his most prized possessions: prayer book, art supplies, collection of charcoal drawings. The Forgetting Moon used plenty of well-known tropes in fantasy, written with a modern voice. One of the most dominant tropes utilized here is the element of prophecy. I personally never mind prophecy in my epic fantasy reads; I tend to find them comfortable and I love the anticipation of seeing whether the prophecies will be fulfilled, proven wrong, or were non-existent to begin with. The unpredictability that can be offered from this plot device can be powerful. Well-executed tropes are comfortable to read, and Durfee delivers. Who were the Five Warrior Angels? Who are their descendants? Why are they so important to the present timeline? These questions will be mostly answered within this book but at the same time, Durfee still left a lot of storylines to look forward to in the sequels.

Aeros will stop at nothing to accomplish his ends, and embarks on a crusade, rampaging through the Five Iles with his unstoppable armies, leaving a wake of utter destruction, cruelty, and pain in his wake. Nail’s tale within the tale, is very coming-of-age, as he experiences young infatuation, tries to forge a path for himself and become a man, and come to terms with what is predestined for him.

We should start with this book where I started with it- Richard Anderson’s cover. He’s one of the great cover artists for modern fantasy and this cover is no exception. We see a lonely knight resplendent with a long sword on a horse staring up at a castle in the distance. It’s a striking image that when placed on a book of this length tells a reader: This is epic fantasy! If you can carry it, it will be quite the adventure. And that is what, in part, Brian delivers: fantasy and adventure. At least that’s what I thought it was. However the deeper I waded in, I found myself swept up in unknown currents and suddenly washed up on unfamiliar shores. When they tottered by a candlelit cottage, a whiff of woodsmoke swirled past Nail’s nose, the aroma clearing his mind of churning thoughts. I’ve Shawcroft’s permission, of course, to learn the fishing trade whilst he’s at the mines,” Nail answered, knowing his words were a lie. Shawcroft would have no clue if he went grayken hunting and would disagree with it strongly. But the man was working the mines for the week. The average grayken hunt took less time than that. Nail knew he would be in open defiance of his master. But he didn’t care. The man could be demanding, stubborn, disagreeable, and cruel. Nail was completely dependent on Shawcroft, yet at the same time, to be free of the man was his greatest desire.