Review: Malice (book 1 of The Faithful and the Fallen), by John Gwynne

I acquired this from a little library at the same time as the earlier reviewed Joe Abercrombie book. It took me rather longer to read for several reasons: it’s bigger, I actually had the internet (and therefore work to do), and it took me a little while to get into it.

The start felt slightly slow, but given it’s the beginning of a series that’s perhaps understandable. The plot takes place in a fictional world and follows multiple POVs, from the youthful Corban to older men who have proven themselves in battle already. The cast is geographically dispersed and, at first, it seemed the plotlines might exist in silos, but one of the big positives of the book was when the various threads became entangled with one another. The integration of differing plotlines was well done and it was interesting to see the main cast, often separate, interacting with one another.

The world is original and whilst there’s lore this is allowed to exist as an important backdrop rather than swallowing the narrative or drowning it in infodumps. Dialogue sometimes felt like it could be a touch sharper, to be honest, but this was a relatively minor drawback.

Plot twists were another highlight. Some were obvious, and meant to be so, others far more unexpected but they fit the world, characters, and plot, making them credible and deepening my engagement with the story rather than jarring. The finale in particular was well-executed.

Overall, I found myself liking the book more and more as I got into it. Which is annoying because I really don’t have the shelf space. However, at some point (the reading list grows, ravenous beast that it is) I will check out the sequel in e-book format. Or I might even try the audiobook.

Thaddeus