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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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The perimeter wasn’t holding!
The ropes were coming down
and the wolves were thinning. Richius strained to see past the
smoke clogging the field. Maybe twenty wolves were left, and
the Naren numbers were swelling. A handful of weapons still lumbered
forward. Another bolt of fire crashed into a trench shield, and
the thump-thump of acid launchers popping in the distance. Skyward
came a trio of fizzing cannisters, spraying down their watery
poison on the trench and disappearing into the trees. The rain
of arrows ceased as the Triin sought cover, ducking under shields
and holding their breath till their faces blued. There was more
choking as the searing acid seeped into lungs, and on the field
men were vomiting blood. Above him, Richius could hear leaves
steaming. His eyes stung, and he covered his face with his hands.
Rivers of tears gushed down his cheeks. He heard Voris roar in
agony and struggled to open his eyes. The warlord was still firing
into the field, holding his breath as he plied his bow like a
madman.
”Voris, get down!”
Richius shouted, chancing a breath. He tasted the bitter fumes
on his lips. Another cannister was sailing through the air heading
directly for the deck.
Richius sprang to his feet
and raced toward Voris, barreling into him and pushing him down.
Together they sprawled across the platform just as the cannister
crashed against the deck. There was a popping hiss and the cannister
burst. Dyana screamed for Richius. Richius covered Voris. And
then, as if a surgeon was peeling away his skin, he felt the
back of his shirt melt away and a thousand burning needles puncture
his flesh.
Richius screamed, scrambling
toward the end of the deck. The pain was agonizing. Someone was
pulling off his shirt. He opened his eyes and saw Voris’
giant body smothering him, rolling him over and ripping off his
garment. On the other side of the deck, Dyana was fighting to
reach him. Jarra was pulling her backward. And in the middle
of the deck the acid was eating through the planking, spitting
and smoking as it chewed like termites through the wood.
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Synopsis |
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Richius “The Jackal”
Vantran is prince, and then king, of Aramoor. His land lies between
two continents; Nar and Lucel-Lor. The Emperor of Nar has declared
war on Lucel-Lor thinking that the land of the Triin holds magic
that will spare him from the hand of death. Richius is his pawn
in the war and leader of the Naran Army.
While in Lucel-Lor,
he falls for a young Triin woman who goes by the name Dyana.
After he loses the war and becomes king, he risks it all to “rescue”
Dyana from the “evil” clutches of Tharn, the gods-blessed
leader of the Triin.
During this journey, he loses his kingdom
and is forced, in the end, to fight for the people that he had
been killing during the war less then a year ago. He is torn
between helping an enemy that he hates and being in love with
a woman that is of their race. And to top it off, his own Emperor
wants him dead and has sent Blackwood Gayle to bring him back.
The Jackel of Nar is a military fantasy novel
with well-written and believable characters. This is not necessarily
a happy fantasy novel with elves, dwarves and wizards, but a
dark novel of war and ignorance. This is the story of two races;
one with a ruthless and greedy leader, the other forced to fight
to live. The main character is extremely realistic in the decisions
that he makes, which appear to ruin his life, because he is thinking
with his heart, as so many of us do, rather then his head. The
“bad guys” are just that…BAD. You love to hate
them. You want to see them all die. But like any true story of
war, not all die.
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Review |
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I liked The Jackel of Nar. There were
times that I vehemently disagreed with what Richius did, and
it bothered me that someone could act so irrationally, but I
finally got over it and settled down and enjoyed the book.
The
book starts off fast and furious right in the middle of a war
and then also ends with a war. The interesting thing is that Richius fights on both sides of the wars, so we get his perspective
of both peoples.
The Jackel of Nar is John Marco’s first book, and I
think that he did a slam-bang of a job. And from the way it ended,
another may follow…I certainly hope so. This is a fun read.
I rated this book an 8 out of
10. |
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