adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book leaves you with mystery on every flip of the page. It’s gritty, but not completely dark. I would give it a read if you love dungeons and dragons!

cekendall's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

All I'm saying is you can tell this was written by a man. It also feels like an editor just didn't read this at all. Super disappointed, I was looking forward to this. DNF at only 12% (I've DNFd very few books, even less below 50%).

3.5

This is a tale of Kell, a 27 year old man who already had his adventure, came back after defeating the big bad monster at age 17, he thinks of himself as a coward and knows that stories of heroes are greatly exaggerated.

This is a fun read, it just needed more, more back story, more banter, more found family, more heart ache, more happiness, it simply needed more.

There were whole chucks in the middle when I simply got bored, the beginning of the book is terrific and the ending leaves you wanting more.


Now this is how I like my quest stories. High stakes, a compelling and diverse cast of characters, emotional gut punches and a lot of great action.

The Coward tells the story of Kell Kressia, who was only 17 years old when he returned as the only survivor from a group of famous heroes who had set out to defeat a threat in the Frozen North.
Ten years have passed and a new threat seems to be looming in the North, so who better to send than the legendary hero Kell Kressia himself?

What starts out as a fairly surface-level quest adventure quickly turns into a nuanced story about heroism, fame and the toll that these quests can take on one's mental health.
The characters are the highlight of the book for me. Not only was Kell an incredibly complex and compelling character to follow, but all the side characters got their own time to shine as well.
I’ve found that a lot of quest stories follow a cast of characters that can feel a bit stereotypical, but that’s absolutely not the case here. The author definitely turned some well-known tropes on its head and I absolutely loved that.

Despite the fact that this is a fairly adventure driven story, the pacing is relatively slow and that allowed for some amazing character work. We really get to know these characters intimately throughout the story, which I really enjoyed. They all have their own personal struggles that they are facing and that made them feel so real and relatable. Also, the character development was simply outstanding, these characters really went through it and you feel that they have changed by the end.
We also get some additional POVs from characters outside of Kell’s band and it was super intriguing to see what they were up to and how they influenced Kell’s story.

This is definitely one of the more nuanced and thematically rich quest stories that I have read so far, but at the same time it was also just a lot of fun. The character dynamics are great and there is some entertaining banter and action.
I am really glad I picked this one up and the ending has me very excited to see where things will go next.
adventurous dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I really wanted to like this book. I loved the premise. I loved the set up. I think there’s a lot that the author did really well. 

However, the characters felt a little flat to me and the editing kept forcing me out of the world and back to reality. There were too many typos/errors throughout and it sometimes felt a little more like a draft than a finished manuscript. 

I really did like Willow and I liked the twist with Vahli. 

5/5 stars.

This is a perfect example of the found family trope. There was a good balance of "let's assemble the party" vs actually being on the quest itself. The main character was flawed and compelling and saw some great growth throughout book one. I'm excited to get into book two.

PLOT: 4/5
i really enjoyed the plot. it was unique, and it's always good to just read a fantasy book. slow at the beginning, but picked up.
CHARACTERS: 4.5/5
loved. good growth and development. i liked how the most terrifying characters were literally just buff women.
WRITING STYLE: 3/5
mid. felt like aryan was scared of commas. (aryan is a terrible last name. poor guy.) sentence structure was incredibly repetitive and felt juvenile.
ENJOYMENT: 4/5
like i said, you can't go wrong with a classic fantasy novel. i am slightly in love with every character. world building was wonderful and not intimidating.
FINAL RATING: 3.9/4

The Coward takes a look behind the heroes in their tales and sagas to reveal who the real people behind the songs and daring deeds are. Written primarily from the point of view of main character, Kell Kressia, The Coward sees a damaged man thrust back into the world of heroism he had been hiding from for the last ten years. Once, he desperately wanted to be a hero and tagged along on a quest with eleven (11) men to defeat an Ice Lich in the Frozen North that threatened the Five Kingdoms with failing crops, famine and death. Only Kell returned and he is not keen to repeat the ordeal. Now, the weather has turned sour again, crops are failing and the King has summoned Kell to save the world once more.

Kell takes us on his second epic quest as he relives some of the horrors he faced as a teenager. Along the way, he is joined by a rag-tag group of misfits each with their own reasons for following him into the grim Frozen North. What they experience and what they find out in the icy wasteland surprises even the cynical Kell. Meanwhile, the head of the church of the Shepherd, Reverend Mother Britak, is manipulating events in the Five Kingdoms to bring about a holy war to bring all in line under her one true god.

Through Kell’s story, Stephen Aryan examines feelings of fear, courage and obligation, as well as the physical and mental toll heroism takes on the individual. Kell describes symptoms much akin to PTSS and it is a refreshing - albeit dark - take on epic fantasy giving it a touch of realism. We explore the tragedies of death, loss and the grief that goes with it but also friendship, belonging and love. The Coward packs a lot into its pages.

If this sounds heavy, fret not, as the prose is accessible and short chapters will have you sailing through it in no time. This could easily be read as a standalone if you’re worried about waiting for book two (The Warrior) but there’s still enough there to set the stage for a sequel. My only real criticism is that, for a traditionally published book, there were quite a few editing/proofreading misses and mistakes. The overall experience made up for it but nevertheless it did lose some points in my mind over this (I was reading the paperback version, these issues may have been rectified in digital copies or later printings).
adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes