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A review by pastathief
Blackdog by K.V. Johansen
5.0
I've loved fantasy in general, but lately I've not been reading a lot of fantasy, for two big reasons: One, there seem to be a lot of highly derivative "mechanically produced fantasy filler" books these days, and without being more on top of the genre than I am it's hard to separate those out from the good stuff; and two, with a busy life and a relatively slow reading pace, it's hard to commit to "book one of three of the first cycle of six".
Blackdog both provides a unique take on standard fantasy and stands alone as a self-contained novel. It has all the feeling and vibe of epic fantasy, but its world has a lot of fantastic world-building elements, and the religion and mythos and the take on Gods and Goddesses is particularly well-done and shot through with well-considered differences from the standard fare. Add to that a whole ensemble of well-rendered characters (there are at least half a dozen characters who I'd read a spinoff novel about, either detailing their history or their future) and this novel really knocked it out of the park for me. It did take some effort near the beginning -- after hitting the ground running, it seems to slow down for a bit -- but then I started to feel the edges of the gravity well no later than half way through the book, which is earlier than most for me.
I'm not sure that I'd say that this book changed my life or caused me to rethink my personal philosophy, but it was a compelling page-turner that felt smarter and more textured than most, and that's a good thing.
Blackdog both provides a unique take on standard fantasy and stands alone as a self-contained novel. It has all the feeling and vibe of epic fantasy, but its world has a lot of fantastic world-building elements, and the religion and mythos and the take on Gods and Goddesses is particularly well-done and shot through with well-considered differences from the standard fare. Add to that a whole ensemble of well-rendered characters (there are at least half a dozen characters who I'd read a spinoff novel about, either detailing their history or their future) and this novel really knocked it out of the park for me. It did take some effort near the beginning -- after hitting the ground running, it seems to slow down for a bit -- but then I started to feel the edges of the gravity well no later than half way through the book, which is earlier than most for me.
I'm not sure that I'd say that this book changed my life or caused me to rethink my personal philosophy, but it was a compelling page-turner that felt smarter and more textured than most, and that's a good thing.