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miggins1610 's review for:
Paladin Unbound
by Jeffrey Speight
Disclaimer: Jeff was so very kind to offer a competition through which I won the audiobook for free. This in no way has impacted my review as I offer my opinion on a pure enjoyment level. Thanks Jeff!
TLDR: Paladin Unbound is an absolute blast of a D&D style adventure, filled to the brim with classic monsters, fantastical races, ancient gods, and a healthy dose of heart. Though the character development at times leaves a little to be desired, Jeff goes from strength to strength as the story proceeds, culminating in an epic, if a little rushed, ending. Room is left for plenty more adventures for the Barrows Pact, and I for one cannot wait to see what quest they face next!
4.25/5 for sheer enjoyment, keeping me company in a difficult time. thank you Jeff :)
********************
The last of a dying breed, a holy warrior must rise up against a growing darkness in Evelium.
The most unlikely of heroes, a lowly itinerant mercenary, Umhra the Peacebreaker is shunned by society for his mongrel half-Orc blood. Desperate to find work for himself and his band of fighters, Umhra agrees to help solve a rash of mysterious disappearances, but uncovers a larger, more insidious plot to overthrow the natural order of Evelium in the process.
As Umhra journeys into the depths of Telsidor’s Keep to search for the missing, he confronts an ancient evil and, after suffering a great loss, turns to the god he disavowed for help.
Compelled to save the kingdom he loves, can he defeat the enemy while protecting his true identity, or must he risk everything?
********************
Truly the story of Paladin Unbound belongs to the titular character known as Sir Umhra the Peacebreaker, and he completely steals the show and our hearts! Umhra is the beating heart of the story, providing the theme of the book which is all about being comfortable in yourself and your identity, and taking on the mantle of responsibility. Umhra is a half Orc and so is seen as an outlier in society, facing lots of prejudice, whilst also holding a deep secret which could hold the key to saving all of civilisation but to reveal his secret would be punishable by death. So on two levels Umhra is shunned by society, but he will have to embrace himself to fulfil the destiny set forth to him by the gods.
Umhra is followed by a motley crew of characters, from Gromley the dwarf, to Naivara a shapeshifting lady from the reshinta people, to the Barnswallow brothers, to Shadow an ex thief turned hero, Drog, Xig, and who could forget high priest Balris. These are but a few who make up the bloodbound and the Barrows pact, two crews whom Uhmra is part of in his quest. This quest is to stop the mysterious brothers of resurrection from (funnily enough!) resurrecting the demon god Naur, bringing him from the realm of Pregaris whence he was banished and back into the world of Tyveriel. This particular story is set on the continent of Evelium, though there are clearly more continents to be explored in later works. As revealed through the worldbuilding in the chapter epigraphs and in book dialogue, there was a rift between two factions of the ruling Forene dynasty, resulting in a treaty known as the fracture, further complicating matters for the crew to pass through different territories.
And pass-through different territories we do a lot! This is most certainly in the episodic style of a D & D campaign. I loved how we travelled through so much of the world, so we got to have different experiences and organically experience some of the nature worldbuilding. This led to many boss style fights which clearly fit into the episodic nature of the quest and injected a little excitement into proceedings when the quest’s ultimate goal was still a long way off. Think of it like the Hobbit in its story structure, going from one tale of adventure to the next with an overarching narrative to connect it altogether. The epigraphs as mentioned previously are where a lot of the heavy lifting is done with the worldbuilding, a deft touch by Speights. Though I was left wanting to learn a little more of the world and its history, I did very much appreciate a break from the heavy worldbuilding of an epic fantasy tome. It is in no way lesser, and it allows one to just get lost in the sheer fun of the adventure and not have to worry about losing track of some obscure historical fact that’s key to the plot!
This lighter construction of novel ( though the book itself is not necessarily light as it does have its violent and gruesome moments) is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. As hinted at earlier, at least at the start the character development was a little on the more basic side. The fascinating central conflict set up within Umhra propels the emotional conflicts of the story, however the experiences Umhra faces with discrimination are only briefly encountered at the beginning and then sort of forgotten, thus losing some of its impact. Similarly, each character gets a solid introduction that seems to fit a certain D&D mould with a little Speights’ uniqueness, however the brisk pace of the story did not allow much further development, which again stunted some of the emotional moments of the story.
Having said that, Speights does manage to pull it back towards the end, with some wonderful heart to heart fireside chats as Umhra wrestles with the burdens he carries. It is these moments that show the richness buried within the characters, and certainly their backstories have a lot of good setup for rich emotional depths to be plumbed. This crew each have their own struggles and it would be great to see Speights more confidently lean into those quieter moments, as when he does do them he shows great skill to be honed.
Equally the story is just such a blast that my earlier concerns vanished as I found myself drawn into the family like nature of the crew. Speights pulls this off so well, that I suddenly found myself realising about ¾ through, knowing I was speeding up so would finish soon, that I would really miss the crew. Yes the character development isn’t fully fleshed out, yes sometimes it can be a little heavy handed on the exposition, but who cares when it is this much fun. A good story is a good story and I had a jolly good time listening to the adventures.
May I also add that Speights is really really good at writing secondary NPC style characters. Xavier Pell is my favourite character of the novel hands down, I couldn’t possibly describe why, (perhaps it’s the history buff in me as he gives readers the only true history exposition (in one block) of the novel) but every time he appeared in the novel I was absolutely delighted. Lord Marwyn, Espen Morrow, and many more NPC style characters fill out the world and offer some of the best characters in the novel imo so there is plenty there to enjoy!
The prose itself is fairly simplistic, which sounds like I am being negative, however I promise you I’m really not, as it completely fits the style of story Speights wants to tell. There are certainly lesser debut novels than this one, and by the end one can see Speights growing into the process as his character development becomes more mature, his prose starts to really get into its flow.
The ending itself felt a little rushed to me and after all the build-up of the quest, the ending felt a little unearnt, however it was very much in line with the dynamic of a BBEG from a D&D campaign fitting with the style of the novel. I think perhaps the 330 pages could’ve done with being a little closer to 400, however I am certainly no author and could not write such a long novel myself ( although my reviews seem to turn into one
TLDR: Paladin Unbound is an absolute blast of a D&D style adventure, filled to the brim with classic monsters, fantastical races, ancient gods, and a healthy dose of heart. Though the character development at times leaves a little to be desired, Jeff goes from strength to strength as the story proceeds, culminating in an epic, if a little rushed, ending. Room is left for plenty more adventures for the Barrows Pact, and I for one cannot wait to see what quest they face next!
4.25/5 for sheer enjoyment, keeping me company in a difficult time. thank you Jeff :)
********************
The last of a dying breed, a holy warrior must rise up against a growing darkness in Evelium.
The most unlikely of heroes, a lowly itinerant mercenary, Umhra the Peacebreaker is shunned by society for his mongrel half-Orc blood. Desperate to find work for himself and his band of fighters, Umhra agrees to help solve a rash of mysterious disappearances, but uncovers a larger, more insidious plot to overthrow the natural order of Evelium in the process.
As Umhra journeys into the depths of Telsidor’s Keep to search for the missing, he confronts an ancient evil and, after suffering a great loss, turns to the god he disavowed for help.
Compelled to save the kingdom he loves, can he defeat the enemy while protecting his true identity, or must he risk everything?
********************
Truly the story of Paladin Unbound belongs to the titular character known as Sir Umhra the Peacebreaker, and he completely steals the show and our hearts! Umhra is the beating heart of the story, providing the theme of the book which is all about being comfortable in yourself and your identity, and taking on the mantle of responsibility. Umhra is a half Orc and so is seen as an outlier in society, facing lots of prejudice, whilst also holding a deep secret which could hold the key to saving all of civilisation but to reveal his secret would be punishable by death. So on two levels Umhra is shunned by society, but he will have to embrace himself to fulfil the destiny set forth to him by the gods.
Umhra is followed by a motley crew of characters, from Gromley the dwarf, to Naivara a shapeshifting lady from the reshinta people, to the Barnswallow brothers, to Shadow an ex thief turned hero, Drog, Xig, and who could forget high priest Balris. These are but a few who make up the bloodbound and the Barrows pact, two crews whom Uhmra is part of in his quest. This quest is to stop the mysterious brothers of resurrection from (funnily enough!) resurrecting the demon god Naur, bringing him from the realm of Pregaris whence he was banished and back into the world of Tyveriel. This particular story is set on the continent of Evelium, though there are clearly more continents to be explored in later works. As revealed through the worldbuilding in the chapter epigraphs and in book dialogue, there was a rift between two factions of the ruling Forene dynasty, resulting in a treaty known as the fracture, further complicating matters for the crew to pass through different territories.
And pass-through different territories we do a lot! This is most certainly in the episodic style of a D & D campaign. I loved how we travelled through so much of the world, so we got to have different experiences and organically experience some of the nature worldbuilding. This led to many boss style fights which clearly fit into the episodic nature of the quest and injected a little excitement into proceedings when the quest’s ultimate goal was still a long way off. Think of it like the Hobbit in its story structure, going from one tale of adventure to the next with an overarching narrative to connect it altogether. The epigraphs as mentioned previously are where a lot of the heavy lifting is done with the worldbuilding, a deft touch by Speights. Though I was left wanting to learn a little more of the world and its history, I did very much appreciate a break from the heavy worldbuilding of an epic fantasy tome. It is in no way lesser, and it allows one to just get lost in the sheer fun of the adventure and not have to worry about losing track of some obscure historical fact that’s key to the plot!
This lighter construction of novel ( though the book itself is not necessarily light as it does have its violent and gruesome moments) is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. As hinted at earlier, at least at the start the character development was a little on the more basic side. The fascinating central conflict set up within Umhra propels the emotional conflicts of the story, however the experiences Umhra faces with discrimination are only briefly encountered at the beginning and then sort of forgotten, thus losing some of its impact. Similarly, each character gets a solid introduction that seems to fit a certain D&D mould with a little Speights’ uniqueness, however the brisk pace of the story did not allow much further development, which again stunted some of the emotional moments of the story.
Having said that, Speights does manage to pull it back towards the end, with some wonderful heart to heart fireside chats as Umhra wrestles with the burdens he carries. It is these moments that show the richness buried within the characters, and certainly their backstories have a lot of good setup for rich emotional depths to be plumbed. This crew each have their own struggles and it would be great to see Speights more confidently lean into those quieter moments, as when he does do them he shows great skill to be honed.
Equally the story is just such a blast that my earlier concerns vanished as I found myself drawn into the family like nature of the crew. Speights pulls this off so well, that I suddenly found myself realising about ¾ through, knowing I was speeding up so would finish soon, that I would really miss the crew. Yes the character development isn’t fully fleshed out, yes sometimes it can be a little heavy handed on the exposition, but who cares when it is this much fun. A good story is a good story and I had a jolly good time listening to the adventures.
May I also add that Speights is really really good at writing secondary NPC style characters. Xavier Pell is my favourite character of the novel hands down, I couldn’t possibly describe why, (perhaps it’s the history buff in me as he gives readers the only true history exposition (in one block) of the novel) but every time he appeared in the novel I was absolutely delighted. Lord Marwyn, Espen Morrow, and many more NPC style characters fill out the world and offer some of the best characters in the novel imo so there is plenty there to enjoy!
The prose itself is fairly simplistic, which sounds like I am being negative, however I promise you I’m really not, as it completely fits the style of story Speights wants to tell. There are certainly lesser debut novels than this one, and by the end one can see Speights growing into the process as his character development becomes more mature, his prose starts to really get into its flow.
The ending itself felt a little rushed to me and after all the build-up of the quest, the ending felt a little unearnt, however it was very much in line with the dynamic of a BBEG from a D&D campaign fitting with the style of the novel. I think perhaps the 330 pages could’ve done with being a little closer to 400, however I am certainly no author and could not write such a long novel myself ( although my reviews seem to turn into one