A review by catsy2022
Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Rating: A+ - with some issues with how women are represented.

One man’s evil was another’s righteous. The world wasn’t black and white, right and wrong.

This was an incredibly refreshing book to read, after a while of struggling with eBooks and focusing on my physical shelf. I almost wish I owned a physical copy of this book. Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher is the first in a grimdark series that starts a man on an immense journey to put together his broken heart (literally). He awakens with no memories but can feel the fragments of stone calling to him and when they make contact with his skin, they find their way to his heart.

Shalayn, who still had her sword drawn, put it in the wizard’s throat even as I started to say “Don’t kill him!” Her sword was faster than my mouth. The wizard blinked in surprise like it never occurred to him someone might have the audacity, the utter gall, to put steel in him. He coughed bright blood. His lips moved as if trying to speak. A hand rose, fingers twitching. Shalayn severed it and then stuck him in the chest.
“I think he was trying to cast a spell,” she said, as he crumpled at our feet.

If I have learnt something from this book, it isn't that grimdark necessarily means everyone is horrible and morally grey, but that life is fragile and can be ended in an instance, when you least expect it. The protagonist constantly fights against his old beliefs and goals and is trying to be a new person. Unfortunately the more memories he finds, the more he seems to fall into that trap. I really enjoyed the perspective of the protagonist and how unique it was to have a character with no memories, yet have something supernatural leading him to finding his old past. It reminded me of The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley and of some elements in The Elder Scrolls.

Of its own volition, the dagger Tien gave me flashed from where I'd shoved it and jammed to the hilt in the wizard's neck. I stood, staring in stunned shock, as it sawed all teh way around his throat.

I loved the depiction of violence and war, fights, the flashbacks to his memories really helped build the world into something real and deep; overwhelming power is available to so many people and the normal population is treated like dirt. I did really like the depiction of racial and social class; sailors are the darkest-skinned people because the ocean is so dangerous. The explanations around every facet of the world and the operation of magic is so incredibly detailed yet the book stays under 500 pages.

“You aren’t going to die,” I said. “I am. This me will die. The me that was happy. The me that doesn’t hurt people.” He coughed blood. “The me that chose not to rip people’s souls out so he might feed them to demons.”

My main gripe, however, with this book is just the excuse that a 19-year-old is constantly thinking about sex. Maybe he is, the protagonist, and as he regains his memories he becomes closer to his old self, while being hindered by his physical urges. I liked Shalayn and Tien, but I hated how every other female character is described by how attractive they are to the protagonist over and over. I felt like Henka, despite being an incredibly powerful necromancer, is reduced to a fawning, mewling pet for the protagonist thirsty for his love and only capable of saying "I'll be warm for you." I hope this stops in the next book.