Hammers in the Wind (The Northern Crusade, #1)

by Christian Warren Freed

Chaos has come to the northern kingdom of Delranan. King Badron's house is invaded; his son murdered and his daughter kidnapped. Badron's desire for revenge pushes the north into a long anticipated war. Confident of neighboring Rogscroft's involvement in the attack, Badron orders his feared Wolfsreik, an army without equal, to attack and destroy his enemies. The ship The Sea Wolf returns to Delranan during the night of the attack and is quickly hired to hunt down and return the princess: dead or alive. Mercenaries and sell swords answer his call; none stranger than the seemingly feeble old Anienam Keiss, a man claiming to be the last living wizard and hiding the failures from a dark past and the mysterious warrior woman from the deep southern jungles: Rekka Jel. She comes with a dire warning. A dread evil has awakened and threatens to consume Malweir in a wave of fury. It begins in Delranan.

• ISBN10: 0615820093
• ISBN13: 9780615820095
• Publish Date: 16 May 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 May 2017
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Writer's Edge Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Xx. Cross-posted on The Literary Phoenix .xX

It makes me sad to think that if this had not been free on Kindle, I would never have read it.

Hammers in the Wind is truly woven by an expert storyteller. There were no grammatical or spelling errors throughout, and all the characters were round and interesting. There were a few cases when some of the characters seemed a little similar, but they were so far away from each other, there was no mixing them up.

Lets talk about plot. I go crazy for a good Arthurian legend, a la knights and white steeds and princesses that need rescuing. These old plot devices never fail, and never grow tiring for me. Freed uses them. But he doesn't stop there.

Not a fan of princess-rescuing? Don't worry... we've got murders and wars and wizards and demons! Anyone who finds a fantasy epic delicious will certainly love this book! And it is so refreshing to read something without teen romance cheesy goop.

The only reason, and I do mean only, is a hesitant fear about the complexity of the plot. I'm all for a good George R.R. Martin saga, but every time something on one plot line seems to inch forward, it seems as though there is another twist! And another! The entire novel is a adrenaline fueled chase of treachery and secrets... and at some point, strands are going to fall and become forgotten, or the whole thing is bound to come to a halt.
Perhaps I am wrong. I hope so! But I truly loved this novel and would recommend it to those who enjoy tales of the like of Martin, Tolkien, Donaldson, and legends.