Like many of my favourite reads over the years, I discovered PD Blake’s The Long Way Home by accident. And I’m so glad I did. Armed with my new Kindle, I waded into the kind of book that took me back to the adventures I’d lapped up as a teenager.
Blake’s epic fantasy reads like sword and sorcery, in the sense that it’s full of close-in camera views and beautifully executed character arcs. But the overall story is told through multiple strands which begin to combine about 60% of the way through. These strands are each facinating and fun. And none less than the central strand of Alwyn and his dwarven possessor Thorgrim Ironarm. Ironarm is one of those characters who isn’t laboured and doesn’t need to be, expertly drawn and fun to read about. Each time a hint of danger was in the air, I got my hopes up that Ironarm would reappear to swing that axe and laugh maniacally.
Apart from the occasional punctuation error (which seems a common feature of eBooks), The Long Way Home is a flawless novel, one of the few I’d award 5 stars out of 5. His richly drawn characters made me smile and his world building was fresh. If you liked the Wheel of Time novels, you’ll like this more! It’s available on Smashwords in pretty much any format you desire.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
Checking it out now 🙂
If you have a Kindle, download the sample first to see if you like it, which is what I always do. A much better way to buy books.