Book Review: "Fragments of a Broken Land - Valarl Undead" by Robert Hood

Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead

by Robert Hood. Borgo Press, 2013, ISBN 9781434445896.

A review by Kyla Ward

"I can't leave till it's all over, and maybe not then... And death? What of that? It's natural enough in men. This danger we're in is nothing, because our deaths will come when they will, in season or out, whether we struggle with demons or stay cozy in our beds. Makes no difference."

"A brave philosophy!"

"Is it?" Arhl said whimsically. "It feels... Mundane."

This is a tale of heroes. It includes all sorts -- born of the gods, descended from an ancient, magical bloodline, member of a legendary order, reincarnated, last of their tribe and way too intimate with their own sentient weapon -- cycling through various degrees of reluctant and unlikely. There is a villain, of course, although he's thoroughly sick of the whole business; dark gods, giant monsters and an ancient magical artefact. But principally it is a tale of heroes, heroism and what it means to be in such an uncomfortable position.

The recently-graduated Remis Sarsdarl is finding life in the city of Vesuula a challenge for which her magical studies did not prepare her. The great merchant houses who rule here will brook no opposition to their monopolies and worse still are the nightmares increasingly plaguing her sleep. Her neighbour, the immigrant blacksmith Arhl Mogarni, suffers similarly but dares not confess this or his affection. The dissolute slaver's son Sevthen Ulart-Tashnark resorts to his usual remedies to blot out visions of a world where grass is hair and serpents grow from the trees, until their paths are crossed by a corpse many centuries old which still runs, runs through the streets in pursuit of something only it can see. Forces even darker than undeath follow in its wake, and it appears the unlikely threesome are fated to play roles in the salvation, or possibly destruction of a world that has suffered such crises before. The day is a band of crackling energy that spans the horizon and the nights are lightless. Only the most obscure lore preserves rumour of something called stars...

Full review here