Book Review: Lord of a Shattered Land

I am not familiar with Howard Jones (who is not to be confused with the 80’s pop singer of the same name).  I decided to pick up the book after a comment made by Michael K. Vaughan on his YouTube channel of the same name.  In one of his videos, he had made an intriguing off-hand comment about how he was looking forward to the third book in ‘The Chronicles of Hanuvar” series as the previous books were excellent.

I’m not a hardcore fantasy / sword & sorcery fan, but I love a good yarn and the action of the pulps.  I’ve enjoyed the tales of Conan and the epic storytelling of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  Lord of a Shattered Land is kindred to Robert E. Howard’s work as Hanuvar has similarities to the iconic characters Conan and Solomon Kane. 

The story focuses on the great Volanian general Hanuvar and his chronicler Antires, as they embark on a journey to rescue the last remaining survivors of his conquered nation.  We follow their journey as they covertly travel through enemy territory where they encounter an excellent mix of mythical beasts, evil priestesses, and intrigue.

The book begins as a collection of sequential short stories involving our main characters and are self-contained.  (I believe the first few stories were sold to genre magazines).  It is only until mid-way through the book that the story ‘jells’ and starts to become a unified longer story. 

The last chapter in the book, “Thread from a Golden Loom” depicted one of the goriest / body-horror filled battles that I’ve ever read.  SPOILER: I’m talking about the soldiers that have become host to a mushroom fungus that while giving them inhuman strength and the ability to withstand pain, is slowly turning their bodies into material for the mushrooms to grow on. Truly disgusting.  This chapter alone raised my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

It remains to be seen whether Hanuvar becomes as iconic as Conan or Solomon Kane, but this is only the first title of what at this time is a 3-book series.  The third title, Shadow of the Smoking Mountain is set to be released in October 2024.

Direct link: https://smullster.com/2024/07/23/book-review-lord-of-a-shattered-land/