ACE Fantasy (Paperback), ISBN: 0-441-00903-4
Book one in The Monarchies of God series, Hawkwood's Voyage originally saw publication in 1995. Intense, action-filled, bloody with battles, the book explains how rogue mariner Richard Hawkwood comes to lead an expedition across the Great Western Ocean to find the lost continent -- a continent that exists in legend and may or may not provide the answers Hawkwood seeks.

So why does he go?

The once great Fimbrian nations of the West are falling right and left. The Murduk hordes captured the Holy City of Aekir, slaughtering the defenders and burning the churches. Chaos rules the land, and politics divide the people. Even as the Murduks wage war, military, church and ruling factions attack each other in what seems a desperate fight for survival and, possibly, to prove themselves superior to all the others.

So, as the armies of the West make a stand against the heathen hordes, an upsurge of bloody religious fanaticism threatens to bathe the land in fire and death. The only hope of salvation for the survivors lies across the sea. That creates a small problem for Hawkwood and band, because no one before them ever survived the journey.

Dense with conflict, intrigue, and danger, the book never qualifies as a page-turner. It must be read carefully to distinguish the good guys from the bad -- and to determine if any good guys actually exist. Nonetheless, Hawkwood's Journey held my attention. Kearney supplies a tangled plot, flawed characters, unremitting action, and best of all, he builds a world with verisimilitude, one that adheres to its own internal rules and structure.

Will I read the rest of the series? I don't know, but if you like your fantasy highly spiced with battles and blood, this might be just what you are looking for.

Patricia Lucas White

Click here to share your views.