![]() ![]() I couldn't imagine how it got nominated, it's just extremely derivative fantasy and heavy handed storytelling, not in the least bit exceptional. This was not a great story, not by any stretch of the imagination. I read an epub document provided by the author on his website. ![]() I read the third story in this book, Opera Vita Aeterna because it was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2014 for Best Novelette. Not something I'd go out and buy in print version, but I'd consider more fantasy shorts from this author worth downloading. 4 stars for the stories, 3 stars for the writing. It's a testament to the pace and interest level in the stories themselves that I still finished them and liked them. These stories were reasonably entertaining, but I can't give a lot of credit to Vox Day's writing, which often wallowed in shades of purple. ![]() When the elf's irate peers take violent action to try to bring him back home, the story pretty much ends, except for a coda set centuries later, letting us know that the elf was profoundly affected by his experience, even if we don't know precisely what he eventually decided about the carved wooden figure on the cross. The philosophical debates between the abbot and the elf set a tone more than showcasing any deep cleverness on the part of the author. ![]() Mixing real religions with fantasy worlds has been done before, but not often, and the author explores it a bit, interestingly if not deeply, with this tale of an elven sorcerer, one of the greatest of his kind, who was so impressed by the bravery and faith of a human monk that he comes to a monastery to learn more about this "dead god" that the humans revere so. Not just a "fantasy Christian equivalent," but actual Christianity. Here, religious themes become overt the world of Selenoth apparently has a Christian Church. The behavior of fantasy races being stretched to make a point rather pulled me out of the fantasy world, but it was still not a bad yarn. This was the weakest story of the trio, and the author even admits that it doesn't fit perfectly into his world's canon. The orcs want to slaughter any hoblets they find the protagonist, a reluctant goblin, goes about trying to keep his village from being slaughtered and his neighbors from being sent off to die with the orcs while at the same time doing his best to keep the hoblets out of their grasp. A goblin village is occupied by an army of ostensibly allied orcs, who have a seething hatred of "hoblets" (hobbits), who have lived peacefully if begrudgingly among the goblins for generations. The second story, The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro, was a rather heavy-handed allegory, obvious even before I reached the author's notes at the end. Well, let's just say the path of the Chosen One is not easy, especially when you let it go to your head. When he learns of his true paternity and legacy, the protagonist assumes the mantle of his father and proves himself quite adept at ruthless power games and sorcery, growing ever more powerful and egotistical. This time, the main character is the son of a Witchking, once fearsome sorcerers who plagued the land without mercy until they were destroyed. The title story, The Last Witchking, is yet another iteration of the Chosen One trope. I found them as entertaining as the other fantasy collections by Vox Day, though the writing was rather rough at times. This ebook consists of three short stories from the author's epic fantasy universe. ![]()
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