The Coward

What if the first quest you go on leaves you as the soul survivor? What if you are left emotional scarred? What if you then are forced into a second quest, retreading your first and reliving your fears?

A reluctant hero taking on a quest is a fairly standard Fantasy trope, but this story manages to twist it in an interesting way with this basic premise. Kell Kessia has no interest in being a hero. Having quested to the far North and returned successful, but the only survivor he is content to live out the rest of his life as an anonymous farmer. When the threat he encountered on his first quest re-emerges however, he is brought out of retirement by the King and manipulated into returning to the North. Along the way he picks up various companions who have their own motivations.

The Coward is a fun and lively read, and I devoured it easily. The characters are flawed but generally likeable. The stakes are high enough to keep you engaged. The monsters original enough as well. I am not sure if the side story of what was going on back home added hugely to the story but I kind of get the need to explain some of the quest conclusion. An enjoyable light fantasy read for the most part.

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this book. The Broken Binding had a special edition of the Quest for Heroes Duology and I love their special editions so I decided to pick this up. I'm really glad I did because not only does the book look fantastic but it also delivers a pretty good time.

This book is all about the characters, PTSD from war and battles, and what it means to be a coward and a hero. As each character gets introduced, I really didn't know what to think and expect about them. But man, the character development and the bond that this group slowly creates is good stuff.

This is a very slowly developing book. There's not a lot of action until near the end as the majority of the book is spent on the journey to their destination. There's some mystery as well that slowly gets revealed by the end. But this one is all about the characters.

There's also a set up for the second book that has me excited to spend more time in this world and with these characters.

I mostly enjoyed this book! I had a few hangups that stopped me from giving it a full five stars, but overall I enjoyed my time with my first book by Stephen Aryan. I was concerned when I started this ARC that it would be full of ball jokes and edgy humor, but once things started moving, I was really interested to see what was going to happen.

Kell, Ice Lich-slayer of 10 years ago, suffers from, basically, PTSD from his trip to the frozen north, and a hefty dose of imposter syndrome. His inclusion on the original venture was unplanned, and despite his realization that heroes aren't necessarily the best of people still sees himself as being unequal to the company he kept. They went north, everyone died on the trip except him, he came back the sole survivor and victor after slaying the Ice Lich. Now, 10 years later, some signs are emerging that the Ice Lich may have returned, and the kings turn to Kell to save them all again – only he doesn't particularly want to go there again, thanks.

I thought Kell was an interesting anti-hero in the beginning. He makes it clear he doesn't want to go, is basically bribed into going, and drags his feet the entire first part of the book before him and his recruited group of fellow adventurers actually go north. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the author had stuck with this anti-hero characterization, but once north, it seems like Kell changed into a father figure, an advisor, and a jaded hero who just wants to help everybody out. I can understand wanting to put old ghosts to rest, so to speak, but it really felt a bit like he changed from how Kell was set up in the beginning.

Another hangup I had involved the second viewpoint that we get to see periodically throughout the book. Britak, who I didn't mention in my writeup above, is the head religious figure for a large chunk of the kingdoms. Her POV doesn't really overlap with Kell's at all, which makes the book not really work as a standalone book in my opinion. You have two separate stories being told, one a compelling adventure to (re-)slay the Ice Lich, and the other a religious zealot's memoir as she checks in on her religious empire periodically. I can see where the author is setting up for something in later books, but I honestly felt a little bored reading through Britak's parts.

The bones of a really great story are here, though! I really liked Kell's story of his band of new heroes retracing his steps north, and the various problems they face along the way. I thought the writing style was a little more straightforward than I generally like, but the descriptions were great and I felt like the main characters at least were written well enough that they didn't feel like copies of each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.