The Dwarves by Markus Heitz

For countless millennia, the dwarves of the Fifthling Kingdom have defended the stone gateway into Girdlegard. Many and varied foes have hurled themselves against the portal and died attempting to breach it. No man or beast has ever succeeded. Until now. . .Abandoned as a child, Tungdil the blacksmith labors contentedly in the land of Ionandar , the only dwarf in a kingdom of men. Although he does not want for friends, Tungdil is very much aware that he is alone - indeed, he has not so much as set eyes on another dwarf. But all that is about to change. Sent out into the world to deliver a message and reacquaint himself with his people, the young foundling finds himself thrust into a battle for which he has not been trained. Not only his own safety, but the life of every man, woman and child in Girdlegard depends upon his ability to embrace his heritage. Although he has many unanswered questions, Tungdil is certain of one thing: no matter where he was raised, he is a true dwarf.And no one has ever questioned the courage of the Dwarves.

Fan-fiction level. Good for fan fiction, but not more. Also, the author seems to think no noun can ever go without at least one (redundant) adjective.

I had mixed emotions while reading The Dwarves. Some parts I was on the edge of my seat, gripped by the action and others I wanted to skim through. I think this may be in part due to losing some of the flow of words through translation. I did enjoy the evil races of elves and unicorns. I haven't seen that done before and the motley crew of heroes we ended up with worked well together even with their flaws. I do have to say this book held quite a few moments of humor hearing characters banter back and forth. The plot was straight forward, but sometimes felt run on. Like the novel should have been broken into two books, or maybe a part one and part two with a time gap in between. Some of this may have been due to the amount of traveling the team participates in. It is also one of the reasons I don't particularly like Tolkien's writing, but I still enjoy his creativity as I do Heitz's. I think fans of Tolkien would enjoy The Dwarves I won't be continuing this series since I am not really curious about what happens now, but I am glad I read the first book and was able to find new concepts to enjoy.