I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Priest of Bones by Peter McLean Series: War for the Rose Throne #1
Published by Ace Books on October 2 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: I loved the world-building and some of the characters, but the MC Tomas didn’t completely win me over.
Reviews for Priest of Bones seem to be all over the map, so I was very curious to see where I would fit in. And the answer to that seems to be somewhere in the middle. For some reason, I was expecting a lot of action, but in reality, not a lot happens in this story. Yes, there is fighting and killing, explosions, fires and bloody hand-to-hand combat, but despite all those “action” set pieces, I’m sorry to say I was bored for big stretches of the story. I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe grimdark just isn’t for me, although I haven’t read that many grimdark stories, to be perfectly honest. However, there are parts of Priest of Bones that I really enjoyed, and I especially thought the ending was well done. And despite the main character’s even-keeled personality—seriously, nothing seems to bother Tomas, he barely shows any emotions at all—there were things I liked about him, which I’ll go into later in this review.
Tomas Piety and his Pious Men have just returned from war and are back in their city of Ellinburg, trying to pick up the pieces of their lives after being gone for several years. Tomas was a gang boss and owned half the city before the war, but now that he’s back, it turns out a rival gang has stolen all his businesses. Tomas and his men immediately storm into the Tanner’s Arms, kill everyone in the place, and establish themselves as the rightful owners. But their glory is short-lived when Tomas discovers a group called the Skanians may be responsible for takeovers of all his other businesses. With the help of a spy who poses as a barmaid, Tomas begins systematically reclaiming his territory. But who is spying on who isn’t really clear. And Tomas must be careful who he decides to trust, because everyone seems to have secrets.
The story is told in its entirety from Tomas’ point of view, and to some extent I think this might not have been the best choice. As I mentioned before, Tomas, despite his penchant for whacking off his enemies’ heads at the drop of a hat, is a very mild-mannered man, at least on the outside. He instructs his men to ruthlessly attack the rival gangs, but in the same tone of voice as he would ask the barmaid to give him a brandy. And when one of his men inevitably dies in the heat of battle, he barely pauses before stepping over the body and continuing the fight. I guess as a war veteran he knows what must be done to take back his city, and he’s hardened enough that he can keep his emotions in check. But I think this was part of the reason for my boredom, the fact that his personality never changed at all. Also, for some reason, he becomes a priest during the war, and while this might endear him to some readers, it honestly didn’t do anything for me.
I did mention, though, that there were things about Tomas that I liked. He’s seems to be fair and noble, despite his ability to kill so easily. He does have scruples. For example, he abhors violence against women and children and goes so far as to kill a man for it. He also believes in paying his men for their loyalty, but it’s a strategic move more than an emotional one.
There were some well-drawn female characters, which definitely made up for some of Tomas’ shortfalls. Bloody Anne is his second in command, a fact that doesn’t go over well with Tomas’ brother Jochan. Bloody Anne is just as good a fighter as the men—if not better—but she also falls in love in this story which made her more interesting in my eyes. I sense that there is much more to her character that the author isn’t telling us, so hopefully in the next book we’ll get more of a peek into her backstory. I also loved Ailsa, who is helping Tomas with his business empire. But she’s also very cagey and clearly has her own agenda. We get to see some of this in Priest of Bones, but I suspect more will be revealed in book two.
Tomas and his brother have a volatile but close-knit relationship, and it’s mostly due to their shared experiences in childhood. It wasn’t hard to figure out what terrible thing happened to them—this is grimdark, after all, and it’s a plot point that I seem to run across all the time now, so I don’t know how original it is. But when Tomas does finally tell the reader what happened, it sheds some light on Jochan’s awful behavior, and I appreciated both characters more after learning their secret.
As for the world-building, let’s just say I’m intrigued. It seems McLean’s world is modeled after medieval times, with the lack of plumbing, sludge running in the streets, unsanitary conditions all around, and the unfortunate lack of women’s rights. War is on everyone’s mind, not only because the characters just returned from a brutal one, but they’ve come home to find that they must now fight a war of a different sort, which seems to be just as bad. McLean does a great job setting the tone with his atmospheric descriptions, and I almost felt like I was right there in the thick of things. There is also a bit of magic to the story, as a couple of the characters have what’s called “the cunning” and are able to do spells and predict the future, and I have a feeling this will be developed even more in the next book.
Overall though, the story does have a sort of repetitive feel to it. Tomas and his men storm into a business, a bloody battle ensues and the Pious Men emerge victorious. They end up back at the Tanner’s Arms, where they lick their wounds and strategize their next take-over. Only at the end do the stakes seem to get higher, and I did enjoy the twist at the end, I have to admit. I think it’s safe to say I’ll definitely be reading the next book, if only to find out what these crazy characters will do next.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I was curious about this but don’t think its one for me. Great review!
Thanks Stormi! Yep, it’s not for everyone:-)
Glad you ended up enjoying this one for the most part! Tomas was an odd one though. I honestly think Foundryside ruined me for fantasy novels for a while. I keep comparing it (unintentionally) to that! lol
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Something To Look Forward To – Week of October 8th, 2018
You have a point, frankly it’s hard to compare anything to Foundryside!
I’ve been so tempted by this cover but after reading this, I think I will pass – too many other books which I’m more interested in right now (and too many library holds). However, gotta love a character named Bloody Anne!
Yes, Bloody Anne had a great name, and she was one of the best characters:-)
I think I understand what you mean about the not-so-good choice of telling the story from the point of view of such an emotionally controlled character: a third-person narrative might have allowed for some comments on the man’s attitude and probably made for a more interesting take on the events.
Still, this is a novel that intrigued me since I became aware of it and despite the mixed reviews you mentioned I intend to give it a spin… 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
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I’d love to hear what you think if you do read it! I’m interested enough to read the next one:-)
Great review! I don’t read a lot of what could be called grimdark myself so I would probably give this a pass but I’m glad parts of this really worked for you. 🙂
It definitely had some great moments, it was just a matter of consistency for me.
Yes… I’m not a huge fan of most grimdark stories – the overall bleakness seems unrealistic as much as an overly cosy outlook…
You definitely wouldn’t be the right reader for this one!
I also felt “in the middle” when it came to this one, it just didn’t excite me the way I expected it to after reading all the rave reviews! I guess I just didn’t connect to the main character at all, and I’m a bit worn down by the grimdark scene as of late, so if it doesn’t have something extra special going for it, it’s not going to wow me.
Yeah, the plot was just sort of “blah” for me. And I think you’re right, grimdark needs to bring something special to the table or it does sort of feel the same as the next one.
I’m always happy when the world building is good. It sounds pretty dismal. Still on the fence about this book though.
Laura Thomas recently posted…31 Days Of Thrills And Chills #25 ~ Spot & Smudge
I don’t know, war stories just aren’t my favorite. However, if you’re reading fantasy and science fiction, war always seems to show up somewhere:-)
I really wanted to give this one a go because I’ve been hearing so many raving reviews about this one. However, my TBR is too huge and so far, I’m not a huge fan of Peaky Blinders yet so it won’t be this year. Great review, Tammy!
I still don’t know what the hell Peaky Blinders is!! I need to look that up so I can get the reference. Ha ha.
I was so curious about this one too! It was indeed everywhere and who can resist a title with the word priest and bones??? 🙂
Iike the topics (women’s rights) but ugh! repetitiveness! That kills me. A DNF flag!
Ha ha, me too. I’ve been really sensitive lately to books that feel “repetitive” for some reason. It just jumps out at me!
I liked this tbh, it felt like a quick read, which isn’t to say that I didn’t have any issues of course. I’d probably say this was a four star read for me. The main issue I had was the MC constantly telling the reader things about trust, etc. It became tedious. I like the set up for the next book and the whole Godfather vibe.
Lynn 😀
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I did like the Godfather aspect, but the MC did work my nerves, I have to admit. He also is constantly repeating “The right man for the right job.” After about the 20th time, I was like “OK I get it!”
Hmm…I’ve been wanting this. I know I’ll still buy. Appreciate your take on everything and will give me some things to think about. I do love people being honest when everyone is raving about how great a book is to be able to say for me it was meh. What’s next on your docket?
Well, a lot of people love this book, so it just might have been a little too grimdark for me. Don’t let my review stop you from reading it! As far as what’s next, I just finished MECHA SAMURAI EMPIRE and loved it, and now I’m reading the new Charlaine Harris book AN EASY DEATH.
Awn, sorry to hear it didn’t completely win you over, but that you still found some parts of it fun! Definitely true that there’s very little that comes bother the protagonist emotionally throughout the story. I’ve led myself to believe it was for the sake of showing leadership skills to his squad. Great review nonetheless, Tammy! 🙂
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I have to agree with you, I’m sure the MC has to put on a front for his men, but still.
I’ve seen a lot of reviews that are all over the place for this, but I’m glad you mostly liked this one. It sounds like it has potential. 😉