Book Review: The Revenge of Thousands by Michael Roberti
Genre(s): Epic Fantasy
Book Synopsis:
Before we were TRAITORS…
Before there was a GRAVE waiting for us all..
While more than WORMS remained…
It started with a war. It began with REVENGE.
Review:
I went into this one knowing pretty much nothing about it or the overall series other than the covers looked epic fantasy enough to make me want to read it. The Revenge of Thousands is a prequel, so it seemed like a logical place to start.
And I think I might have been wrong. After reading the first two chapters, I felt a little lost about some elements in the story. Writing seems to disappear—but why? And how? I’m pretty sure it’s explained in the main series, but it isn’t here. And I’m not sure what the motivation is behind the conflict, other than general discontent between factions. Again, I think this is probably explained in the main series at some point, but I don’t know since I haven’t read it. That being said, I don’t think this prequel was meant as a standalone, but more as a supplement to the series (it reads more like a collection of related short stories than a typical novella.)
What I did understand of the world and the conflict was pretty interesting. The Reach and the Keep are going to war, and based on a brief passage near the end, it has been a long time in coming. The history between the two factions isn’t explained in any detail, only hinted at, so again, I’m left speculating.
The characters were fascinating. Lorcen and Cael are half-brothers. Lorcen is significantly older—and more calculating—than Cael, but both were raised to be warriors (and by proxy, tools of their father.) Lorcen tends toward brooding, while Cael is a little more open with his thoughts and feelings. Derris is the fiancé to the brothers’ younger sister, Merily, and he’s more of a scholar/storyteller than the typical man from the Reach.
There are a lot of familial connections in the story, with the exception of Emil. He’s a young nobleman from the Keep with dreams (or delusions, depending on your take) of winning glory in battle. While I’m guessing his story crosses over with the others’ more in the main series, in this one, he felt a bit like an outlier. I didn’t care for Emil; he’s spoiled and usually doesn’t understand the impact of his actions on others. And yes, he’s a bit self-centered too. It sounds a bit like a villain origin story, now that I think about it.
While I typically leave ratings for my reviews outside of my personal blog, I don’t think I can do that for The Revenge of Thousands. I haven’t read the series, and with so many unanswered questions, I don’t think it’s fair in this case to do so.
What I can say is this: I enjoyed the characters and their individual stories, but with so many things left unexplained and a rather abrupt ending, I think I’d need to delve deeper into the series before I can form a real opinion about this novella.
Author website: michaelroberti.com
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