By Jordan Allen

Review by

I walked into Ashes of Necropolis while already being familiar with Book 1 of the Hollow Realms Series. And although not a perfect work, Book 1 overall was pretty good in my opinion.

Book 2 left me with more mixed feelings and overall I thought it to be a step down from the previous story.

What I’m referring to is mainly the overall dialogue, some of the plot lines, and characters we find along the way.

Characters:

Our main character is mercenary Erde who travels to the city of Furcht where his friends have last been seen, to rescue them. Right there I found issue with the fact that Erde shows on several occasions that he is willing to give his own life for his three friends but we never get to see what made his relationship with them so special. We just have to accept the fact that Erde is a very altruistic man. 

Speaking of the main character, I noticed that although Erde is a fearless warrior, he sounds like he must not be the ‘brightest bulb on the Christmas tree’ if you catch my drift. He kinda’ reminds me of the ‘clueless’ Keanu Reeves performances on the big screen, if you know what I’m referring to.

Example: he gets a brand new magic sword branded by a powerful spider/woman hybrid and all he can say is: 

“It looks pretty and shiny,” said Erde, twirling the blade effortlessly, “but what does it do?”

Another thing that I found odd plot-wise is when Erde finds his first friend Troye trapped in a cell, and Troye tells him that the key to the lock of the cell is none other than one of the fingernails belonging to the big Pig Warden outside. How does Troye even know that? No clue.

Cohesion/Craft:

Alrich is another character that has been stuck in this extra-dimensional town for years and he has healing powers. We learn that he was just another knight who wandered into this town so how does he have healing powers? Did he already possess them or somehow gained them in Furcht? No clue.

Lastly, and worth mentioning, I noticed the use of modern terminology that just doesn’t vibe well within the context of the story. Example: Erde needs a great Master Smith in Furcht to forge him a mighty and magical armor to defeat the enemy. But when he shows impatience, the Master Smith’s response is: 

“My time does not revolve around your schedule, human.”

Schedule is not exactly a word an immortal demigod would use…but that’s just me!

To conclude, I still enjoyed some of the elements this book shares with book 1. I like the atmospheric vibes the author builds and surrounds the reader with. At times you really feel like you’re walking in the thick fog with the MC, and the sense of mystery and adventure still makes this a fun read, if you can just turn away in indifference to the points I mentioned above.

🦀