STRANGER Of TEMPEST

Mercs with mouths

Lynx is a drifter and a fighter, trying to walk away from a past that he can’t forget. He’s not the sort to seek company, particularly not that of mercenaries, but he hasn’t got many options. Anatin’s Mercenary Deck aren’t the worst out there – though they’re an odd bunch. Thrown together with a raucous band of mercs and some other oddballs, Lynx now has a more immediate past to be running from – and a future that he should probably run from too…

From the very first page, this first book in Tom Lloyd’s new The God Fragments series hurls you head-first into the action, letting

Hurls you head-first into the action

you catch up to the present-day timeline through a series of flashbacks, peppered throughout the start of the book. This might seem a little odd as a way to tell a story, but it works perfectly. The action in “now” is the perfect bait to get you hooked on “then”; once you start flipping between the two it’s almost seamless, leaving you wanting more of both.

The world Lloyd wraps you in is just as gripping as his storytelling. Sure there’s some stuff that could confuse at first, like the magic or the various cultures, but it doesn’t. Lloyd slips it all around you like a cosy blanket, and before you realise it you’re immersed in a world of mage-guns, shattered gods and cavernous ruins.

The mercenaries are a colourful and lively crowd. The banter between them is funny and sharp. They’re not exactly a loveable bunch, but then you’re not meant to love mercenaries. All the same, you’ll care for them and feel every bit the comrade on their latest jaunt through hell and back.

In-between each book in the series Gollancz will be publishing bonus ebook novellas. The first is due in October.