A review by morallyblack
Malice by John Gwynne

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 

Sometimes I feel like, I‘ve grown into a hard to please reader, because I smell plot twists from miles away and it’s rare that a book truly surprises me – not with John Gwynne, though. This man just says, “hold my beer, I’m gonna make you fear for every single character on every single page”. This, my fellow readers, is really, really good high fantasy. It has worldbuilding, heaps of it!, it does take a while to find your way in these worlds and for those with an attention span the average tiktok manages to break: if you don’t let characters grow, how are you supposed to care for them? 

Growing characters is the one thing I mainly admire about Gwynne’s style of writing because we get to witness the growth from a barely thinking 10 year old into a world changing hero (or villain …) and we get to be there for every single step. I love watching these characters evolve, get back on their feet after setbacks and traumatic experiences and maybe I understand that some people just don’t have the patience for this kind of building up your storyline, that’s okay, too. But honestly, that’s on you. 

Page by page Gwynne manages to unravel this massive ball of character threads, unveiling the so far maybe only hinted at connections between his characters and he never fails to convince me that I want to know what happens next. Which catastrophe is looming? What kind of revelation awaits me in the next chapter? 

Another thing I truly enjoy in his books is the way he writes friendships, platonic relations and the bond formed between people fighting side by side. It’s not exactly found family as the romantasy readers love it, but somehow … more profound? I’ve come to enjoy this kind of relationship in books a lot more than the insta-friends type of stuff. 

It does take me longer to read these books, but that might also be because I don’t want to miss a single thing, I’m back on the hunt for clues and finally, finally!, I’m excited for books again. This is such a cool feeling and John Gwynne is one of the most reliable authors in delivering this for me. 

 

So, to cut this short: If you’re looking for fast-paced, romantasy style fantasy, you will not enjoy this. If you want proper worldbuilding, plotlines planned for more than a chapter ahead, character building over the lifetime of characters and Ken Follett style of connecting the dots step by step, then this is a must read. 

I’m excited for the next book and also a little afraid. Exactly the way I like it.