The Path of the Hawk
Book 1
I’ll start this review by telling you Path of the Hawk is a prequel to a book called Monument that originally came out back about a decade ago. I read Monument years ago and it was so good that it truly lodged in my mind, particularly its main character, a real anti-hero called Anhaga Ballas. The legendary David Gemmell even endorsed it fer Gawd’s sake!
I’ve spent the intervening years looking for information about any more books by this guy Ian Graham who just seemed to write that one, fantastic, book then disappear completely.
Well, finally, in January of this year I half-heartedly searched Amazon for Ian’s name again and found out, to my delight, that he hadn’t just written one new book, but TWO.
So, noticing Path of the Hawk was just 99p on Kindle I bought it and eagerly dived in. I must point out, I haven’t read a novel in over a year – I just don’t have the time these days, but I made an effort for this. I really did love Monument that much!
The original cover for the hardback version of Monument.Anyway, I’m very glad to say Path of the Hawk did not disappoint me at all. It tells the tale of Ballas’s days as part of an elite fighting unit (kind of a fantasy SAS or Navy SEAL) and, again, he’s not your usual clean-cut hero with a fairly well defined moral compass. Oh no, he kills people out of hand in brutal ways and basically doesn’t give much of a damn about anyone although he’s not as jaded and unfeeling as he was in Monument.
He has a couple of partners along with him for this adventure, as they seek to locate the source of some outlawed books and from beginning to end the action never really lets up. There’s a little side story but even that is full of action and some of it pretty gruesome too with a rather nasty biological/magical weapon described in horrible detail!
Even that seems tame compared to Ballas though, who is really an excellent protagonist. It’s interesting to see him feeling somewhat friendly towards one of his companions and I’m looking forward to Path of the Hawk Book 2 to see how his character progresses and comes closer to the drunken, bitter, nasty bastard he was in Monument.
The writing style is engaging and entertaining, the action fast paced and imaginative, and the characters interesting and well-drawn. The world they inhabit is detailed enough to feel real but not in the boring, overdone way some fantasy writers do.
Overall, this is an excellent fantasy read and a fine prequel to one of my favourite ever books.
Now I just need to find time out from researching my own new novel to read Path of the Hawk Book 2!
I will be doing a Q&A with Ian Graham within the next couple of days, so why not load up your Kindle with his three books and check back to see what he has to say about them all? You won’t regret it!
EDIT – check out that Q&A HERE now!
Final note – a few people asked me how to find Path of the Hawk in the USA and I’ve found out it’s not available as the publisher hasn’t put it out there! I’d suggest you find the paperbacks from the UK or email Orbit, the publishers, and tell them to get it sorted as these books deserve to find a huge audience.
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