Published: March 30, 2017
Publisher: BenGalley.com
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Standalone
Pages: 406 (ebook)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.Synopsis:
Merciless. Murderer. Monster. He has been called many names in his time.
Built for war and nothing else, he has witnessed every shade of violence humans know, and he has wrought his own masterpieces with their colours. He cared once, perhaps, but far too long ago. He is bound to his task, dead to the chaos he wreaks for his masters.
Now, he has a new master to serve and a new war to endure. In the far reaches of the Realm, Hartlund tears itself in two over coin and crown. This time he will fight for a boy king and a general bent on victory.
Beneath it all he longs for change. For something to surprise him. For an end to this cycle of warfare.
Every fighter has a last fight. Even one made of stone.
Ben approached me several months ago about checking out his latest book, The Heart of Stone. I’d actually heard of him when a book of his made its rounds during SPFBO one year, so obviously I was pretty excited to check this one out despite my end of year craziness. I’m so glad I finally had the opportunity to read this because it was extremely good! This isn’t epic fantasy that will sweep you off your feet, leaving you starry-eyed and covered in fairy dust. You’re much more likely to find yourself covered in stone dust, gore, and in a contemplative state of mind by the end.
The Heart of Stone takes a turn from the usual main characters we see in fantasy (humans, elves, etc.) and gives us instead a golem made of stone with surprisingly human emotions. Task has served many masters in his 400 years of existence, each one much the same. They see him only as a war machine, which admittedly is what he was made to be, but he was one of the first of his kind and that makes him unique. Four centuries later and Task is the last of his kind, wishing only to break the chains of his servitude and find peace but that isn’t to be had. His new master is the young General Huff Dartridge of Hartlund, a country in the midst of a drawn out and devastating civil war. During this latest chapter of servitude, Task finds that he has still has emotions he thought long gone, the capacity for friendship, and a will of stone.
While Task may have been our main character, there were several notable and well written secondary characters as well. Lesky was a favorite of mine, as she was likable, complex, and was there to really help bring out the humanity in Task. Alabast Flint, Knight of the Dawn, was a character that surprised me. I thought he was going to be a cowardly, cut-and-run turd forced to… wait, that’s actually what he was. I actually liked him and found him to be very real – his story had been inflated through misconceptions and his avoidance of the whole truth and he was briefly quite famous for slaying the last dragon, but his fame had begun to wane and the funds were gone. The Last Fading (the opposing side in the Hartlund civil war) scooped him up and decided he would be the perfect champion to face down thee seemingly invincible Wind Cut golem possessed by their enemies. Baroness Frayne was also quite a surprising character and she really kept me on my toes throughout the story.
The Heart of Stone was a poignant story that goes deeper than war. I think it explored well human nature, the downfalls to a lifespan of centuries, and the benefit to hearing both sides of a story. Overall, this story had a slow build up that wasn’t in any way boring and left me with a strong curiosity to know more about Task and the purpose of his creation. Fortunately for me, Ben Galley has recently released a prequel entitled Shards which focuses on Task’s role in the Diamond Wars which were mentioned on numerous occasions throughout The Heart of Stone.
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