The Warrior by Stephen Aryan

 Stephen Aryan wrote one of my favorite books last year, The Coward - a splendid tale about an adventure quest across a frozen landscape, featuring a loveable company of 'cowards' with the themes of found family, valour packed in with a healthy dose of politicking, comedy and some well-written vicious action scenes and some crazy twisted monsters to boot. So color me pleasantly surprised, when a sequel to The Coward was announced. But boy, am I happy that I got to tag along with Kell and company for another harrowing quest, in the new book in this series called The Warrior. 

So the events of The Warrior happen a few years post The Coward (Where notably, all the threads were tied up very well!) Kell, our favorite reluctant hero is now King and clearly displeased at this turn of events and his new responsibilities. And as usual. itching for an adventure. And hey presto! Look who's back! Our favorite 'Alfar' (an almost human-like race, known for their strength, endurance and reticence ) Willow, one of Kell's companions in the earlier quest to kill the Ice Witch. Kell cannot wait to drop every thing and run behind her, on yet another quest. And this time, to save the race of Alfar from this mysterious wasting disease called Malice - that is causing her entire race to rot and die, in a slow painful manner.

 

Yes - so am afraid, this is yet another quest story. For those of you sick of this trope, bad news. But the good news? Stephen Aryan keeps things on the boil. The pace and the world-building is immersive and compelling. There is never a moment wasted. Though this time, the side-narratives of the heavy politicking within the Five Kingdoms featuring the eternal fight between the Church and the monarchs etc is a lot more detailed and is possibly the more entertaining part of the overall story compared to the quest itself. The only thing that kept the quest alive for me is the new character called Odd. More on him in a bit.

 

So Kell is still the central character here, the cowardly 'hero' and the reluctant leader. Training with his Ravens, the personal guards of the King and yet again, leading a bunch of mis-fits against towering odds. But this time, Aryan takes a sweeping view of the entire world and the main theme is about the Five Kingdoms and the fate of humanity that is at stake, due to the Malice. The politics and the conflicts with the Church are in your face - with some large sweeping battles that take up the last few chapters. However, Stephen does what he does best, focusing more on small scale conflicts, personal stakes and some phenomenal world building in this brave quest that Kell and Willow are leading to save her race of Alfars, from dying out. Yes, like the past book, there are some terrifying crazy moments in this quest as well, white-knuckle action sequences, up against some brilliantly imagined monsters. (Like the Yogren, for example or the Horde - all normal animals/Alfars twisted into terrifying monsters by the effect of the Malice!) 

 

This is where two new POVs come in - Yarra and Odd, both soldiers, the King's own personal guard who have signed up for this mission. Odd is a brilliantly realised character, flawed, suffering and yet brave and man, does he have secrets! I will let you readers experience him yourself. Yarra is little less developed but nevertheless, has my immense respect for the valour and determination she displays. Kell, unfortunately this time, doesn't go through much of any character-arc redemption. On the other hand, his wife Sigrid, the Queen now, has a fabulous character-evolution arc and her chapters are an intense read.

 

Stephen is known to put his 'band' through the wringer and here's no different. The physical and meta-physical horrors that the band is subjected to, is truly hair-raising. I found the pacing of the book just right and while I liked this 'quest', in my opinion - The Coward was a slightly better book in that aspect. But no complaints, a solid addition to the series, The Warrior is an enjoyable romp set in a well realized world, again with some memorable characters on a quest filled with magic, adventure and action aplenty. It's almost like getting back together with your old mates for a lovely enjoyable evening. 

 

Recommended!