Smorgasbord Fantasia

Sacred Band is the concluding book in the Acacia trilogy following the four Akaran royal children to their destinies as decreed by fate, history and a lot of magic. Sweeping, ambitious and a shining example of what EPIC fantasy should be – one of the few modern tales that is self-contained within three volumes and packs in a knock-out punch deadlier than most volumes in the running today that spans more than six volumes ( Yeah, you…old man with long white beard and a sailor’s cap who has kept me waiting for more than ten years now to finish what was then my ever- favorite fantasy series!) Unlike most authors who start off with a promise of a trilogy and then milk their franchise as a money-making never-ending series keeping us readers in doldrums of frustration. This series will be the perfect antidote for all of you twiddling your thumbs and bemoaning their fates having started to read such series. A wonderful and eminently laudable effort that combines the old world Tolkien-esq...

Anthony Durham David is no stranger to history – Having gained fame through his historical fiction, “Pride of Carthage”. And this time around, he brings in his entire skills at historical fiction and momentous research skills into this new epic fantasy series – Acacia – beginning with the War with Mein – an wickedly fascinating fantasy tale with set in a wonderful secondary world, the scale of which I have never seen in a long time. Never have I loved a world so rich, so visceral, with back stories, histories and steeped in detailed folklores that vary from place to place within the Known World. The last I fell in love with the entire setting of a fantasy novel – was perhaps, Westeros or harking even further back, maybe the Middle Earth. The Known Worlds of Acacia comes very close. In its scope, richness and depth.  Not to say, it’s just the world-building that is master class in this book. Durham’s got it right when it comes to the complex characters, thunderous battl...