Bane of Souls [Kindle Edition]

Bane of Souls is a fine first novel from Mr. White. It has a good plot that gently reveals itself thus sucking the reader in, characters that one actually cares about and, importantly for a fantasy novel, a believable and coherent world. The writing style is light where it should be and is not short on comedy moments.

I have two beefs. Firstly, I would have appreciated some maps. The Novel took me into a new world and, whilst the text descriptions of it are good some maps would have helped me understand the setting better and quicker. Secondly, it could have done with an editor as from time to time Mr. White uses the wrong word which caused me to break immersion (e.g. alleviate when he meant relieved). Minor crticisms to an altogether good read.

I thoroughly recommend Bane of Souls.

This is another self-published book so it requires a slightly different mindset when it comes to reviewing it.

I also have to say that it seems as though it has taken me a long time to read it. Unfortunately this is nothing to do with the book just the corrosion of time due to illness (damn kids eh?), work and life.

Right, firstly the actual formatting of the book. As this seems to be a genuine issue with self published work it is something that needs addressing with each individual case. Whether it comes down to lack of professional editing or just bad luck. In this instance Bane of Souls is remarkable well put together. It works nicely in the Kindle format and is easy to read. I noticed a few grammatical errors and the like in the first chapter, but after that they seemed to vanish - whether this is down to me being so grabbed by the story that I just flew by them or they actually disappeared I do not know.

The story: The town of Highford suffers a string of nasty murders, including some of it's most important or powerful members. But when it becomes apparent who or what is responsible, the stakes are raised and the question seems to be whether the town can survive.

This book thoroughly entertained me, it was well written, with a good story idea and a lot of interesting characters. The main thrust of the story was a gripping one and once I found the time to read I flew through it. If there is as a problem it is in the fact that the author intoroduces too many plot strands, and in order to serve them well the book could have been a little longer.

That being said the world is incredibly well constructed. By keeping it confined to one city White is able to give us a good feel of the town, but because of the mix of other nationals present, we also get a good feel for the wider and country, and indeed the world beyond.

There is a system of magic in place and White uses it wisely, if slightly differently. His is a feel of a world where magic is extremely powerful, with hints that it could be nigh on unstoppable if used against normal folks, but the way in which it isn't is understated and believable. One of the biggest reasons being that the mages are just too human.

White is very brave with his characters, prepared to kill even the seemingly most central ones with a casual disregard which is both shocking and upsetting - a testament to his creativity.

The story seems to have ended on a number of occasions only to pick up and continue again, and when this happens you feel that he might just be trying to keep the story going for the hell of it, but as it unfolds it feels logical and natural, so it works.

As a read it is fast paced, fun and entertaining. What more could you want?

I didn't finish reading this book. I got about two thirds of the way through. It really bogs down following a climactic bit at the midpoint. Characterisation is weak. Sometimes language is awkward or obscure, but at other times scene descriptions are well judged to give just the right amount of information to build a strong picture without becoming dull. Worldbuilding is strong and the magic system in particular has some really fun, cool elements. The mystery part of the first half of the book is done well, with information revealed at the right time. Overall, in need of some editing but not awful.