Review One: 'The Dwarves' by Markus Heitz.

First on the chopping block is Markus Heitz' book 'The Dwarves', the first, in what I've only recently discovered is a series, of five books. A quick google seems to indicate that the fifth book, and the only one not in my possession, has yet to be translated from German to English, but I'm open to correction on that. Let me preface this by saying that this was my second reading of this book, as I had previously read the first three and wanted to refresh myself before reading the fourth after a gap of maybe three to four years.  

Not a huge fan of this cover art. It gets a pass for being released in 2003,
a time in which we all looked equally as dreadful.
 I was the proud owner of a blue fleece Pokémon sweater back then. Oy vey. 

I'm well aware that there are many people out there that consider this series of books to be complete and utter dog shit, but, at least for me, they serve their purpose. I very happily spent New Year's Day meandering through about three quarters of this book, which stretches to just over 700 pages. It isn't exactly a dense tome or a difficult read, which meant I could relax, switch off the brain enjoy the book for what it was; a by the numbers fantasy book. 

So, what was it all about? (Spoilers... maybe)

'The Dwarves' provides us with the fairly standard fantasy tale. In many ways it reminded me of the 'Gotrek and Felix' offerings from the Games Workshop authors, in the sense that we have a Dwarf protagonist, chopping his way through hordes of nameless, faceless enemies with a magical axe in hand. Personally, I found the plot to be serviceable and the characters decent, if a little repetitive in their actions and reliant on their personal quirks to push along the story or drive conflict that, at times, seemed nonsensical. I found myself confronted with the same arguments and complaints, on behalf of the characters, every few pages once the main journey got underway. 

On top of that, there was a late stage romantic sub-plot introduced which, to my mind, was rushed in a manner more akin to a shotgun wedding. The duo meet, and 100 pages later they are off founding a kingdom together. Undoubtedly romantic, if one excludes the fact that Tungdil, the hero, was second in line for this she-dwarf's attention. Most troubling was the fact that she jumped ship from the poor, soon to be decapitated, one-eyed alcoholic she had been most interested in when she heard that Tungdil wielded his tool with more efficiency. I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be reading in to that, but there you have it.

Final thoughts:

All in all, Heitz gives us an enjoyable journey, with decent characters, in an interesting world. You won't really find anything unexpected here, but it does offer enough that you will happily pass your time reading it, especially if you are the type to read two books at once, and the other is proving a challenge.  I'll plod my way through the rest of the series throughout the year as I'm a stickler for finishing something once I've started. Not to mention that I'm a cheap date when it comes to fantasy warfare or fighting passages. That probably reveals a violent side of myself that I'm not quite willing to come to terms with yet. 

'The Dwarves' deserves a 3/5. Not one to blow you away, but not a mind numbing struggle either. 

Next time: 

I'm currently reading both 'Dune' by Frank Herbert and 'Gardens of the Moon' by Steven Erikson. Most likely I'll be posting a blurb about 'Dune' in the coming days. One down, fifty-one to go. 

K.D out.