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I came to John Gwynne backwards. I read The Shadow of the Gods first — the Norse-inspired epic with the extraordinary Orka — and then went back to find where this author had started. The answer is Malice, published in 2012, and if you’ve read Gemmell, it’ll feel immediately familiar in the best possible way.
What’s It About?
Malice is the first book in the Faithful and the Fallen quartet, set in the Banished Lands — a world shaped by an ancient war between gods, whose outcome left two conflicting prophecies for humanity to navigate. One foretells the Black Sun rising and the world falling to darkness. The other speaks of the Bright Star and the hope of salvation.
Two children are born. They might be either.
The story follows primarily two POVs:
Corban — a young boy in the village of Dun Carreg, about as far from a chosen hero as you can imagine. He’s decent, loyal, a bit clumsy, and deeply attached to his family and his wolfish companion, Storm. He becomes the reader’s primary lens into the world, and Gwynne uses his ordinary starting point to make the escalating horror of events land with full weight.
Veradis — a nobleman’s son who becomes a warrior in service to the ambitious King Nathair, who may or may not be exactly what he presents himself as. Veradis is honourable and skilled, and his chapters provide an outside-the-kingdom perspective on the geopolitics beginning to fracture across the Banished Lands.
What Works
Gwynne writes action extremely well. Battle scenes are physically clear — you can follow the choreography, feel the scale, understand the stakes. He was a historical reenactor before he became a novelist, and it shows. The violence has weight and consequence.
The characters are what really land, though. Gwynne writes in the tradition of David Gemmell — heroes who are genuinely heroic, who operate by moral codes that cost them, who do the right thing even when it’s punishing. After a decade of grimdark subversion, there’s something quietly refreshing about a fantasy that believes in goodness without being naive about it.
The wolf subplot is handled with obvious affection. Storm is one of the great animal companions in fantasy. This is a hill I will die on.
The world-building is solid and detailed without being overwhelming. Gwynne introduces his mythology gradually, letting the prophecy and its implications build across the series rather than front-loading exposition.
What Doesn’t Quite Work
Malice is a slow opener. It’s setting up a four-book story, and it knows it. The first quarter of the novel is largely scene-setting — establishing Corban’s world before beginning the systematic process of dismantling it. Readers who need immediate forward momentum may find this early section slow.
Some secondary characters are thinner than they’ll eventually become. The series rewards patience — by books three and four, characters you met briefly in Malice have grown into major players — but early on, Gwynne can’t quite give everyone the space they deserve.
Should You Read It?
If you loved Gemmell — yes, absolutely, this is the closest modern equivalent. If you’ve been put off by relentlessly bleak grimdark and want something that still has moral clarity and genuine heroes — yes. If you need your fantasy full of cynicism and subverted expectations — this probably isn’t your series.
The full quartet is outstanding. Malice is the worthy first chapter.
Rating: 4/5
Rated 4.4 Stars on Amazon. Buy Malice here.
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Check out Sunset In the East — a mind-bending short story collection from Ben Luxon.
