My latest read was a sequel to a dwarf-centric fantasy I read almost a year ago – and only recently discovered the author wrote more.

Unlike most sequels, this isn’t a direct continuation. The first book ended when the ragtag group of dwarves leaving their meager lives behind defended their newly-growing community against armies of the Kings most of them ran from – a battle that was won, even if at a major cost. Jade, the warrior who was one of the leaders of Ice-cloak, has ruled this new kingdom since.

Now, a century later, she’s succumbing to disease. Succession is being considered, and while these dwarves don’t exactly lean towards bloodline, the two main contenders are Jade’s eldest daughter and her son, Prince Firehelm. Firehelm believes the dwarves need a warrior leader and wants to prove himself worthy.

When a battle where he and a group of guards hold back the ursi monsters – creatures that swarm after winter and cause major losses to their livestock – leads to more than a few injuries, he decides that the way to win the throne is by eliminating the monsters at the source. He raises a personal guard, where most are survivors of the first fight and some are fresh recruits. Korin, who seems to be a reluctant warrior but very observant about people, is chosen by the Prince as his captain.

When they’re healed and equipped, they leave their home mountain, trying to track the monsters. Their struggle at first is primarily the harsh mountain weather, but they encounter not just the ursi, but also worse enemies – trolls, who are larger and stronger enemies. Despite injuries and losses, as well as continued harassment by ursi groups, Firehelm leads them on, until they reach the sea.

There, their group – now reduced to half numbers – encounters another nation of dwarves. These provide them with some aid and the location of the ursi nest. Despite protests, Firehelm decides that he’ll take them to this ancient area and thus secure not only their livelihood but also his place on the throne.

What they discover is a place of ancient dwarves with wondrous architecture and connections to a fabled heart of the world, now overrun by the ursi monsters. As they delve deeper, Firehelm gets increasingly overzealous towards his ultimate goal, to the point of disregarding his fellow fighters, leaving his injured guards behind as their numbers dwindle.

I will not spoil who makes it out alive at the end…

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Read date: 16.3.-1.4.2024
Published: 10.3.2024
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,55/4,7
My rating: 75%
Length: 372 pages
No highlights shared

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I was originally leaning toward a bit higher rating, but the ending seems… incomplete. When the two survivors escape the fortress, it just ends right there, with no hints of their fate. Did they only go back to the “sea dwarves” and stay there? Did they brave the harrowing trek home and rejoin their people with the news? How was the succession issue solved?

The series continues, but with another large time gap, so there are only hints on the whole “kingdom” but not much for the fate of those two characters…