#the coward stephen aryan

[stars-on-fyre]

So I finished reading The Coward by Stephen Aryan and the only thing I didn’t like was the ending because damn y’all let Kell Kressia rest he’s been through enough 😭

[nikihawkes]

80% DNF Q&A: The Warrior by Stephen Aryan

Title: The Warrior Author: Stephen Aryan Series: Quest for Heroes #2 Genre: Fantasy Rating: 1/5 stars The Overview: The story of Kell Kressia continues in Book II of the gripping fantasy duology. Kell, two time saviour of the Five Kingdoms, is now the King of Algany. He has fame, power, respect, and has never been more miserable… Bound, by duty and responsibility, Kell is King only in name.…

[drowsydomme]

what are you reading at the moment?!

i'm reading two books!

the book of everlasting things by aanchal malhotra: a really beautiful novel about perfume, calligraphy, and two lovers torn apart from each other

the coward by stephen aryan: story about a legendary hero named kell who killed an ice lich and is called to do it again, but this time he just wants to fuck off somewhere and make apple cider

[mysticparadigms]

Book Review: The Coward by Stephen Aryan

Disclaimer: This is my first time giving a book review rather than analysis, so please bear with me.

Let me start off by saying that it has been a long time since a novel has last captivated me like this one does. This book is under the fantasy genre, and I originally learned about it when I went on a trip to a bookstore with my best friend and was half-heartedly perusing the fantasy section. I’m fairly picky when it comes to the fantasy content I enjoy. While Tolkien has basically influenced all of modern fantasy, media that follows his format of elves, dwarves, orcs, and hobbits have little to no appeal to me, especially considering the racist underpinnings of the orcs. I’ve become tired of novels that focus on having a Chosen One, some kid being the primary defense against evil, romances between humans and elves or fairies (although this one is a personal preference as I don’t like romances in general), and worlds where the nonhuman characters are made up of species that have become oversaturated in our current zeitgeist. Although I'm not immune to popular modern fantasy; I adore Adventure Time and Attack On Titan as well as every Studio Ghibli movie I've seen to date. With all of this context, I had low hopes while looking through the fantasy section that day, but the title caught my attention. I picked it up, read the back cover, and bought it, and it sat untouched on my book shelf for roughly six months. But this last week, I told myself that if I want to read The Priory of the Orange Tree, I have to read the other fantasy book I bought this year first. It took me three days to get through it all.

Politics and Religion: One of the things that I think makes Attack On Titan, for instance, so compelling is that while there is the aspect of "ah there are monsters trying to kill us and we gotta fight 'em" is how much politics there are controlling the plot and actions of the heroes. The Coward does this wonderfully. While we follow Kell Kressia on his journey, we are also given chapters following Reverend Mother Britak, who leads the church that exists within the Five Kingdoms (side note: while the religion is not Christianity, there are definitely some connections to be made and what I think is a striking commentary on the state of Christianity as an institution today) and is trying to enforce this religion following The Shepherd across the Five Kingdoms, using political tactics to try and achieve this goal. Every royal court we are introduced to within this universe has some sort of political tension of its own, often coming into conflict with the other courts. Following the politics and scheming was very enjoyable.

Semi-Original Species: I appreciated that the author didn't include species such as elves, fairies, vampires, werewolves, gnomes, orcs, etc. in the book, although one might argue that the Alfár are a type of elf. Regardless, I appreciated that and the creatures such as the Qalamieren and the voran. It was enjoyable learning about new sorts of species and reading about them from the perspectives of people who these creatures are normal to know about, even if they don't believe in them.

Subverting the teenaged Chosen One trope as well as the model of the Hero: This might be my favorite aspect of this novel. Instead of having these larger-than-life heroes, we're shown how heroes are flawed, and oftentimes more flawed as individuals than the average person. Even Kell Kressia, the savior of the Five Kingdoms who beheaded the Ice Lich ten years ago, struggles with the expectations this victory put on him versus his knowledge that he basically just got lucky. It wasn't his skill that helped him win, or some prophecy foretelling his victory, it was nothing more than a matter of chance. I liked how human this made all of the characters feel. I truly felt like I could relate to Kell because he struggles with the troubles of others' expectations of him versus what he knows truly happened, but additionally he comes home with what would likely be diagnosed as PTSD. Even a victory comes at a severe psychological cost.

Addressing the realities of how traumatizing these romanticized quests can be as well as the fragility of the body: There was no over-the-top gore, which I appreciated as someone who has recently become much more sensitive to it than I used to be. But at the same time, excessive gore wasn't necessary to drive home what physical strain the characters experienced when making their Hero's Journey. I am particularly intrigued by how the human body as an entity is portrayed in literature, and this book was perfect for such an interest. We were shown how humans overestimate the danger they can handle, and they don't understand that every hero we idolize is simply Just Some Guy who also can have wounds get infected, or bleed out from one (albeit deep) stab wound. While this made the fight scenes feel somewhat less intense physically than scenes where there is a lot of wounding of the main characters and killing is seen as casual, the psychology behind what the characters were feeling as well as the stress of knowing that it doesn't actually take much to get killed by a wild animal or adversary made the fight scenes intense in their own right.

Romance: As someone generally averse to the romance genre and dreads romance in fantasy books due to the advent of romances between humans and elves/fairies/werewolves/vampies/etc., I'm happy to say that this route was not taken in The Coward. There is mention of sex (for instance we have scenes where we're told two characters just had or are about to have sex, one character getting offered money for a sexual encounter but is denied, and one seventeen year old's sexual fantasy going horribly awry in a nightmare of his) but nothing that goes into detail. The main character hopes to one day have a wife and start a family, but this goal is portrayed more as representing the idea of having a "normal" and simple life, thus escaping the trauma of Kell's time as a "hero." It's hardly even mentioned that Kell would like to start a family and is not one of his actual goals he pursues but rather, as I mentioned before, symbolic of the sort of peace he wishes to achieve. There is, however, a side romance in the novel. But it's beautiful and doesn't dominate the narrative or even the goals of the characters within the romance itself. They are both fully formed individuals with dreams and fears and quirks and triumphs of their own, their romance just portrays the beauty of two lost souls finding refuge in a chaotic and lonely world. I enjoyed every scene that featured them.

My critiques: I wish that we had been given a clearer picture of how, in his first quest, Kell had defeated the Ice Lich. Or just their journey into the castle altogether. We know how a lot of the eleven heroes died, and I appreciate the author trusting that his readers are intelligent enough to piece together the story of what happened through the sporadic vignettes given, but I would've liked to hear about what happened with Kell after the last hero died, even if we saw it through a flashback he has within a dream where the maze is foggy in his memory and weren't given the exact play-by-play. On another note, while the book's climax originally felt like it could've been—for lack of a better term—more climatic than what we saw, I realized on reflection that the climax being as it was fits the story, its overarching themes, and Kell's disillusionment with The Hero's Quest perfectly. 

Overall, this book was amazing. After I finished it, I ran right back to the local bookstore to grab the final novel in this series: The Warrior. If you're looking for a fantasy novel where the "hero" is Just Some Guy and where the realities of the stereotypical Hero's Journey are presented as being traumatizing events rather than proud conquests, then this is the book for you.

[hoskinsvarietyshow]

Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buelman

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

The Coward by Stephen Aryan

The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides

Kings Of The Wyld by Nicholas Eames

The Lies Of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The Barrow by Mark Smylie (This one is pretty NC 17 so not really romance but some other explicit and sexual themes)

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes (This one is also a bit more, 'romance in the cast' in between stuff than being ABOUT romance. It's been about a decade since I read this one so I'm iffy on if it did have much romance. But it's also a fantasy heist thing so it's pretty fun.)

Some of these may have non-protaganists with romance plots, but not the main character or focal point of the series. Some of the later entries may have some romance but they're pretty slow burn and mostly in later volumes in the series.

Also, lotta male protags. Unfortunately not a lot of people writing ladies in fantasy can resist the sirens call of a juicy romance subplot.

Any fantasy book recommendations without major romance?

I am finaly back on tumblr 💕

[ravendruidreads]

What's on my TBR?

I currently have a few books on my bookshelf that I have never read (some of them are my husband's but I still want to read them), and I thought it would be fun to share them and see how much the pile changes throughout the year.

Current TBR:

The Coward - Stephen Aryan

Lightlark - Alex Aster

The seven novels of Jane Austen

Six of Crows duology - Leigh Bardugo

Atomic Habits - James Clear

A Dawn of Onyx - Kate Golden

Bloodsworn series - John Gwynne

Warrior of the Altaii - Robert Jordan

Vox Machina Origins Vol. III - Critical Role (comic book)

The Tales of Exandria: The Bright Queen - Critical Role (comic book)

Prince of Thorns & Nightmares - Linsey Miller

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik

To Kill a Shadow - Katherine Quinn

Gothikana - RuNyx

O Pavilhão Púrpura - José Rodrigues dos Santos

The English Spy - Daniel Silva

Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao

[annarellix]

The Judas Blossom by Stephen Aryan (The Nightingale and the Falcon #1)

From the author of the Quest for Heroes duology of The Coward and The Warrior an imaginative and sprawling epic fantasy reimagining of the Mongol Empire's invasion of Persia, following the lives and treacherous journeys of four key figures in the heart of war

1260, Persia: Due to the efforts of the great Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire covers a vast portion of the known world.

In the shadow of his grandfather, Hulagu, ruler of the Ilkhanate, is determined to create a single empire that covers the entire world. His method? Violence. His youngest son, Temujin, struggles to find his place in his father’s bloody rule. After another failure, Temujin is given one last chance to prove himself to Hulagu, who is sure there is a great warrior buried deep inside. But there’s something else rippling under the surface… something far more powerful and dangerous than they could ever imagine… Reduced to the position of one of Hulagu’s many wives, the Blue Princess Kokochin is the last of her tribe. Alone and forgotten in a foreign land, Kokochin is unwilling to spend her days seeking out trivial pursuits. Seeking purpose, she finds herself wandering down a path that grants her more power than a wife of the ruler may be allowed. Kaivon, the Persian rebel who despises the Mongols for the massacre of his people, thirsts for revenge. However, he knows alone he cannot destroy the empire. When given the opportunity to serve Hulagu, Kaivon must put aside his feelings and risk his life for a chance to destroy from within an empire that aims to conquer the world.

Book link: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/judas-blossom/ Out 11th July 2023 | PB | 9781915202192 | £9.99/$17.99 | Also available in ebook and audio | Fantasy | Adventure | Historical

My review: I love Stephen Aryan style of writing and storytelling and I know that I will be maniacally turning pages since I start reading. This has a bonus: it talks about the Mongols and their invasion of Persian in the XIII century. It was a sort of genocide as more then 2 million persons died due to famine and mass killings. Even if I’m fascinated by the Mongols and how they created one of the biggest world empire this one of the bloodiest conquests and nearly destroyed a civilization and a population. Stephen Aryan to not spare details but he didn’t write a Manichaeist book where there’s very bad villains and very white resistant. He talks about people and human instincts, love and what some will do to get more power. His characters are flawed, on the grey moral spectrum but they’re also vivid and realistic. This is not a book if you want a light and easy historical fantasy. It’s gory, gritty and starts with a massacre of some mythical characters of the Middle Age history. I was a bit disappointed as I expected they were better warriors but they were also fighting against Hulagu's Mongol army that conquered a huge part of Middle East. All this is history and history play a relevant role in this story even if Stephen Aryan did a good job in keeping the level of historical details in a way that does kill you with tons of names, battles and all the complexities of this age and these historical characters. There are power plays, there battles and gore, there’s magic and a balance of facts and fantasy. It kept me reading and made me want to read more about Hulagu and the lkhanate. I’m wondering how the characters will evolve and what will happen. Even if it’s more than 500 pages I read this book in 3 days and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved it and I think it will surely be appreciated by whoever loves historical or military fantasy or simply wants to read a gripping and intriguing novel. Many thanks to Angry Robots for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.

The Author: Stephen Aryan was born in Iran, and raised in Whitley Bay, on the north east coast of the UK. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Quest for Heroes duology as well as the Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies. His debut, Battlemage, was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award, and won the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award. He has previously written for Tor.com.

@stevearyan on Twitter @stephenaryan_writer on Instagram.

CONTACT: Caroline Lambe | caroline@angryrobotbooks.com

[fireflylies]

I’m very simple. a fictional skinny tall boy with knives appears and I am smitten

[rolaplayor101]

I preordered the book The Warrior by Stephen Ary@n and it just came in!

Redbubble, Commissions open!, DNI proshippers/antiantis/queerphobes/etc in About Me, Art of Kell Kressia cause ilhsm

[wearyeerie]

dump

[devilssus]

Who will take up the mantle and slay the evil in the Frozen North, saving all from death and destruction? Not Kell Kressia, he's done his part...

- The Coward, Stephen Aryan

Okay so I’m trying to read this book but idk if I’ll like it *fingers crossed*

[nikihawkes]

Book Review: The Coward by Stephen Aryan

Title: The Coward Author: Stephen Aryan Series: Quest for Heroes #1 Genre: Fantasy Rating: 3.5/5 stars The Overview: Kell Kressia is a legend, a celebrity, a hero. Aged just seventeen he set out on an epic quest with a band of grizzled fighters to slay the Ice Lich and save the world, but only he returned victorious. The Lich was dead, the ice receded and the Five Kingdoms were safe. Ten…

[izzyske]

Mon 10th October, '22

yo, i am a final year student at uni now! here are some notes from this morning's seminar on monks in egypt. a source referenced the Book of Job and i only remembered the story because it's brought up in Daredevil looool

#readingwithlunlun challenge, day 1:

'What are you reading right now?'

The Coward by Stephen Aryan - it's a fantasy non-fiction where the protagonist is a guy who went on a quest with a load of other adventurers, but he's the only one who got back. the book is set AFTER this quest. it's like having a 2nd campaign in D&D where only one character from the last campaign survived, but we as the reader never watched the first campaign, so we're out of the loop on what happened. i forgot to take a pic of the book but it's a nice cover lol

[mysticparadigms]

Review of The Warrior by Stephen Aryan

Wow.

I would not have imagined that the sequel of a book I loved would have a better action plot than the first book and yet still be the worse of the two.

I don't have as in-depth of a review of this book as I did of The Coward. This is because there isn't as much for me to say.

Frankly, this book had so much potential, but it felt rushed. I thought there was too much emphasis on the politics of the Five Kingdoms, and it felt like Kell and Willow's quest was more something that kept Kell away and explained Willow's motives than it was its own story. And this was a shame because Willow's home and fighting The Malice is a million times more interesting than what I think is meant to be a political story with subversive commentary on the Crusades and how someone from the oppressor country gains membership with an oppressed minority and then holds status as representative of that group. Could just be me, though.

Willow's story deserved more. It deserved to be more fleshed out. It deserved to have any sort of explanation of The Malice. It deserved to have an ending for Yarra and Odd. It deserved a depiction of what the Alfár experienced after leaving their homeland and whether they were able to build a new society for themselves and have children again.

Also, I know I discussed my distaste for human-Elf/Fae romances in the last review, but Willow and Kell should've ended up together. At the very least, we should've seen Kell's feelings from the first book that were mentioned get resolved. We should've seen a lessened stigma towards the Alfár in the Five Kingdoms.

Also, what was Odd? What happened when everyone left? It felt like his story only existed to tie up loose ends rather than to tell the story of a semi-villian's redemption arc for its own sake.

This could've been so much better than it was.

I still would recommend people read the series, and I'm glad that I read it, but damn, I'm let down by the focus of the second book being on some dumb queen rather than someone who risked her life to save her people from an affliction impacting the whole of her world. I'm let down by how rushed it felt, both in the writing and in the plot timing. And I'm let down by this being the last book in the Five Kingdoms—there were still so many more stories to be told.

Edit: By the way, this book totally contradicts the first book's whole thing of not glorifying battle and death. That's all this book does.

[barbwritesstuff]

I was tagged by @phantasmagoriatime

Favourite Colour: Today it is yellow. It changes often. I have no loyalty.

Currently Reading: The Coward by Stephen Aryan. It's... fine. I did just finish Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir last week which was rock and fucking roll. So good.

Last Song: Teeth by Lady Gaga. I'm a walking cliche. But at least I'm walking.

Last Series: The Sandman. I like the spooky man with spiky hair.

Last Movie: Elvis by Baz Luhrmann. I was the only person under 30 in the cinema. Don't know why. It's good guys. Really good.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Give it all to me. Please. I'm hungry.

Currently Working On: It's a secret... not because it's anything exciting. Quite the opposite, in fact. I don't want you guys to know how much time I waste writing weird things that will probably never be published.

[slightlycrunchy]

Ugh so sad, was really excited for The Coward by Stephen Aryan, the premise seemed fun and exactly up my alley but the prose was just so choppy. Am I alone in putting down a book for that? Short sentence after short sentence…I couldn’t find a flow. The content was fine, though there were a few things that took me out of the story. Anyway, *still* on the hunt for a good book.