Book Review: Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards

Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 3 of The Bloodsounder’s Arc

Publisher: Night Shade Books (February 16, 2016)

Length: 524 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

I am stunned on so many levels. To call Chains of the Heretic one of the finest pieces of dark fantasy I have ever read would be a gross understatement. It is simply phenomenal, an incredible masterpiece and outstanding achievement for Jeff Salyards. There’s also no doubt about it, this series has come a long way since the author’s debut novel Scourge of the Betrayer, the first Bloodsounder’s Arc book that started us on this epic journey.

Just like the series’ protagonist and narrator Arkamandos (Arki for short), it amazes me to think back to the beginning and see how far things have come. If you’ve read my review of the first book, you’ll know that I liked it plenty. But it was the sequel that really opened up the world for me. Veil of the Deserters drove home for me what Salyards was trying to achieve and made me a diehard fan of the series, and then to have this third book come in and shatter all my already sky-high expectations? It was an unparalleled surprise, to say the least. It goes without saying that these are my favorite kinds of trilogies, the ones where each book just gets better and better.

Not to sound deliberately cryptic, but this series has always been about being secretive and extremely cautious about revealing its intentions. If you haven’t read the first two books, almost everything I say about the story of Chains of the Heretic could be regarded as a spoiler, so I’ll keep my descriptions of it brief. This book picks up right where the last one left off, following Captain Braylar Killcoin and his band of Jackals after their narrow escape from the Syldoon capital, with the shaken Arki in tow. Trapped between the Godveil and the Imperial forces on their tail, the company is forced to make a desperate gambit. All they have to go on are Arki’s incomplete translations of some ancient and obscure texts, which are spotty at best, but the choice is simple: pass through the mysterious Veil and maybe die, or stay to be cut down by Emperor Cynead’s far bigger army and die for sure.

Putting his trust in Arki’s findings, Braylar decides to take a chance on the crazy plan, using his magical flail Bloodsounder to lead his men and women into the unknown. But though this move takes them beyond the reach of their enemies, what awaits them on the other side of the Veil is arguably even more terrible. What they find will shake the foundations of life, religion and history for everyone living in the Empire.

Yes, you heard correctly. At long last, we get to cross the inscrutable Godveil, that ominous piece of the puzzle that has been teasing me from day one. I can practically picture Salyards sitting behind his keyboard as he wrote this book, rubbing his hands together in a villainous fashion while chortling with maniacal glee as he finally unleashed all the secrets he has been sitting on since he first started writing this series. I have to hand it to him though, the wait was well worth it. Plague me, but I was riveted by all the strange things our characters discovered on the other side.

As ever though, what I loved most were the characters. I am and will always be a “character first” kind of reader. Of course in an ideal situation, characters, world-building, story, and writing will all be perfectly balanced, but without the first, it’s generally more difficult for me to get into the rest. That’s why I was really thrilled when Chains of the Heretic delivered splendidly on all fronts, with characters scoring a perfect ten. The choice of Arki as the narrator has always struck me as a brilliant choice—he is the Jackals’ scribe, an outsider hired on to translate documents for Captain Killcoin, but this also puts him in the perfect position to be the company’s Chronicler, both for the Syldoon and us as the readers. His role gives him a reasonable excuse to question everything and everyone, which is how most of the other characters’ motivations and the ways of this world are revealed to us. In this book, we also get to see how Arki’s experience with the Syldoon has changed him irrevocably. He’ll always stick out as the bookish scribe among a group of hardened warriors, but it moved me how the Jackals have gradually come to see him as one of their own.

But while entire series is told through Arki’s eyes, it’s interesting to me how the Bloodsounder’s Arc has always been the about the saga of Braylar Killcoin and his relationship with the eponymous cursed flail. Be that as it may though, the truth is that I would be hard pressed to name my favorite characters. Placing duty above everything else, Captain Braylar is the consummate soldier who will lay down his life for his Tower and commander, but aside from Arki, Braylar’s colorful cast of lieutenants also provide him counsel (or attempt to, anyway). From the seasoned Hewspear to the hulking Azmorgon, from the always-live-in-the-present Vendurro to the foulmouthed Muldoos (who is as eloquently offensive as ever), I literally love them all. And last but not least, there is the good captain’s sister Soffjian, the scary Memoridon who can take down a squad of Syldoon with no more than a single thought if she wanted to. I’ve become so attached to these characters that I’d already braced myself knowing the loss of any one of them would strike a devastating blow.

Furthermore, Jeff Salyards proves himself a skilled wordsmith by the way constructs his prose, especially when he really lets loose in his characters’ dialogue. There’s a lot of humor, and depending on who’s delivering it, you get everything from Braylar’s deadpan, matter-of-fact sarcasm to Muldoos’ creatively crass brand of profanity, plus even some of Arki’s own ironic observances thrown in. This final volume also underscores the superb storytelling, drawing together three books’ worth of intricate plot threads to bring the trilogy to a seamless conclusion. It’s true there are some predictable outcomes, especially if you’ve been following the character dynamics closely, but the overall cohesiveness of the series is a testament to excellent plotting and pacing. I’ve always said that bittersweet endings can be a tricky thing, but Salyards nails it.

The Bloodsounder’s Arc is now in the top spot for my favorite grimdark fantasy series. In case all the frantic gushing I’ve been doing hasn’t driven the fact home already, that’s how much I loved this book. If this is what Jeff Salyards can do with his debut trilogy, I can’t wait to see more of his future writing endeavors.

More at the BiblioSanctum:
Review of Scourge of the Betrayer (Book 1)
Review of Veil of the Deserters (Book 2)