Dark fantasy is a wonderful genre that, in my opinion, opens up this area of fiction with interesting and complex themes such as the ambiguity of Good and Evil and a realistic representation of human vices. I’m sure you know without me that there are incredible world-famous authors like Joe Abercrombie, George Martin, Andrzej Sapkowski, and others who write in this genre. But you probably don’t know the name of the Ukrainian writer and military man Konstantin Valde Ulyanov. It is his book «The Right of the Strong» that we will discuss in this review. Before we begin, you need to know two things about it. The first is that it was self-published, i.e. without the involvement of any publishing house, and more importantly, a full-fledged editor. The second is that despite this, I have in my hands one of the best Ukrainian dark fantasy novels I have ever read.
Pluses:
a harsh fantasy world without Good and Evil; a high-quality combination of dark fantasy, heroic fantasy, and detective story; realistic and three-dimensional characters; well-written text that is difficult to put down; the novel raises complex issues; good quality of the publication
Minuses:
not always logical actions of the main characters; some dialogues look artificial
«The right of the strong»
Author Konstantin Valde Ulyanov
Publisher Samizdat
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 336
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2023
Size 120×210 mm
Website valdebook.com
The priest Ajax and his friend, the northern warrior Westain, are given a mission by a mighty man from the Empire. According to the man, a powerful clan has emerged on the Land of Bones, a dark and cruel land inhabited by savage tribes, their gods, and monsters. They are said to drink magical water from their spring and gain incredible strength. Ajax and Westain are asked to get that water and bring it to the Empire. The heroes set off on their journey, not even knowing what trials they will face and what cruel things they will do to achieve their goal.
The events of the novel «The Right of the Strong» take place in a world that looks like a bizarre combination of Scandinavian and Slavic mythologies with some elements of Ancient Greece and Rome. If I compare this work with other literary works, I immediately think of the stories of Conan the Barbarian by Robert Howard. The cycle «The Master of the Ice Garden» by the Polish writer Jarosaw Gdowicz, and the series of novels about the dark elf Dzirt (Drizzt) Do Urden by the American writer Robert Salvatore.
The main genre of the novel is dark fantasy, and among the subgenres we have heroic fantasy and, unexpectedly, detective fiction. If the last point seems strange to you, it only seems so. Because the author was able to combine these elements perfectly and create an interesting adventure with deep subtext and three-dimensional characters.
As for the latter, the characters are realistic and well-developed. They are neither bad nor good because this is a dark fantasy, but they have a certain charm, principles, and can generally win over the reader. However, they are not perfectly developed, which is more evident in the sometimes strange dialogues and certain illogical decisions, but in general, the characters are definitely the decoration of this novel.
Another important element of «The Right of the Strong» is the deep meaning that the author has put into the story. Through his book, through the events and actions of the characters, Konstantin Valde Ulyanov tries to convey to the reader, and he does a good job. Certain values and life moments that he believes people need to pay attention to, or at least think about.
This is a book about what happens to a person who gained power when he or she was not ready for it. And this means that it is not a person who controls power, but power controls a person. Power cannot be good or bad. It is just a tool in the hands of a person.
«The Rights of the Strong» The book is well written and interesting. The author knows how to write in such a way that it is difficult to put the book down. And this, I remind you, is a self-publishing book, on which no editor worked, and in this case only a proofreader. At least that’s what the book says. That’s why the author’s skill is very important here, because in fact it is the only thing that holds the novel together.
The story of the book’s publication is no less interesting. The fact is that Konstantin Valde Ulyanov wrote it back in 2014 while serving in the ATO. Then, of course, he had no time for it, and then the full-scale invasion began, so the manuscript was lying around. And no one knows when the author would have started publishing it, because now he is defending us in the ranks of the Armed Forces. But then Kostyantyn’s family and friends came into play, who believed in his work, so they decided to publish the novel on their own. As I have said before and will not stop repeating it, the book has no full-fledged editor, only a proofreader, and the wonderful cover was made by a friend of the writer.
From this point of view, I simply cannot even imagine how much better the novel could have been after the work of a professional editor from any Ukrainian publishing house. They would probably have removed some bad moments and added other successful ones, and perhaps replaced some modern terms sometimes used by the characters. However, these are small but important things, and it is precisely these things that the novel needs attention to.
However, even without a publisher, the book has excellent publication quality, pictures, and design. The image immediately gives information about the genre, and this is always a plus because I never tire of saying that Ukrainian publishers are often afraid of genre books and make their covers universal. They can be understood because they need to sell copies, but if a book has a great genre cover, I can’t help but emphasize it.
It is important to know that all the money from the books sold goes to the needs of Konstantin’s Valde Ulyanov division. Therefore, I urge you to pay attention to this book and buy it on author’s website.
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