Breachman: A Medieval Fantasy Adventure

Breachman is a focussed story about four individuals of varying importance who become intertwined through their roles in and around the ‘Breachmen’, a unit in the army of the king who are as expendable as they are deadly. The main characters are Commander Volchak – who is the leader of the Breachman and a classic grizzled veteran. Flea, a girl who fights in the Breachman and is fairly happy go lucky about the whole situation. Stirc, a creepy bureaucratic doctor/priest in the strange religious order alongside some of the main antagonists. And then Kaelith, who really steals the show as a witty, clumsy but lovable rogue character who often says what the reader is thinking. Or demonstrates the ridiculousness of some of the heroics you probably see in other fantasy stories.The story does not hang about as the opening battles gives way to a bloody journey across what is a tiny little medieval style kingdom. It becomes obvious that this is a very small-scale world where the characters roles can have quite dramatic effects on the outcomes of the various conflicts.The read is engaging, fast paced and the characters are interesting. Conflict is both ideological, personal and based on greed and status with varying stakes. The world is quite limited (there are no fantastical creatures or magic systems) but that plays into the close nature of the story. There is no suggestion this is opening up in to a bigger story or a series although the door is definitely left open to it.

Wow this one really hooked me in. It was fast paced and punchy and got going straight away. The story felt tight, focussed and didn’t slow down, even as we got to know the characters everything was through what they did. Each of the four main characters were well developed and had their own way of thinking, their chapters reflected this and I knew who was talking without being told. I have a definite favourite but I wont spoil who it is… (no cloaks).The characters here existed in their little kingdom and we get to know what they know. We experience the world they go along. I didn’t find myself losing patience with complex systems or long and pointless histories being explained, I learned things as they happened. This was really good as I am always nervous about a debut fantasy, nit there were no big info dumps and no mindless meandering through overly complex worlds. As a result, the story just kept moving forward, I sat and smashed through this in two sessions and had a few out loud gasps at the twists and turns.The cover and formatting are professional. I think it stands out well against others in the genre and shows that care and attention have gone in to it. The author has made sure he cuts down on any silly mistakes and has appropriate front and back matter.Really couldn’t recommend this one more – great first effort and look forward to any in the future.

A fun take on some of the traditional fantasy tropes. There are swords and kingdoms and battles but Chris Barker does have some fun with some of these ideas. He pokes at the idea of glorified violence and what a good person would actually do when put in bad situations. It makes for an interesting backdrop for what is quite a straightforward story.A stand out here is some of the solutions or adaptations that are present in the world. Whilst not historical fiction there is an element of realism here particularly in parts of the world where things developed a different way. The weirdly pious medical sect in place of a state religion is a good example where Chris Barker has twisted something that seems familiar at first.Whilst not overt there are suggestions at some particularly dark elements of torture, poisoning and other forms of nefarious activity, but as we see the story play out from a narrow vantage point these are only ever in the background.More could be done with the world building, there was very little exposition but this does help the pacing. There is a prologue / epilogue of sorts although they read as more of a first and last chapter so this can be forgiven.Enjoyable debut novel. Well done.

Starts with an ending that demands explanation and doesn't at all disappoint when it's delivered.The story of an aging, axe-wielding warrior... shades of Druss the Legend, though much darker and more violent...

A refreshing change.. fantasy taken to the raw depths of humanity.. no elegant elves or armour plated dwarves.. just the ragged many trying to scrape by in a visceral world below the gaze of the gaudy armoured few.. Great book from cover to cover.. well in a kindle kind of way.

Enjoyed the fierce and intense fight scenes. They really showed the confusion and messiness of what war would have been like. The characters were interesting, none of them completely good or bad but had several layers to them. Overall story kept me interested the whole time and I raced through it.

Characters were the stars in this one. Nice to see a bit of a range of them without making a ‘point’ of it. Some were funny and light hearted without being clowns and others were dark and broody, but kind of knew they were and owned it.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and well written and it's set up brilliantly for a sequel. I would definitely recommend!