A great fantasy read: The Spaces Between by @MartinGibbs2 #bookreview
The Spaces Between
A Drunkard's Journey
Written by Martin Gibbs
Genre: Fantasy
Book Synopsis
A gruff mercenary believes he can somehow learn magic from an exiled warlock, and he's picked up a blundering drunk along the way. Zhy, convinced he is part of some misdirected script, agrees to follow, hoping only for a change of scenery and a new source of ale.The two men run into a trigger-happy mage and he joins the excursion. It isn't long before this combination of characters results in calamity and errors in judgment; their "quest" becomes nebulous and uncertain—that is, until it smacks them collectively from the face of the world.
Guided by the spirits of the dead, an idiot man-child is close behind them. He obligingly trudges along a frozen and bitter path to stop Zhy from reaching the warlock, though he himself is only part of a devastating scheme.
Mark's Rating
Mark's Review
It's interesting that this book has the subtitle "A Drunkard's Journey." At least on Amazon. Because that's how the story begins, but Zhy the drunk plays only a very small portion of the plot. There's a lot more going on with the story.
I haven't read a lot of fantasy, but from what I'm familiar with, it seems to fit the standard quest subgenre, except the nature of the quest is unclear—even muddled—for most of the story. The three main characters traveling together do a lot of just that—traveling. Because of that, there were some scenes that weren't necessary. But that doesn't mean it was a horrible story.
On the contrary, the story was quite enjoyable. There were times I laughed and other times I couldn't wait to know what was going to happen next. Also, much of the time I wondered how the characters fit together. I realized from the beginning that there was something bigger happening, and this alone kept me reading.
Plus the world building was excellent. I want to know more about the history of the world described, especially the Order of the Knot. I don't know if the author has plans to continue writing in this world, but if he doesn't, he should.
I recommend it for any fan of fantasy. You may bore in a few spots, but keep reading. The ending was foreshadowed after I thought about it, but it was a surprise the first time. A great fantasy read!
Disclaimer: May not be appropriate for young children due to mild violence.
