The Destroyer Series Review
The Destroyer is a four part series by Michael-Scott Earle. A fantasy epic that i binge read in two weeks and cant wait for more.
No One is Safe
Michael-Scott Earle (Or MSE has his quickly growing fan-base affectionately calls him.) Hooked me in with relative ease in this series. I am going to be honest, and say that it was not through the Hype chain that i learned of this author, nor was i even perusing for a novel to read when i stumbled upon The Destroyer, i was, as many do, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook on my phone when i saw the add. A gnarly picture of a man in demonic armor a top a mound of dead bodies strewn about a battle field, with the caption: "Better than Christopher Paolini?" And i thought to myself "I really like Paolini's Inheritance cycle series, now i am curious. So i did what i recommend you should never do, and clicked a link on Facebook, luckily for me it was a safe-one and took me directly to MSE's page. From there i found out that the book i was captivated by was The Destroyer Book 1, and it was FREE on E-readers of all kinds, FREE I TELL YOU. That is a price you cannot beat, and so i proceeded the download on my kindle app to give it a go, then next thing i know my wife rolls over and asks what I'm still doing up and its 1 in the morning and i have to get up at 5 am for work. (worth it). The book started out with mystery and just kept layering this intriguing and beguiling mystery one piece at a time, and the more i learned, the more i found out i didnt know at all. He tied it all together with great mythos, strong supporting characters, raw and gruesome battles from a main character with super human strength and abilities, all the while making the main character far more human and relate-able than most any other protagonist i can ever remember reading about. His main character was driven off of base instinct and raw emotion, eventually tying into moral code down the line, but his mind set wasn't so noble and naive that it felt alien to read about. While most books of that nature are fascinating I found reading about a character that was as raw and honest more engrossing and kept me reading in the 1st person perspective instead of feeling like an outsider looking in.
A Change of Pace
I consider myself to be an avid reader of fiction. I have read monotonous journeys and 6 chapters of walking, and quick 1 chapter adventures that were completely enthralling. I have read high octane over the top action that has ranged from corny to stimulating. And I've read romances that have ranged from dull and ill conceived, to epic and mysterious. And as i stated previously this book does a lot of those things right, but it also adds an adult element that i was not used to reading. The main character is so driven by base instinct that you get a view of his grittier, more savage thoughts, both his violent and benevolent tenancies, but also his sexual urges that other main characters do not seem to have. And those thoughts become acted upon in a way in this series that i was not used to. MSE added a mix of passion and hunger to these instances in the series that really gave life to the character as a human that has human like desires and passions. His goals and thoughts were tangible, relate-able, and hardly out of nowhere. Often you will read a fantasy epic where the main character has no impure thoughts, makes only minor mistakes, every wound they take is rare and dramatic. This is not the case in MSE's The Destroyer. Everything seems meaningful, from conversations, to actions, and even the gruesome injuries the main character takes, which are far more prevalent than other stories i have read. As great as the authors character development and portrayal were, it was only one of the many exciting and enthralling aspects of this series for me, that will make me re-read these stories again and again.
What is even real anymore?
What has to be the greatest aspect of these books for me was the element of mystery behind them all. MSE built up the mythos and world around the story in a compelling and at time frustrating (in a good way) manner. Think about this, you want to do a puzzle but have no idea what the image will be, and the puzzle is going to be shipped to you in four different boxes, and each box contains a random number of puzzle pieces. And then you finally finish the puzzle and you look down at the image to only find out its the corner of an even larger puzzle. The frustrating part is that MSE makes the background story so good! And there is always so little of it, he rotates the story perspective every chapter between the Main character in the present, the main character in the past, and a supporting character. Every-time i was done reading one perspective chapter i was ready for another in the same perspective, only to find the perspective changed and having myself pulled into another facet of the story. Four books in and in every one he revealed shocking, or exciting details of the story, all the while layering more mystery on top of it all. Even at the end of the fourth book, I'm left wondering: "What is really going on here?"
The Forge Rating
A must read for anyone that loves a great fantasy epic. The best part about it is that the first book is free, and trust me you will want the rest afterward.
Michael-Scott Earle's Websie: http://www.michaelscottearle.com/
Download book one for free here: http://www.michaelscottearle.com/the-destroyer
The Verdict: HOT FIRE 9/10
(Full series rating Books 1-4)