FORSAKEN

Genre: Fantasy — Grimdark

Series: The Exiled Crown #1

Publisher: Self-published (2017)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 12 pages

My Rating: 3 stars

With Forsaken, Eric S. Fomley pens an ultra fast-paced story introducing his Princess of Grimdark: Ayla. This badass heroine leaping off the pages at you, ready to rip out your throat with her bare hands. Her brutal presence and shadowy past instantly inspiring a deep desire to know more, More, MORE!

Be warned though, this first installment is very, very brief; a quick glimpse into Ayla’s brutal world, where intense combat and bloody death can happen any second. All of it written in a smooth, clean style which is easy to devour and can be enjoyed in a single sitting. But it isn’t meant to completely satisfy your grimdark yearns, rather it is very much like a tv episode where you are encouraged to immediately go on to the next to learn more, More, MORE!

The only complaint I can level at Forsaken is that it is too short. Once Ayla had me in her grip, I wanted to witness more of her visceral confrontations, learn more about her hidden history, and see where her path leads from this beginning. Alas, the vagrant princess released me too soon, disappearing back into the mist from whence she came.

As a sucker for quick, episodic fantasy, I’m optimistic about the future of Eric S. Fomley’s The Exiled Crown series. The fact that it is an unabashedly grimdark only makes me hunger more for the next installment. Really can’t wait to see where this new Princess of Grimdark goes from here.