Author – Chaz Lebel
Pages – 294
Publishing Information – Self Published, 7th September 2022
Blurb
After a close encounter with a summoned demon, Sir Galien Banforth is left in fear for his immortal soul, bound by oath to a life of bloodshed for his king. When the world’s greatest kingdoms march to war, Galien abandons the battlefield, and his knighthood, searching for a way to repent.
He’s about to find it.
After meeting Emi, a secretive orphan with a dark history of her own, the two uncover the works of a malevolent cult, and a conspiracy that threatens all of Europe. Soon, Galien will find himself in a new war, against the renegade angels of Hell, and the Apocalypse itself.
Review
I write the start of this review moments after finishing Litany of the Destroyer, with my stance on the importance of self-publishing further solidified.
The premise of this book really intrigued me and shouted out to my personal interests, which catapulted it up to the top of my TBR out of sheer curiosity and cautious hope. Cautious hope because on the surface, this book appeared hand-tailored to what I wanted from my next read with a setting you very rarely see in horror.
I’m delighted to say it surpassed my expectations.
The POV character (for the vast majority of the book, anyway) is Galien. He’s an English knight struggling with conscience, regret, questioning his place in the world. He’s fighting in Edward III’s campaign in Northern France towards the start of the Hundred Year’s War, so the setting is a real-life historical one. And the author sure knows his history!
This was something that stood out massively throughout the novel and gave the book a real sense of authenticity and therefore great levels of immersion. As a medieval nerd, I might have docked a point for using the command “fire!” instead of “loose!” for releasing arrows, but since nearly everyone, including Hollywood is guilty of this, it’s easy to let that one go for the pure awesomeness of how spot on and meticulously researched the history is in this book. I would actually describe the book as part historical fiction, part horror and Lebel really gets the balance right for the story.
I felt like everything was interesting and relevant. I was always ready to read another chapter and I connected with the characters of Galien and Emi. The other supporting characters were well written too, such as the proud and stubborn mentor, Sir Robert. Milord actually dies in a flashback at the very beginning of the book, before we arrive at the present day. We see Galien struggle with his inner thoughts and desert the army, later arriving in a French village that has started to show signs of plague.
We are then whisked back into the past and from a 3rd to a 1st person perspective to experience Galien’s earlier journey for quite a hefty chunk of the book. This spans much of his life and I feel adds essential depth and context to his character and the story, including the building horror elements; this technique builds further tension and intrigue around a mysterious and macabre cult working in the shadows. The timeline jumping backwards for such a portion of the book may not work for all readers, but in my opinion this was achieved brilliantly and I appreciated the work behind it.
The context these details and events provide really adds depth for when we return to the present and aids the enjoyment of the murder mystery elements at play through much of the storyline. Although we already know the world this takes place in, this helps Chaz Lebel’s world, the medieval Europe with added dark fantasy elements, to feel more fleshed out and real. There is a great scene when fighting against the Scottish in the past timeline when we see this dark ritual at work and I found the whole battle really exciting from beginning to end. The author has flowing prose that added to just how readable this book is and I tip my hat to the editing. It really does add to the enjoyment of a book when the words flow freely and everything feels professional.
I like that this book works for readers looking for a fast paced and enjoyable story that they can fly through, but if you look deeper there is plenty here for readers to ponder should they wish; the nature of power, belief and those who manipulate faith, the impact of trauma, of our inner reflections and on human nature itself.
There is a lot of depth and of course a lot of darkness; as you would expect from a horror novel that features demonic cults and the realistic depiction of conquering armies and the cheapness of life. Despite being gruesome and macabre in places, I’d never call it gratuitous. There is no sexual violence or an over-indulgence of shocking scenes just for the sake of it so I would say definitely don’t be put off by the dark elements. If you’re familiar with video games and can handle Resident Evil, you might get fairly similar vibes to Resident Evil 4. In bookish terms, if you’ve read Hellmouth by Giles Kristian and enjoyed it, I’m certain you’ll enjoy this too.
Litany of the Destroyer is an inventive, original and highly enjoyable novel that I loved reading. I’ll most certainly be waiting eagerly for the next book. And although the next book isn’t out yet, you could read this book on its own and not be left feeling like it’s half finished – a self contained story is covered here despite the possibility of book two!
Thanks to the author Chaz Lebel who provided me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It’s been a pleasure.
Spells and Spaceships 