Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand

Dwarves The Dwarves
by Markus Heitz
Orbit

Supplied for review by Hachette New Zealand

Reviewed By: Simon Litten

The Dwarves is a high fantasy novel by German author Markus Heitz and is now available in English. High fantasy? Yes, there is a quest; yes, there is a band of travellers; and yes, there is magic and magic users; there is even an evil magic overlord.

When I started reading The Dwarves I had a horrible sinking feeling that I was about to embark on a German pastiche of Lord of The Rings, but told from the dwarves point of view. Fortunately not. The Dwarves is both a quest story and a tale of politics and machinations within the realms of the dwarves. Your persistence will be repaid beyond the opening chapters as the author takes the crew from central casting and reforges them in the fire of his novel. The further I got into the book the more I enjoyed it and coincidentally the more complex the characters and the story became.

This book is quite possibly the first in a series, as the author notes hinted at more. Certainly, the book’s ending left ample room for a sequel – one which I would be prepared to read.

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