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A review by pasuht
The Delve by Dan Fitzgerald
5.0
Plot summary: The Delve is a fantasy dungeon crawl. A group of three Maer is set out on a mission after an important Timon mine is disconnected from the communication network. The Maer are a civilization of larger dwarves, the Timon of smaller ones. Yglind (a knight), Ardo (his squire), and Aene (a mage) find the mine attacked by a group of humans.
The party soon finds Skittie, a metal mage of the Timon, who joins their group. Later they're also joined by the queen of the Timon, Laanda, who is also a fighter.
They follow the human's trail of destruction and bloodshed up and down through the mine. Fighting all kind of monsters including a dragon. They occasionally encounter the humans, even capturing one for a while, but the humans are too powerful for the Maer and Timon to force a final confrontation until the very end.
During the time of their quest the heroes find times to relief some of their stress through sex several times. Gay, lesbian, and straight sex, including bondage.
Review: Dan Fitzgerald's foremost strength lies in the way he subtly, but precisely, defines characters in their relationships. Which is very important in a book that focusses so much on a small group going through challenges. They become real and distinct, grow way above being archetypes, with just a few pages with them in it.
I also liked how crisp and engaging the combat scenes - of which there are quite a few of course - are written. And how the at the same time soft, clear, and explicit(!) sex scenes were described.
I also quite enjoyed the occasional moments of humor. Like "joy stick" as name for a sex toy, or a character, fearing for her life, thinking "What an inglorious end, she thought, to be killed by someone with such atrocious facial hair."
Sometimes there were a few too many made up "Fantasy Words" for my taste. And while I'm normally no map-aficionado, as much as the plot of this book relied on the relative locations of the Maer and Timon versus the humans, I'd have liked one as reference.
What brings this book from 4 to 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5 stars) for me was the melancholic ending. Putting the individual quest the reader witnessed into the broader context of a declining civilization at the end of its time. I also want to praise the use of Content Warnings!
Full disclosure: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I am also friendly with Dan Fitzgerald on Twitter.
The party soon finds Skittie, a metal mage of the Timon, who joins their group. Later they're also joined by the queen of the Timon, Laanda, who is also a fighter.
They follow the human's trail of destruction and bloodshed up and down through the mine. Fighting all kind of monsters including a dragon. They occasionally encounter the humans, even capturing one for a while, but the humans are too powerful for the Maer and Timon to force a final confrontation until the very end.
During the time of their quest the heroes find times to relief some of their stress through sex several times. Gay, lesbian, and straight sex, including bondage.
Review: Dan Fitzgerald's foremost strength lies in the way he subtly, but precisely, defines characters in their relationships. Which is very important in a book that focusses so much on a small group going through challenges. They become real and distinct, grow way above being archetypes, with just a few pages with them in it.
I also liked how crisp and engaging the combat scenes - of which there are quite a few of course - are written. And how the at the same time soft, clear, and explicit(!) sex scenes were described.
I also quite enjoyed the occasional moments of humor. Like "joy stick" as name for a sex toy, or a character, fearing for her life, thinking "What an inglorious end, she thought, to be killed by someone with such atrocious facial hair."
Sometimes there were a few too many made up "Fantasy Words" for my taste. And while I'm normally no map-aficionado, as much as the plot of this book relied on the relative locations of the Maer and Timon versus the humans, I'd have liked one as reference.
What brings this book from 4 to 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5 stars) for me was the melancholic ending. Putting the individual quest the reader witnessed into the broader context of a declining civilization at the end of its time. I also want to praise the use of Content Warnings!
Full disclosure: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I am also friendly with Dan Fitzgerald on Twitter.