The Hammer and the Blade
An Egil & Nix Novel
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- USD 5.99
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- USD 5.99
Publisher Description
For readers of Brent Weeks, Joe Abercrombie, Peter V. Brett, and Scott Lynch comes the first book in a fantastic, hilarious new sword-and-sorcery series that puts a clever new twist on the golden age of epic fantasy.
Robbing tombs for fun and profit might not be a stable career, but Egil and Nix aren’t in it for the long-term prospects. Egil is the hammer-wielding warrior-priest of a discredited god. Nix is a roguish thief with just enough knowledge of magic to conjure up trouble. Together, they seek riches and renown, yet often find themselves enlisted in lost causes—generally against their will.
So why should their big score be any different? The trouble starts when Nix and Egil kill the demonic guardian of a long-lost crypt, nullifying an ancient pact made by the ancestors of an obscenely powerful wizard. Now the wizard will stop at nothing to keep that power from slipping away, even if it means freeing a rapacious beast from its centuries-old prison. And who better than Egil and Nix—the ones responsible for his current predicament—to perform this thankless task?
Praise for The Hammer and the Blade and Paul S. Kemp
“A gripping tale [with] the feeling of a classic Dungeons & Dragons campaign.”—Publishers Weekly
“Most heroes work up to killing demons. Egil and Nix start there and pick up the pace.”—Elaine Cunningham, author of the Thorn Trilogy
“Kemp delivers sword and sorcery at its rollicking best, after the fashion of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.”—Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After raiding the tomb of the Afirion ruler Abn Sur, adventurer Nix Fall and priest Egil decide to retire and settle down as owners of a tavern. Unfortunately, their plans do not take into consideration the wizard Rakon, who magically compels them to rob another Afirion grave and secure an ancient horn that Rakon ostensibly plans to use to cure his two ailing sisters. When one of those sisters manages to get inside Nix's head, Rakon's plans are revealed as less than altruistic, and Nix and Egil face a dilemma made more complex by the spell that binds them. The structure of the story has the feeling of a classic Dungeons & Dragons campaign as the heroes and supporting cast cross a wasted plateau in search of the tomb; however, the strong characters, setting, and history turn what could be a cookie-cutter adventure into a gripping tale.
