The Pariah: Book One of the Covenant of Steel

When it comes to fantasy or any of its sub-genres, I’ve often considered a first person narrative that focuses only on one character to be restrictive, but Ryan makes such good use of that style that I barely noticed. We see the story unfold through the eyes of Alywn, all his dark thoughts and worries, and I never feft anything was lacking. If anything, it aided the story, because it allowed Ryan to give us hints and shadows of what was to come, not only in this book but in the other instalments. This is grimdark fantasy at it’s goring best and it felt like a fusion of Abercrombie and Lawrence’s style - which is high praise indeed! I can’t wait to read The Martyr.

Really enjoy Ryan’s work and think this series which is book one of is his best yet. Just ordered the third book and can’t wait.

Good solid 5 stars for an entertaining and absorbing story with plenty of violence betrayal and a hero worth rooting for.

This was the 9th book of Anthony's I've read and every one has been filled with great characters and excellent storytelling. Can't wait to read book 2 in the series

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.The main character is Alwyn, the illegitimate son of a prostitute. Fleeing for his life at an early age, he finds himself in the company of thieves, robbers and murderers in an outlaw band living in the forest. Here he grows and learns his skills in life. Alwyn is content to live amongst the lowest of society until his life takes a sudden twist. Betrayal abruptly results in a dramatic change in Alwyn's life. What follows is Alwyn working his way up, becoming a warrior in a bloody quest for vengeance.For some reason, I struggled to get into the book at the start; however, I was very soon engrossed in the story. Pages flew past as I sunk into the mesmerising tale. The biggest problem with the story is the delay till the next book in the series. The plot flows smoothly for the most part. As expected from the author of the blood song, the world-building is phenomenal. Similar to blood song, the story is from the protagonists perspective.The characters have depth; the protagonist, Alwyn, is noted for his intelligence early in the book. Organically this lends to deeper introspection and thought. Women are fascinating and brought to life, unsurprising given the strong female leads in previous books. Throughout a journey set in a medieval world, a variety of individuals appear at pivotal moments. Each one changes Alwyn's life, and thus the story. Magic, surprisingly, is barely present. The tale takes life through the heroes journey. A path through a landscape influenced by faith, politics and battle. Fight scenes are vivid and enchanting, a marked improvement. Maybe Anthony has taken lessons from John Gwynne, whose quote graces the amazon page.This is a brilliant book and a great start to a new series. Recommended and worth buying.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint. Mr. Ryan has a talent for creating memorable characters and Alwyn Scribe has certainly left an impression on me! The story starts out as a coming of age tale of Alwyn as we follow his life as an outlaw. There is plenty of action and twists throughout. I know I'm being vague, but you know, spoilers and all...One of my favourite aspects of this story is the writing style. Alwyn himself is chronicling his story to the reader and I always enjoy this kind of style. It makes it feel more personal and immediate, especially when he speaks directly to us. There is also some great prose in here and so many quotable lines. If I weren't so immersed in the story I would have stopped to write them down.This is very much a character centred story around Alwyn, but there are plenty of interesting secondary characters too and I was so captivated by the journey and the people Alwyn meets along the way. I really enjoyed his observations of the world around him and of his wit and intellect, although sometimes his recklessness gets in the way of his good sense.I didn't read the synopsis first, which I'm glad of because it's actually quite spoilery in my opinion. My advice would be to avoid it if possible. So for me, the story went in some very unexpected directions which I loved. The ending opened up some fascinating possibilities to my imagination and I'm looking forward to seeing where Ryan decides to take Alwyn in the sequel.

A fascinating read and a great story, if you like the writings of George R R Martin & Bernard Cornwell then Anthony Ryan is up there with the best. This author never fails

Excellent read. I was really sorry I came to the end of this book. Anthony writes such a good story, you feel you could be there, living the characters he describes so fluently. No spoilers here but an enthusiastic appreciation of a good story, well told and with vision to set the people he describes vividly and in detail. A hint of magic but mainly relating how individuals actions can change and undo an unfair world. Highly recommended to lovers of believablely good stories.