The Vast White

By Jason Walters

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0982006705
• ISBN13: 9780982006702
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: BlackWyrm
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Two Armies at the edge of the world forced to cooperate

The Upside: The Vast White, The Murderers Edge is a fantasy novella written as an accounting of a war, written from the point of view of a mercenary captain in the employ of an expanding empire. There are some classic Fantasy races involved, but for the most part they are sideline to the humans, in fact according to the written account they are outlawed. Which doesn't stop a mercenary company from employing a few, since laws are always a bit hazy on the outer edges of an expanding Empire. The two sides are very reminiscent of real cultures, the attacking side feels like it could be the Roman Empire, the defending side is definitely a take on various Arab and Northern African (specifically Bedouin) cultures. Right down to religious beliefs. This falls both on the good and bad side of things. I liked that aspect specifically because I didn't need to be front loaded with a whole host of cultural information, pretty much everything I needed comes straight from what I learned in school, or read in books. Being fantasy, however, there are still enough elements that are different to make the invaded army interesting and new - Harpy riding Mages for one thing. The book itself is written as an accounting of what happened during a particular battle in the Conquering Empires quest for world domination. All from the point of view of a mercenary captain. It reads like part field report and part commentary, with a liberal dose of sarcasm. The style allows for a lot of long winded information heaps without looking out of place. The down side is that you have to read through a page of background information that, all told, takes maybe a third of the already short novel. It is at least written in an amusing manner instead of dry information. The rest of the book is a first hand account of a decisive battle between the Empire and all the tribes of the desert people, focusing on the portion the mercenary regiment is involved in. From before the fight, through and to the subsequent fleeing of the battle scene once an unnatural sandstorm appears. Remnants of the two sides must work together to get to safety. Safety - as it turns out - is none other than the single city the two armies were fighting of the right to siege in the first place. Aside from the occasionally dry history lessons presented the action is well written and the book over all is paced well, gliding along at a friendly speed. The Downside: It was hard for me to decide if the blatant copying of real world cultures was a boon or not to the book. From one stand point it's not entirely imaginative, could possibly be seen as lazy, and at the extreme might have a few historians up in arms. On the other hand, I don't have to spend a lot of time learning a whole new fantasy culture, religion or society so I have a built in knowledge I can simply rub the serial numbers off of. So, while it looks kind of boring it's not really, in fact it was refreshing to not have to cram my brain with another made u

exciting military fantasy

In Northern al-Muttaqiina Mountains bordering on the Vast White in the Year of Ascension 327, the Sultanate and the Etrisian Empire prepare for war over who annexes the Spice Cities into their monarchy. Both sides covet Salt, the unconquered Spice City that neither has been able to bring under their rule. The winner of this battle will invade the city that has never been occupied by outsiders. Padisha the Sultan has his army of Bedune units growing; each new arrival comes with his camel herd to show off his worth. On the other side of the upcoming battle is the Etrisian forces led by Horsehead the terror wizard who recently destroyed the Spice city Saffron. Murdering mercenary Highdome, leader of the Red Regiment of killers, mutants and monsters, observes his leader Horsehead patiently waiting as if he wants more of his enemy in his way. Both sides release new magics to totally annihilate their opposition. Neither considered the consequences of sorcery on the edge of the Vast White. Both sides soon find monster issues as the suddenly awakening Vast White ignites in retaliation. Horsehead and his Red Regiment struggle to survive the raging expanding desert with no hope except perhaps unleashing the uncontrollable Murderer's Edge force not knowing the subsequent consequences, if they can even perform this seemly impossible task, may prove worse than the raging assault of the awakened Vast White. Part of the fascination with this exciting military fantasy is there is no hint of a concept of good and bad warring. Instead survival not necessarily of the fittest is what the war turns into. The Red Regiment is an intriguing group as murdering misfits must band together whether they are monsters, mutants or mortals if they want to stay alive once the Vast White begins its "cleansing" of the Sultanate and Etrisian forces. Narrated by roguish Highdome, the audience mostly obtains his viewpoint of what is going wrong. Fans will enjoy this entertaining tale though the print copy contains a very small font size that detracts from the enjoyment. Harriet Klausner