Servant: The Dark God Book 1
Awards
Best Novel of the Year, speculative fiction, Whitney Award.
Praise & Reviews
“Engrossing debut. . . . Readers will be rewarded with a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy adventure.” Full Review.
~ Publishers Weekly
“A provocative, suspenseful beginning of a new series.”
~ Booklist
“This well-wrought tale of families in conflict against both politics and religion represents a welcome addition to large-scale fantasy.” Full Review.
~ Library Journal (Starred Review!)
“Servant of a Dark God delivers solid pacing, a great setting, and a smart story that breaks away from genre conventions.”
~ Brandon Sanderson, New York Times best-selling author of Mistborn
“There are moments of cliffhanger suspense and scenes of tender compassion. Terrible things happen, but powerful good rises to meet the challenge, though this is no “and they all lived happily ever after” kind of story. Face it, a fantasy novel that pulled me in so thoroughly, has to be good.” Full Review.
~ Jennie Hansen, Meridian Magazine columnist
“A complex, powerful story of a youth trying to learn who he is and what he is, with no allies he can trust in a world stalked by a monster. A book that copies nothing I have read before and which goes its own way brilliantly.”
~ David Drake, Author of the popular Hammer’s Slammers and Lord of Isles series
“Thoroughly engrossing from the first page to the last! John Brown shows himself to be a writer with remarkable depth and power. I haven’t seen a debut novel this good in years!”
~ David Farland, New York Times best-selling author of Runelords and Ravenspell series
“In Servant of a Dark God, John Brown has created a complex and intricate world, filled with all the permutations of human good and evil, as well as evil that goes beyond the human, where neither heroes nor villains are quite what they seem at first, and where the cost of virtue is high indeed, yet where, in the end, the tenacity of such virtue is what is required to triumph.”
~ L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Award-winning author of the Recluce Saga
“In his debut novel, Servant of a Dark God, John Brown adds his voice to epic fantasy with a world I can see and smell and taste and believe in. . . and characters I can cheer for, travel with, and want to see again.
~ Ken Scholes, Author of Lamentation
“A classic heroic saga, dealing with the bedrock issues of good and evil and identity. These are classic themes because they matter; and Brown makes them matter both to his young protagonist and the reader. It promises to continue for quite a distance, and I hope it does.”
~ Kage Baker, Author of House of the Stag and The Company series
“I highly recommend this debut novel for those who enjoy a good coming-of-age epic fantasy.” Full Review.
~ Kirk Shaw, Fiction editor for Covenant Communications (a division of Deseret Book)
“I will say, in utter candor, that Servant of a Dark God is a work that truly stands out from other fantasy books on the market. What makes this book work so well is that it’s a story about family first, and a fantasy adventure second.” Full review.
~ James Maxey, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show
“John Brown’s book has all the great things about epic fantasy that I love.” Full Review.
~ Mette Ivie Harrison, Author of The Princess and the Hound and The Princess and the Bear
“This was deeper than a hack and slash adventure, but it was still really fun. It was surprisingly deep when it came to things like family, trust, and truth. That said, I was still engrossed enough to pound through this novel in a couple of sittings.” Full Review.
~ Larry Correia, Author of Monster Hunter International
More Reviews of Servant of a Dark God
“Compelling…will grip readers from the onset.” Full Review.
~ Harriet Klausner, probably the most prolific book reviewer in the world: Time, WSJ
“In SERVANT OF A DARK GOD, John Brown has created a dark and detailed world that has us salivating (literally) for more.” Full Review.
“Servant of a Dark God by John Brown is one of those novels that I pick up with some reluctance, not really thinking it’s for me, but then I end up enjoying it thoroughly.” Full Review.
~ Tia Nevitt, Fantasy Debut
“This first fantasy novel gets kudos from the outset because the setting was sufficiently different from the usual to make me perk up after only a couple of chapters.” Full Review.
~ Don D’Ammassa
“A solid mix of humor and heart-wrenching sadness combine with plenty of well-done action to produce a novel that new readers as well as experienced hands will enjoy.” Full Review.
“I’ll definitely be reading the sequel and if I had to make a prediction, I’d say John Brown is the name of a fantasy author we’ll be hearing about for a long time to come.” Full Review.
~ Fantasy and SciFi Lovin’ News & Reviews
“Perhaps my favorite thing about “Servant” is its pace.” Full Review.
“Like another reviewer, I picked up this book with reluctance, but by the third chapter I found myself completely under its spell.” Full Review (on page 12).
