Positive Reviews!

The Mountain Throne’s first professional critical review came out this week, and it’s positive! You can find it here. The summary line reads, “This striking tale whips up a fresh storm in familiar fantasy territory,” which I translated as “good and not too weird.” That’s a good place to be for a new author. It was also favorably compared to modern fantasy legend George R.R. Martin: “Sterling’s lushly realized novel should scratch the itch for those awaiting more material from Game of Thrones mastermind George R.R. Martin.”

The reviewer seems to have a soft heart, however. Some of the talk about the setting and plot include things like “Terryth is an aggressively horrible place” and “The finale to this first volume in a trilogy is staggeringly violent.” I think that’s overstrong language, but hey, subjective.

Funny anecdote. I showed this review to a friend who’s an electrical engineer. He agreed with my opinion of the reviewer. “It’s obvious they’re not an EE,” he said with a thousand-yard stare. “They don’t know what real darkness is…”

One of the first (also, only) reviews at Amazon is five stars. “Oh my, this was a good find. The author has successfully mixed the key components of good epic fantasy: compelling characters, intrigue, magic, betrayal, secrets, battle, heroism, and modt [sic] all a vast world to explore. Be warned there is enough lust and brutality to raise the eyebrows of even the most jaded GRRM reader but the author keeps it pertinent to the story and, while graphic, it is not simply thrown in for cheap thrills. I eagerly await the next installments.”

Again with the Martin comparison and reference to a brutal world, though this reader seemed less shocked.

Goodreads reviews are so far similarly positive, though with an average of 4.4 instead of 5. “I’ve had the privilege of literally watching the faces of other people as they read this book,” and “Extremely well written and engaging, The Mountain Throne is certainly worth reading.”

If you’re ready to see what they’re happy about, go buy The Mountain Throne! It’s on Amazon Prime right now, or available from Kindle for $2.99!