DNF at 21%.
Sorry!!! This one just isn't catching my imagination.
It's always an interesting conceit to tell a story from the point of view of a "bad guy." However, while Slud the troll is indubitably a "bad guy," he's merely thuggish and brutal, rather than interesting. He's also rather dim-witted, and doesn't seem to possess any personal motivation: his quest for revenge is merely something that he's been trained into by his 'foster-mother,' Agnes.
Agnes could be an interesting character, but rather than being a mortal individual consumed by loss and bitterness, she seems to be some sort of avatar of a supernatural being, with the result that she feels extremely flat and opaque.

I have to admit that while reading the prologue, I found myself hoping that the narrative would switch to another point of view for the main story. But, it didn't, and after checking other reviews, it seems that the whole book sticks with Slud. Unfortunately, I'm not sticking with him...

I received an ARC of Cold Counsel in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Chris Sharp and Tor.

The Troll, Slud of the Blood Claw Clan was born amidst the most intense storm that the world had ever witnessed. The narrative of Cold Counsel is about his bitter revenge following on from the eradication of the Troll race in a brutal genocide manufactured by the Elves. Luckily, newborn Slud, son of the clan's leader was whisked away from destruction by the witch Agnes in secret. The tale unfolds in the Iron Wood where Agnes had been raising and moulding Slud into a tool of vengeance. "For cold is the counsel of women."

I have to admit that even from the beginning, this seemed like an unusual but intriguing concept with a Troll being the hero. Slud's tusk-bearing, axe-wielding, and hulking presence reminded me of the warrior Orcs from Lord of the Rings. It is very much a coming of age tale as Slud looks to reclaim the mountain from the Goblin hordes. I was interested to see if a Troll on his own could carry the weight of a fantasy tale as I couldn't imagine such a character meeting or befriending anyone on his travels. Fortunately, I was incorrect and some of the colorful companions he meets are just as bizarre and unusual at Slud. I enjoyed reading the point of view chapters from the mind of legendary demon wolf, Luthar, and my favourite was the perspective of Neither-Nor, a tattooed rogue twin-blade flaunting Goblin. Sharp works this strange angle of presenting a fantasy story admirably well. Troll's are still brutes, Goblin's are still mischevious and often untrustworthy but these races, normally the villains of fantasy, are given human qualities but without trying to manipulate our already formed views of them too much.

I noticed another reviewers' status update stating that they didn't like the way Slud's vocals were written. It is in broken, almost slang English and at first, I thought it a was child-like presentation. On reflection and as I got further into the story, I decided I liked what Sharp had done with Slud's and some of the other characters speech. Instead of child-like, I naturally started reading these parts in harsh, guttural Scottish or Jamaican accents depending on the person in question and this was actually really fun in painting the overall picture of the world and its players in my mind. In addition, who expects a Troll to have a posh British accent anyway?

The fabricated fantasy world isn't too grandiose. The majority of what happens takes place in the Iron Wood, at the Goblin's mountain capital and other places traversed on the journies in-between. Where this book exceeds is in its Troll-lead pummelling high speed and brutal action scenes. I had a lot of fun reading this book. The created world seems a nice mix of typical fantasy and Norse mythology (with mentions of the Gods Odin and Hel etc...) This is a pretty great standalone story that doesn't try to pretend it is trying to create something groundbreaking, grand and epic. At 288 pages it is a quick read and that is a reason that the characters aren't too complex. They all have a primary motive and that is about it but as mentioned, Cold Counsel is all about the blood and guts action and the Goblin's political turbulence. At the finale, it is ambiguously presented that a sequel could follow but perhaps the author is as unsure as I am to know if this is the end of Slud's adventures. Sharp's well-written tale following a Troll's destiny is highly recommended, firstly for the plot and action, secondly to say you have read a book where the Troll was the hero.

Cold Counsel by Chris Sharp was a book, that sold itself to me just by that badass cover. It's as wickedly cool as they come - and of course the back-blurb promised me a ripping yarn of Trolls, Elves, Goblins, Witches and their evil magic altering the world engaged in brutal battles.

Now these creatures bring in a sense of yearning for the old style of fantasy-writing - where it was truly 'fantastical' and we willingly took frequent leaps of faith, into boiling cauldrons of frothing magic and myth, enjoying the ride, as unbelievable and fanciful as they are. It's the same with Chris Sharp's first book in this series, that follows the adventures of Slud ('Bringer of Trouble'), the last troll left this side of the world, going about a war to reclaim his birthright and perhaps, more. A familiar sense of yearning, a straight-forward classic tale of sword-and-sorcery but wrapped up in newer sensibilities that appeal and exhilarate at the same time, for us readers used to the realistic feel of grit in the such grim and dark worlds.

So the Trolls have been wiped out of this world when ages ago, King of the fearsome Blood Claw Clan took it upon himself to wage war against all other races and take over the Mountain. In return, the elves, goblins and other races joined hands to lead the complete decimation of the trolls. However, one baby troll escaped. Slud who was quietly smuggled away by Agnes, a witch in the Iron Wood. Now Agnes, is no ordinary witch but a powerful one who teaches Slud the survival skills, albeit in a cruel and brutal manner with no show of mercy; preparing him for his 'destiny' - to be king of the mountain and claim his revenge against the world. We encounter the brute, the day that he is deemed worthy of this destiny - when the Rock Clan goblins finally discover the humble abode of the Iron Wood witch. And then as they say, all hell breaks loose.
Except this version of hell looks like a gigantic barbaric troll who brings on fear and destruction with his swaggering gait, daring and pragmatism. He wades down the mountain to deal with the meddlesome goblins, led by the cruel Arok Khan, the huge leader of this clan who is content to drown himself in jugs of ale and bite off the heads of his simpering cronies in the court, forgetting the ways of the old.

Chris Sharp, like others today writing epic fantasy ( Brian Staveley my hot favorite, N K Jemisin, Joe Abercrombie etc) is going down the path of examining the tropes that make up this genre - and re-designing them in his own original fashion. The effect is stunning and makes the book, all sorts of fun to read. Sharp's world is drenched in sensory details - the Iron Wood, the lakes and the Mountain, nature comes really alive in his attention to detail. This essentially is a sage of revenge and so the book is filled with some wickedly mind-blowing action set-pieces. The parts, especially that featured the strange Goblin Neither-Nor perform his aerial acrobatics with his moon-blade knife and pig-sticker, was truly top class!

As we accompany the simple-minded but extremely tenacious Troll on this lifetime adventure, we also meet quite a few interesting characters who make the narrative all more lively and colorful. The chief two who made my read a wholly entertaining experience are Neither-Nor, the goblin blessed with immortality courtesy a magic of the flesh, born of ancient runes etched onto his body and of course, Agnes, the Witch. Neither-Nor brings in the levity to the grim situations, usually drenched in blood and gore of the goblin race. Slud's interactions with Neither-Nor are hilarious - and the grumbling Goblin warrior whose fame is legendary, vents out his frustration in most colorful of languages. Now Agnes is a very interesting character as her character is the one that truly brings in the scope of 'epic' into the narrative. We are given hints of this dystopian world, ravaged by the Ragnarok, terrifying memories capturing the brutal destruction of the world and its Gods through her memories. And the presence of two ravens, a thousand years old, also bring in that sense of mystique to the narrative, telling us that the straightforward tale of good old Slud, might not just be a simplistic tale of revenge after all. Slud himself is a machine, that doesn't deter from his set goals - and in addition to the fearsome warrior that he is, also turns out to be amazingly resourceful.

This colorful world of gigantic trolls, immortal witches and grumbling goblins is a great start to this epic series. Given that Slud has only got started on his saga of revenge, I look forward eagerly to the story of Slud and the Elves now. The Mountain is only the beginning - and Chris Sharp is only getting started. A must-read for all fans of epic fantasy.

I spent two days trying to read this and made it about 40% through before I gave up and skipped to the last two chapters. I'm sure it will be a great read for the right reader, but that apparently isn't me.

Slud manages to be both unlikable and boring, spending much of his time as a passive protagonist following a path that has been set out for him by the woman who raised him.

Agnes is potentially interesting, being the revenge-focused remnant of something much more ancient, but she's also (as far as I can tell from the first 40%, last two chapters and epilogue) the only named female character in the book. The only other female character so far was an unnamed water fairy who existed only to help Slud on his journey and have sex with him. There are whole hordes of goblins, but none of them appear to be women, and there are no worldbuilding excuses given, which suggests that Chris Sharp just didn't care enough to bother with them.

Mostly, though, Cold Counsel just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I was hoping for a clever, fresh take on trolls and goblins as main characters, maybe with some interesting playing around with common tropes or some fun subversions of tried and true narratives. While I didn't read the whole book, I didn't see any signs of cleverness or fun in the parts I did read. Disappointing. I'd hoped for an innovative sword and sorcery adventure perhaps in the neighborhood of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Spiderlight (also from Tor.com), which I loved last year, but this is nowhere close to that caliber of work.

Ive only read a few books about trolls and goblins so I was excited to jump into this. Maybe Im just not use to adult fantasy but the writing slowed my reading pace. I felt like it didnt flow easily and I found myself rereading a lot of sentences which was my only real issue with this book. I know adult fantasy typically takes more concentration on my part so I didnt let it diminish my excitement for the story. The world and the characters were fascinating but it took me about a quarter of the book before I got use to the writing and was really invested in the story. I especially enjoyed the last quarter of the book. It was a fun and intense ending.

The main character Slud is an intelligent and terrifying brute of a troll. The last of his kind. The anti-hero aspect was a wonderful change from the fantasy books Ive been reading lately. Slud was raised by a witch after his whole clan was killed by elves. There was a couple sensitive issues with the witch being abusive in her quests to make Slud stronger and with Slud hurting himself to help him think more clearly. I personally dont think these issues took away from the story. Their brutal culture set them a part from humans. This isnt to say humans cant be brutal. It just isnt the norm for us like it is for these creatures.

The author did a wonderful job creating memorable and unique characters. I loved the Goblin Neither-Nor and was excited to have them form an alliance. Neither-Nors complaining and interactions with Slud made me laugh. The scenes with the Wolf King Luther and the Omega female were some of my favorites. I thought the Hag, Fixelcrick and Dingle were all interesting characters. I also really enjoyed the Fire Salamanders. Overall this book had an engaging plot, compelling characters and a rich world. I would definitely recommend it. I hope I get the review the sequel. The wait might drive me crazy.