I read The Warden last year and gave it 4-stars because I enjoyed it so much. I liked Necrobane even more, gobbling it up quickly. I can’t wait for the next volume!

First, a quote from The Warden if you, like me, may have been confused about what a Necrobane is:

“I foresee the need for a different servant of Onoma; one who does not reach beyond the veil of night and roll back its touch but one who uses the powers She grants to fight death on all its fronts, not merely as physician or surgeon but as a champion of the Grave Maiden, who sees to it that death is neither unduly powerful nor stripped of its mystery. It is for this, for the Necrobane, that these following few pages are meant.”

Like The Warden, there are multiple threads here that come together, though the book occasionally has an episodic feel. I enjoyed this book even more for two big reasons. First, we get more pages to see the friendship with Aelis and Tun develop. It is bizarrely strange how rare it is to see close, platonic relationships between equals and based on mutual respect appear in sci-fi and fantasy. I find this friendship much more compelling than the romance in the book, though others might feel differently. Second, Aelis’s character development, while subtle, is really beautifully done.

After The Warden left off on a cliffhanger, I was really excited to read its sequel. Necrobane is a thrilling continuation of Aelis de Lenti’s journey, blending necromantic magic, ancient curses, and adventure. In this book, Aelis has accidentally unleashed an army of undead from the crypts of Mahlgren, and the stakes are higher than ever. With her village of Lone Pine at risk, she embarks on a dangerous quest to uncover the source of necromantic power at the heart of the crypts, joined by a diverse group of companions. I love the character development and I found this to be a satisfying conclusion to the duology.

*Fiasco* by Constance Fay is an engaging and dramatic exploration of personal turmoil and the consequences of poor decisions. The story centers around characters whose lives spiral out of control, each facing the fallout of their actions. Fay's writing is sharp and raw, capturing the emotional depth and complexity of her characters. The plot unfolds with unexpected twists and turns, keeping readers hooked as they witness the characters' unraveling. Themes of redemption, failure, and self-realization are thoughtfully explored. *Fiasco* is a compelling read for those who enjoy character-driven stories that delve into human flaws and the messy realities of life.

Book Summary:

Once upon a time (not all that long ago, really), Aelis de Lenti thought she was being insulted or shunned when assigned to be the Warden of Lone Pine. Now, she cherishes her role in the village and would do anything to protect them.

Even if that means walking out into the dark and facing a monster before it can reach them. In her quest for answers, Aelis may have kicked off something much bigger than herself, and it’ll take everything she has to stop it before a war begins anew.

My Review:

Necrobane is the second novel in Daniel M. Ford’s Warden series, and I have SO been looking forward to seeing what happens next. The last book left us on a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving me all sorts of anxious and worried.

The events that follow are exactly what I was hoping for. It resolved everything from the last book while finding new and different ways to up the ante. In other words, it’s a perfect fantasy sequel.

I am sad that Necrobane is shorter than its predecessor. I feel like a few areas could have been explored further (like the whole conclusion). Maybe that’s just me because I want to learn everything about this world.

There are two major twists in this book. The first comes about halfway through, and it’s heavy. Good, but heavy. The second comes at the end and will certainly set the tone for the next novel, which I’m already looking forward to.

Highlights:
Necromancers & Trials
Adventure Fantasy
Part of a Series
LGBTQ+

I received a copy of Necrobane by Daniel Ford free from ##NetGalley. This is the second book of the series The Warden. Aelis still doesn't trust her friends enough and has opened crypts where the dead will walk. She ends up taking her girlfriend Maurenia, Tun-the half Orc, and Timmuk-the dwarf to stop them and find the key. She battles them but again because of her impulsiveness, her girlfriend is found bound to land like Circe and Calypso. She must know find a way to free her, and kill Darius. By the end of the boom, she had adjusted to Lone Pines but it ends on another cliffhanger as she must go defend a teacher. I didn't like it as well as the Warden but I think it was because it seemed like the characters were stuck in their trust and it didn't flow as well. I will still continue the series. I also didn't like this cover as well as I did the first cover.

A fun sequel to an already great story. Ford has created a world with an interesting and complex magic system. Ford also does a wonderful job of humanizing his characters. They run into normal issues within this fantastical world. Their approach to dealing with these issues feel more true to how any normal person would deal with them. I was so happy to receive this as the last book ended on such a cliffhanger. I am happy it will be a continuing series and look forward to future installments.

Necrobane is 2nd in a fantasy series starring kick-ass Necromancer/Enchanter/Abjurer Aelis de Lenti.

In the first episode, she was assigned as Warden for remote Lone Pine village. She resides in a tower nearby.

Now the entire region is threatened by an army of undead that her actions have unleashed.

Aelis and friends stop them but at a high cost.

I didn't realize at first that this was the second in a series, and the beginning of the story had me hooked, so I decided to take a pause and read the first book, "The Warden." I was in for a fun ride, and grateful to have two books in Aelis's world! Now I'm eagerly awaiting the third.

The story follows Aelis, Warden of Lone Pine, as she works to undo a danger brought about by her own actions. She has always been brash and independent. Can she learn to rely on her friends, while also considering them in her planning?

I love the world this story is set in, with its rich tapestry of characters and lands. I can't wait to explore it more.

This was a stellar follow up to The Warden - and I think I liked it even more than the first book. Aelis remains a compelling female lead and is joined for most of the book by my favorite side characters from the first book. Ford does a great job writing complex and fun side characters, the lack of which is something that has been grating on me in some of the other books I've read lately. If you love snarky, clever characters off to save the world, you should definitely give this series a try. I think, much like her partymates, I would follow Aelis anywhere. I'm so excited for book 3 - I've already pre-ordered The Advocate!!

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars because I have not read book 1 yet but I will read book 1 and come back here to update this review and give you guys all my thoughts about it.

I was looking forward to Necrobane, the follow-up book to The Warden, not the least of which is that The Warden ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger. Surprisingly, what I remembered as a life-or-death moment was speedily dealt with–not an issue of immediate danger, but of long-term safety. Aelis’ mission becomes eradicating the potential skeleton hordes for both safety and political reasons.

The world is a sword-and-sorcery medieval world that will feel familiar to role-players. To date, we’ve met a dwarf, a half-orc, a half-elf, and learned that there is an uneasy peace with the orcs. Magic is fairly uncommon, with certain trained wizards becoming justicars, those that maintain legal order in the rural areas. Unlike many authors, Ford does a nice job of bringing the local village to life, both in character and in the type of labor it takes to survive.

I found characterization a mixed experience. Told in third-person, it primarily reflects Aelis’ viewpoint. She has an academic outlook, and while she notices the people around her, she doesn’t always credit them with capability. Integrating into the village continues to be a challenge. I felt unsure if this was due to inconsistent characterization or growth process. She can be challenging, so reader enjoyment may vary based on the extent one prefers to identify with main characters.

Unusually for the genre, Aelis has a significant romantic interest and this installment has her furthering her relationship with a half-elven woman, Maurenia. While the S&S fantasy tends to a love-em-and-leave-em philosophy, the relationship humanizes Aelis, as well as serving for a narrative foil for explanatory dialogue. I was ambivalent about it; while it didn’t feel forced, it did occasionally feel intrusive, often distracting from the plotting.

Like The Warden, I enjoyed the writing. I continued to find the plotting mildly unpredictable, perhaps because Ford doesn’t telegraph every plot point and the pacing is unusual. I found that rather than a typical ‘find-the-McGuffin’ fantasy plot, it tended to feel like a family vacation with young children instead of a straight-forward quest. Things that seem very important in one chapter (Aelis’ ankle, Maurenia) become shoved aside until much later, only to become a crisis again. Maybe that’s life, but honestly, it left me unsure of how much to believe what Aelis (or the author) had said. In the last section of the book, we literally have a prolonged recovery section that, while realistic, felt more like an extended epilogue and transition to the next book. While I appreciate the nod to the mundane life (see above), there’s a reason most books skip over the day-to-day.

What I really wanted was more necromancy, or necrobane activity, as the case may be. Aside from two major works, magic felt rare. Still, it kept me reasonably interested and I would consider it re-readable, which is remarkable for a fantasy these days. Consider it a recommendation with caveats.



Many thanks to Netgalley and Tor/Forge for an advanced e-copy of the book. All opinions my own, as always.

Necrobane picks up right where The Warden left off, so if you're considering reading it, make sure you've read The Warden first.

Much of this book is spent away from the town where Aelis is employed as the Warden, instead taking readers into the lands beyond, where bound spirits play complicated games and more of the undead lurk, stirred up by Aelis' battle with a not-as-dead-as-everyone-hoped necromancer. Aelis is confronted with a lot of consequences and takes responsibility for all of them, even the ones I wouldn't say she's actually responsible for, because she feels it's her duty as a Warden. Being such a slave to duty, she is forced to disappoint some of the people who care about her, and then deal with those consequences too. All of which is to say, this book is pretty rough on Aelis, but she toughs it out.

I enjoy this series, and the way Aelis (and the series) treats magic as just another job one can have an aptitude for. Something basically measurable and knowable. Her approach to using magic is a large part of why I keep reading (it certainly isn't for the interpersonal relations, which seem a little forced to me). That, and Tun, who is intriguing, and about whom I would like to learn more, thanks.

As second books in a series go, this one is a pretty strong sequel, and if you enjoyed The Warden odds are good you'll like this one, too. I did, anyway. But definitely read the first book first.

Imgur link goes to photo scheduled for May 18th
Blog post goes live May 17th
Will be discussed in May Reads Pt 1

TL;DR: This was almost as good as the first book. One tiny complaint, but otherwise such a fun adventure. Far less cozy than book too as well.
Source: NetGalley and I purchased this! So thank you to Tor and past me!

Plot: Aelis has to fix the big ‘whoopsie’ she had at the end of book one. She goes on an adventure and fights lots of undead, including a tooth monster!
Characters: We get a lot more focus on Aelis’s traveling partners in this, so I actually loved that and the dynamic between them. That was a great portion of the book.
Setting: We’re in the wilds for most of this. While not detailed it was well drawn enough to get us where we needed and to help us understand where we were.
Magic: A lot more of the fun D&D-esque magic from before, we also hear a lot about the rules of necromancy and the difference between what Aelis does and true necromancy!

**Thoughts**:

Necrobane is the follow up to The Warden from last year. I loved The Warden, it was a great mix of a cozy fantasy with some decent stakes and for me the feelings you get from a good D&D inspired setting and magic system. Necrobane is much the same, with far less cozy and much more adventure, which was a good thing! With no spoilers I can say Aelis makes a big ‘whoopsie’ at the end of book one and consequently has to travel back to Lone Pine, gather a group and head out to stop said ‘Whoopsie’ from overwhelming the town and causing a Problem (with a capital P).

This is an adventure story, a quest story if you would. We see her traveling with Tun and two others (including Reina, her lovely half-elf lover) to a ruined keep to obtain a much-needed magical item. Daniel M. Ford does a great job in this of building those characters around and with Aelis. I really enjoyed a lot of the interactions, the ways in which trust was building or lacking, and by the ending of the book the outcome from most of it. Additionally we see a lot of Aelis doing more magic. It shines in both combat in some historical information, along with Aelis’s use of a very powerful magical artifact!

My only complaint on this and it’s did really bother me, was at about 60% there was a very understandable mistake made with a drop of blood. Very light on spoilers here - but while healing someone Aelis dropped a single tiny drop of blood on the ground. Keep in mind this individual had some deep bite marks that required minor surgery and burns on their hands. Frankly I’m impressed only one drop fell! And yet when the magical consequences of that single drop of blood come to be, she’s called things like negligent or messy. And she took it! She let those words affect her and she agreed! Listen. I’ve been in a lot of blood. I’ve had a lot of injuries. It gets places! It was so unrealistic and frustrating to me to thing a field surgery and with wound treatment wouldn’t/shouldn’t shed blood that I was wrenched out of the story and struggled to come back.

I did ultimately sink back in and loved the remainder of the book. The contrivance of the blood definitely caused me to knock a star from my rating but overall it was a fun, fantastic new entrance in the series. I can’t wait for The Advocate, which we get a great hook for. I will definitely be continuing further in this series.

4 DROPS OF BLOOD THAT SHOULD HAVE REALISTICALLY FALLEN ON THE GROUND… out of 5

This series is getting a huge cover update and I love it! This is the sequel to The Warden series. a fantasy series that has our characters dealing with magic, small towns, relationships, bureaucracy and of course a dash of evil. There's mythology and history that the world draws a lot from as we follow Aelis who is kind of this spoiled overly confident character as she protects this small back water village. If you enjoyed the first one, this one expands on it in a really fun way.

Daniel M. Ford continues the fun tale of Aelis de Lenti, appointed The Warden (paper) of the village of Lone Pine, a place without a warden for years. The people of the village accept her now, even when she unlocks a magical crypt and unleashed walking skeletons. The stop them in her role as Necrobane (hard from TOR) must travel to a lost citadel where a control rod might be found. That, unfortunately, leads to more problems. This is a highly recommended fun series that I can't read without smiling. I can’t wait for her next adventure

Necrobane is, I think, a book that would have benefitted from me reading it much sooner after The Warden than I was ultimately able to. I realise I say this a lot of the time, but I think it’s more true in this case than most. Not least because, having had that year-plus long break, I remembered very little of the first book.

The story picks up almost immediately after the last chapter of that book, so, in a way, it’s not too much of a problem if you forget because you’re chucked straight back into the swing of things. You pick it back up as you read (although there were definitely some things that I just had to shrug and go along with).

There are two things that really stood out to me in this one as issues — and probably, if I’m honest, at least one was something I thought about the first book, but was hoping would get remedied in the second. Alas, it did not, so here I am. Let’s take that one first though.

The worldbuilding is, to put it bluntly, flimsy. It seems to me to rely a lot on shared concepts of fantasy worlds within the readers, the familiarity of them, instead of building a complete world in itself. Sure, to an extent, a lot of fantasy books do this, but this was a case where I could feel it. This was not to its detriment in book one — it let you pick up the world pretty quickly. But in book two I wanted more (and surely, was not helped by reading The Fellowship of the Ring at the same time because boy, does Tolkien know how to worldbuild). More is what I didn’t get, except to introduce new characters and magical concepts without any grounding in the worldbuilding. However, YMMV on this one: I know I lean on the in-depth worldbuilding side of things, but for others the lack of it will be a draw.

My second point lies, oddly enough, in how clever the main character is. Now, this is not to say I don’t want clever characters: of course I do! A plot resting on sheer stupidity is, unless amusing, guaranteed to irritate me no end. But there’s clever and then there’s this. The issue here is that Aelis is almost too clever. She can solve every problem, usually within a few pages, and a lot of the time she just doesn’t slip up. It’s like a scaling issue: she’s too powerful (read: intelligent) for the world she’s in and the problems she faces. As such, none of the stakes in this book feel that high. I’m sure they’re meant to be, but it just feels like an oddly low stakes high fantasy book (while clearly having stakes which are not meant to be low). Take, for example, the ease with which the big bad is killed at the end (assuming he’s genuinely been killed this time, of course). It happens within a few pages and all the build up to it (aka the entire rest of the book) feels a little pointless. Except to introduce the magical equivalent of modern Doctor Who’s sonic screwdriver which resolves every issue that Aelis can’t on her own. (I’m sure there’s a word for this, not deus ex machina, though I suppose that sort of works, but anyway…) As such, it’s all a bit like …oh well, okay, there goes that obstacle.

As I said, though, this is probably a book I’d have enjoyed more if I’d read it straight after the first one. Maybe then, I’d have managed to overlook all of this.

Daniel M. Ford blew me away last year when I got to read The Warden. At the time, I had said that I was hoping that I would get to spend more time in Aelis’s world soon, and guess what? Necrobane is here.

This book picks up immediately where The Warden left off, so heads up. Here there be spoilers.

Aelis is a necromancer and a noble scion. She’s a child raised in wealth in a large city, trained in magic and combat. In short, she is the antithesis of most of the people that she is, as a Warden, charged to protect. In her efforts to defend the village of Lone Pine, she accidentally activated an unknown number of animated dead of Mahlgren, necromancy-fueled remnants of the last war. While she was able to defeat the handful of skeletons that arose within the chamber she was exploring, she learned that there are far more similar crypts scattered throughout the realm. Now that they’re active, they’re likely to be heading in the direction of her new home. Just as the villagers were beginning to trust the outsider, now she’s got to warn them about an impending invasion of restless dead that are technically only emerging because of her actions.

Rather than leave the people of Lone Pine to fend for themselves, Aelis quickly hatches a plan to seek out a control mechanism that could potentially deactivate the entire enemy force. She narrows down the likely location to a stronghold of a fallen empire and gathers her allies. She may be a skilled and talented Necrobane, able to defeat animated dead with her own magic, but this struggle isn’t a solo venture. Up first, of course, is Maurenia. The half-elf is a skilled soldier and engineer, and her status as Aelis’s lover doesn’t hurt her chances to be invited along. Next is Timmuk, a dwarf merchant and a coworker of Maurenia’s on their last excursion across the frontier of Ystain. Last but not least is Tun, a half-orc woodsman who assisted Aelis on her previous adventure. Tun’s skill as a tracker is invaluable in their journey through the wilderness. Together, they hope to cut off any animated dead before they’re able to even approach Lone Pine. Ideally, they’ll put them down before any tensions between the humans and orcs along the frontier can be strained and reignite a war. Plus, maybe they’ll find some treasure along the way! As long, that is, as the control mechanism actually exists…

Ford’s writing and world-building remain top-notch throughout Necrobane, and it makes a spectacular continuation to the story established in The Warden. The stakes are higher now, and Aelis’s skills are going to be pushed to their limit if the party has any chance of succeeding. I am still wildly in love with this series, and will continue to recommend it for any fantasy fan who enjoys D&D and books like Gideon the Ninth and Legends & Lattes. I know at this point that we’re expecting a 3rd book in Aelis’s adventures in the near future, and I am ready for it.

My utmost thanks (once again) to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for access to an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review. Today is publication day, so go grab yourself a copy.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2024/04/23/necrobane-a-review/

I think this is a series for readers who enjoy tabletop rpgs. But it’s original, it’s good and the main character is interesting. For me it’s a five star book. I can’t wait to see what happens in book three, For someone who just wants a straight forward adventure fantasy four stars perhaps. For someone who’s a bit pickier and wants substance and meaning in their fantasy probably not your book…. It’s a solid adventure story and a fun page turner and not too deep. But a great deal of fun. 200 books would be a slow year for me and these two have still been in my top 20 or so each of these last two years because they put a smile on my face and Aelis has been the best fish out of water.

We pick up right after the last book with Aelis. She accidentally let something out while cleaning up another mess, and now has to get back to Low Pine and make sure its residents are prepared for what could be coming. She, her friend Tun, and a couple of others will see if they can stop what's coming before it gets to her new home.
This story gives me cozy fantasy vibes, I love how Aelis is determined to care for the people of Low Pine even though she would prefer to be elsewhere. I love her close friendship with Tun, and how despite her wanting to stay a bit apart from the townsfolk she can't help but get involved in their lives and grow closer to them.
I love the adventure they all go on, it was just action-packed and suspenseful enough to keep me entertained, and not want to put it down until I reached the last page.

I have a lot of fun reading this series and can't wait to see whats going to happen in book 3!

Picking up where the first book left off, we are set on another with Aelis and her companions. Aelis is tasked with finding more magic to protect her village and along for the journey includes the mercenary she's fallen for, her half-orc friend, and a dwarven merchant. It's a good second book but I did end up preferring the first book. Aelis felt a bit more juvenile in this one, compared to the last one. Overall it is a good fantasy series.