Book Review: Cold as Hell (Black Badge): The Definitive Edition by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle

Cover Image courtesy Aethon Books

Title: Cold as Hell: The Definitive Edition (Black Badge Volumes 1  & 0.5)

Authors: Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: 440 Pages (Hardcover)

Publication Date/Year: 2022 (Original) / 2025 (Definitive Edition) 

Genre: Weird Western

One of the things I enjoy most every year at New York Comic Con is the last day of the convention when publishers will often mark down their books significantly. This is a great way to find authors who are new to me, maybe snag a book I've had my eye on for a while. In the case with Cold as Hell by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle, published by Blackstone Publishing I'd never read either author (independently or collectively), but I've been impressed with Blackstone’s output the last couple of years so I figured, it is a beautiful book and the premise seems cool, so why not?

This isn’t just an “ordinary” book, it is the “Definitive Edition.” What does that mean? A pressed board hardcover adorned with an eye-catching foil-embossed lettering on the cover. I felt compelled to take a few pictures, with my meager skills and phone camera, of the book which do not enough justice to just how lovely this physical book is. It certainly caught my attention! In addition, the book includes a prequel novella previously only available as an audiobook as I’ve noted below.

So, what is this book about? Cold as Hell is the first installment of the Black Badge weird western series centered on James Crowley. Crowley is a Black Badge, tasked by the White Throne (Heaven?) to vanquish evil spirits and creatures. When James Crowley was killed (by the thieving gang he was part of), he was supposed to go to Hell. The Throne offered him a deal: return to the world of the living and become a Black Badge and vanquish evil at the behest of the White Throne. Crowley is fully formed (if not quite ALIVE) when we meet him. He’s been hunting evil via his angelic “sponsor(?)”/“liaison(?)”  Shar for a while when we meet him on his latest assignment - investigate a bank robbery in Lonely Hill. 

What makes this particular assignment strange is upon Crowley's arrival, snow is falling annd ice is present in a region where temperatures below freezing just don’t happen.

Shiny foil embossment and little details in the physical book.

It turns out something evil beyond simple thievery has taken root in Lonely Hill. We wouldn’t have this story if that wasn’t the case, but I digress. Upon his arrival in Lonely Hill, Crowley is not exactly trusted, some of the townspeople think he’s a marshal because of how he’s dressed, others simply don’t trust a stranger to their town. He essentially walks into the remnants of a good ol’ Wild West shoot-out and a young deputy is one of the only survivors who he acts as something of a sidekick to Crowley in this story.

As if that weren't enough, an old friend and ally of Crowley finds herself in Lonely Hill. A woman with connections to Crowley’s past… before he was a Black Badge, but isn’t quite sure of his true nature. Crowley also finds himself once again aligned against Ace, the leader of his old gang.

This leaves Crowley with quite a lot to unpack. 

I had a blast with this whole book and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to like it. Granted I wouldn't have purchased the book if I didn't expect to enjoy it, but it far exceeded my expectations. 

The promo material says this is something along the lines of a Dresden Files in the old West or Dresden Files meets the Witcher or Dresden Files meets Tombstone and that all seems pretty appropriate. I’m sure that’s why Chris McGrath is the cover artist and the rendition of James Crowley bears more than a passing resemblance to Harry Dresden. Be that as it may, the similarities are there, but Bruno and Castle do more than enough to set their protagonist, this world (and all the supernatural elements) and tone apart from the only wizard in Chicago’s Yellow Pages. 

(pssst kids… before the internet, there was this thing called a PHONE BOOK with Yellow Pages which is what was used to find local businesses and such)

Painted edges! Look at that fearsome monster from the cover on the edges!

Crowley is the first-person narrator for the novel and he’s engaging, sarcastic, and not exactly the hero you’d expect to represent the biblical God and angels. But as Crowley points out, sometimes the good side needs to employ somebody who is willing to get dirty in the fight against evil. … Or something like that. He’s vulnerable and unhappy in his job. I’m sure a lot of people can identify with that, right? At least he expresses his frustration with his “upline manager” as it were in Shar, which makes for some tense but enjoyable banter.

As I mentioned above, this edition also includes the Dead Acre, a novella originally published exclusively as an audiobook. Set before the events of Cold as Hell, the storyline is somewhat similar in that Crowley is dispatched by the White Throne via his angelic liaison Shar to investigate some strange happenings that might involve werewolves. This was a fun, effective story that showed some of the characters introduced in Cold as Hell a little earlier in their life and their early encounters with Crowley. I liked the spin Bruno and Castle have on werewolves for this story and milieu, among other supernatural creatures and lore of Native Americans.

One of about a half-dozen full-color paintings in this edition, used to separate "Cold as Hell" from "Dark Acre".

After reading one novel (and novella), I’m definitely fascinated enough to continue with the series. I find it intriguing that no definitive time or location is given for this setting other than the a rather generic “Old West.” Some inferences can be made, for example, the Gatling Gun (a feature in the story) was invented in 1861 so the timeline can’t really go much further back than that. On the other hand, the back cover copy for the book uses the word “purgatory” so maybe this is indeed a world separate from our own where souls whose final destination is in question can have their final fate determined? I like the ambiguity Bruno and Castle give the story at this stage, which make for breadcrumbs I want to follow in future volumes. Especially that large breadcrumb of stinger at the end of Cold as Hell. 

Counting this book, I've read about a baker's dozen worth of books/novels that can be considered Weird Western. It is a setting / sub genre that has a lot to offer and with Black Badge Bruno and Castle have used that as a cool starting point. There's a really fun blend of horror, fantasy, suspense, mystery/crime thriller, and western in this story. That's a lot to throw in the proverbial story blender, but it works!

Let’s put it this way, Bruno and Castle have created something extremely fun highlighted by an engaging character with a great  balance of the familiar and their own unique spin. I felt comfortable with some of the recognizable elements of the story/world, but I also kept thinking, damn, this is a little different and really cool. 

I'm going to wind down this review/appreciation post because I need to place an order for Vein Pursuits, the second installment.

Recommended!

Review and photos © 2026 Rob H. Bedford

2025 Reading Year in Review

Once again, the post that truly keeps the Blog o’ Stuff alive, the “Highly Anticipated” annual installment of “What Did Rob Enjoy Reading the Most Last Year?!??!” That’s right folks, for the fourth in a row and 15th year overall, here are the books I enjoyed reading most the previous year! As I’ve done every year, here are the previous years I’ve put up a reading year in review, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006.

As I've done every year for the past decade and a half, I've contributed to SFFWorld's Favorite of the Year lists: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, and Film/TV. We focus only on 2025/current year releases on our there are a lot of good books out there from previous years I haven’t read.

Horror, once again, is the genre that takes up the most space in the pie chart of “genres Rob read” in 2025. Fantasy is always going to be in my heart and is a fairly close second place, but Science Fiction keeps sliding down, unless you count some of the novels that tow the line between Science Fiction and Horror. The annual statistical rundown of the nearly 97 books I read in 2025:

• 56 2025/current year releases 
• 1 2026 release 
• 41 reviews posted to SFFWorld (including the Halloween Countdown Reviews)
• 56 can be considered Horror
• 44 can be considered Fantasy
• 13 can be considered Science Fiction
• 21 books by authors new to me 
• 49 Books by women
• 10 total debut
• 17 audiobooks
• 1 Non-Fiction

So, without further adieu, below are the books I enjoyed reading the most in 2025. It was really tough to rank this group of books because there’s a very high level of quality and enjoyment across them all. Unlike our annual tally at SFFWorld, I’m not going to break these out by genre since a few of the novels can fit into more than one genre/category. I’ll start with my favorite overall novel, then go alphabetically by author’s last name. Oddly, the earliest last name in the alphabet on this list is “F.” Maybe I’ll note something additional about a few titles, too.

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

(Takes the top spot overall, it perfectly marries Horror and Fantasy)

Hill tackles a lot in this story and he is more than up to the task he sets for himself. One of the skills I most appreciate in a writer is when they are able to finely balance a story between epic and intimate. King Sorrow balances those elements very powerfully. We meet these characters at a critical time in their lives, young college-aged students (Gwen is a couple of years younger). For many people who attended college, decisions made at that inflection point of their lives – falling in love, deciding on a major which can direct a career path, friendships built – often to have lifelong affects. Many of my friends (myself included) met their wives when in college, many of those same friends or friends from that circle of friends, are in a job nearly 30 years later because of the path they started in college. Some of the decisions were great ones, others… well, those decisions especially when people aren’t fully mature and in desperate straits, can have negative impacts. Summoning a demon… or in this case, a dragon to help in a bad situation would qualify as life-changing, for certain. None of our heroes expected these decisions to be so long-ranging when they spoke the words that bound King Sorrow to them from the Long Dark.

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

(My Favorite Fantasy Novel of 2025, Top Debut of 2025)

 

Neema is a wonderful protagonist, richly drawn, empathetic, smart, vulnerable…human. Hodgson gave a point of view character who is thrust into a situation that is far beyond her comfort zone. She has no desires to sit on the throne, or compete in the tournament. Through her, we learn about the history of her nation, the magic of the world, and some secretive elements. ... The world-building is so well-done, it seems like Hodgson put a great deal of care and precision into all of the things readers don’t see on the page so that the events/characters/history readers do experience on the page feel natural and effortless. When you pare it down to the core / high concept, The Raven Scholar could be seen as Hunger Games meets murder mystery, plus courtly intrigue in a fantastical/magical setting. The Raven Scholar is full of tension on many fronts. But I won’t say too much more than that, it is very much one of those novels that works best without knowing too much about the pathways of its plot, discovering some of those revelations were wonderful. However, I feel this is a novel that would benefit quite well from a second reading.

 

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi 

This is the second novel I’ve read from Fracassi and it totally hooked me

In The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, Fracassi gifts readers with a most unique final girl in a most unique setting. The title gives away the setting and it can be surmised that our heroine Rose DuBois (in her 70s) may be older than the typical final girl. She is a delight and a joy to get to know..

This novel is far more than just a “Septuagenarian Slasher.” Case in point – Rose, I soon fell for her as a character, I loved her. A great writer gradually reveals layers of their story and characters and with Rose, Fracassi delivered a master-class in a slow reveal of the character. We knew what we needed to know about her when we knew it about Rose and when we knew more of her backstory it led to a wonderful, powerful reveal of just what an incredibly strong character Rose is. She kept her life history fairly close to the vest with the small circle of friends and acquaintances in Autumn Springs, just as she did with the readers.

 

Revelator by Daryl Gregory

 

I’ve read some stories as well as Gregory’s earlier novel (16 years ago!) The Devil’s Alphabet. Shame on me for not reading any of his work since that book because Revelator is an outstanding cult horror novel, one of the best I’ve ever read maybe. For me the highwater mark for that subset of horror is Todd Keisling’s Devil’s Creek and I’d say Revelator is on that level. Gregory does an incredible job of make place an integral character in the story, he crafts an empathetic, complex protagonist in Stella, but what he does with mounting dread and then a KICK-WHAM reveal is nothing short of amazing. My wife received this as a Christmas gift last year and said I need to read it and damn was she correct! I’ve seen the great Mother Horror singing this book’s praises for quite a while, too. I’m singing those praises, too. I read this in two days at the end of the year and the book screamed at me to include it in my favorite reads of the year, so here we are.

 

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison 

 

Rachel Harrison has been averaging a new novel every year and for me, each novel is an Event and Play Nice just might be her best yet.

I will be completely honest and up front here – on the surface of this book – a book about a social media fashion influencer being haunted – chances are I might pass on reading it. Just not something (a social media influencer as protagonist) that thought I would connect with (says a person who posts regularly on social media talking about books and beer – yes, I can be a hypocrite). However, the fact that Rachel Harrison wrote this book made it a must-read. I’ve come to trust her over the course of the last few years and she absolutely delivered something very special in Play Nice. That something special starts with Clio.

Rachel Harrison has become one of the defining voices of Horror fiction the last half-decade. 

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

    

Alix Harrow tells stories like almost no other writer, we fans of fantasy should be thankful she plies her trade in our genre. Carrying this compelling story is Harrow’s lovely prose, which acts as a comforting blanket that you know took skill and effort to craft. The story is more than just a gender-flipped King Arthur story. Of course those echoes are present, but heroism, love, avarice, addiction to power, and love are part of the story, too. Owen and Una are the hearts of this story and their hearts are connected. But there are two additional characters who form help to flesh out the story: Queen Yvanne from Una’s timeline and the ambitious Chancellor Vivian Rolfe from Owen’s time. 

If it isn’t clear by this point, I loved this novel.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

 

Somehow, Grady Hendrix gets better with every novel. Hendrix’s narrative style remains a strong point for his novels, easy-going prose, strong characters, relatable snarky descriptions. He does a lot of character building through the first third of the novel. The girls share their frustrations as well as physical and emotional with their situation. Miss Wellwood is built up as an easy to dislike antagonist, but as he always does, Grady allows empathy for his antagonist to seep in as the story moves through its phases. Supporting Miss Wellwood is the even-more insidious Doctor Vincent. While the emotional nastiness is on full display through that first third, don’t worry, there’s some gruesome nastiness once the witchcraft makes its presence known. Wellwood House reminded me a bit of Reverend Gardner’s Sunlight Home for boys in Stephen King & Peter Straub’s The Talisman.

The timeliness of this novel is hard to ignore. Even though it was initially slated for a mid-2024 publication, the current climate in the United States is … shall we say not very kind to women, women’s bodies, and women’s health.

 

The Will of the Many by James Islington

Confession time: When this book first published in 2023, I saw almost universal praise across the genre landscape of reviewers / book blogs / etc. I read the author’s first novel The Shadow of What Was Lost and didn’t connect with the book as much as I hoped I would. I also saw many, many comparisons to Red Rising by Pierce Brown, a novel that, to put it very mildly, did NOT work for me. Those two things gave me a bias against reading this book. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw about the novel and how my “trusted reviewers/readers in the genre” wrote about this book, I wanted to try it. I am damned glad I did because I was very impressive with this novel, as all those words I put to screen prior to this paragraph attest. For my reading sensibilities, I think a more apt comparison, or “If you like that, then you’ll like this” recommendation that Red Rising would be Kate Elliott’s The Court of Fives.

Veil by Jonathan Janz

Janz is no stranger to stories where people are abducted by strange creatures (Children of the Dark) or apocalyptic fiction (The Raven, Blood Country), these are also common themes of horror. Here in Veil; however, Janz has seemed to level up in his storytelling on multiple fronts and he is an even more assured writer at this point. … Ultimately Janz may have crafted an even more effective alien invasion apocalypse than readers (and film viewers) are accustomed to experiencing. … His character work has always been top tier for me, but the empathy he infuses in Veil is even more potent. Writers often put a great deal of themselves into the characters (it is impossible for them not to do so, I think): John Calhoun is a high school teacher and married father of a son and daughter, Janz is a high school teacher, married and has three kids. Janz is a fan of Stephen King as is our protagonist. I’m not saying this personal infusion is a bad thing at all, in fact, I think the parallels only enhance the story, lend even more emotional weight to the story.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Good Stab is an unkillable Indian who had a tussle with a Cat Man that should have killed him. But Good Stab did not die, he woke with a thirst and need for blood and, through his own words, takes many, many lives. The scene of Good Stab’s rebirth as a vampire is visceral, fascinating, and immediately iconic. There are other elements of vampirism Good Stab conveys that feel fresh and unique. The Vampire characteristics SGJ utilized in this world were constructed with careful consideration. These “traits” of SGJ’s vampire play out so well in the story and are just one facet of what makes The Buffalo Hunter Hunter such an incredible work. … There are some novels, they are rare I think, that as you turn the pages, you realize you are reading Something Special. That you’re reading maybe a game-changer of a novel, a Landmark Novel. I began feeling that way maybe one third or so through my reading experience of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.

The Sundowner’s Dance by Todd Keisling

Keisling layers in the horrific and terrifying elements. I think getting older is a natural human fear, losing faculties, being alone, being taken advantage-of. Those three human fears are very much on display. Sundowner’s Syndrome is a real thin and it seems to make Alzheimer’s Disease tame. While I’m not near the age of Jerry, I’m closer to that age than I’d like to be and I won’t lie – I have thoughts about what my life will be like in 20-25 years. (Just writing that gave me a chill). At one point, The ‘Burbs (Joe Dante’s cult 80s movie featuring Tom Hanks and Bruce Dern) is called out and it feels pretty appropriate, even if the events in The Sundowner’s Dance eventually worms its way into my consciousness as a much more creepy-crawler horror novel.

The Stand: Complete and Uncut by Stephen King (audiobook)

It can be very much worth revisiting the books that shaped you. It is even more rewarding when you aren’t visited by the Suck Fairy and that book is even better than you remember it being. With the anthology The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand publishing in 2025, I figured I was far, far overdue for a re-read of the classic post-apocalyptic novel. Listening to Neil McRobert, Nat Cassidy, and Chris Panatier talk about the book on their read through of The Dark Tower and adjacent novels further convinced me and let me tell you some happy crappy, I am sure glad I re-read the book. M-O-O-N that spells glad.

For this re-read (2nd or 3rd, if you count the original uncut) I consumed it via audio book as read/performed by Grover Gardner and it was maybe one of the best audiobook experiences I’ve ever had. I knew I enjoyed the book, why else would I have re-read it multiple times? But the last time I read it was maybe 30 or so years ago just before the amazing TV adaptation by Mick Garris aired. This novel has some of King’s best character work and some of the bets character work of any novel I’ve read. It is a classic and should be given serious consideration as The Great American Novel of the 20th Century. I think in past readings, I may have connected most with Stu, but I think this time around, Nick was my guy. I wasn’t that big of a fan of Larry in past readings, but I found his journey and maturation very, very rewarding. Not going to lie, when Grover read the line, “And that’s how they met Ralph Brentner” I may have teared up. All the old friends were getting together again! I am probably not going to allow three decades pass before reading this one again.

The Martian Contingency (A Lady Astronaut novel) by Mary Robinette Kowal

Throughout these novels, Kowal backs her story with solid science – she consults with Astronauts after all. Nothing posited seems far-fetched. As the time of the series gets farther away from the meteor strike that started everything and closer to our current day, some of the “headlines” about current Earth events that preface each chapter resonate with our current world. On one hand, that’s still almost 60 years separating the publication date of the novel and time in which the novel is set. On the other, science (especially as it relates to space travel and habitation) has been forced to advanced at a different pace than our own world, so the political climate of the novel resonating with our world isn’t too big a leap. What keeps these novels going; however, are the characters and Kowal has crafted extremely charming characters in Elma, Nathaniel, Leonard, Nicole, Parker (it was unexpectedly nice to see him return) as well as all the others. There was a scene towards the end the end of the novel that I found very believable: Elma is a problem solver, she’s always trying to make things right. Her role is somewhat reversed and somebody else is leading an initiative and had to put Elma in her place. It was a genuine moment and the kind of interaction I’d expect to see between trusted colleagues and friends.

The Dragon in Winter (Kagen the Damned #3) by Jonathan Maberry

It has been a nice challenge to get through any given year in the recent past without me reading a novel by Jonathan Maberry, he is so incredibly prolific. A standout from him (and overall in my reading journey in 2025) was the finale to his Cthulhu Epic Fantasy saga, set 50,000 years in our future. There were some interesting twists along the way and damn does Maberry know how to bring a series to a satisfying conclusion.

The Demon Awakens (DemonWars, Book 1) by R.A. Salvatore

Sometimes, it is a nice change of pace to go back to a classic, or at least a novel/work people consider classic. I’ll admit to some hesitancy, as a very, very seasoned fantasy reader, to take a look at this 25-year old epic fantasy novel that has garnered varied opinions over the years. … I was swept away by the novel, by Elbryan’s journey with the elves as he became a true Hero. I was pulled into Pony’s (a.k.a. Cat) plight as she relearned who she was. I was taken aback by the change Avelyn made from his initial introduction as devout monk to powerful, almost jovial cleric. I found the centaur Bradwarden to be a refreshing character. The friendship and camaraderie that developed between these characters felt genuine and real. … I am very, very happy I finally dove into this series. I’ve been knee deep in horror the past few years (more than 50% of what I’ve been reading), especially most recently so I was happy to dive into a novel like this, something that hit the familiar notes of epic fantasy I enjoy so much, along with some unexpected nuances, told with a very engaging pace. Had I picked up these books when they were first published when I was first getting into The Wheel of Time, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, and The Farseer by Robin Hobb, I suspect I'd hold them in very high regard, at least based on how much I enjoyed The Demon Awakens.

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor (audiobook)

The Gathering is the second novel I read by Tudor and it worked very, very well for my reading sensibilities. Tudor builds tension and suspense very powerfully throughout the narrative. She also elegantly marries crime fiction with horror since this is a vampire novel. I think there may be a sequel in the works, I hope so because I thought Tudor's take on the vampire was intriguing and a foundation for many stories to be told. This was an audiobook consumption and I thought the narrator, Lorelei King delivered a great performance.

Honorable Mentions

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi – An enthralling African-inspired young adult Epic Fantasy. I picked up the first book at NY Comic Con in 2024 and because of how much I enjoyed it, snagged book two at NY Comic Con in 2025. 

The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry was one another awesome novel from Henry, who has been reliable for releasing a stellar horror novel every year for the past few years. This one packs a lot of heart and emotion. 

Alison Gunn’s Nowhere, is her debut novel and a very gripping, powerful folk horror novel. I don’t think I’ve ever been this compelled to continue reading a novel featuring a protagonist I disliked so much. Some terrif, creepy scenes in this novel. 

Chuck Wendig continues his streak of superb horror novels with The Staircase in the Woods, which hit on a lot of great cylinders for me. There’s the young kids being friends vibe like Stand By Me but it certainly takes a turn up the stairs to something dark. I loved this book.

Countdown to Halloween 2025 @ SFFWorld

It was another big Halloween at SFFWorld, I wound up posting 7 book reviews during October in the lead up to and (in the case of one book) on Halloween.

This is my favorite bookish time of year, especially as just over 50% of what I’ve been reading every year for the past few years has been horror. Here's what I featured, going back to the start of the month.

The Sundowner’s Dance by Todd Kiesling kicked off the Halloween 2025 celebration at SFFWorld. This is the second year in a row I’ve included a Todd Kiesling novel in the countdown. The man delivers on the creeps and the emotions.

Few writers deliver as often (multiple books per year) with such quality as Jonathan Maberry, including his Lovecraftian/Space Opera/Military Science Fiction novel NecroTek. This is not his first Halloween appearance at SFFWorld, nor will it be his last… because (like Jonathan Janz's back-to-back appearance in 2024) while NecroTek published in 2024, the sequel published on October 14, 2025, which is when my review of Coldwar:A NecroTek Novel post.

You wouldn’t think a septuagenarian would be the Final Girl star of a slasher / murder mystery novel, but then you may not have read The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi. This novel impressed the hell out of me and fell in love with Rose DuBois as a protagonist.

Last year (2024), the DarkInk event at the Doylestown Bookstore was a great event and provided some books for the Halloween Reads. The same can be said for the 2025 event because Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez-Wallach was a book I picked up at that event and absolutely adored. She was the surprise star of the day for me because I hadn't read her previously and she just oozed enthusiasm during her panel.

Over the last 2 or 3 years, Ronald Malfi has become a must read horror writer for me, Senseless kept that trend alive. A little different from his previous novels that leaned more into the crime genre, but an excellent novel nonetheless.

Closing out my contribution to the Countdown to Halloween is the 2025 novel from a writer who just might be the current Queen of Horror, Rachel Harrison and her take on the Haunted House story, Play Nice.

 

Catching up with the Classics: The Demon Awakens by R.A. Salvatore (DemonWars Volume 1)

Title:

The Demon Awakens (DemonWars Volume 1)

Author: R.A. Salvatore

Publisher: Saga Press

Length: 704 Pages (Trade Paperback)

Publication Date/Year: 1997 (Original Hardcover) / 2024 (Saga Press Reissue)

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Sometimes, it is a nice change of pace to go back to a classic, or at least a novel/work people consider classic. I've remarked previously that keeping up with all the HOT! NEW! releases can allow some of the older novels be forgotten or slip to the side. We as readers, especially those of us who read addictively, owe it to ourselves to take a step back and look at some older, foundational works of whatever genre it is we enjoy so much.

This brings me to R.A. Salvatore’s DemonWars saga. Salvatore has been a brand names in Epic Fantasy/Fantasy for the better part of the last few decades. He made his name in the Forgotten Realms shared world of Dungeons and Dragons with the character of Drizzt Du'Orden, but his DemonWars saga came to be his biggest non-shared world saga. Many years ago, I read the original Icewind Dale trilogy and the first few Drizzt novels and enjoyed them and even enjoyed an earlier novel in the world of Corona - The Ancient. In other words,  knew Salvatore could spin an entertaining tale, at the very least. Originally published in 1997, The Demon Awakens introduces readers to the world of Corona, the ranger Elbryan, the warrior Jilseponie “Pony,” and the monk/cleric Avelyn.

This may sound familiar… a dark entity has awoken after many, many years of being dormant. The races of the world think it dead or nothing more than a myth. This entity pulling the strings of all the darkness encroaching is the demon Dactyl also known as Bestesbulzibar, among many other names. The dactyl gathers the monstrous races of giants, goblins and other creatures together in an attempt to takeover the world.

We have three heroes at the center of this epic tale, Pony and Elbryan are romantically drawn to each other but before they can really get their relationship into gear, their home village of Dundalis is attacked by goblins. They are pulled in separate directions, thinking the other dead. Pony suffers from memory loss and PTSD while Elbryan is more fortunate. He’s taken in by the elves of Corona, the Touel'alfar. Meanwhile, Avelyn is a devout monk whose eyes are opened to the true nature of his brotherhood when he is sent on a mission to retrieve some magical gems. As the forces of darkness grow in power, as the dactyl's armies and minions become more of a presence in the world Pony, Elbryan, and Avelyn find themselves drawn together. 

I was swept away by the novel, by Elbryan’s journey with the elves as he became a true Hero. I was pulled into Pony’s (a.k.a. Cat) plight as she relearned who she was. I was taken aback by the change Avelyn made from his initial introduction as devout monk to powerful, almost jovial cleric. I found the centaur Bradwarden to be a refreshing character. The friendship and camaraderie that developed between these characters felt genuine and real.

I found the magic of the gems to be fun and interesting. The way they were introduced and how the magic was utilized throughout leaves a lot of room for development in future novels. There's some similarity to the way -mancy in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn novels work. 

There are some little issues; however. The biggest one that continually brought me a chuckle was the naming convention and names of things. I’m sure there’s some logic to a name like Bestesbulzibar or Elbryan, but one could be forgiven for thinking that some random scrabble letters thrown together or tacked onto what are otherwise normal/standard sounding names.

Is this a Fantasy novel that exhibits some…familiarity? Yes. Does much of the story feature tropes and cliches? Sure. Then again, I’ve been reading fantasy for the majority of my life and for a significant amount of time prior to this novel being published. In other words, I had a sense of what might happen in the novel, what some characters might be.

But you know what, (to quote Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), that “DOESN’T MATTER!” I enjoyed the hell out of this novel.

The Demon Awakens also surprised me in some places. There was more depth to the novel, the plot and characters than I was expecting. In particular, Pony’s journey throughout the novel. At the time the novel was written and published, I can’t say for certain how much PTSD was featured in fantasy novels but Pony’s plight and how her trauma affected her felt more mature than I was expecting. I had a very powerful sense that Salvatore put a great deal of care, energy, and compassion into Pony's journey. While I’ve seen a lot of comments negatively suggesting this as a “YA novel” (I do hate how people use that as a derisive label) there’s more depth and maturity than one might otherwise believe. Overall, the tone was a little darker than I was expecting, too. 

I have to admit to enjoying the earnest, largely straightforward nature of the story. Salvatore fully embraces the hero's journey, the familiar character types/classes and monsters of fantasy (Dungeons & Dragons and particular), and goes with it. Not saying I don't enjoy subversive novels that play with the tropes, but sometimes, a good straightforward novel/story like the one Salvatore presents in The Demon Awakens is just what the doctor ordered.

In 2024, with Pinquickle’s Folly, Salavatore returned to the world of Corona and made the switch to Saga Press, the Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint of Simon & Schuster. I assume as part of that deal, Saga Press acquired the rights to repackage/republish the entirety of the DemonWars saga with cohesive branding/artwork. I know Salvatore’s many fans adore the late Keith Parkinson’s artwork on the latter 4 DemonWars novels. That said and this is no slight to the original artwork, but these newer editions have modern feel to these books. When I saw them on the Simon & Schuster table at New York Comic Con 2024, I was immediately drawn and finally decided this was a good time to acquaint myself with Salvatore’s beloved saga after many, many years of having The Demon Awakens on the ever-present "virtual" to be read pile in my head. 

I am very, very happy I finally dove into this series. I’ve been knee deep in horror the past few years (more than 50% of what I’ve been reading), especially most recently so I was happy to dive into a novel like this, something that hit the familiar notes of epic fantasy I enjoy so much, along with some unexpected nuances, told with a very engaging pace. Had I picked up these books when they were first published when I was first getting into The Wheel of Time, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, and The Farseer by Robin Hobb, I suspect I'd hold them in very high regard, at least based on how much I enjoyed The Demon Awakens. 

Bottom line: this very seasoned reader of Epic Fantasy thoroughly enjoyed The Demon Awakens and has plans to at least read through the next two novels, and probably the “bridge” novel Mortalis. I’ve seen several fellow fantasy readers consider it Salvatore’s finest novel.

Movie Review: 825 Forest Road written & directed by Stephen Cognetti

Going for something a little bit different here, a shift from a post about books to one about movies. Well, one movie in particular.

Over the last few years, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the streaming service Shudder, as I may have mentioned. They have a great mix of older horror movies, exclusives, and original programming. There’s a grey line between “exclusives” and “original programming” with some films getting brief theatrical releases before arriving on Shudder a couple of weeks later or movies making their first appearance on Shudder. This brings me to 825 Forest Road written and directed by Stephen Cognetti.

Cognetti is best known to horror audiences for the Hell House LLC franchise, a series of found footage films that have gained a pretty strong following in the horror community without any theatrical releases. I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy the series of films (even the maligned third entry) so I quite excited when a new Cognetti movie, unconnected to Hell House LLC was announced as a Shudder original/exclusive arriving on the service in April 2025.

825 Forest Road is the story of not just a haunted house, but an entire haunted town. Chuck, Maria, and Chuck’s younger sister Isabelle move into the town of Ashland Falls after the death of Chuck and Isabelle’s mother in a car accident. Isabelle happened to be in the car, so there’s the associated survivor’s guilt. When they move into their house, they learn about a woman who supposedly haunts the town, after killing herself and the townspeople who tortured her daughter.

The movie unfolds in “chapters,” each from the point of view of the three main characters. I thought this was a wonderful storytelling technique and allowed some scenes to be viewed from different perspectives. Each character learns of how the town is haunted, how the town lines are redrawn to the point that the titular 825 Forest Road is not on any maps. People in the town, particularly the “Gardening Club” have sought to keep the curse of Helen Foster at bay…that curse forces people to take their lives if they delve too deeply into the location and origins of 825 Forest Road.

When Chuck and Isabelle realize the Helen Foster’s curse is affecting them, they try to find 825 Forest Road, along their own pathways initially. This leads to the fourth and final chapter that focuses beyond just one character.

The house the three protagonists move into has its own strange quirks and possible hauntings. Odd leaks, odd noises and perhaps the creepiest thing in the whole movie, Maria’s mannequin “Martha” which she uses in her vlog to demonstrate her crafted clothing. If inanimate objects have names in horror films, it isn’t usually a good sign. While the town and house itself have elements of being haunted, there’s a haunted aspect to the mannequin as well. Early in the film, the mannequin mysteriously appears outside the home and none of our protagonists seem to be able to explain why. Of course, Maria blames Isabelle for moving it because there’s a pre-established tension between the two. There are hints that this mannequin has a less than clean history prior to the events depicted in the movie.

One of the most effective elements I’ve come to adore in horror films is when inanimate objects (or objects the characters and viewers thought were inanimate) move of their own accord. Especially if the viewers don’t see them move, when these objects are immediately in another place than they were last seen, or the characters are focused on one thing and we see movement behind them. Cognetti masterfully employed this technique in his Hell House LLC films (compounded by those "objects" in Hell House LLC being clowns), it is the hallmark of one of Doctor Who’s greatest “monsters” the Weeping Angels, and the modern masterpiece from Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargil, Sinister. Other elements, like the tension, overwhelming grief that hangs over the entire narrative, and the haunted history of the town come together for a very effective horror film.

While many of the actors aren’t too widely known, they are up to the task and are very effective in their roles. I thought the story was largely well wrought, a couple of holes here and there, but I enjoyed it a great deal.

Cognetti peppers enough lore into the film and ends it in such a way that leaves plenty of room to continue and explore more stories. I’ll be on board, for certain.

Recommended