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The Vagrant

The Vagrant 1

by Peter Newman
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/05/2015
5/5 Rating 1 Review

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$29.99

The Vagrant is his name. He has no other.

Years have passed since humanity's destruction emerged from the Breach.

Friendless and alone he walks across a desolate, war-torn landscape.

As each day passes the world tumbles further into depravity, bent and twisted by the new order, corrupted by the Usurper, the enemy, and his infernal horde. His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war.

What little hope remains is dying. Abandoned by its leader, The Seven, and its heroes, The Seraph Knights, the last defences of a once great civilisation are crumbling into dust.

But the Shining City is far away and the world is a very dangerous place.

ISBN:
9780007593088
9780007593088
Category:
Fantasy
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-05-2015
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers
Edition:
1st Edition
Pages:
400
Dimensions (mm):
221x155x30mm
Weight:
0.51kg
Peter Newman

Peter Newman lives in Somerset with his wife and son. Growing up in and around London, Peter studied Drama and Education at the Central School of Speech and Drama, going on to work as a secondary school drama teacher.

He now works as a trainer and Firewalking Instructor. He sometimes pretends to be a butler for the Tea and Jeopardy podcast, which he co-writes, and which has been shortlisted for a Hugo Award.

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1 Review

A man, travelling across the land with a singing sword, a goat and a newborn baby. Sounds like an interesting story, right? I’ll admit, I was drawn to this book by its cover. I’m not sure what I was expecting it to be like, but it is certainly one of the most unique books I’ve read in quite some time!

The story of this world is told in flashbacks to “eight years ago”, when a great demonic force travelled through a rift and defeated the forces of the Seraph Knights, guardians of the humans living there. The demons possessed the slain bodies of the human foes, creating and reanimating sewn- and riveted-together monstrosities with names such as “the Usurper” and “the Uncivil”. A taint is gradually spreading across the world, gradually turning living things into twisted beings. The Vagrant carries a sacred sword, one of the last hopes for saving the world.

The Vagrant himself is an enigmatic character. As a mute, he can only show and not tell, so the story moves along at pace for a good while solely relying on body language and described facial expressions. His interactions with his little baby are just adorable though, and any parent will find themselves chuckling over the all-too-familiar situations of baby carers everywhere. It’s such a strange juxtaposition in a fantasy novel though! I was worried early on, with the dark Gunslinger-like feel to the story that this would all be death and destruction. While there certainly was a fair about of violence and gore, there are also these light-hearted scenes between the baby and her Dada, or the goat and some unfortunate bird, for example. I felt the two extremes were a little too polar sometimes.

The sparse dialogue and sometimes impersonal narration give the story an almost dreamlike quality. It’s written to convey maximum detail but with minimum words. The apocalyptic and desolate Blasted Lands and its broken cities make an amazing and often heartbreaking setting for a journey, as we get to see the effects of the demonic invasion at close quarters. The Vagrant is such a kind-hearted good man that he can’t let anyone suffer, and his anguish at the thought of not helping people drives the story to some interesting places. It was so nice to see that in a story that could have been so dark, this last remaining Seraph Knight and his companions made it much lighter.

I was confused by the complexity of the story at times, especially the multiple factions of demons and their minions. I got the feeling that some people might be discouraged early on by the info-dump contained in the flashbacks. Also, the ending was quite sudden and I wasn’t sure what had actually been resolved. I’m not sure whether there is a sequel planned for this story but I certainly hope so! I was so sad when I reached the end and had to leave the Vagrant’s little family behind!

Contains Spoilers No
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