The Stealers' War (Far Called Trilogy #3) by Stephen Hunt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.

DESCRIPTION:

Weyland has been at war. Invaded by a technologically advanced enemy, the cities sacked, and what fragile peace remained torn apart by a civil war.
All anyone should want is a return to peace.
But Jacob Carneham still wants his revenge; and if he can lure the invaders into the mountain he can have it. He can kill them all.
If he does, there may never be peace again.
If he doesn't, Weyland will never be free of the threat of invasion.
The northern horse lords are planning an attack. A future Empress is fighting to save her daughter. Jacob's son is trying to restore peace and stability to Weyland, alongside the rightful King. And behind it all is a greater struggle, which may spell the end for them all...

REVIEW:

I am a firm believer that Autumn is the best time of the year for magical reads, it is a season that flares up you senses and makes you more receptive to the unusual and magical. Besides it is the Halloween week, so I am always on the look for the extraordinary.

And this book is exactly the thing I was looking for. Enchanting and thrilling it will keep you hooked up right until the end. Stephen Hunt is a man of his letters, an incredible storyteller, a man with acute sense of humour that creates heroes of the olden times, when heroism actually stood for something more than muscles and big guns!

I delayed the writing of this review on purpose, because I haven're read books one and two, but know that I have done I can safely say it was the easiest, most charming fantasy I have read lately. The world building is a masterpiece and completely believable! The characters are real, evoking and, lets face it, they crack you up! It is a definite page-turner and I am sure you'd love it!

I see why many of the other people who read it say they are disappointed in the outcome of the story, but guys... that was the best choice Mr Hunt could make and if you give it a second read, you'll see it is more than appropriate.