Book Review: Forged in Death by Jim Melvin

This is wonderful, action packed, storytelling!
Forged In Death, Book 1 of The Death Wizard Chronicles
by Jim Melvin

• File Size: 644 KB
• Print Length: 260 pages
• Publisher: Bell Bridge Books (August 20, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English

Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: August 20, 2012
Enter the realm . . .
Book One, The Death Wizard Chronicles.
Only a Death-Knower can die. And live again.
Only a Death-Knower can return from death. And remember.
Only a Death-Knower can tell the world what he's seen. Not all care to listen.
For a thousand years, none have rivaled the power of Torg, the Death-Knower wizard, as he ruled his people and kept peace on Triken.
Now a new threat has suddenly arisen. The evil sorcerer Invictus is greater even than Torg, and his greed and ambition threaten to engulf the land in eternal darkness. When Invictus imprisons Torg in a horrifying pit bored into the solid rock of a frozen mountain, the fate of Triken hangs in the balance.
Torg becomes freedom's final hope, but first he must die to earn the victory.

Review:
Torg is a Death-Knower. You learn later in the book that he has lived for thousands of years... occasionally dying and returning, by force of will, to his body with more knowledge to continue his journeys and his battle of good over evil.

As this story begins Torg is captured by forces of the evil sorcerer Invictus. Torg and his desert warriors could battle the evil army but they would risk the lives of many innocents. Over the objections of his men, Torg trades himself as a hostage for the release of the innocent villagers and the safety and freedom of his own warriors.

Torg threatens death to any of his own who might break the agreement and try to follow him. Yet one brave, and impetuous, female warrior, Sobhana, dares to track him. She receives the unexpected help of a dragon, a mighty and powerful being who is one of the last of his kind. He is not under the mind control of Invictus and he has attempted to remain - or appear to be - neutral.

Torg is placed in isolation in painful torture and depravation. It is quite gruesome to read what Torg suffers. Sobhana schemes to rescue him before he dies, not realizing he can die and return with some strength to fight and escape.

Once Torg returns he has new insights and each day is a new adventure. There are many horrible creatures to fight,  strange new friends to help him recover and mystical powers to be gained from the earth and nature (trees). Torg is visited by a ghostly presence who he helps and who tells him glimpses of his future. Torg’s thousand years of celibacy is broken in trade for assistance and power.

I was consistently pulled by the imaginative fantasy of the characters and the metaphysical world created by Mr. Melvin. There are some harsh images of torture and some sexual scenes that make the story more appropriate for adult reading. This is fast paced with good action and always something new on the next page! If you are a fan of fantasy I recommend that you check this out.

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Torg is a warrior of integrity and good:

Torg believed that in order to combat Invictus he would need to perform an act of virtue that would help to even the scales between good and evil. Location 371.

Torg explains to another, but less powerful, Death-Knower who is frustrated by his lack of bravery and skill:

“You’re ashamed of your success as a gardener and your failure as a warrior. But what you don’t comprehend is that a gardener is the superior being. Nourishing life ranks among the highest states of wisdom, destroying life among the lowest.” Location 2881

I received this from Bell Bridge Books through NetGalley for my honest review.

I will add this to my New Author Challenge List.