Blog Tour - KINGSHOLD by D.P. Woolliscroft

Out of This World SFF Reviews is extremely excited to be one of the stops on D.P. (Dave) Woolliscroft's #KINGSHOLD Blog Tour hosted by the amazing folks over at The Write Reads!   I'll be sharing some details regarding KINGSHOLD, which is the first book in Woolliscroft's fascinating epic fantasy series called The Wildfire Cycle.  As of now there are currently two full-length novels and one short-story collection that have been published in this series and Dave has been very hard at work hammering out the next installment.  It is not only one of my favorite self-published fantasy books and series, it's one of my favorite fantasy series period.  I recommend that everyone check these books out if you are looking for a deeply entertaining fantasy read.  For those who would like to know more about book 1 - KINGSHOLD, the following is my full review:

(Title: Kingshold / Author: D.P. Woolliscroft / Publisher: Self-Published / Publication Date: April 30, 2018)

Kingshold and the larger kingdom of surrounding Edland is a place embroiled in treachery and upheaval.  The King and Queen were just recently discovered murdered under a cloud of mystery.  The opening paragraphs describe a court in chaos as the different factions and leaders struggle to understand what just took place and who might be responsible.  It is soon revealed that the ancient wizard Jyuth was the one who committed the regicide, but for what reasons is still unclear.

The only thing that is clear is that the monarchy has been abruptly abolished in one night and there must now be new elections to select a Lord Protector who will rule the new government.  Jyuth, King-maker and ever the opportunist, sees a chance to influence the selection while making a bit of coin for himself in the process due to the fact that the only way someone can put vote their choice is by making a substantial monetary donation.  And so the race to become Lord Protector begins with the back-stabbing and double-dealing getting incredibly hot and heavy.  

Mareth is a bard of middling renown who is suddenly thrust into one of the biggest eras of chaos that Edland has ever seen in its long history.  Mareth is pretty much a drunk and an underachiever, what you would call a slacker by today's standards.  Being a bard, this is his greatest chance to erase all of that and place his selection in the leadership chair should he be able to sing the story that will unite everyone behind his choice.  Mareth believes that fame is just around the corner and all of the spoils and drinking money that go along with it.  Meanwhile, the reason for the King and Queen's assassination is revealed to be because they were engaged in a vile slave trade which was negatively impacting their reputation and governing.  The wizard Jyuth simply could not abide this any longer.  As the candidates come forward to vie for the new position of Lord Protector, the political maneuvering begins to get a bit out of control and bribing, killing, and violent rioting become the order of the day.  

Suddenly the future of Edland may not be at all certain and whether or not there can be an orderly transition at all is very much in doubt.  There are also those outside the confines of the kingdom who see the civil unrest and instability as a very real chance to finally tear down the once mighty kingdom and finally give power to those unfortunate and poverty-stricken who reside just outside its walls.  Will the wizard Jyuth achieve his ultimate goal to raise a Lord Protector to the throne and restore stability to the realm or will chaos and anarchy ultimately reign supreme, plunging the kingdom into a much different era where no one is positive of the eventual outcome?  Nothing is as it seems and motivations shift with the wind in this complex yet utterly readable medieval epic fantasy by DP Woolliscroft.

Every once in a great while a book just comes out of left field and completely floors me.  KINGSHOLD is one of those very books.  I have to say that the quality of self-published books, especially in the Fantasy genre, has risen to unseen heights recently.  Credit established Fantasy author Mark Lawrence for giving voice and visibility to those authors who ten or even five years ago would have never been given a chance of reaching such a large audience.  It would have been a real crime had KINGSHOLD never been afforded the opportunity to reach the masses because it is simply a wonderful and engaging Fantasy read.  And it surprised the hell out of me with how it grabbed my attention from the first page and then demanded that I keep reading and reading and reading.  

One of the many wonderful aspects of this book in my opinion is the way the main character is written.   I kept going back and forth in my head as to whether or not I believed Jyuth was a hero or a villain.  He is portrayed in such a way that you aren't entirely sure whether he has the best interests of KINGSHOLD truly at heart or whether he is simply a selfish lout who is only concerned with furthering his own agenda.  The picture does become clearer as you get further into the book, but it was a masterful job of keeping the reader guessing and not creating the usual cookie-cutter characters that most Fantasy books are teeming with these days.  I would also classify this as political fantasy, in that the majority of the plot deals with the election of the new Lord Protector and the strategic positioning of all of the candidates and their backers.  

That being said, I was never bored by this and there is quite enough action to satisfy those who crave that as well.  Another element that was interesting was the use of modern day slang and profanity set against a very Medieval Fantasy period.  The contrast was a unique approach and I thought that it lent a gritty realism to what could have been a very stale "same old Fantasy" story.  There are so many things that I loved about KINGSHOLD and I really didn't want it to end.  Oh, and please write faster Dave!

(My Rating: 9.5/10)

About D.P. Woolliscroft

Born in Derby in England, on the day before mid-summers day, David Peter Woolliscroft was very nearly magical.  If only his dear old mum could have held on for another day.  But magic called out to him over the years, with many a book being devoured for its arcane properties.  David studied Accounting at Cardiff University where numbers weaved their own kind of magic and he has since been a successful business leader in the intervening twenty years.

Adventures have been had.  More books devoured and then one day, David had read enough where the ideas he had kept bottled up needed a release valve.  And thus, rising out of the self-doubt like a phoenix at a clicky keyboard, a writer was born.  The Wildfire Cycle is David's debut series.

He is married to his wife Haneen and has a daughter Liberty, who all live with their mini golden doodle Rosie in Princeton, New Jersey.

David is one of the few crabs to escape the crab pot.

You can connect with D.P. Woolliscroft on his website, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

Happy Reading!

-Nick