Book Tour - HOLLOW ROAD by Dan Fitzgerald

 

Out of This World SFF Reviews is delighted to be just one of the many blogs participating in the Storytellers On Tour Book Tour featuring author Dan Fitzgerald and his fantasy book, HOLLOW ROAD!  Today marks Day #5 of the tour and I am very pleased to be one of the stops. I will soon be providing you with a synopsis of the book, my review, as well as some important links and Dan's bio.  

But first I'd just like to mention that Storytellers is currently running an incredible giveaway in conjunction with this tour.  You could win a signed paperback copy of HOLLOW ROAD! (US only)

To enter, just click this link.  The giveaway ends this Sunday, September 20th at 11:59pm, so get those entries in now!

And now, here is a brief description of Dan Fitzgerald's novel HOLLOW ROAD!

Book Blurb:

Legends describe the Maer as savage man-beasts haunting the mountains, their bodies and faces covered with hair.  Creatures of unimaginable strength, cunning, and cruelty.  Bedtime stories to keep children indoors at night.  Soldiers' tales to frighten new recruits.

It is said the Maer once ruled the Silver Hills, but they have long since passed into oblivion.

Carl, Sinnie, and Finn, three companions since childhood, are tasked with bringing a friend's body home for burial.  Along the way, they find there is more to the stories than they ever imagined, and the mountains hold threats even darker than the Maer.  What they discover on their journey will change the way they see the world forever.

Travel down Hollow Road to find out which legends are true, and which have been twisted.

Review:

HOLLOW ROAD was a really enjoyable read for me.  I'm a sucker for a bit of quest fantasy and although this isn't what you would classify as standard quest fantasy, the journey that these three friends undertake and their subsequent investigation of the fabled Maer hidden in the mountains around their village, provide for some truly cool moments that remind me of some of the best quest reads that I've come across in my reading life.  It's also not especially heavy-handed when it comes to magic, which I actually felt was very refreshing.

This is also a book that deals a lot with stereotypes and prejudice.  The Maer are portrayed in the beginning of the book as brutal monsters that may or may not exist.  They are written off as unthinking savages whose only motivation is to kill the innocent.  Much of what has been ascribed to them is for purposes of scaring certain segments of the population into capitulation.  Nobody even thinks to question their origins or if they are even close to how they are portrayed.

After a brief encounter with the Maer on their journey to bring home their dead friend, they begin to question whether or not legends can sometimes be exaggerated.  Could it be that the true monsters are those that they never would have suspected.  Or are the Maer really as evil as everyone says they are?  Carl, Sissie, and Finn, will soon uncover the truth and also get a number of life-changing surprises that they didn't expect.

I loved the main characters in this book and how they each had their own strengths that they brought to the table.  Friends since childhood, it was also fun to see how they verbally jousted with each other as only friends who know each other well can do without causing offense.  They also each come from very different backgrounds and have very different skills.  This definitely comes into play as the story unfolds and they are tested beyond anything that any normal person would have to go through.  The friendship angle really does give the story an extra component that makes you want to root for their success.  

But the main thing that I loved about this book was the story itself, which drew me in immediately with the mystery of the Maer and then kept me there with the promise of discovering so much more being at work behind the scenes.  A fascinating fantasy story that I unequivocally recommend to even the most picky reader.  There is much to like about this book and I can't wait to read book two which I think I heard the author say was coming out in December.   That's good because I need to continue with this story after eagerly gobbling this one up!

Rating: 8.5/10

You can purchase HOLLOW ROAD right now on Amazon.

Author Bio

Dan Fitzgerald is a fantasy writer living in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, DC with his wife, twin boys, and two cats.  When he is not writing, he might be gardening, doing yoga, cooking, or listening to French music.

Find out more about Dan and his books on his WEBSITE or find him on TWITTER or INSTAGRAM.

And that concludes my stop on the HOLLOW ROAD book tour!  I would like to extend a special thank you to Storytellers On Tour and author Dan Fitzgerald for the opportunity to participate.  There are many more awesome stops on this tour, so if you would like to follow along, here is the official schedule:

Thanks for checking out my stop on the tour and as always for your continued support of Out of This World SFF Reviews.  It is sincerely appreciated and never taken for granted.

Happy Reading!
-Nick