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Rating: 8/10

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Synopsis

A bastard gets paid.

That’s the point of being a bastard, after all. Yet in war, payment in blood is more likely than payment in coin.

Staegrim knows coins better than he knows people, and he isn’t giving his life away for free. Not to the rebels, not for the lords, and not for all of the bloody coins in Rengas.

But then… Everyone has a price.

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I went into this prequel novella with zero idea of what Michaels written universe contained or of the characters in it, but Ive heard a massive amount about Michael’s first book Ringlander: The Path and The Way and was super excited to read this.

After I finished I wish I had gone with the full novel first as I feel I would have had a much stronger grasp of the Ringlander world, but without a doubt I can say with ease that TBTWL was an exemplary show of Michaels talent as a writer. The worldbuilding and character depth was fantastic and was really something I didn’t expect from so short a book, the main story coming in at only 57 pages! Michael used multiple POVs to weave a gritty and gripping view of the battlefield which kept it exciting from the first page to the last and left me wanting more. If all of the set pieces in The Path and The Way are written with the same detail and intensity I will be a very happy man.

This was a super entertaining novella, something incredibly easy to pick up and something that gave a real nice little burst of serotonin, if you feel a reading slump coming along this would be a beautiful little palette cleanser. But if anything, what you get from this book is the knowledge you will move on to TPATW and will see some incredibly in-depth worldbuilding and an intricate and intense plotline.

I really cant wait to get into the real meat of the Ringlander universe and luckily I only have a few books to clear on my TBR before I can move on, so expect to see a follow up review for that soon.

Also, quick side note to the quality of this arc, it was a stunning small black hardcover that gave it this prestigious look and came with some lovely bookmarks and art that really just made it a wonderful experience, as cheesy as that sounds, so a massive thank you for that.

Tl;dr – It’s a pretty book with pretty words. Read it.

Go buy Michael S. Jacksons new novella ‘The Battle that was Lost’ along with his first full book The Way and The Path at The Broken Binding – https://www.thebrokenbinding.co.uk/product-page/ringlander-the-battle-that-was-lost-michael-s-jackson