Flank Hawk follows the adventures of a young mercenary as he strives to help defeat the army that overran his homeland. This very difficult task is more difficult than usual due to the presence of goblins, sorcerers, ogres, and zombies, as well as the appearance of technologies such as panzers and chlorine gas. Flank Hawk is helped by fellow mercenaries, seers, wizards, dragon riding cavalrymen, and many other fantastical characters.
This book jumps right into the action. From page one, the reader knows that Krish (who later becomes Flank Hawk when he gains his mercenary name) is a relatively young soldier desperately defending his homeland against an invading army whose soldiers are primarily zombies. From there the action never lets up. However, with the author putting so much energy into battle scenes and world building, the only character motivation that gets developed is that of Krish fighting because he wants to protect his family. This makes for an exciting book, but does keep the reader distanced from the characters long than typical. While the reader will feel suspense for what is going to happen next, there is very little tension tied specifically to the Krish himself; you will hope that he survives, but not feel any real dread over the possibility that he may not.
The writing style is easy to read and filled with simple, but detailed, descriptions. The author provides an interesting world with the mix of fantasy elements and technology. There is also an intriguing second “storyline” included in short segments at the beginning of each chapter. All of this lends itself to a quality, entertaining read.
This book would be good for anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre–and especially fantasy’s with a twist–as well as people who like books with a heavy dose of battles. It’s likely that those who enjoy things such as Dungeons and Dragons would also enjoy this.
