A Dragon of the Veil by Nick Snape

Blurb:

With the realm falling apart, the fate of a people falls upon Laoch and Sura’s shoulders and the Gods’ weapons they now bear ‒ a thousand years of faith and lies reconciled in a single moment of hope and redemption.

For Laoch, the Crusades never ended, yet the embittered Ranger finds hope in his love for the dishonoured elven warrior, Sura. Together, they must face a new conflict when a powerful enemy crashes into a Meister’s alchemical experiment, setting off a wave of fear that ripples through the realm.

With the secrets of the Gods’ scripture exposed and whispers of an ancient evil’s return, Laoch and Sura are left reeling by the power their enemy wields when an even larger threat rises from the forest depths. One even the Gods’ weapons fear.
In a world no longer devoid of magic, a thousand years of secrets and lies spill out, and cracks form in the last bastion against an ancient foe.

For cast in iron and spiritfire - here be dragons.

Review:

"A Dragon of the Veil", by Nick Snape, is an epic dark fantasy story with multiple POVs, and I think the characters are a real strength here.

The Protagonist - Lock

Laoch has a seriously traumatizing past. It's one of those stories where the main character is really capable, but also quite gritty, which you're sort of supposed to enjoy as you read more. You know the type – the anti-hero with a dark edge, who still manages to compel you. At first, your reaction might be, "Good God, how am I going to handle this one? How am I supposed to empathize with such a difficult character?" But Snape makes Laoch's pain and motivations so palpable. You quickly see that his situation is incredibly tough. There's this accumulation of awful circumstances – betrayals, losses, and brutal experiences – that have led him to have a really, incredibly negative life. He's carrying a tremendous burden, and you can feel it in his every interaction. At the same time, you see that he has some pretty strong motivations and attachments to the other core characters, hinting at a capacity for loyalty and even love, buried beneath the trauma.

The Premise and the Invasion

There's him, and a female elf who's a comrade-in-arms, and the central premise involves an invasion. There are multiple planes of existence, kind of like parallel universes, and they have to face this invasion from a really weird, strange invading force, and try to understand its nature. This isn't your typical fantasy invasion, with hordes of orcs or goblins. Snape introduces a truly alien element, forcing the characters and the reader to confront something utterly unknown and unsettling. The mystery surrounding the invaders' origins, their motivations, and their very nature adds a layer of Lovecraftian horror to the traditional fantasy setting.

Pacing and Action

The novel has a rather steep learning curve at the beginning because the author throws you right into the action. And I have to say, this is a short novel, but it's really action-packed. From the first few pages, you're thrust into the midst of a battle, with little explanation of who's fighting whom, or why. It's a deliberate choice that mirrors the confusion and desperation of the characters. Once you get into the swing of it, when it fires on all cylinders, it doesn't stop. It grabs you by the throat and goes straight to the finish line. So, you're thrown into the action, and you don't really understand what's going on. You have to piece everything together to try and make sense of it. This initial disorientation can be challenging, but it's also exhilarating. You're constantly playing catch-up, trying to decipher the clues and figure out the rules of this world. Then, you slowly see the world opening up, and you start to understand the context, and the relationship between Laoch and these elven warriors, and his superiors – the other people in the army who are supposed to command him, but whom he finds difficult to manage.

World-Building and Multiple POVs

There are also other points of view that deal with the politics of this world, and how they're managing this conflict. We even get the perspectives of the villains, which is really interesting, and done in a pretty original way. Snape doesn't just present a straightforward good-versus-evil scenario. He delves into the complexities of the conflict, showing the political machinations, the cultural clashes, and the moral ambiguities on all sides. I'd say that the novel itself is really accomplished, with nice pacing, a very good plot, and good characterization. Even though it's a little bit hard to get into, a little confusing at the beginning, it really stands on its own two feet the more you read it. It's also quite unique because it's a blend of science fiction and fantasy. The aesthetics are medieval fantasy, but you also have specific villains and weapons that aren't fantasy at all. Yet, the way they're described, they have this kind of dreamlike quality, this almost surreal writing style that changes a bit when we get those points of view from the villains. The narrative shifts and the tone shifts, creating a sense of unease and otherworldliness. It's quite something; I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it.

A Desire for More

The one thing I will say is that, since I'm such a character-driven reader, I would have loved to have had more moments to catch my breath a little, and reflect a bit more on what's going on, to try and internalize the scope of the story, the stakes, and develop the relationships more. While Snape provides glimpses into the characters' inner lives, the relentless pace of the plot sometimes leaves you wanting more. You get a sense of the deep bonds between Laoch and his comrades, but more scenes of quiet camaraderie or emotional vulnerability would have enriched the reading experience. It's not like we don't have that, because we definitely do. The author knows when we need to dwell a little more on the consequences of the action and what's going on, and when we have losses – when important characters die in gruesome ways – it's not glossed over. You feel the impact of the consequences, and the characters feel that too, so as readers, we experience that. As I said, the characters work, but this is a short book, and Nick Snape generally writes short books. So, this is his style; he makes a conscious effort to give you short and impactful stories. I think this one is around 350 pages, but I would have loved to have more, because the world-building is so strange and so unique. The nature of the villain, of the conflict itself, is so big and so different, that there was material there to go deeper, and to make it broader in scope. The mythology, the history, the intricate workings of this world – they all beg to be explored in greater detail. But this is also the first installment in the series. I'm pretty sure we'll get more of that in subsequent installments. In fact, I think book two is already out, and book three should be out pretty soon.

Five Stars

So yeah, this was really enjoyable. Five stars. It took me a bit to get invested in the story, and to really understand the characters, but once you do, you really enjoy the story. This is also a really dark and really sad story, so I think you have to be in the right mindset to enjoy it properly, but you should absolutely give it a try. This is the first book that I've read by Nick Snape. I also have his entire science fiction series on my shelves, so I'll read those too, and I'll let you know what I think about them.