Review: Whispers of the Storm by Z.B. Steele
Blurb:
REDLIN OF THE WOLVES
VANGUARD, LEGEND, ASSASSIN, REAPER
Listen to my story:
I wasn't always the monster they see me as. Half of the songs they sing are stories of my grandeur. The other half are tales of my misdeeds.
The sad truth is that they're all true.
So, listen to my tale and learn why it all happened. Learn the reason for the war, the reason for all the death.
Listen to my tale and listen well. I won't be alive long enough to tell it again.
A moody, banter-laced, violent, and poetic framed story - Z.B. Steele presents Whispers of the Storm, book one of Song of the Damned.
Review:
Not too long ago, Steele surprised us with the novella, An Inkling of Flame, a prelude to Whispers of the Storm. It came out of the blue, and I immediately knew we had a smash hit on our hands. Whispers of the Storm packs an even bigger punch, but maybe that's because I just finished it, and I have a few choice words for Steele that are better off said in private…
Our story picks up with Redlin of the Wolves, the mysterious character we catch a glimpse of at the end of An Inkling of Flame. A young boy, Redlin grows up with a seemingly loving family, before one day being dropped off at a strange keep a long way off, left and abandoned. So begins Redlin’s life at Eilen.
It's an academy to train soldiers—among other things—to serve Balin, one of the world’s gods. Except Redlin harbors a secret; his affinity for Shattering (this world’s analog for magic) is not that of Balin’s. Regardless, he goes about his time at Eilen, finding a new purpose, finding a new family, and making a few friends and a fair few more enemies.
His goal was to become a Vanguard, one of the heroes that he looks up to from stories, and one day, that wish is granted. Then on, he must navigate conspiracy amongst politicians, evil Reapers that suck people’s essence away, and the woes of a mind condemned to fight, kill, wake, and repeat.
I won’t get into more details because I don’t want to spoil the story, but wow, this one was phenomenal. Whispers of the Storm is VERY firmly set in the grimdark/dark fantasy genre, so if that isn’t your cup of tea, maybe consider sitting this one out. If it is, or if you’re wondering if it might be, Steele is an amazing writer coming up in the grimdark scene, and one you should be keeping your eye on. Thus, I implore you to give this book a shot.
Redlin is, as most grimdark MC’s are wont to be, very morally grey. Hell, sometimes it isn’t even grey, sometimes it's just full on off the deep end. But time and time again we see that, despite his shortcomings, he’s human. He suffers, he weeps, he rages, he is the product of a world that abandoned him on the steps of a foreign keep, toughened by hard steel and harder words. And yet, I grew very attached to Redlin, despite how at times he kills without remorse, and how he is (in more or less his own words) not a hero.
The story is told in two parts; firstly, we have the real world acting as interludes, where Redlin has hit the end of the line in prison and must recant his tale to Inquisitors. The second story is exactly that; his life, from then to now, without embellishment or lie. I am, first and foremost, a lover of dual narratives. That is probably no surprise to anyone familiar with my reviews. Did Steele know that beforehand? I’m going to say yes, he did, and he wrote this story specifically for me.
Obviously not, but I enjoyed the dual narrative thoroughly. The mix of each narratives was woven expertly throughout the novel. The pacing was exquisite. I never found the story dragging in some parts or running along too quick in others. It led me from page to page, goading me on for more even when I really had other things to do but didn’t end up doing them. Cover to cover, this book pulled me right in, and I finished it far too quickly, because now I have nothing left to read.
The world feels so lived in. The atmosphere is exactly what you’d want from a book in this genre and then some. You can imagine the hallways of Eilen, the books, the sword fights and the backalleys. Steele’s prose and ability to set the scene is masterful, and the twists and turns he pulls along the way are much the same (but I still hate him for them, let it be known).
Moreover, the side characters are lovable, relatable, and have their own arcs that are fun to watch. My personal favorite was Redlin’s relationship with Prace, one of the guards that first took him into Redlin. There are many such relationships, and many great ones, but that one stuck out to me the most.
Whispers of the Storm is dark, gritty, and utterly human. Full of emotion, banter, and fast-paced action that any reader could enjoy, this is one I will recommend deep into the future. In a year that had a red-hot start with me reading books by authors Joe Abercrombie, David Dalglish, and Robert Jordan, Whispers of the Storm will go down as one of my favorite novels in 2025.
