We Are the Dead cover art

We Are the Dead

The Last War Trilogy

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We Are the Dead

By: Mike Shackle
Narrated by: Nicola Bryant
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About this listen

The first book in The Last War series: a debut epic fantasy full of crunching revolutionary action, twisted magic, and hard choices in dark times.

The war is over. The enemy won.

Jia's people learned the hard way that there are no second chances. The Egril, their ancient enemy, struck with magic so devastating that Jia's armies were wiped out. Now terror reigns in the streets, and friend turns on friend just to live another day.

Somehow Tinnstra - a deserter, a failure, nothing but a coward - survived. She wants no more than to hide from the chaos.

But dragged into a desperate plot to retake Jia, surrounded by people willing to do anything to win the fight, this time Tinnstra will need to do more than hide.

If Jia is to get a second chance after all, this time she will need to be a hero.

With all the grit of Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence and Ed McDonald, this is fantasy with the sharpest of edges.

©2019 Mike Shackle (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction War Violent Fantasy

Critic Reviews

"The next Game of Thrones." (Glen Cook, author of The Black Company)

"Tarantino crossed with David Gemmell." (Peter McLean, author of Priest of Bones)

"A powerful debut." (Gavin Smith, author of The Bastard Legion)
All stars
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I struggled with this. it's a very violent and depressing story for much of the runtime.

Hard going

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Mike Shackle starts us off with a fantasy setting that may seem like any other, but just as the blurb promises, you're soon thrust into something far darker. It weaves the plot and builds tension over time brilliantly, with an interesting cast of perspective characters. We see genuine character development in all of them as they go on their journeys, and you will catch yourself cheering for people at key moments in their lives.

At times Inglourious Basterds, at times First Law trilogy, but always standing out as its own story. The world-building is a particular strength of this book - it is a land that is in spiritual, cultural and military turmoil. It is as familiar to students of history as it is fantastical.

With an 18 hour length you will get excellent value for your credit.

If you enjoy Abercrombie, Lawrence, or anything else on the grim side of fantasy this is for you.

Nicola Bryant delivers the narrative well, is clear in pronunciation and appropriate in tone/emotion. She was a fine choice for narrator.

If you like grim / dark fantasy, this is essential

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Wasn’t awful but none of the characters gripped me and I was just waiting to get to the end so I could read something else.

We are the dead

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