After finishing the Wheel of Time I realized I needed a specific type of series. I wanted to read a high fantasy series that wasn't too complex, but not that simple. Fairly lengthy, but not to short. An in-depth world, and not too shallow. The search turned me into Goldiocks, putting a pause on both A Darker Shade of Magic, and a Song of Ice and Fire. The Search lead me to Malice, a book that had been on my TBR for a long time, and am only now starting.

Malice is great, as it fits the bill perfectly. A Classical fantasy story with modern twists, delivered in a large but not sprawling world in a 4 book series.

John Gwynne is an wonderful author, creating a vibrant wolr full of complex characters. My only issue is that he introduces them so fast, and at first it's hard to keep track of them, making the beginning of the book hard to get through. The beginning of the Malice is also rather slow, but once the ball gets rolling, it evens out, as the pacing of the last 2/3rds of the novel is excellent.

Overall I enjoyed this book, as the action is incredibly well written, Gwynne seems like he's been in actual fights before, and the action flows that way, giving a really gritty attention to detail that is brutal and fascinating to read.