Six Moons, Seven Gods: An Action and Adventure Fantasy (The Legends of Baelon Book 1)

5 Star Review

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Editorial Book Review:

By Michael Beas

Robert A. Walker opens Six Moons, Seven Gods with a line from the Takers Guild's Basic Rules of Taking that tells you everything you need to know about the world you are stepping into: "One must be careful practicing deception. The easiest to deceive will always be one's self." That is not a throwaway epigraph. It is the operating principle of an entire kingdom, and Walker spends the next 311 pages proving it from every possible angle.

The world of Baelon is one of those rare fantasy settings that feels genuinely inhabited before you have finished the first chapter. Walker doesn't over-explain it or pause to give you a tour. He drops you into the dark shadows of Fostead's south end where the Takers Guild, the League of Assassins, a prescient woman and her brooding daughter, and a retired royal guard with an old score to settle are all moving toward the same inevitable collision. The pacing is tight and the tension builds like a dangerous game of chess where nobody has all the pieces and everyone is playing a different game.

What makes the book stand apart from the crowded field of grimdark fantasy is the balance Walker manages between the darkness and something more emotionally textured underneath it. Kirkus called it a fascinatingly detailed and murder-fueled adventure, which is accurate, but the murder is never gratuitous. Every death has weight. Every betrayal costs something. And Sibil's journey from the margins of the story into its turbulent center is handled with enough care and complexity that she earns her place as one of the more memorable protagonists the genre has produced recently.

The multiple viewpoints Walker employs, moving between royalty and criminals, guards and guild members, give the political intrigue a depth that single-protagonist fantasies rarely achieve. You understand how the kingdom is falling apart because you can see it from inside every faction doing the falling.

For fans of intelligent, immersive fantasy that strays from overused tropes and actually makes you think while keeping you completely entertained, this series is the real thing.

About the Author

Robert A. Walker

Award-winning author Robert A. Walker grew up in Northwestern Massachusetts. After graduating college, he packed his scant belongings in a car with rusted-out floorboards and headed west. He’s lived in California ever since, and now resides along the Pacific Ocean with his wife and dogs where he writes fantasy with tinges of grim dark and romance. When not fabricating stories, he can be found roaming local tennis courts or working on a never-ending list of DIY house projects.