Book Review: "Tome of the Undergates" by Sam Sykes

Lenk can barely keep control of his mismatched adventurer band at the best of times (Gariath the dragon man sees humans as little more than prey, Kataria the Shict despises most humans, and the humans in the band are little better). When they're not insulting each other's religions they're arguing about pay and conditions. So when the ship they are travelling on is attacked by pirates things don't go very well. 

They go a whole lot worse when an invincible demon joins the fray. The demon steals the Tome of the Undergates - a manuscript that contains all you need to open the undergates. And whichever god you believe in you don't want the undergates open. On the other side are countless more invincible demons, the manifestation of all the evil of the gods, and they want out.

Full of razor-sharp wit, characters who leap off the page (and into trouble) and plunging the reader into a vivid world of adventure this is a fantasy that kicks off a series that could dominate the second decade of the century. - from Goodreads.com

Take a group of adventurers, that seem to have never met one another before, across several races, then send them out to retrieve something stolen from you, and you have TOME OF THE UNDERGATES. This is only the first part of the series, as I see there are two more books that follow, and I am sure looking forward to reading more about Lenk and the band of adventurers.

I have seen the name Sam Sykes for awhile now, speaking of his work in the fantasy genre, and now see why he deserves such mention. The skill that he employs in managing not only an interesting story, but the constant interaction among the six-member adventure group. Add to that the background details for each, that grabs your attention, and makes you want more.

This isn't your Young Adult fantasy, folks. This is hard-core, but totally SFW.