The Dying Breed: Hunters by T.J. Lombardi - REVIEW
An epic, progressive fantasy where it is everyone’s destiny to die, but you’re challenged on how one should live.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
INTRODUCTION
The Dying Breeds is a progression fantasy series in the same vein as many adventure series. A young boy cast out into the world must carve a name out for himself, against all odds, and come out stronger for it. Liam is that boy, woefully naïve at times, and the group's outcast. This is mostly because of his youth and lack of experience. Up until this point, his life had mostly been confined to his home village of Artho, looking after his family. It's through the tragic accidental deaths of his family that he is forced to leave the village and seek out Codgarak and it’s through travelling with the Hunters that he learns valuable lessons and insights along the way about the world and cultures he would never normally have a chance to encounter. Even if some do end up baffling him a bit.
PLOT
The plot begins with Liam scaling a mountain, in hopes of seeking out someone who once knew his late father. He is pursued by determined wraiths but is later saved by the Minotaur his father once spoke of, Codgarak. From there, the two get to know each other before being interrupted by Mala, an obnoxious tiger with a particularly noticeable axe to grind with Liam. Mala informs the two of events taking place elsewhere involving the Realm of Delco and that one of their fellow hunters, Aibek, has gone missing while doing his own investigative work.
The story would go on to introduce the main bad guy of the story and his allies. Emmanuel rules his own empire but has designs to take over the realm his late mentor once desired. Much like his allies, Emmanuel is evil; there is no moral greyness in his actions. His actions in Lithram and the actions of his demonic army all speak for themselves. It therefore falls onto the shoulders of the Hunters to rally together a force capable of meeting Emmanuel on the field of battle. However, nothing is ever easy, and as Lithram descends in chaos, so does the Realm of Delco itself, as other kingdoms seek to take advantage of the power imbalance and acquire their own territory.
CHARACTER
As this is a Progression Fantasy, we are primarily riding alongside Liam as he matures and grows stronger in his abilities. He undergoes a gruelling training regime at Fort Patton, as with all that’s happened so far, the various other Kingdoms need their men trained and Fort Patton acts as a recipient of those men in the hopes of turning at least some of them into soldiers. Despite being taught by some of the Realm’s best warriors. Another Hunter, Aibek would later say this:
“The truth is, Liam … you are unwanted, you are unwelcome, you are unprepared for this.” Liam did his best to have a poker face, to hide his emotions, because no matter what he did, the words came cutting through his spirit and landed directly on his soul. “It is not that you are not a good lad, young Liam … it is not that you don’t have skills or abilities or potential … it is the fact that you are not ready for the level this journey requires. You are sitting here amongst some of the greatest warriors I have ever known. Hence why we vowed to be hunters. It is not that we are the masters of skills, but rather who we are as individuals. It is that which makes us the warriors we are today. The years of discipline, training, battles, wars.”
This feeling of being an outcast follows Liam throughout the story, with the other Hunters doing the bare minimum to even acknowledge him and while most are polite about it, you have Mala, the White Tiger, who personally makes it his goal to berate him at every turn. And I mean every time they interact, it quickly becomes a verbal sparring contest, meaning Liam either needs to toughen up mentally or remain an outcast forever. Though with all things, this does open the door for a shift in their relationship where hatred may be replaced by begrudging respect, even if Mala has very little for anyone, and he’s arguably not even the strongest of the group. That being said, while Liam is the focus, we do get to see the various personalities within the group like Golgoth and his speech impediment. This is something that is conveyed fairly well, as each character has their mannerisms and personalities that are clear and distinct. However, things like the Liam and Ferra romance do come off as a little tacked on due to how late of an introduction she has. I imagine she and her group are explored more in the following story after this.
WORLD BUILDING
There is a well-thought-out world here, with various political factions and interests. Each city feels alive in its own way. There’s also clearly a lot of history to this world and while the magic system is mysterious, there are some interesting elements to it, like how the planes operate and interact with each other. We also have a varied amount of creatures that occupy this world and are only barely touched upon like the orcs - which leads to an interesting moral dilemma for Liam when it comes to interfering in other affairs, especially since it would distract from their goal of stopping whatever is threatening the realm of Delco. There’s a great deal of philosophy in the book, but these usually come at moments when the characters need respite from whatever threat they've faced before. It’s interesting to read each character's own beliefs even if they have some overlap. Then you have the likes of Golgoth, a dark, and powerful sorcerer wrestling with his need for atonement and the great potential evil still lying within him. It would be best to compare him to someone like Dexter, who, while committing evil acts, only does it to those he feels deserve it. It also means they have a means of knowing Emmanuel's way of thinking, though that doesn't make Golgoth immediately trustworthy. While he is as much an outcast as Liam, his staggering power garners more respect.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, the first book in this series is a fun read for those who like traditional fantasy stories. It’s no secret that modern fantasy is obsessed with enemies to lovers, tacky romance, and world-building that’s barely a puddle and is often exposited in ways that leave you scratching your head. Definitely not throwing shade at the parapet world dump in Fourth Wing. While there is romance, it’s late in the book. This story is very much about the journey and not the destination, something that even Liam needed to be reminded of.
The book can be found here.