Leo Carew

For the life of me I cannot fathom how there is not a review for this book yet. So far the first two books in the series, “The Wolf and The Spider” have beyond glowing reviews.
Leo Carew’s “The Cuckoo” deserves no less than an amazing review.
This book brings the series to an end in a manner on the next level. As a reviewer one has to be cautious not spill the beans and spoil the plot. The best way to review any book in this series is to hit upon the incredible battle scenes and remind the prospective reader that any book in the series will be unexpected.
The Cuckoo is no different. A tad longer and much more involved, the writer brings our characters into dark uncharted waters. In consideration of the series being primarily centered on two races of Ancient English humans in two different stages of evolution and attitude in a constant state of war, we find ourselves often rooting for both sides.
The growth of the characters since the first two books is considerable, emotional and very well thought out. The twists and turns are vicious and unexpected. You know something is going to happen to Roper, our Northern antagonist, but just what is impossible to determine. This puts the reader in detective mode. The pages start turning so quickly the reader soon finds themselves in the funnel with no escape.
The Loyalty of Roper’s companions, including his younger brother, comes to a caldera of boiling action that is one of the most visual depictions of war out there. Roper’s relationship with his wife, which started out in a most auspicious manner is heartfelt. Every character will draw you in. Pryce, Leon, Roper’s Brother, The Southern enemies and many more. The Cuckoo is a brilliant ending to a great series.… (mere)

The Spider by Leo Carew is a rip roaring follow up to his incredible debut The Wolf. It is sometimes hard to write reviews of books that are in a series due to the fact that I hate spoilers and even more hate spoiling it for other readers. Today. Even the back of books give away the plot if you buy the whole series and read the description. A review is no less true.
The second volume in the Northern Sky series is much darker that the first book. Carew makes it very that clear that none of his characters are infallible and just like people in the real world…they often make grievous mistakes. His writing is strong and with each book it turns to a level of poetic balance and brilliance that is quite rare in a market surrounded by new writers who feel they have to cater to every agenda the news and media regurgitate to the masses. Not Carew. The Spider is entertaining first and foremost with unmatched levels of character development. The reader finds themselves deeply attached to each character regardless of what side of the river they find themselves on.
There is some serious trickery in this novel, played out by some rather sticky characters. The way Carew writes combat scenes is masterful and brutal. They will make you sweat, bleed and at times stand up and cheer only before tearing your heart out.
Read the Spider. Enjoy it and take it for what it is. But do not be surprised when you turn the last past page and realize that you have just read fantasy written on a grand scale without it seeming like it was fantasy. There are no artsy ego-centric elves, fairies or wizards spewing skittles. There are some seriously mean folks in this book. If Robert E. Howard were still around I am sure he would shake Carew’s hand, offer to buy him a beer only before brandishing a pair of swords and offering to spar with him. I have not read anything about Carew being influenced by Conan or Howard’s work. But it would not surprise me one bit.… (mere)

What a ride Leo Carew’s debut novel “The Wolf” is. Reading this book was like jumping down a giant spinning funnel and not giving a hoot where it went. It was so much fun. From the get go you know you are in for a ride.
Where to begin on this review. Once every few years a young writer comes along that grabs you by the collar and throws you into the deep end of the pool. Well. Not only does Carew do this, he puts his foot on your head while you are trying to come back up for air and shoves you back down into the murky depths.
There have been a hefty amount of comparisons to Carew with Martin. Both are good writers, but Carew seems to have tossed Martin into that pool and allowed us readers of low fantasy to catch our breath and be thankful he is in our corner.
The Wolf is an excellent novel that takes us somewhere we have not been but puts our feet in a place that many fans of British History and Mythology might be familiar with. The contrast between the two warring factions and their opposite spectrum of belief and ways are put out in a way which allows the reader to almost root for them both. The Northerners are awe inspiring. Imagining such a race of men who live for hundreds of years, filling a battlefield opposite men more like ourselves is a cool contrast. The bravery on both sides and particularly the southern side evokes some stark images simply because we know they are facing almost certain death by standing their ground against opponents nearly twice their height and bred for total war taught through lives that span centuries. Both sides are flawed but neither of them are cowards. It is almost an image of Connor McLeod standing in front of The Kurgan for the first time. "MOTHER OF GOD"
The writing in this first volume is smooth, very little filler and the characters are all memorable. Each player in The Wolf will pull on the reader in different ways. Great pacing and buildup to combat, the event along with the decompressing and downtime of the troops afterwards is splendid. The Northerners are always ready and willing to war the drop of a dime. The South...almost, but not quite. Trickery is afoot and deceit abounds on both sides of the dividing river between North and South. Read this book but do not get stuck on the wrong side.
Carew is one of the only writers that, I feel, could take Robert E. Howard’s Hyborean world and do it justice. If you love the work of Howard you will surely enjoy The Wolf.
The only thing negative I will say; and it is not really negative because it is present in 99.9 percent of fantasy and that is the naming of characters. It seems that it is apparently impossible to for any writer to create names for individuals that don't sound they were taken out of a TSR manual. (The Witcher and Wheel of Time being the worst of the lot) But in this case Carew does an amazing job of "almost completely" side stepping that pitfall. Bravo Zulu to him. I am currently about halfway through "The Spider" and it is quite obvious that Carew is one those writers that will only get stronger the more they write.… (mere)