Books › Honoured Enemy
Honoured Enemy
First published 2001 · 540 pages
A frigid, tense survival story where sworn enemies must forge a fragile brotherhood to outlast a deadly winter and a relentless foe.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like marching through a blizzard with a knife at your back, where the only thing keeping you alive is the person you hate most. It is a brisk, pragmatic military fantasy that thrives on the tension of forced proximity and desperate survival. The atmosphere is relentlessly frigid and bleak, grounding the reader in the visceral miseries of a winter campaign and the constant, claustrophobic dread of being hunted. Yet, beneath the gritty exterior and tactical skirmishes lies an earnest exploration of honor, duty, and shared humanity. The prose is direct and unadorned, focusing on the physical toll of the elements and the psychological weight of command. It will deeply satisfy readers who love the slow, hard-won transition from bitter enemies to brothers-in-arms.
- Mood
- frigid
- desperate
- claustrophobic
- bleak
- Tone
- pragmatic
- gritty
- earnest
- tense
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- enemies forced to ally · the burden of command · survival against the elements · shared humanity in war · honor and duty
- The writing
- Direct and action-oriented, grounding the reader in the visceral, tactical realities of warfare and a freezing climate.
- The arc
- Moves from bitter, entrenched hatred and desperate survival to a hard-won, grudging respect and brotherhood.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave gritty military fantasy and the deeply satisfying trope of sworn enemies forced to rely on each other to survive.
Content notes
- warfare and combat violence
- starvation and freezing
- xenophobia and prejudice
About the book
In the frozen Northlands of Midkemia, Captain Dennis Hartraft’s Marauders have just had a disastrous encounter with their sworn enemy, the Tsurani. Wounded and disheartened, the Mauraders set out for the shelter of a frontier garrison. They don’t know that a Tsurani patrol is sent to support an assault on that same garrison. Arriving simultaneously, the Marauders and Tsurani find the outpost already overrun by a dark enemy whose ferocity is legendary in Midkemia. In order to survive, the foes must band together and fight as one. As they make their way across the inhospitable climate, the two batallions struggle not only with the elements and their enemy, but also their consciences. Can their hatred for their mutual enemy overcome their distrust of each other? And, with both sides carrying painful scars from past wars, what is more one’s life or one’s honor?
Description from Open Library.
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