Priest of Bones

War for the Rose Throne, Book 1

By: Peter McLean

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody Anne at his side. But things have changed while he was away: His crime empire has been stolen, and the people of Ellinburg - his people - have run out of food, hope, and places to hide. Tomas sets out to reclaim what was his with help from Anne, his brother, Jochan, and his new gang: the Pious Men. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, everything gets more complicated.

As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the back-street taverns, brothels, and gambling dens of Tomas' old life, it becomes clear: The war is only just beginning.

©2018 Peter McLean (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"The first in an unmissable series, Priest of Bones is a fresh and compelling take on grimdark fantasy. Mashing together soldiers, gangsters, magic and war into a heady mix that is a hulking big brother to The Lies of Locke Lamora." (Anna Stephens, author of Godblind)

Fantasy version of Peaky Blinders

If you took the script for Peaky Blinders and rewrote a fantasy version you would get War for the Rose Throne.
And this is not a bad thing. Peter McLean writes in all the grit and attitude of Peaky Blinders with several familiar plot lines. Small family crime business. Brothers back from the war. Ambitious brother wanting to make it bigger. Reckless drunk brother. Female secret agent behind the bar. Gang wars, opium, corrupt men at arms, secret government intrigue. Its all here. Well written with flawed believable characters.

John Lee delivers per his usual excellence. He is without a doubt one of the top 3 narrators of fantasy in the business.

Excellent

Highly enjoyable story. Reminds me a little of Lies of Locke Lamora. Well written, good pace, and good narration.

Amazing

This was the perfect grim dark story of might makes right. The MC is a character you really care about even when he is makes tough decisions. The drama is not so over the top that you think everything sucks. The story follows a fun but dark path where what needs to be done is done, and you feel you would do the same give the circumstances. The action is amazing and you feel like you are right there.

The narrator is amazing!

Top ten... top five of the year

This book absolutely gripped me beginning to end. There’s one scene, a memory toward the end of the book that left me incredibly uncomfortable—but that was its intent.

Well done.

Honor amongst thieves

The two brothers are the exact opposites in personality, but their loyalty to one another is unshakable so far. The past violence the two brothers and comrades have shared is a brothers in arms concept that now extends far outside their past military duty. Thomas Piety frequently quotes, " the right man for the right job." So far his intuition has been uncanny. But, how long can his intuition serve him.

I love fantasy world gangsters!

The Jhereg series is still my favorite, with Thieves World second. But Priest of Bones is right up there! I look forward to the rest of the series!

Fantastic Narrator

Fantastic Narrator. He really makes the story worth listening too and better than what it is. The story is kind of like a goodfellows or Godfather type story but in a fantasy world where there is some magic. Not a lot of magic but some.

I normally don't like single point of view books but this one is extremely well done. If you like single point of view then you'll love this.

Wonderful

A nice blend of mafia and knights, truly a tail worth both credit and coins.

In less then an hour I was hooked

51.5 minutes is how long it took for me to be committed to this universe and it’s cast of characters. This is the kind of compelling story telling that brings you in for the first story it hooks you till the last word. Invest your time, your interest and most importantly your self into this series.

Finally, a well constructed fantasy novel

It seems like I've been through tomes of fantasy doggerel recently, passing itself off as readable fiction. So it was with pleasant surprise that I came across Priest. It very much reminders me of Terry Mancour's Spellmonger novels- well constructed plot, believable characters and free from unnecessary contrivances. This was a very good read. Drop the credit. You won't be disappointed!