Book Review: A Low Country (Low Country #1) by Morgan Shank

Rating: 9.5/10

TL;DR Rating: Fast-paced action, complex and damaged characters, and a breathtaking world with a Wild West feel.

Synopsis:

In the first week everything went wrong.

Sharla was ready to settle down after four years on the road, but when Claws invade her city and take her love, Renn, she knows it’s time for action. She’s tired of running. Now she’s going to take a stand.

To do this, she will have to follow the Claws across the tablelands. This is a land of bandits, magicians, and monsters. If she wants to cross this land and save Renn, she will need help. An army of Watchmen would be nice. Maybe even a drug cartel.

However, she also knows that it is best to keep things small. The more allies she has, the more she risks getting a knife between her ribs in the future.

It is Low Country after all.

Full review:

I have not only read A Low Country—I inhaled It.

It certainly helped that it’s on the shorter side of fantasy, at about 250 pages. But really, the book (and the rest of the series) is a joy to binge, because of three things that are done SO WELL:

1. The characters.

From the very beginning, we see how damaged our protagonist, Sharla, truly is. There’s a beautiful sense of poetry in the way she loses herself in horseback riding and music, but it’s obvious that it’s just her way of drowning out her traumatic past (an abusive father she had to kill to save her mother, who never fought back). She’s strong but flawed, headstrong but sometimes vulnerable, determined but still human, and very, very fragile. From her first whirlwind ride in pursuit of the ferocious Claws who stole her lover to the final epic battle scene, we’re taken on a deeply emotional ride with Sharla, one of growth and change that happens slowly but with astonishing poignancy.

But we also get the perspective of Kine Tarroful, Colonel of the Watchmen, who are doing their best to keep order in the Low Country, even if that means making deals with drug cartels and bloodthirsty bandits. From his perspective, we get the “do what needs to be done to keep the peace” kind of attitude, even if that means making a decades-long deal with a lot of devils.

Inevitably, their paths cross and Sharla’s gang of bandits and desperadoes will catch Kine’s attention. And the result is… much, much more complex than you could ever expect.

The character work that is in A Low Country is truly amazing, and it was Sharla and Kine who immediately drew me into the story and pulled me into the world.

2. The world.

The world of Low Country feels instantly like the Wild West. From vast deserts to swelling sandstorms to towering buttes to sweeping canyons, any cowboy fiction lover will feel right at home from the first page.

But there is a beautiful sense of wonder subtly woven throughout. While the terrain is harsh and unforgiving, filled with deadly creatures and countless threats, it also hides magic and beauty in abundance.

When we see the world through Kine’s eyes, we are treated to the grim and the grim. Sharla’s POV, however, lets us marvel with her at all the wonders this barren world has to offer.

It’s never boring or ‘monotonous’ – on the contrary, every moment we spend exploring the world just makes it feel more alive and unique, in a way that I absolutely love.

3. The action.

This is one of the book’s greatest strengths, especially when combined with the complex, powerfully written characters.

A Low Country is filled with countless action scenes, and each one has a frantic, almost hysterical, chaotic pace. It’s like being in the middle of one of Joe Abercrombie’s biggest battles: everything is happening on all sides at once, and so fast that you can hardly keep up.

I found myself skimming through the book because the tight, sparse writing style of the action scenes left me breathless. It was one of those “blink and you’re done and 50 pages in” stories that proved so compelling for an action-loving reader like me.

A Low Country is a VERY strong offering in the grimdark fantasy genre, and its Wild West flavor makes it a real standout. It’s a spectacular look at flawed, vulnerable people wrapped in a stunningly vivid world and a non-stop adventure that will keep you hooked from the first page to the last.