Read June 2019. Published March 2017.
Task. That is his name.
He was built for war and doomed to be a weapon for his master.
For Task is a golem. Crafted out of wind-cut stone by the masters of the Old Magic, he is the finest of his kind and has been created to serve blindly, but he is unusual for a golem - he questions the purpose of his existence; he reasons; he feels. Surely he is broken in some way?
Task has lived for more than four hundred years and is now the last of the Wind-Cut golems. He has been passed from master to master over his long life-span and the violence he has been expected to wreak upon humankind has only served to teach him that they are all the same....all just "skinbags".
He aches for an end to his misery, but the magic that made him also binds him irrevocably to each new warlord.
Task now has a new home - a boy king in the distant land of Hartlund, has need of his services.
His new master is the cruel and arrogant General Huff, in the boy king's army, and Task's mission is to break the deadlock in the civil war that has been dragging on for years, by bringing victory for the Truehard banner over the Last Fading rebels.
Task seems destined to repeat the cycle of warfare for ever, but this time something is different. He meets the expected response of grim fascination and horror from his comrades, but he also finds friendship among the dregs of the army - and the fierce stable-girl Lesky. Friendship is something Task has not known for a very long time and it did not end well the last time he was close to a human. He has learned to bury his feelings deep inside, but they are breaking free.
Task finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the fate of the people of Hartlund and once he discovers the truth behind the civil war, he finds sympathy for the ordinary folk whose lives have been torn apart by the endless conflict - the people on both sides of the fight.
Can Task break the pull of the magic that binds him to perpetual violence and find a way to help Hartlund find peace? Is he really broken or are the very feelings that make him special the route to his redemption?
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I was given the chance to read this book as part of the Ultimate Blog Tour to celebrate the work of the fantasy author, Ben Galley. I have not previously come across any of Ben's books, so this was a great chance to introduce myself to his work and I have been very impressed.
The Heart of Stone seemed like a logical place to start for me, as it is a stand-alone novel - rare amongst Ben's works, as his other books are all part of a series.
It is much more of a challenge to create a fully-drawn and believable fantasy world in a single book, so I thought it would be a good test of his writing, and I am pleased to say that Ben managed this with aplomb.
I found myself immersed in the land of Hartlund pretty quickly and very much enjoyed the way the history of the civil war between the Truehard and Last Fading gradually became clear over the course of the book. It is a hard task to drop a reader in the middle of an on-going conflict, with no background, and make a success of this. Well done, Sir!
I have read a lot of fanstasy books over the years, as it is one of my favourite genres and although I have come across golems before, this is the first book I have read where the golem is the main protagonist.
Task is however, no ordinary golem - he is a golem with heart! His long life has made him philosophical about the futility of war and he longs for some peace. There are times in this story when you will find yourself getting quite angry at the treatment Task receives, even though he is made of stone, because he is written so well. Task's conviction that war brings no good for either side is certainly very compelling. It is easy to be sympathetic to his cause and he finds humans quite frustrating - don't we all!
The friendship that Task forges with the dregs of the army, and little Lesky, is really touching. Having buried his feelings for so long, Task even has rare moments of happiness in the chaos that surrounds them all. The special bond he has with Lesky is particularly heart-warming and when he opens up to her about feeling he is broken, her response is wonderful...
"I feel sorry for you, Task.’
‘Don’t bother.’ ‘No, not because you’ve suffered, or you’re cursed, but because you don’t realise.’ He threw her a quizzical look. Lesky reached out a hand and placed it on his stone. He tensed, but felt nothing, just the warmth of her skin. ‘You don’t realise how human you are. All of us. Alabast, Ellia, me, Huff, even you, with a mind made out of stone. We all walk around pretendin’ we’re not broken in some way. Most spend their lives hiding it. But we are broken. And you know what? That’s fine. In fact, it’s perfect because it’s imperfect. Each crack, each blemish, each scar, whether of the skin or in the mind, they make us whole. We’re made through livin’, not by bein’ born. What we learn is what shapes us. Some choose a friendly shape, others somethin’ more jagged and sharp. That is what it means to be human, Task. We can choose. You say your master made a mistake? Made you broken? I think he made the finest golem there is. One who’s more than stone, not just some mindless machine. One who can make actually make a choice for himself. One who’s got a conscience. A heart." |
It was very enjoyable that there were "baddies" galore in this book. General Huff is an obvious choice to pick out as hateful, and he has no discernible saving graces, but he plays well against Task's innate goodness. The more "human" of the pair is definitely the one made of stone!
Baroness Freyne/Lady Augur is however, the most interesting of the cast of evil characters here. She is thoroughly despicable and runs amok through the pages - playing each side for her own vengeful ends - but, and there is a but, her desire for revenge is rooted in deep emotion, despite her portrayal as a Machiavellian monster. For Freyne/Augur the end certainly justifies the means and she is willing to sacrifice everyone in the pursuit of vengeance, but the reason for her scheming is one that evokes sympathy of sorts. I like a complex villain!
If I have one criticism of this book, it lies with the ending. I don't really want to give any spoilers away here, but it is inevitable, and pretty obvious from early on in the story, that Task will not make it to a happy retirement. He has a purpose to fulfill if he is to achieve his aim of bringing peace to those he cares about. His dreams of endless rushing water are an omen, and do foreshadow the part he must play. I do not have a problem with this at all - the end is quite fitting.
However, I would have liked to know how Task achieved his final goal, using the last of his old magic. I think Task deserved to go out in a blaze of glory here and it was a little anti-climactic that he got to save the day off-screen (so to speak).
I guess this is actually a compliment to Ben Galley that I wanted more!
I found The Heart of Stone a very enjoyable adventure. It is gutsy, surprising and full of heart (if you will pardon the pun). As an introduction to the work of a new author it has been a great success for me, and I am very keen to see that Ben Galley can offer me in a dark fantasy series.
Buy a copy of The Heart of Stone here.
Ben Galley is an author of dark and epic fantasy books, who currently hails from Victoria, Canada.
Since publishing his debut The Written in 2010, Ben has released a range of award-winning fantasy novels, including the weird western Bloodrush and the epic stand-alone The Heart of Stone. He is also the author of the brand new Chasing Graves trilogy.
Find Ben on Twitter at @BenGalley
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