This review is coming a little later than I would’ve liked. While I ended up with a physical ARC of the second volume from Baen, (for which I’m incredibly grateful) somehow my ARC of the first volume never arrived–therefore, Howard Andrew Jones graciously sent me a copy of his own, so I’ve made a point of reading it for review as soon as I was able.

Lord of a Shattered Land is something of a bait-and-switch in the most delightful way possible. Baen has a bit of a reputation for SFF bricks, long novels, and epic (sometimes foreverlong) series, so while I was going into Hanuvar expecting a more typical lengthy epic fantasy part 1 novel, I was more than pleasantly surprised to discover that Lord of a Shattered Land was somewhere between a classic fixup and a pure anthology. It could’ve easily been split into two books, released as classic spinner rack pocketbooks.

Each “chapter” is a standalone short story, novelette, or novella of the adventures of Hanuvar, a fantasy analog of Hannibal, on his quest to find the scattered survivors of a fallen fantasy analog of Carthage following the fantasy analog Punic Wars. While each story advances the overarching plot of Hanuvar’s quest, they’re incredibly enjoyable little stories in their own right. It creates an interesting paradox in that Hanuvar is a true Epic in the classical sense, though structurally it is radically different from what is today considered “Epic Fantasy.” A number of the stories fall into a predictable narrative rhythm, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing and reinforces the idea of the Hanuvar books being a translation of a more poetic work into prose: the first “verse” or “canto” introduces the scenario from the perspective of the villains, who lay out their scheme, followed by the introduction of the hero as he is at the present time, with alternations becoming more tightly intwined until all parties are present at the crux of the conflict.

While the start feels a little uncertain, the collection finds its stride with its 4th story, The Second Death of Hanuvar. The introduction of Antires, Hanuvar’s companion, biographer, and one of the collections three framing characters, gives Jones a way to both juxtapose Hanuvar with a foil and analyze Hanuvar’s nature and character from within the story itself rather than top-down as omniscient narrator. [The work is presented as an adaptation of Antires’s writings, revised to a narrative distance of 3rd person by his descendent, with notes and commentaries by an intermediate historian; this ends up being less clunky in practice than it sounds, with portions directly from Antires’s perspective (his original “Hanuvid”) used as bridging materials between the standalone stories.]

Hanuvar makes for an interesting Sword & Sorcery protagonist in that while he has all of the clever and wiles of your typical brawny hero, he’s an older man, and must therefore rely primarily on those; while he still has his martial prowess and experience, the years tell on him. Not quite Leiber lampshading Conan by having F&GM note that ‘even most skilled swordsman struggle against more than one or two opponents,’ but it’s a good excuse to have the more mature character seek ways to defeat opponents stealthily or avoid direct head-to-head confrontations except when absolutely necessary.

The setting is a low-fantasy quasi-Mediterranean; it has elements that give it an interesting flavor, particularly the travelling circus that Hanuvar joins up and travels with for several tales, though it never quite has that “fantastical antiquity” feel of Swann’s writing. Don’t mistake this for me saying that it’s bland, but the sort of mythic fantasy elements that shape Mediterranean cultures haven’t quite shown themselves (yet) in the way one would expect to see them shape their fantasy analogs, particularly given that the magic and mythic are real in this setting. Because of this, the stories that are more grounded and have fewer fantastical elements tend to be some of the strongest. Additionally, there are a few instances where it feels that Hanuvar is cheated out of the chance to earn a story’s resolution himself when a fantastical force shows up at the end.

Baen is known for its covers. That statement needs no elucidation for anyone familiar with them, regardless of their opinions on them. But given that this is a review of a Baen book, I do feel that the cover should be commented upon. For this? I don’t really know… While it’s scene-accurate to the particular story that it illustrates [the first story in the collect], I don’t think quite captures or conveys the overall spirit of the book. Hanuvar is a kneeling figure, nearly naked, his face hidden, before a minor character who does not show up again after the first story (at least not in the first book). I would’ve never gotten “Sword & Sorcery Aftermath of the Punic Wars” from this (though the sequel’s cover is a bit better in that respect).

Overall, I have so far loved what I’ve read of Hanuvar, and have already plunged into the second volume. Without getting into spoilers, there are some pretty big changes introduced right away–I’ll have to see how they end up shaping the subsequent stories and my feelings about them.

The Chronicles of Hanuvar are a strong recommend from me.