Overview
The Philistines, a mysterious warrior people known now for mainly one man: Goliath. The giant.
Goliath. A name grander than even the man himself. You've heard of his infamous end at the hands of a shepherd as written in a famous book, but what of the life of the man himself? What book tells his tale?
A warrior among warriors, a son of a god, a living legend. Goliath, the warrior champion of the Philistines. On the battlefield, he runs like a horse, wields killing instruments no normal man may heft, and revels in the fear his presence evokes. Off the field, his will is immutable, his trust invaluable, and his appetites unbearable. Goliath. This man knows no challenge.
But such a reputation will not discourage all men. Scheming rulers and generals, prophetic priests and powerful cults, dauntless warriors looking to make their own legend. Monsters. Gods. For one seemingly unkillable, at the very least, these things can ruin an otherwise pleasant day.
Along with his shield bearer, Abimelech, and soldiers more in awe than they are useful, Goliath will set out on missions for kings, face foul magic users, and walk in the shadows of mysterious halls. History tells us Goliath died at the hands of an Israelite. Goliath may have something to say about that.
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Genre: Fantasy, Warriors, Mythology
Contains: Blood and Gore Scenes, Sexually-Charged Scenes, Foul Language, Visceral imagery
About the Author
Steven L. Shrewsbury, from Central Illinois, enjoys Football, books about history, guns, politics, mystery shows, and good fiction. 365 of his short story have been published in print or digital media. His novels STRONGER THAN DEATH, HAWG,TORMENTOR, AND GODFORSAKEN run from horror to historical fantasy. His collaboration with Nate Southard BAD MAGICK was his first hardback release from Bloodletting Press. His collab novel with Peter Welmerink, BEDLAM UNLEASHED, was recently accepted by Belfire Press for an early 2011 release. The novel HELL BILLY is also on the Horizon, to be published by Bad Moon Books in 2012. When not writing new tales or working on collobarations with Maurice Brauddus and Brian Keene, he searches for brightness where it may hide.
The Philistines, a mysterious warrior people known now for mainly one man: Goliath. The giant.
Goliath. A name grander than even the man himself. You've heard of his infamous end at the hands of a shepherd as written in a famous book, but what of the life of the man himself? What book tells his tale?
A warrior among warriors, a son of a god, a living legend. Goliath, the warrior champion of the Philistines. On the battlefield, he runs like a horse, wields killing instruments no normal man may heft, and revels in the fear his presence evokes. Off the field, his will is immutable, his trust invaluable, and his appetites unbearable. Goliath. This man knows no challenge.
But such a reputation will not discourage all men. Scheming rulers and generals, prophetic priests and powerful cults, dauntless warriors looking to make their own legend. Monsters. Gods. For one seemingly unkillable, at the very least, these things can ruin an otherwise pleasant day.
Along with his shield bearer, Abimelech, and soldiers more in awe than they are useful, Goliath will set out on missions for kings, face foul magic users, and walk in the shadows of mysterious halls. History tells us Goliath died at the hands of an Israelite. Goliath may have something to say about that.
Add this to Your Goodreads.com Shelf
Recommended: Yes.
About Philistine
Recommended Ages: 17 and Up
Paperback: 488 pgs.
Published: January 21st 2014 by Seventh Star Press
For This Review: *Paperback Book Copy Provided by Publisher for Review Purposes*
My Music Playlist while reading Philistine
ハカイヨノユメ by Ling Tosite Sigure
Tremolo + A by Ling Tosite Sigure
seacret cm by Ling Tosite Sigure
Dramatic Slow Motion by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure
Musician Biography
About Ling Tosite Sigure and TK: A rock band from Japan. The music style of the band is pretty hard to measure. Nonetheless, the rock, the band produces deserves acolytes in the Rock genre. TK of the band Ling Tosite Sigure, on the other hand, produces solo music without the band that has its own style. Still quite different than that of the band's. The only problem is, it is hard to pin down. Almost like a mashup of genres with Rock at its core, all with this unbelievable lovely delicate singing/restrained screamo.
Musician Biography
About Ling Tosite Sigure and TK: A rock band from Japan. The music style of the band is pretty hard to measure. Nonetheless, the rock, the band produces deserves acolytes in the Rock genre. TK of the band Ling Tosite Sigure, on the other hand, produces solo music without the band that has its own style. Still quite different than that of the band's. The only problem is, it is hard to pin down. Almost like a mashup of genres with Rock at its core, all with this unbelievable lovely delicate singing/restrained screamo.
What to say, what to say about Philistine? Well. Let it be known that I really admire Steven Shrewsbury's writing style. A style I first came across in reading Thrall and later Overkill. One thing. Philistine is set up as something not like anything seen in those two books. It's a book that is more like an Epic. Epic Fantasy. Due to that, the very first thing you have to conquer is the amount of time it will take to complete a book such as this. Yet, eh, that for me is not the problem. To me big books or tomes do not prove daunting. The only thing is quickly enough I became aware this was not going to be like any other Steven Shrewsbury book I had ever read.
The story pace to me proved rather slow and not in a good way. Primarily because the introduction of Goliath, our main character, was sort of like an introduction of meeting Gorias La Gaul from Thrall and Overkill. Needless to say, the characterization for Goliath was much too close to that of Gorias, for my liking. If that wasn't bad enough some of the universe's history and present cultures could be a bit confusing. Names thrown around like Ba'al Zebul, Sanrevelle, and Beth-horon proved vastly confusing to me. I'm sure this would not be an issue if I knew more of this type of mythology.
Yet, for readers who might not be remotely interested in mythology I'm sure they would be even more lost than me.
Those negatives out of the way. After about 50 pages or so I did feel the story picked up quite nicely. I was again re-introduced to why I love Steven Shrewsbury books. You never quite know what you are going to get but that is the whole point of reading in the first place. And while Philistine might have begun slow, by the end, I found that perhaps the more interesting characters to discover all along might have been Orpah and the Gods of Philistine.
Overall: Touching read Genre: Fantasy, Warriors, Mythology
Contains: Blood and Gore Scenes, Sexually-Charged Scenes, Foul Language, Visceral imagery
About the Author
