Review contains 'bad language'. 
 Every year (OK 3 times I think), around lunchtime, I cycle down to the Bristol Fantasy Convention, Bristolcon, about 6 miles from my house, and spend a couple of hours in the bar. 
 In doing so back in 2013 I met, at random, authors Luke Scull and Snorri Kristjansson. Both of them happened to find themselves in Bristol again this Summer and (on separate occasions) came round to Casa Lawrence for a few beers, leaving copies of their latest work in their wake. 
 So, I have a signed copy of Sword of the North 
 I have to say, as someone with a rather undistinguished signature, that it's nice to see someone with an even worse one! 
 Anyway. The book has come in handy. I discovered a large spider in bed with me (you may have heard the scream), and totally defended my honour with my signed hardcover! 
 As to the story - well, there's a lot going on. It's certainly a book packed with action. People are gruesomely murdered at every turn, there are monsters, mages, unpleasant folk, huge magical battles ... it's all going on. There was a reasonably large cast at the end of the first book, Grim Company, and it's added to in this volume as our various bands, or individuals (Kayne & Jerek / Sasha & her sister / the Half-Mage / Davarus Cole) collect more vagrants on their travels. 
 The plot doesn't so much advance as grow. Kayne and Jerek, who were planning to go from A to B and do C, get from A to B. The Half-Mage who was planning to warn everyone about the Fade, tries to do that, and gets some help at the end. 
 New people and powers show up, opening new plotlines, saving the day, etc. A chosen one is dropped into the mix, a magelord's ex, a super-monster, a ninja woman, a mysterious henchling, an orc with an egg ... as I said, it's all go! 
 It's a very crude book on several levels - I don't think I've seen the word 'cunt' appear so many times in a book before - it's like an episode of Deadwood, without the 'cocksuckers'. I'm sure I haven't seen so many characters wade through so much literal shit before, seen such a yardage of entrails or acreage of maggoty flesh. 
 Brodar Kayne is still the ageing Conan but we get a second timeline for him that starts a few decades before the main story and jumps towards it in bounds of 5 or 10 years at a go. This fills us in on the Kayne back story and adds some weight to his family-saving ambitions. He is the eponymous Sword of the North and his journey gives the book its direction. 
 As with the previous installment there's a lot of imagination on display and the descriptions of various monsters and magic are pretty cool. 
 At times you're reminded that the author has his tongue in his cheek. There appears to be a homage to a scene from Pulp Fiction in one place, and the orphan Tiny Tom pokes his head into a number of scenes... 
 Some of the character relationships don't quite work for me. The Half-Mage's courtship is the main example, but with so much to get through you do find that quite often we dip directly into some very significant relationship moment without any of the build up to it, so that it can seem like the trailer for an episode of a soap opera with the emotional high points edited into a quick-fire series of coups de theatre. 
 But let's face it, you probably didn't pick up book 2 in The Grim Company for the subtle emotional crescendos of intricate relationships. You're more likely to be here to watch some huge warrior bristling with weaponry wade out of a shit-swamp trailing other people's entrails, call the bad(er) guy a cunt and hack him down while the horizon explodes with magical detonations extracted from one of Michael Bay's wet dreams. And if that's the case then you're in good hands here! 
 If you were a fan of the first book then you're going to love this one just as much ... maybe more. 
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