Banehunter

A Vereldan Tale

Fiction - Fantasy - Epic
440 Pages
Reviewed on 11/01/2015
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Chris Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In a fast-paced thrill ride of a read by author Greg McLeod, Banehunter: A Vereldan Tale is a book you won't soon forget. Filled with adventure and excitement, as well as interesting characters, great world creation and a wonderful story line, readers will be hooked from page one, and will keep turning the pages until the very end.

Follow the story of a kingdom infested with the diabolical Bane, monstrous creatures of alien origin that are more deadly than anything seen before in the world of Vereld. The Bane might take over the entire kingdom, and the inhabitants are likely to suffer a tragic outcome if they cannot successfully battle against the creatures. It seems the kingdom's only hope might lie in a disgraced ranger, Graeme Banehunter, or perhaps the daughter or son of the Lord of Longvale, Breanne and Arden. None of these potential heroes are without their own baggage, and none are certain of their skills in battling the Bane, but they may be the kingdom's only hope.

I very much enjoyed Banehunter: A Vereldan Tale. Author Greg McLeod has provided his readers with a stellar new story and a look into his world of Vereld. Any reader who enjoys a great work of fantasy should absolutely pick up this book. I am pleased that it appears there will be more to come in the Vereldan series, and certainly hope that author Greg McLeod is already hard at work on the next installment. I, for one, will be anxiously waiting for it.

Lit Amri

The Bane, a plague of monstrous, deadly creatures which started from a cursed island off Marillin’s coast, now threatens the neighboring Vales. There’s only a crumbling wall held together by weakening Wards and defended by a few brave men to keep the people safe. Vales has run out of mages to maintain the Wards, and they’ve run out of hunters willing to go ranging beyond the wall without true magic to keep them safe. As the danger of the Bane grows, perhaps the only rescue lies in an exiled ranger and a lord’s daughter shut away in a convent.

Banehunter (A Vereldan Tale) by Greg McLeod is a superb epic fantasy. I admire Arden, Lord Thorley’s only son, who initially appears as a weakling but matures quite quickly. He even got himself purposely ‘bitten’ (infected by the Bane) by a woman named Wulfwyn to help her and her people. I also admire Breanne, Arden’s sister, a young woman with great fortitude. Her strange seizures that bring sudden blind spells accompanied often by frightening visions make her more intriguing. The siblings are more than unloved children of a bitter lord. Along with Graeme, the exiled ranger, they are destined to be saviors.

I like McLeod’s handling of the story – there’s plenty of intrigue and tantalizing suspense as the plot unravels. The complex characters give Banehunter an added dimension and the fight scenes would satisfy action fans. On the whole, great characterization and solid writing make McLeod’s Banehunter a powerful fantasy tale.

Melinda Hills

In a devastated world in a time without much hope, heroes are hard to come by. Banehunter: A Vereldan Tale by Greg McLeod tells of Graeme Banehunter who is one such hero as he scours the no-man’s land between the walls to try to keep the Bane at bay and ensure the safety of the people of Baintry. His valiant efforts are undermined, however, by the unreasonable Lord of Thorhold who insists on Graeme taking his son into the Vales to try to make him into a man. Meanwhile, the lord’s daughter, Breanne, also incurs her father’s anger and retreats to the Sisters of Verelda with just one small piece of jewelry to remember her mother by.

With strange visions, the pull of her silver circlet, and a sudden understanding, Breanne leaves the Sisters to join Graeme in order to fulfill what she feels is her calling. Together with other volunteers who turn into heroes in their own right, Graeme and Breanne travel the country to find and eliminate the source of the Bane and restore peace to the land. Will they be able to combat the forces of evil unleashed from the dark god Amut by a power hungry mage who wants to rule the world?

A rich back story and well developed characters make up the world of Banehunter: A Vereldan Tale by Greg McLeod. The action pulls you in from the first page and the intensity of emotion and depth of dedication of the characters keep you riveted all the way to the end. This is an excellent book for fantasy devotees as it provides plenty of intrigue and heartfelt emotion in a sweeping tale of good versus evil, of gods and mere men.