The Backwards Knight (TBK) is the first entry in the Eldritch Remnants series that has been a passion project of Matthew’s for many years. This dark fantasy novel, as the series name suggests, has horror elements. It concerns the struggle Orn, Laela, and Gaulf face regarding the return of some pretty twisted magic to their world. Orn is the knight who tasks himself with determining why, while Laela is an elf (perhaps the last of her kind) who hunts those marked by magic, and Gaulf is the poor soul who ends up on the run from her.
I’m in a Discord server with the author, so I’ve heard a lot about TBK. I also attended some of Matthew’s streams on Twitch where he worked on the book live. Even though horror is not a genre I read, this early exposure whetted my appetite for the book. I looked forward to its release a lot. So, I leapt at the chance to read the ARC.
The world that TBK takes place in felt almost like traveling through a darker version of Skyrim as I accompanied the characters on their journey. I could visualize the villages and their inhabitants quite clearly, as well as the forests and various ruins visited along the way. Matthew did a great job bringing the characters and environments to life without being heavy-handed with info dumps or drawn-out pieces of exposition.
I did struggle with the beginning of the book. I feel the prologue could have been left out and its information sprinkled throughout the book instead, and that might have smoothed out the introduction of the other characters. There are other wrinkles in the initial chapters, such as the abrupt introduction of Laela’s point of view while the reader is still in the midst of catching up with Gaulf’s past. These things threw me out of the story. At times I also felt confused about what was actually happening when the strange occurrences starting cropping up, but this might be due more to my lack of experience with eldritch-themed material than anything else. But thankfully, the book picked up and smoothed out as I continued reading, and by the end I was absolutely hankering for more.
Laela was by far my favorite character. She is very well written and I enjoyed her snarky, stabby, take-no-shit attitude very much. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her! I always felt so badly for poor Gaulf, who just couldn’t seem to catch a break at any turn. I did wonder how he managed to not starve to death on his journey. And then there was Orn. His unrelenting devotion to his mission was admirable, and remained realistic as the book progressed and more challenges came his way.
The last 20% of the book is quite the ride and certainly the portion I enjoyed the most. Matthew nailed the ending. The pace was great, the writing excellent. I could see, smell, touch, hear, and even taste what the characters were going through. The conclusion was enough to leave me satisfied while still being open-ended to lead into the next book. Well done.
All in all, I enjoyed The Backwards Knight. I think this book will definitely speak to readers who enjoy Lovecraftian material while bringing in the best aspects of fantasy. Four stars!
