Of Bone and Thunder

Evans (the Iron Elves series) considers the grim consequences of a drawn-out civil war following the revelation that the king of a fantasy realm is illegitimate. His characters%E2%80%94including lowly crossbowmen; a thaum, or wizard; and a royal ranger%E2%80%94each have individual story lines that weave together as they make their way through a war that has no end in sight and often appears to lose any sort of moral imperative. The characters are a ragtag collection, thrown together by the fortunes of war and often at odds. In addition to the battle between the rival factions, there is a guerilla war against the humans by their non-human enemies. The hurry-up-and-wait pace of warfare is reflected in the structure of the novel, which focuses on the day-to-day minutiae of the characters' lives with occasional bursts of action. Readers will spot parallels to real-world ongoing wars, their horrors seen all the more clearly through the lens of the fantastic. (Oct.)