Machivarius Point... both surprises and amazes the reader... effortlessly brilliant.
A man who cannot count his years moves between worlds living the lives of other men. A soul-less ebony giantess seeks freedom in warfare but cannot escape the tragedy buried in her forgotten past. An aging mercenary and non-believer may be the unwitting saviour of his - and all - times. A blinded war-hero barters for a mythical stone in the hope that it may restore his former glory. An undead God seeks an end to his torment by bringing about and end to all things.
Comic artist turns fine fantasy writer
Comic artist shifts job description to comic writer is a well-trodden path. Comic artists are, after all, visual storytellers. Comic artist becomes fantasy novelist however, is a far more unusual tangent. If you've been a fan of Liam Sharp's Frank Frazetta meets HR Giger-esque comic art – muscled barbarians mixed with Blade Runner neon and detritus-swept colour schemes - you'll know that this is a creator with a distinct vision, dedicated to creating tangible other worlds. God Killers is Sharp fleshing these fantasy landscapes out, giving them detail and life.
It's something he does remarkably well. The main strength of the prose and poetry collection God Killers, and its near 200 page central story, Machivarius Point, is how fully formed Sharp's fantasy feels. The different races, the descriptions of the architecture, the history of its worlds – Sharp's commits them with great confidence. God Killers does that most difficult thing in fantasy fiction. It absorbs its influences –China Mieville (who offers a praising cover quote and gave advice on the proof), Lovecraft and M John Harrison – but feels like a personal, unaffected realisation nonetheless.
Hergal, his warrior central character, travels across other worlds and inhabits other lives but can't recall why, and Sharp is skilfully economic in how he reveals the truth. When the finale comes it's suitably epic, dealing with eternity, nothingness and "vile space". It would be too easy to describe God Killers as a promising debut. Sharp writes fantasy with the assurance of an otherworld-seeing prophet.
— Rob Williams
These are dark fables told with an assured lightness – twised treasures from the recesses of a mind that has spent a good deal of time in places most of us spent energy avoiding...
A significant achievement
Machivarius Points — Official Forum