“I’ve always had the eyes of a killer.”
The next great grimdark antihero is born in Whispers of the Storm, Book One in the Song of the Damned series by author Z.B. Steele. Now a prisoner charged with unimaginable crimes, Redlin of the Wolves recounts his path from boyhood to his violent adult life.
Is Redlin a hero or a villain? Or something in between?
Whispers of the Storm has echoes of other great grimdark classics such as the Empires of the Dust trilogy by Anna Smith Spark. But the greatest inspiration is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and it is an influence of three parts. The first and most obvious influence is the protagonist himself. Like Kvothe from The Name of the Wind, Redlin recounts his life’s history as a deeply broken man, telling stories of his youth that sometimes stretch the limits of credibility. The prospect of unreliable narration hovers throughout Whispers of the Storm, much as it pervades Kvothe’s story in the Kingkiller Chronicle.
The second influence is the focus paid to the protagonist’s formative years in school as an orphaned (or effectively orphaned) boy with unusual gifts, many of which seem too good to be true.
The third influence is not an easy thing to notice. Moral ambiguity builds gradually throughout Whispers of the Storm, just as it does in the Kingkiller Chronicle, allowing both Steele and Rothfuss to present complex portrayals of gray morality through their respective protagonists.
Z.B. Steele also shares Patrick Rothfuss’s gift for storytelling. Redlin’s first-person narration flows naturally, interrupted only by the occasional interlude, bringing us back to the framing story for a brutal reminder of Redlin’s eventual, mysterious downfall. If the influence of The Name of the Wind is somehow lost on the reader, Z.B. Steele pay direct homage to Rothfuss by name-dropping Kvothe a couple of times in the middle of Whispers of the Storm.
What makes Whispers of the Storm work so well is the emotional impact of the story. Z.B. Steele succeeds in building Redlin as a sympathetic protagonist, despite his numerous faults. We know he does awful things, yet we somehow still identify with him and even root for him as readers. This makes the emotional impact of Redlin’s story hit all the much harder. It’s a tough act to pull off, but Z.B. Steele succeeds with flying colors.
Although Whispers of the Storm is the first full-length novel in Z.B. Steele’s Song of the Damned Series, it follows his prequel novella An Inkling of Flame. Frankly, you could start equally well with either book. Both Whispers of the Storm and An Inkling of Flame provide great introductions to the series and are highly recommended, especially for fans of Patrick Rothfuss as they wait—patiently or otherwise—for The Doors of Stone.
