THE HELL AND THE RAPIER

The Hell and The Rapier (Piekło i szpada) is a dark fantasy novel written by Feliks W. Kres and published for the first time in 2001.

The novel is set in a fictional land reminiscent of 17th century Europe - with magic and supernatural added. The story in fact consists of six smaller sub-stories connected by common themes and settings. The novel's protagonists are many: a noble who visits a cursed fortress in search of legendary magical jewels... a count who returns to his homeland after years-long exile - and finds himself in the heart of a bloody intrigue... a mysterious colonel allied with dangerous supernatural entity... and a few more. But all these different characters share similar fates - all are merely pawns in the battle between Heaven, Hell and even stranger forces... all encounter terryfying magic and corrupting darkness. The novel's mood is bleak, its heroes troubled, hopelessly tied up in machinations of beings mightier than them. The novel can also be quite scary - its depiction of magic being more typical of horror than fantasy.

Highly recommended.