I really, really enjoyed reading this one, even staying up late to finish! I thought just about everything was good about it. It's 4.5 stars, but I rounded up since I enjoyed it so much.

The plot was pretty good. I do feel there are some questions still left unanswered here that I hope to see answered in the next book.

I enjoyed the characters. I thought the title was a bit of a misnomer. I expected the main character to be a bit more of a coward than he was. Instead, we got someone who was pragmatic about not wanting to die. Seems sensible to me

The pacing was good with lots of fighting by both evil monsters and evil humans. One of the problems with the fights was the recovery times on injuries and how they kept fighting a day or two later even with broken ribs or stab wounds. I'm not sure that's so realistic.

There were some genuine laugh out loud funny moments. And overall, this was just an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to the next one and seeing what happens.

This is a very good book and you should get it.

At 17, Kell went off on a quest with 11 extraordinary heroes of the 5 Kingdoms to battle, on the frozen fields of the North, the Ice Lich, a powerful magical creature that has spread famine throughout the land. Only he returned.

10 years later, there are signs that the Ice Lich is back and that the famine may return. Kell is forced, by political machinations, to travel North and do battle with the Lich again. Now, Krell is not the immature, inexperienced butt of jokes by the heroes but a young man of 27, with a severe case of PTSD in remission from the first quest and leader of a new set heroes.

For creatures there are has vorans, garrows, maglau and polar bears. Besides humans there are other sentient creatures who may be kind of human - Alfar, Choate. Qalamieren and Frostrunners. There's even a Reverend Mother - for political intrigue.

This is an action filled fast-paced, red meat plot. Wonderful character development. You can really bury your dagger up to the hilt in this story. To mix metaphors, Mr. Aryan hit it out of the park with this one.

From now on, when someone asks for a recommendation, with a steely glint in my eyes, I'll just say The Coward.

I absolutely loved the author’s previous books (two trilogies) and was delighted to get an early look at this one (thanks NetGalley).
The title is a slight misnomer. Kell Kressia is not a coward, more someone who would rather not die on an obvious suicide mission. As a naive young man he tagged along with a group of heroes to defeat evil in the frozen North. More by luck than judgement he was the only survivor and was treated like a hero on his return, despite PTSD from the horror of the trip. Ten years later he is asked to go back and resolve another outbreak of bad stuff, he doesn’t want to leave his small farm and he definitely doesn’t want to go through his previous horrors again.
But as circumstanced thwart his plans to head in the opposite direction, he accepts his fate and heads north, picking up a small group of misfits as he goes. He is pretty sure none of them are coming back.
At a superficial level this is a quest story. Group band together and head off to thwart evil or die trying. But as with his previous books, the author starts building extra things into his world building. History, Gods, politics, secrets and a Church that is up to no good.
Lots of moving parts going on around our simple suicide mission and it all comes together nicely at the end of the book where things are resolved but there are enough hints of a great second book to come.
Really enjoyed this.

*Thank you to Angry Robot, Stephen Aryan, and Netgalley for an E-ARC of "The Coward" in exchange for an honest review *

This was an interesting book, although I felt the pacing was slow. I liked the fact that the hero was actually a "coward".

This is the kind of ARC that I jump right into as soon as I got them. God was I happy to get it! Stephen Aryan his a very good fantasy author and this new series got me really curious. We find ourselves in a very well build universe, full of intriguing characters, lot of action as well and a story that open up to what could be a very great series. Can't wait for the next one. I recommend it, as I recommend the previous trilogy by this author, but fortunately you can get into this one without having read his previous work and will be totally fine! Read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the arc copy of The Coward by Stephen Aryan.

A land of five cities, and five kinds, is alive with intrigue. For the past ten years Kell Kressia has shrugged off his hero status and been a farmer far from wealth and glory. Now the cold is coming back and Kressia has been summoned before the king. We follow Kell on this fantastic journey and learn about what really makes a hero.

Aryan builds a world that comes to life. As you are taken through the different kingdoms you start to become aware that not is all as it seems, this is not simply a hero journey. The Coward keeps you reading and on the edge of your seat with an ending that leaves me waiting impatiently for the next book.