The Dwarves: Giving Fantasy Dwarves Character

Yeah, the cover doesn't leave the best first impression, but trust me, this book is leagues better than the crappy 3-D dwarf would lead you to believe.

The Dwarves was a book that I started reading at a pretty convenient time, having just finished The Travels and being somewhat bitter about it. The Dwarves is similar to The Travels in that it's about travel, but as one can assume, The Dwarves takes place in the fantasy land of Girdlegard, which is essentially an island of tranquility separated into various kingdoms and magical realms that stands defiant against the forces of ruin and chaos. I admit when I started I was somewhat skeptical, even from just the name of Girdlegard, but the more I read the more charming and cozy I found the book to be. The Dwarves offers a more nuanced take on the archetypical dwarf characters that are a hallmark of the genre, in addition to offering a story that feels uniquely dwarven in its delivery, attitude, and themes of resilience, kindness, and sincerity.

A work of 'cozy' fantasy (as I refer to works like it), The Dwarves is a great book to sit and read on a stormy day. It's filled with appealing heroes and despicable villains, and a whole heap of breathtaking travel sequences. The reason why I make mention of the travel sequences is that they are perhaps the best I've seen in a book yet (and I've read a lot of those). As opposed to simple point-A-to-point-B sequences, Heitz describes the land and brief adventures encountered by the characters in detail that I could not get enough of. It feels like you're walking alongside the band of heroes as they travel, as opposed to simple teleportation. What's also notable to me about this method is how the various minor happenings aren't given much focus, meaning that rarely will they be given full dialogue/the scene treatment, and more often they will be briefly described. On top of this, discussions/arguments that effectively have no purpose are given the same treatment, so it doesn't feel like any time is wasted with something of note happening every chapter. The characters are not the most fleshed out, meaning that you won't know every facet of each character by the end, even the initial motivation of the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy), but you get enough to not only separate the characters but also give them personality and some depth. The characters also provide several moments of meaningful expectation subversions throughout the story, with much of it stemming from the dwarves themselves. Initially, apart from the main character the various dwarf characters seem like the typical dwarves that are a dime a dozen in fantasy, but after the initial meeting they prove to be more than that. Yes, they do share a lot of similarities to 'typical' dwarves, but in keeping with the central theme of the story they are more than their stereotype, nobody is a greater example of this than our protagonist, Tungdil the Blacksmith. Separated at birth and raised by a kindly arch-wizard (not to mention a study in nature vs. nurture), Tungdil has grown up without ever seeing another dwarf, all of his knowledge coming from books on the subject. As a side effect, Tungdil is a pretty smart cookie, but at the same time he is hamstrung in a lot of situations by his bookish nature, and he initially lacks more worldly skills. However, through his quest (which actually started as a busy-work fetch quest by his adoptive father) he gains these worldly skills, including some combat skill in addition to a circle of friends and a sense of belonging. He's truly a lovably dwarf, being so taken by wanderlust in the early stages of his quest, yet still grounded by his sense of responsibility and morality. He sees a lot of the world, both good and bad, through his quest, and his poor fortunes are quite often heartbreaking. Despite these tragedies he presses on and does his best to bring people together, which is one of the other themes of the book, that of kindness to others. While the party is at times strained and at odds, with their differences overshadowing the objective, Tungdil is able to bring them back together with his faith, heart, and kindness. The story may not be as complex as A Song of Ice and Fire, but The Dwarves offers something unique in the cozy fantasy genre: an uplifting tale mixed within a grim narrative, which I'd argue is quite the achievement in its own right.

The Dwarves may seem to be generic fantasy at a first glance, and it is essentially generic fantasy. It has admittedly the same general beats as other works of 'cozy' fantasy, but The Dwarves handles these beats in a realistic and satisfying way. It's also a subversion of the generic, focusing on aspects of fantasy literature and story beats that too often don't receive much creativity, making it a book that feels similar yet different to other works of generic fantasy. It's a book that sucked me back into reading and I can't wait to pick up the next chapter of the saga: The War of the Dwarves as soon as I can!