''The Forgetting Moon'' is a 2016

grimdark Grimdark is a subgenre of speculative fiction with a tone, style, or setting that is particularly dystopian, amoral, and violent. The term is inspired by the tagline of the tabletop strategy game ''Warhammer 40,000'': "In the grim darkness of t ...

epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

novel by

Brian Lee Durfee Brian Lee Durfee is an United States of America, American Animal painter, wildlife, Landscape painting, landscape, and fantasy painter, and a fantasy and Horror fiction, horror writer. His paintings have appeared in various genre and other magazi ...

, published through

Saga Press Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press. Jen Bergstrom is the Senior Vice President and Publisher. ...

Plot

A young boy, Nail, is orphaned and subsequently raised by a retired warrior named Shawcroft. Unbeknownst to him, he is part of a much larger plot that involves war and power struggles across the Five Isles.

Publication

Brian Lee Durfee at Phoenix Comic Fest Drinks with Creators

''The Forgetting Moon'' was published in

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

and

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

formats on 30 August 2016 through

, an imprint of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. Saga released a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

edition on 29 August 2017.

Recorded Books Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...

released an audiobook narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds on 30 January 2019. The cover artist for the North American editions was

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in b ...

. Klett-Cotta released a German language edition on 10 March 2018 under the title ''Der Mond des Vergessens''.

Reception

Paul Di Filippo Paul Di Filippo (born October 29, 1954) is an American science fiction writer. He is a regular reviewer for print magazines ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ''Science Fiction Eye'', ''The New York Re ...

, in his review for ''Locus Online'', described ''The Forgetting Moon'' as " rovidingplenty of well-crafted spectacle, thrills, suspense, blood, thunder and general sense of wonder." He continued, stating that Durfee included "no waste or overstuffing", further describing the story as "enthralling". The story is squarely in the

genre and "not for those who would rather spend the day dreaming in Rivendell." On Barnes & Noble's science fiction and fantasy blog, Jeff Somers describes the story as "epic fantasy turned up to eleven", pointing out that "Durfee doesn’t shy away from darkness" in this grimdark fantasy tale. Even though Durfee uses many common epic fantasy tropes, he puts his own mark on them. ''The Forgetting Moon'' was compared favorably to ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...

'' by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

by SFFWorld, noting the similarly dark themes and the epic fantasy elements. The cover art by Richard Anderson was also praised, stating "it could easily be the cover of a heavy metal album."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forgetting Moon, The 2016 fantasy novels Dark fantasy novels Saga Press books