'A Ring to Rule Them All: A Grim Company Short Story' – Luke Scull

Yesterday was all about sorting work stuff out, before leaving for Christmas, and I didn't get out of the office until about nine last night... 'Past Me' is looking at this new 'Non-Slacker Me' in awe and perhaps a little fear to go with it...

Anyway, I've got a few cool looking books lined up for reading but didn't fancy any of them for a commute read on the bus home. Instead, I relied on my habit of hoovering up free reads, on my Kindle, to give me something short and sweet for the trip back to the house. At only twenty pages long, 'A Ring to Rule Them All' looked like a safe bet.

I'd enjoyed the first two 'Grim Company' books but never made it all the way through the third, for reasons that may become clear if I ever do a re-read of the books (a possibility). I had some high hopes for this read then and happily enough, they were all met.

A week inside a wicker cage will break a regular man. A month will push the bravest to the very edges of their sanity.
For Brodar Kayne, it has been almost a year since he was forced inside the fiendish prison. His crime? To defy his master's command to massacre a town and people he once loved.
Even a year trapped in a cage could not break the spirit of the legendary Sword of the North. But having just watched his wife burned alive on a pyre, death would now be a merciful release.
However, Kayne's most loyal friend has other ideas. The Wolf is as grim and implacable as death itself. And he never forgets a promise.

'A Ring to Rule Them All' is that happy read which benefits all comers; fans of the series will benefit more by meeting familiar characters (only slightly though) but newcomers can pick it up too. There's something here for everyone.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that there's only so much story you can tell about a man waiting for his execution but Scull will quite happily prove you wrong with a tale that ends up being all about promises. Everyone here has made at least one promise while some have broken at least one; the consequences of these are examined and people will live (or not...) with the results. I liked the use of rings to bind all of these promises together for the plot.There's a lot here to think about and Scull makes great use of his page count to give you a story that's both thoughtful and dynamic at the same time (if the Wolf is involved then you can count on the story having moments of venomous action).

Short but very sweet then, 'A Ring to Rule Them All' is probably more for fans of 'The Grim Company' but if you're new to the books and you've got a spare £1.19 in your pocket then give it a shot anyway. A half hour read that will have you thinking on the characters for more than half an hour afterwards.