The Fifth Ward: Good Company

By: Dale Lucas

Narrated by: Simon Vance

The third book in a rollicking fantasy series where the grit of grimdark meets a police procedural, and it's up to two watchmen to protect the streets of one of fantasy's most dangerous cities.

Yenara is a sprawling, dirty city. Filled to bursting with heroes questing, mages testing out spells, thieves around every corner, elves judging everyone, dwarves hating everyone, orcs fighting everyone, and humans being typical humans. Enter Rem and Torval: one a human, the other a dwarf, and both working as Watchwardens.

Now, they must escort a notorious thief through a dangerous forest to the nearby city from where the thief escaped. But the thief's companions are waiting, and the soldiers Rem and Torval travel with might not be so honorable.

For more from Dale Lucas, check out:

The Fifth Ward:

1. First Watch
2. Friendly Fire
3. Good Company

©2019 Dale Lucas (P)2019 Hachette Audio

A great story outside the city walls

This book continues the story of Rem and Torval as they do their best to patrol the Fifth Ward. Unlike the first two books however, Good Company takes you outside the city walls and gives you a look at the rest of the world. Admittedly most of this takes place in a forest but it is still a good world building opportunity. Dale Lucas does a great job keeping you engaged with the story, the characters are very well written and complex in their own ways. Simon Vance, of course, does another great job narrating and giving the story an extra dimension to enjoy.

Double, triple, quadruple crosses, oh, my!

After a lackluster book 2 that was too heavy on speciesism and too light on action, this installment delivers the promised rollicking adventure. The police procedural, buddy cop format is abandoned for a seemingly straightforward fantasy as Rem and Torval hire on with a crew to transport a captured crook through a dangerous forest to face justice.

But, nothing is ever straightforward for this duo. There’s plenty of action and machinations as loose alliances form and crumble. There’s also cannibals, cutthroats, and secret identities. Sure, some of the setups were heavy handed. Of course, some of the twists were obvious. Even so, the twists, predicted and unpredicted, were entertaining.

I appreciate the lack of sex, torture, and gory violence so prevalent in fantasies these days. I’d still like more humor. I’d also appreciate an expansion to an interesting crew. But, Rem and Torval are a pair to root for and this book delivered a few excellent supporting characters who, perhaps, might reappear in future books.

enjoy listen

I enjoy this series, but this book felt like it was more a few chapters from a bigger story stretched out. it's still an enjoyable listen if you enjoyed the other two books. the narration remains top notch.

Love this series!

This series is just fantastic. It’s like a cop drama set in a fantasy world and it does an amazing job. There’s always character development, the plot always moves along at a speed I like, and the dialog between the characters feels natural. I actually get a little sad when I finish a book because I want the next one to be out already…but then I relisten to it a couple times. Also, the combination of the good writing and I amazing narrator really make this series come to life.

Delightful

I've thoroughly enjoyed all of the books in this series, and cannot wait for the next book. Well done!