What a Cleric is For: Hall of Smoke by H. M. Long
Hall of Smoke and Temple of No God (Titan Books, January 2021 and February 2022). Cover designs by Julia Lloyd
I first took notice of H.M. Long’s debut fantasy Hall of Smoke when The Guardian included it in their roundup of The best recent science fiction and fantasy last January, calling it “a compelling debut.” Closer to home, Paul Weimer at Tor.com celebrated it as that rarity of rarities — an entertaining fantasy focused on the most-neglected of the D&D archetypes, the cleric. (He also name-checked Greg Stafford’s Glorantha in his review, which warmed my heart.)
I saw a copy for the first time in Barnes & Noble on Saturday — alongside the newly-released sequel Temple of No God. The combination proved too much for someone with notoriously poor impulse control, and both volumes ended up coming home with me.