“A haunting grows from a tangle of twisted roots. The deepest reach into layers of a forgotten past, long overwritten by more useful stories, believed myth by all but those whose histories drip with pain and rage as they pass from elder’s mouth to child’s ear.

The shallowest reach into fresher soil, drawing from injustices still in living, mortal memory. Two pains – old and new – that feed one into the other until the tree sprouts and horror reigns.”

When the King of Parwys falls to his death from his castle tower, fear of a haunting grips the lands. Fola is a sorceress scholar, her home is the fabled City of the Wise, a place where starvation, disease and even death no longer exist. Yet Fola has left the City to travel the Wider World in search of much needed knowledge of the First Folk, beings whose magic could bring the City’s utopia to all the lands. Her search leads her to Parwys where ghosts and wraiths have wreaked havoc, a soon-to-be crowned prince is at his wits end and the Mortal Church offers salvation but at the cost of eradicating magic and seizing control. What Fola actually finds at Parwys is a young girl with extraordinary powers that may hold the key to everything or the destruction of all. 

The Tower of the Tyrant by JT Greathouse is a dark fantasy standalone which masterfully fuses together sword and sorcery with philosophy and myth to create quite a special tale. 

I have seen The Tower of the Tyrant compared to The Witcher, The Tainted Cup and Wheel of Time and though it may take base elements from each of these, Greathouse brilliantly crafts a unique mystery in its own right. This is a standalone that is rich and complex with an abundance of history, myth and religion at play. Is this an easy read? No, the opening is quite challenging as we are thrown into the middle of this world and I feel it takes time to get to grips with the magic systems, its many uses and the various magical beings included. We also slowly discover a war emerging between different factions, most notably between the Mortal Church and those who are non-human or can wield magic, but also between Parwys and its neighbouring lands who are on the brink of civil war. Once you get past the hundred page mark the story comes together, the sheer depth impressed me and I was entirely gripped. I did notice an influence of Welsh mythology and a nod to names of places in Wales throughout, which I found fascinating but I will say as I am not Welsh, I cannot tell how well or accurately they were portrayed. In short; this is a novel that takes many epic fantasy staples such as a war between magic and mortal but within its exploration delivers a story full of hidden depths, mythology and wonderfully complex characters. 

“Benevolence is often a glamour cast over cruelty. What better justification for a singular evil than the greater good? What comfort is it to the wretched that their suffering serves some higher purpose?”

During the first few chapters, the most prominent character we meet is Fola, our sorceress, on a mission to study the souls of the undead. Fola is a pacifist and through her journey of the Wider World she has shown us that commerce and commodity, violence and hardship is not experienced within her City and so much of what she sees horrifies her. Though she can wield magic through her staff, paperspells and pen, she doesn’t use that advantage to kill others… well she tries her hardest not to until she really needs to. Her character is mostly driven by her scholarly pursuits to uncover the secrets of the First Folk and with that knowledge being able to make the world beyond the City’s walls a better place. That’s not to say Fola is completely selfless either as her pride also drives her to proving her discoveries right so she may see those who have scorned her along the way proved wrong. Fola and her four-armed mercenary, Colm, have an interesting relationship throughout which I enjoyed seeing develop, but it is when her morality and beliefs were called into question and tested that I found Fola even more captivating because I thoroughly appreciated understanding her views. Of course I loved learning more about her abilities too and her rather useful familiar, Frog! (He’s not a frog though!)

There are many other characters and POVs in this novel, yet my favourites by far were Llewyn and Siwan whose father/daughter relationship was portrayed with so much heart and raw emotion. Greathouse cleverly gives us their backstory in a chapter that takes readers back to 1181 when Siwan was a child let down by the one person who should have protected her, and Llewyn becomes the father that she deserved, one who would protect her at all costs. The pair do have a strenuous relationship because of Llewyn’s protectiveness but knowing that his intentions were founded from his own childhood trauma and his need to give Siwan a safer life than he ever had, made their relationship all the more special and heartfelt. However, there were other reasons why these characters captured me and here I’ll give an honourable mention to Afanan, another fantastic sorceress who wielded magic through gem stones and had formed a family of magical beings into a traveling troupe which Llewyn and Siwan belonged to. The troupe put on historical plays which actually became a very significant element to the story and their preparation for performances and their easy banter with one another was such a nice light relief from the much darker story. This of course reveals that both Siwan and Llewyn are not human, which is undoubtedly another reason why I was drawn to them.

“History defines us. Memories, unearthed and patched together.

A story we tell about ourselves, about others, about the world. A forgotten moment, a fact denied, can twist that story away from truth – away from who we are, and who we could be, in the light of honesty.

But a moment remembered, a truth unearthed – even one hard and sharp with pain – can create wondrous possibilities. To make amends. To be better.”

The overriding theme throughout Tower of the Tyrant was that every being deserves to live, no matter how “monstrous” they may appear. Greathouse explores this in some fantastic ways and as I often do with philosophical themes I loved being able to see different sides of the argument. The Mortal Church with their doctrine and their beliefs of superiority were master manipulators, skilled at bringing cities under their rule by eradicating magic and causing the genocide of magical beings. Though I disliked Torin’s character, he showed well the mindset each of their order have endorsed to believe they are the greater good, that they are saving mortal lives from being enthralled or destroyed by evil or supernatural forces. Which is believable when living in a world of fae, fiends, ghosts and wraiths, as you can kind of see the threat there. Nevertheless those on the side of every being deserves to live believed it was in lack of understanding, knowledge and ignorance that was the real threat. Another good point. Then Greathouse explored the theme of history being rewritten in such a remarkable way, illustrating the generational effect that had on the kingdom which ultimately led to a very explosive ending.

The Tower of the Tyrant is for those looking for an epic fantasy with some added depth, emotion and thought-provoking themes. It is an absolutely riveting read from a storyteller who knows his craft. 

ARC provided by Harry at Gollancz in exchange for an honest review—thank you for the copy. All quotes used are taken from an early ARC and our subject to change upon publication.

The Tower of the Tyrant is not released until 6th November 2025 but you can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org