Forgotten Ruin by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole

Forgotten Ruin is a first book in a new epic military fantasy thriller series by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole. After the success with Galaxy's Edge series in military sci-fi genre the two decided to try their hand at fantasy. 

And after finishing the book I can say they succeeded. Described as "Tolkien meets Shock and Awe" Forgotten Ruin follows an elite task force of U.S. Army Rangers who find themselves in a fantasy world not unlike something out of Dungeons and Dragons with the mission to (re)establish modern civilisation.

Since there will be potential spoilers, consider yourself properly warned.

The story could be described as Black Hawk Down meets Lord of the Rings. The premise is quite novel. It reminded me about how years ago there was a story on some forum about a group of Marines going against Roman Legionnaires. The closest thing though was a series of Japanese light novels called "Gate: Thus the Japanese Self-Defense Force Fought There", There was also an anime. But the similarities between Forgotten Ruin and Gate end with the premise.

Personally I found the narrator, who is also the protagonist rather annoying. In time I learnt to appreciate him. Especially once we were past the necessary infodumps that were disrupting the natural flow of the story. That is the only criticism I have of the book.

Having read Cole & Anspach's Galaxy's Edge series, there is resemblance in plot to the Legionnaire. Considering both Forgotten Ruin and Legionnaire are the first entry to the new series I can understand why the authors chose tried and true formula.

The Rangers in Forgotten Ruin are the underdogs trying to figure things out. Strangers in a strange land full of dangers they don't know or understand. Dangers they are incapable of fathoming. This allows the authors to put the characters through a number of dangerous scenarios and allow the reader to get to know them, root for them, and by the end of the book empathise with them. And when it comes to pulling on the heart strings of the reader, Anspach and Cole are professionals.

I heartily recommend this book to any aficionado of military sci-fi and fantasy.