The Shapeshifter’s Gambit

The Shapeshifter’s Gambit 

The Shapeshifter’s Gambit is the latest novel to be checked off my to be read list. This is Grant Pierce’s debut novel, and is the first in a six part series called The Faceless Chronicles. I will be reviewing all six books, so if this one sparks your interest, keep an eye out for the rest. 

I discovered Grant Pierce in a group on social media, and the blurb about The Shapeshifter’s Gambit captured my attention. I am not normally a fantasy genre fan. That is for my husband, in what I call Nathan’s Corner. 

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Many times in social media groups, authors will either put themselves at the top of my want to read list, or straight into my do not read list. Authors who support AI writing, or who request readers skip leaving a less than four star review are at the top of my do not read list. Especially when they try to justify this by blaming the Amazon algorithm. I think both diminish the whole point of reviews and take away the voice of a reader, and I will never support anyone who does this. Which is part of why I started this specific blog. I wanted my freedom of speech, and I didn’t mind paying for it. 

Authors who value honesty and take the time to connect with their readers are the ones who make it onto my want to read list. This is how I connected with Grant Pierce. He values honest reviews, no matter what the star rating is. If I left a one star review of his book, he would be just as grateful as the next person who left a glowing five star review. Which is something I have huge respect for. 

Periodically I also like to challenge myself to read something new, or something I wouldn’t normally read. Because it pushes me outside my comfort zone, and I’m always looking for that diamond I would otherwise overlook just based on the genre of the book. Ryan Hyatt changed my mind about science fiction. Stoney Brooks did it with horror. Can Grant Pierce do it with fantasy? I had to find out! 

Normally I find fantasy books to be insanely long and tedious. I have a short attention span and I lack patience. Which means I need books to keep moving at a fast pace to keep me interested. Not to mention they usually have too many characters to keep track of. I tried reading Game of Thrones, for example, and just couldn’t do it because of everything I just mentioned. I refuse to even try the Wheel of Time series. 

Prior to this, the only real fantasy book I’ve enjoyed was Lord of the Rings and only because I listened to it as an audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. Plus that was a bonding thing with my husband because it is his favorite series. I also think Andy Serkis should narrate every audiobook from now until the end of time. But I digress and we’ll return to talking about The Shapeshifter’s Gambit. 

Have you read The Shapeshifter’s Gambit? Come on in and let me tell you about it! 

About The Shapeshifter’s Gambit 

Book One of The Faceless Chronicles.

A dark epic fantasy of prophecy, loyalty, and demons.

The strangers foretold the world would end in fire—and Logan would strike the match.

Kalen and Logan grew up as brothers in all but blood. But when a secretive order recruits Kalen, he learns a devastating truth: Logan is destined to summon the dread fiend Astaroth and unmake the world.

The order wants Kalen to kill him before the prophecy comes to pass.

Driven by memories of their youth and visions of a burning future, Kalen refuses to believe Logan is lost. The path ahead is paved with betrayal and death. Reapers and a murderous shapeshifter trail Logan, guarding him with a devotion carved from fear.

As fate tightens its grip, Kalen must face the truth he dreads most. Logan may be the world’s last hope… or its final curse.

When fate is written in fire and blood, only the damned can bend destiny to their will.

Expect:

• Prophecy, impossible choices, and epic stakes
• Reapers, assassins, and a lethal shapeshifter
• Demons, dark magic, and brutal consequences

Thoughts on The Shapeshifter’s Gambit 

The Shapeshifter’s Gambit is book one in a six part series called The Faceless Chronicles. Grant Pierce is releasing them in rapid succession over a seven month period. Which sounds insane. Mostly because it is completely insane. The question that it begs is, did he write all of them prior to releasing the first one, or did he use AI to write them all that quickly? Many readers are asking these questions, which he was kind enough to answer. Let’s address that before we move into more about the book. 

“Yes, I’m probably a little off my rocker. I did this because I frequently complain about authors who never finish their series due to burnout, change in interest, death, etc. The backlash George RR Martin gets for not finishing Game of Thrones forced me not to be a hypocrite. Also, it helps with the Amazon algorithm to rapid release, so it was partly a marketing decision. I understood the risks I was taking.”

Did Grant use AI to write his novels? 

“The answer is emphatically no. I don’t support the use of AI for writing any of my work. My words are 100% my own.”  

Now that we’ve addressed the elephant in the room in regards to this series, let’s talk about my thoughts on it. 

I researched Grant Pierce before I actually started reading The Shapeshifter’s Gambit, and I found that his background is in psychology. Specifically working in prisons. Knowing he spends his working time studying and talking to the absolute worst humans that exist, I fully expected some amazing character development. I went into this with high expectations. Because if anyone should be able to write the best villains in a story, it is Grant Pierce. 

I wasn’t disappointed in my unusually high expectations of the characters in this book. They were all different and well-written. My personal favorite was Valko. I don’t know if this means I need Jesus or a damn good therapist. But for a villain in the story, he was amazing. It made for an interesting dynamic in the story, that is for sure. It reminded me a bit of Butcher and Blackbird in the whole turning murder victims into an art project. But this felt so much more real and brutal. 

It took me longer than usual to read this book, but that is simply because there is a lot going on. It wasn’t a book I could read in just two days. I actually appreciated that part. Normally I read a book in two days, and then spend about the same amount of time putting everything together for a review. I often check the page count as one of my criteria for reading, because longer books take away from the volume I can review. The Shapeshifter’s Gambit forced me to slow down and enjoy it like a good wine. 

The Shapeshifter’s Gambit is a very character-driven story, and I think is the perfect introduction for people like me who may not love fantasy novels, or haven’t read many. This read more like a thriller for me with fantasy elements in it, where it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was coming next. If Lord of the Rings were turned into a thriller, this would be it. 

It is extremely hard not to sit here and tell you everything about the book, because that would spoil the entire plot, and I can’t do that. But trust me when I say that I want to. I want to talk about every character and the entire plot, and so much more. But that is hard without telling you everything about the book, and then there is no point in reading it. So I’ll skip ruining The Shapeshifter’s Gambit for you.

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see the twists coming, and yet I look back and wonder how I didn’t see it hiding in plain sight. They were not ridiculous or over the top twists either. They fit the story perfectly. Too many times these days authors try to write twists for the shock value. But these were perfect and made complete sense. 

There is a definite Lord of the Rings feel and vibe to The Shapeshifter’s Gambit. A couple of people set off on an adventure to find their friend, and potentially save the world from certain disaster. They need help, which is where the group comes in. 

Final Thoughts on The Shapeshifter’s Gambit 

I am calling The Shapeshifter’s Gambit a five star read. Because this is a book that had me hooked from the start, I will absolutely buy a physical copy when it is released, and buy it for others as a gift. It exceeded my expectations. 

I will be perfectly honest and say that I debated handing this off to my husband to read and let him write the review. I thought about it through the first fifteen percent of the book. It took me a little bit to really get into it, and I was worried that everything I talked about at the beginning of this review would be why I disliked The Shapeshifter’s Gambit. 

But none of that happened. The more I read, the more I was hooked and had to keep reading. I think the fact it took me a bit to get into it was just that I was busy overthinking and worrying about not liking this book. Sometimes I have to just put blinders on and read instead of overthinking everything. 

I am beyond glad that I gave The Shapeshifter’s Gambit a chance. Because I am now invested in the series. I found myself actively mad when the book was done. I didn’t want it to end. I actually needed so much more. This was quickly satiated by starting book two, The Demon’s Reckoning. Which is a testament to Grant Pierce’s writing, in my opinion. It is rare that I feel emotions about a book ending. Normally I’m happy or indifferent. But that is about the extent of my emotions when it comes to finishing a book. 

If you haven’t heard of Grant Pierce or his books, trust me when I say that you are missing out, and you definitely want to be reading them. Don’t let the genre of the book keep you away from reading it. The fast pace and brilliant character development make for a great book. 

I would also note that if you are like me in that you don’t normally enjoy fantasy novels but like thrillers, The Shapeshifter’s Gambit is the perfect introduction to fantasy in a way that is approachable to more readers. 

Discussion 

Have you read The Shapeshifter’s Gambit or any other books in this series? Are you a fan? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

About the Author 

Writer. Reading. Gamer. 

That’s the core of my world. Most days, I’m trying to juggle those passions around kids, pets, and the general battlefield of family life. Fortunately, I’m married to a woman who makes the chaos survivable. 

My work is firmly planted in spic fantasy. I build expansive worlds, ancient powers, rising darkness, and apocalyptic stakes that force heroes into impossible choices. Magic isn’t a backdrop in my stories – it’s the engine that drives the plot, shapes the past, and drags characters into the unknown. 

I write with a simple mission: keep readers guessing. No telegraphed twists. No easy predictions. Once a book becomes predictible, it loses its pulse. Storytelling should keep you alert, curious, and hungry for the next page. 

I came to writing from a career in psychology, which turned out to be ideal for crafting villains who genuinely believe they’re the heroes of their own sagas. Real people seldom think they’re monsters. My cat, however, knows exactly who he is. He just leans into being the god of mischief and evil. 

Purchasing The Shapeshifter’s Gambit 

• If you are interested in buying the paperback version of The Shapeshifter’s Gambit, click here.
• Click here for the Kindle version.
• Click here for my favorite Kindle I currently own.

More from Grant Pierce

Did you enjoy my review of The Shapeshifter’s Gambit? Need another great Grant Price book to read? Here are my favorites! 

• The Shapeshifter’s Gambit
• The Demon’s Reckoning
• The Coming of Endless Darkness
• The Price of Uncreation
• The Thousand Legion
• The Heir to the Abyss 

Author Interview 

I had the amazing opportunity to sit down and chat with Grant Pierce about his writing and life in general. I’m always grateful when authors are willing to talk to me, because it is such a fun opportunity to connect more to their writing, learn about them, and find out what is coming next for them. 

What inspired you to start writing? 

My daughter. I wrote The Shapeshifter’s Gambit when I was in college. It was just an exercise in creativity to procrastinate. I only showed the unpolished, unedited version to one other person. She thought it was amazing, but I wasn’t convinced. I saved the document to my computer. Every time I upgraded computers, I transferred the contents of my hard drive and unknowingly kept it alive for decades as I kept transferring data to a new computer every 5-7 years. 

Fast forward 25 years, I have a wife and children. My youngest daughter and I were having a conversation about The Lord of the Rings and I did a “Dad Flex” and told her that I wrote a book when I was a little older than her. She asked to read it. I said “no” because I was too embarrassed at how unpolished it was, much less if I could even find it. 

She persuaded me over the course of a week, and finally I dug it up from WordPerfect, transferred it to Microsoft Word, printed it for her, and figured I’d never hear about it again. That version was literally a thousand pages. Three days later, she burst into my room telling me she read the whole thing and wanted to know “What happened next?” I had some vague ideas, but never fleshed them out. At her encouragement, I wrote the entire six book series. By about Book 4, that’s when I decided I was going to publish my work.

What made you choose the fantasy genre to write in? 

I read The Hobbit when I was about six. I read The Lord of the Rings about a year or two later. I have always been steeped in classic fantasy books (Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, the Shannara series, The Wheel of Time, and more). Each of these authors who write in their respective universes open a portal to another world. 

I decided in college it would be fun to build my own door for others to step through. After I finished the first draft of The Shapeshifter’s Gambit, I was too embarrassed to think about sharing it with the world. I suffered Imposter Syndrome badly. I think that is likely normal for someone barely out of their teenage years.

Who is your favorite author? 

This question probably changes based on my mood, what I’m reading, and what year it is. However, J. R.R. Tolkien probably takes the crown more often than most of the other authors by a slim margin. While fantasy existed long before he wrote The Hobbit, he is the author who made fantasy mainstream. Everyone owes him a debt of gratitude for that. Without him, I don’t think Dungeons & Dragons would even exist.

Do Kalen and Jadica ever get their happy ever after marriage and ride off into the sunset to live a more mundane life together? 

Without giving away too much, their story is not complete. In fact, things get more complicated between them. Kalen would say there is always room for redemption for anyone. Jadica would probably say they belong together. Remember, I never take a story where the reader expects it to go… and the path to get there is never direct. 

Who is your favorite character in your books? 

Valko is certainly my favorite in this book. He is extremely difficult, but very fulfilling to write. Climbing into his head sometimes leaves me a little shook. One of my friends described him as the love child of the liquid-metal Terminator, the Joker (from the Batman mythos), and Leonardo da Vinci. I suppose that fits.

What are your hobbies outside of working and writing? 

I have a house full of animals (mostly rescues). I also volunteer for the Humane Society and foster kittens and puppies until a good home can be found for them. I am currently the unwilling employee of a villainous cat. While he may be evil, I would never give him up for the world. I also enjoy playing video games (when my cat gives me permission). I like action games that test my reflexes and I like Role Playing Games (like the Baldur’s Gate series).

What is your favorite food? 

The easy answer is to say something spicy, since I am of Indian descent. However, I actually don’t like spicy food (my ancestors are probably rolling over in their graves over that). I am more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy. A burger on the grill, medium-well, with cheese, ketchup, mustard, and bacon is my favorite food. This month.

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