The Knight of the Moon is a complementary novella to The Dance of Light series, written by Gregory Kontaxis. Set seventeen years before The Return of the Knights, we get to know more about the past of one of the main characters in the series, John, the Long Hand, and about how he lived as a bounty hunter.

John has a good life as a bounty hunter, one of the most renowned in the region; and his fame attracts new contractors with tight deadlines: he should hunt the famous Knight of the Moon in ten days, or either he will become the hunted. To take care of him and, as a sort of punishment, Nemesis, a female soldier, is sent with John; soon discovering that part of the success attributed to John comes from the rest of the party that he keeps hidden for good reasons.

Despite being relatively short in comparison with the main entry of the series, Kontaxis takes his opportunity to develop the characters, while embracing the morally grey aspects that were a bit overlooked in The Return of the Knights. Nemesis is a delicious character, and her banter and anger with John, which will later evolve into a romance, makes a perfect accompaniment for a story that raises the stakes from the start, exploring different tropes such as the reluctant heroes and the start of a rebellion.

I think we can appreciate the growth of Kontaxis as storyteller, especially in the part of giving a better range of nuances to the characters, even when the length constraint him a bit; pacing is really adequate for this kind of narration.

The Knight of the Moon is a perfect entry point in The Dance of Light series, while showing the progress of Gregory Kontaxis as a writer; if you like grim fantasy, feel free to take a pint on the Dripping Bucket, and pick this book.