Friday 13 May 2016

Review: Forged in Blood - K.F. Breene

K.F. Breene - Forged in Blood

Before Shanti was the most wanted woman in the land, she had yet to master her sword and the potent Gift with which she was both blessed and cursed. But the threat won't rest, and her people may pay the price.

This story is found in the LEGENDS: Fifteen Tales of Sword and Sorcery Anthology and is not currently available separately

The Warrior Chronicles:
Forged in Blood (Short Story in the Legends: Fifteen Tales of Sword and Sorcery anthology or free if you sign up for the author's newsletter)
Chosen
Hunted
Shadow Lands
Invasion
Siege
Overtaken

Visit K.F. Breene's website for more information

Review:
Forged in Blood is a short story prequel to K.F. Breene's Warrior Chronicles that can be found in the Legends: Fifteen Tales of Sword and Sorcery anthology. The whole anthology is currently available to download to your kindle for free on Amazon.co.uk (& probably from other ebook vendors but I've not actually checked) and I don't know if this is a permanent offer or a temporary discount so you might want to grab it now just in case! Anthologies like this are a brilliant way of trying new authors and new series - you never know you might discover a few new favourites. If you don't want to try the anthology you can also receive a free copy of this short story by signing up for K.F. Breene's newsletter.

I've been a huge fan of this series since I read Chosen last year so although I plan to read the rest of the anthology at some point Forged in Blood is the main reason I grabbed a copy. Although the story is technically a prequel and I do think you'll enjoy it even if you're new to the series I definitely think it will have a lot more meaning for you if you've read at least the first book.

For people who are already familiar with the series this story gives you a chance to step back in time and see what Shanti was like as a seven year old child. Already knowing about the prophecy has put a huge weight on her shoulders for someone so young and it really shows how it is starting to shape her personality. She is constantly being monitored and is expected to pick things up much faster than other children her age so if she doesn't excel in her lessons everyone is very hard on her.

I loved getting to see a different side to Shanti, someone who is less confident in their abilities and who just wants to be a normal child. What made this story even better was getting to see a young Rohnan too, we've seen in later books what a close bond he and Shanti have and Forged by Blood let's you see that bond start to form. They may not share the same blood but these two are closer than most brothers and sisters will ever be and they will always have each others backs.

Fans of this series are going to love this little glimpse into the past and while I'd probably recommend anyone new to the series start with Chosen I do think this story will give you a good taste of the author's writing style. This series is absolutely fantastic, Shanti is a fierce and powerful warrior, the author doesn't hold back on the violence but she still infuses the world with plenty of humour, a wonderful cast of characters and there is a nice touch of romance too (without a single hint of a dreaded love triangle I'd like to add!).

Source: Purchased

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Kindle (This short story is currently only available in the following anthology):

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails