Review of "Redemption's Blade: After The War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Redemption's Blade dives full on into the series title at the top of the cover: After the War. This book takes place after a great fantasy war, when the evil demigod king and his legions of monsters have been defeated, but the scars-the traumas-are still fresh.
Hero Celestaine holds a sword that will cut anything, and she used it to help slay the evil, near immortal Kinslayer and end his war on the whole world. But the evil he did still goes on, and she feels urged to help fix some of it.
And thus the quest, the McGuffin, and all that are here. But what's truly refreshing about this book is the unflinching look at how it would really be, trying to recover from a war that literally brought hell with it. The suffering wrought by a hand without mercy does not simply vanish when that hand is cut …
Redemption's Blade dives full on into the series title at the top of the cover: After the War. This book takes place after a great fantasy war, when the evil demigod king and his legions of monsters have been defeated, but the scars-the traumas-are still fresh.
Hero Celestaine holds a sword that will cut anything, and she used it to help slay the evil, near immortal Kinslayer and end his war on the whole world. But the evil he did still goes on, and she feels urged to help fix some of it.
And thus the quest, the McGuffin, and all that are here. But what's truly refreshing about this book is the unflinching look at how it would really be, trying to recover from a war that literally brought hell with it. The suffering wrought by a hand without mercy does not simply vanish when that hand is cut off, and that is part of this book's central thesis. That, and how despite all the pain, life does still go on, in some way.
This book offers much. Engaging characters, grand adventure, moments of real hope, but also glimpses of the grim truth that war often brings only pain, even to the victors. It was a gipping read, and I look forward to future entries.
