My main problem with the book was that it was too small. I really would have liked for it to be a more fleshed out, epic fantasy novel. That said, I really enjoyed it. I like Brandon's writing and this story kept my attention for the entire (though short) duration. ( )

Opened Strong, But Fell Into Trite Clichés

I have been a little leary of this author after my introduction to him through The Original, which reads like the work of someone on the precipice of falling into QAnon, but I gave this a go as it's in the Audible Included library. I was genuinely excited to hear Samuel Roukin who has quickly become one of my favourite narrators, particularly for fantasy, and the book starts with an interesting premise and jumping in at an interesting point in the protagonist's life -- they just defeated the big bad and got the eponymous magic sword, something no-one expected him to do, so things are about to get weird and complicated because there's other big bads and people don't like change. That's a brilliant opening for series and refreshing in a genre I love, but can be rather stale.

Unfortunately, there is another lead character who doesn't share the same first language as the protagonist, so their are multiple moments and full scenes that are dedicated to trite language 'humour' that is so clangy and musty, but read as if the author really thought they were doing something. Seriously? We're still doing the 'funny foreigner' archetype in 2018 from a hugely experienced and lauded author? Really? This was too much, not in the sense of it being wildly offensive, which it clearly isn't the worst perpetrator of, but it isn't good or funny or something we need to he dealing with.

So, yeah. I DNF'd halfway through. If I didn't have a million things I want to read and not enough time to read them all, I probably would have stuck with it and just not continued the series.

If you like this author and/ or decent enough fantasy I would still recommend checking this out, particularly if you have Audible as it's free on there. But it just wasn't enough to keep my attention and put up with lazy writing and attempts at humour. ( )

Adiestrado desde su nacimiento en esgrima y combate, un joven caballero llamado Siris ha luchado ferozmente para poder enfrentarse al tiránico Rey Dios en un combate cara a cara.
Esta es la misión que ha heredado de toda su estirpe y que se remonta a incontables generaciones, en un continuo esfuerzo por liberar a su pueblo de la esclavitud. Pero cuando finalmente parece lograr su cometido, Siris se verá de pronto arrojado a un mundo mucho más peligroso, lleno de guerreros, ladrones, antiguos conflictos, peleas y alianzas cambiantes, entre mortales, inmortales y aspirantes a reyes.
Sus ansias de libertad le llevarán a un viaje épico en busca de un ser –el único ser en el mundo– que podrá desentrañar los verdaderos secretos de Infinity Blade, la Espada Infinita.

Spring 2020 (March);
~ My Sisyphean Sanderson Challenge

I funny thing about reading these two books is that I did not know that they took place in the spaces between three concurrent games. The first one is a perfect standalone, without having looked at or played the games, and the second took a tiny scooch of research to understand. Both of them were intricately and exquisitely well written.

I have a lot of feelings about the Gods in question, and the constant rebirth cycle, but mostly I remain in utter awe of the fact every single one of Sanderson's books has a completely different, and fully worked out, magical system of its own. ( )

Myth, Medievelism, and Magic everything a Fantasy should be. ( )