BLURB
What if spilling your own blood was the only way to save yourself?
Masako escapes the Lord Council with only her life intact, her clan shattered and master dead in wake of disaster she wrought. It is her cursed blood that cries out, and a godsborne that answers.
By the power in her blood, and a promise made with it, she’s given a second chance. With it, she must unite the outer clans, move past old rivalries and worse, or face annihilation at the hands of a foreign sect of sorcerers, the Taosii, and their silent invasion.
Only, Masako was executed, she’s meant to be dead. Demonic rumours and a destructive past sow doubt in her campaign before it is begun.
AUTHOR: D.A.Smith
PUBLISHED ON: January 3, 2022
GENRE: Dark Fantasy
RATING: 4 Stars
BOOK 1 OF THE BANE SWORD TRILOGY
CONVINCING YOU TO READ THIS IN 6 WORDS: Asian inspired, Adventure, Fast-paced, Unique Magic system, Flawed & Mysterious characters and complex
Readers Copy provided by the Author and the Escapist Tours
SUMMARY:
Masako was drowning. She was wounded from more places than what she would admit but all she knew was pain. And more than that she knew she was going to die. But Masako was a warrior and one thing that warriors were familiar with is Death. She knew she was dying but refused to let go. In the wounded state and grief, losing everything she knew she could not just die. Not without avenging her honour. She refused to let go and in a delirious state yet aware, she struck a deal. A deal that changed her life. Her death too.
Being alive is one thing, but being alive when you are executed and when everyone believes you are dead is a whole different thing. Masako has a goal. She knows she has to end the Lord Council but things aren’t as easy as she believes. Restoring the lost honour. Trying to uproot the old rivalry and unite them? While at times being prejudiced herself? She has a long way to go.
What will happen when the prize of Spilling blood overwhelms her?
MY THOUGHTS:
The Blood of Outcasts by D.A.Smith is the first book in The Bane Sword Trilogy. (What I am so excited about was if you follow the author on his Twitter, a couple of days ago he said that the series looks into being longer than what he expected. And while it is called a trilogy, I really hope that this turns out to be a bigger series. Now, let’s dive into The Blood of Outcasts, shall we?
I won’t lie by telling you this is a simple read. Nope. But, I will definitely tell you that this is a complex book. It is complex because despite being the first book, it was fast-paced. And it was a game-changer for me. Almost all the books that I read, tend to have a slow start and so I was not expecting to be sucked into the wilderness right away. But I did. AND I AM SO HYPED.
I said it before it was a complex book and what I really loved is that there is no one reason why it is complex, there are a series of reasons and the whole package makes it a complex deal. Let’s start with the World-Building and Magic. I am combining the two of them. Every world, especially in the Fantasy setting have their own specialities. Something unique. What I loved in The Blood of Outcasts is that what I read was something different. I was confused for a long time. I’ll admit that. There were scenes after scenes where things kept on happening and I was like But why. But then you slowly start to understand the dynamics. You understand the magic system and it helps you find the answers. What I admire is how much effort has been put into world-building. There are things that you pick up slowly, intrinsic detail that you realise after a while. There is one scene…it’s totally without any context. Well, not exactly a scene but the words made me stop. It happened a lot but…
“You hear it don’t you? The night’s usual chatter is dead. What happens next?”
( A little more on the World-building aspect. It is Asian inspired story. Now, generally while reading Fantasy, these things don’t matter to me as such. But the reason I am mentioning this is. Despite, being Asian the names were different for me. I am not sure how to properly pronounce a couple of words but don’t let that be the reason to not finish this gem or give a low rating, because you did not know how to connect the names.)
Masako is a complex, flawed, level-headed protagonist that made this book alive. I really admire how every problem or every question has just one answer for her. It is to do whatever possible to restore the lost honour. To restore her Master’s honour. There can be people with knives on her throat and her mind would be, I need to leave this place because I have to restore the lost honour. And honestly, I admire her for that vision. For having that one target, one goal in her mind. I get it. Even if her discussions are not always the correct ones or something that I would do, I get why she does that and I honestly admire it.
People often tell me to read more Non-fiction. You will learn something. What do you learn when you read Fantasy? And I would like to show them a few sentences of The Blood of Outcasts.
“When the sword is unfamiliar, when the blade us distant, a thousand more swings you’ll know it once more. A thousand more and you’ll become it.”
Or something like this:
“But, what of those mistakes, those horrors that weren’t recorded? How do we learn from them? I ask myself all the time, but you see, history loses something. Those dark, erased truths still live today, and we should do well in searching, studying for them, or they’ll crawl out of the annals and rend all we know.”
I told you it is pretty darn good. This inevitably takes us to the writing. I loved the writing, there is no doubt about it but it was a bit confusing at times, some things could be explained better. Especially where there were instances at the beginning where the names of animals joined in. It could be eased in? The writing was amazing just a bit confusing at times.! There is one thing that happened to me. I didn’t read the blurb before starting the book. And as I was reading the first chapter, till halfway, I was convinced that the protagonist was a man. And when I realised, NOPE. It was amazing. Because damn…we have chapters where you are describing a warrior’s…umm…I don’t know how to say it but…it was a Female warrior and I didn’t recognise it. No sexual remark, no focus on the body, just talks about blood everywhere. You get it, right? Maybe an oversight in my reading but whatever it enjoyed my overall enjoyment in reading.
A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT I FOUND UNIQUE (It isn’t a spoiler just explained in detail.)
The concept of the points where heaven and Earth intercept is so cool. And having people guard it so they don’t interfere with what men do? Yup, loved the concept.
The lesson with Impatience? Smith, you know you did an amazing job there, didn’t you? Especially when the guilt comes crashing with the deaths.
“I rush in, just like when Master died. The farmer tried to teach me patience, and he dies in my impatience.”
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Overall, I need answers. I need to read the following books. I want to know if it will 100% be a trilogy or are we looking for a probability of 4th book too? I would definitely recommend The Blood of Outcasts to anyone who needs a fast-paced, unique and gripping book in their life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dan has been writing for as long he can remember, drawing first and adding stories to them, building worlds and places for his characters to belong in, but that wasn’t enough. As an avid SFF reader, that consumes way more books than he has shelf space for, he thought it was time he turn my hand to being a novelist.
He wrote my first novel a few years ago, which has yet to see the light of day (nor ever will), and found that writing is in his blood, my passion, so he has stuck to it. Ever since he has been tinkering away with short stories and a few novels that he is proud of, he has got a few trunked, and one seeking an agent, but he is very proud of The Blood of Outcasts, it’s his love letter to Rurouni Kenshin, the comics he read, and everything SFF.
He is an English Linguistics and Language graduate working in journal publishing, and this would be his debut; He also review SFF novels for FanFiAddict and my short fiction has appeared in ‘Pride: The Worst Sin of All’ (Black Hare Press, 2020). He has also had work narrated live on air at Pop-up Submissions. Last but not least, he is soon to be married and am co-owner of a crazy (go figure) spaniel.
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