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Blood of War
Rites of Ascension Blood of WarThe exciting sequel to Rites of Ascension The Path of the SwordThe Journey Continues.After his foster father's brutal murder, Jurel Histane unleashed powers beyond his comprehension, perpetrating a bloodbath that left him horrified to the core of his soul.That day, he discovered the truth. He knows who he is, he knows what he is.And now he is on the run, accompanied by his only Kurin, a Salosian healer; Mikal, the commander of the Salosian army; and Gaven, once Jurel's enemy.He is on the run from a relentless the Soldiers of God, the military army of the Prelacy, intent on destroying him before the truth gets out.He is on the run from himself, from the darkness lurking, from the awesome power that he desperately does not want.But there can be no escape. He must either confront the forces rallying against him, or he must die. And if he dies, the world dies with him.Yet, before he can face his enemy, he must face himself. He must come to terms with the terrible truth that has been hidden all his life beneath the facade of the simple farm boy he once was.
- GenresFantasy
475 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2011
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14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 20, 2012
When the God of War is a pacifist...
This review is for both "The path of the sword" and "Blood of War".
This is a coming of age epic fantasy series. I have reread the books three times since I bought them :).
The first book begins with Daved Histane, a soldier, finding the five years old son of an innkeeper his friend in a city destroyed by war. The story continues describing Jurel as he grows up in a farm, often bullied and isolated from the other children due to his excessively frightened reactions to any hint of violence.
After he finally reacts to the bullying, overhelmed by a strange surge of darkness, he is forced to flee the farm and begins a journey of self discovery in the company of a misterious herbalist. Chased by a powerful religious order, he has to learn how to fight and finally realizes his true identity as the God of War.
In the second installment of the series Jurel finds love and learns (with a lot of hardship and two very different teachers...:))how to use his godly powers; he also has to understand, through very hard lessons, what it means to be the God of War and to be responsible for the lives and deaths of men.
To "The path of the sword" I would actually have given four stars because the first half of the book was a bit tedious...don't get me wrong, I love very very long books, I appreciate descriptions and like to have a strong background of a character, but I think a lot of people who would like the series could be deterred from reading on. This first half is dedicated to Jurel's childhood and it is useful to better understand the character's progression so...try to get over it, it'll be worth the pain! ;)
The characters are all very well defined: you feel like you really know them because small parts of the story are written from their point of view...the beautiful thing is that those parts aren't too long so I was not too displeased to be taken away from the protagonist. The climax at the end of the first book is magnificent!
And then there is the second book...here I loved the first half: it was pensive, sweet and it made me fully appreciate Jurel's dychotomy in the second part...it actually smelt of spring. The second half was a harsh winter storm. Jurel makes a terrible mistake which leads to more mistakes and I actually hated him for a little bit: I was all "What are you doing! They need you and you're there whining and Facing Your Past!!"...but it's all right, a bit of hating makes you love a story more...Odi et amo...
Read these books, you will not regret it!
PS: sorry if there are mistakes but this is not my language :)
This review is for both "The path of the sword" and "Blood of War".
This is a coming of age epic fantasy series. I have reread the books three times since I bought them :).
The first book begins with Daved Histane, a soldier, finding the five years old son of an innkeeper his friend in a city destroyed by war. The story continues describing Jurel as he grows up in a farm, often bullied and isolated from the other children due to his excessively frightened reactions to any hint of violence.
After he finally reacts to the bullying, overhelmed by a strange surge of darkness, he is forced to flee the farm and begins a journey of self discovery in the company of a misterious herbalist. Chased by a powerful religious order, he has to learn how to fight and finally realizes his true identity as the God of War.
In the second installment of the series Jurel finds love and learns (with a lot of hardship and two very different teachers...:))how to use his godly powers; he also has to understand, through very hard lessons, what it means to be the God of War and to be responsible for the lives and deaths of men.
To "The path of the sword" I would actually have given four stars because the first half of the book was a bit tedious...don't get me wrong, I love very very long books, I appreciate descriptions and like to have a strong background of a character, but I think a lot of people who would like the series could be deterred from reading on. This first half is dedicated to Jurel's childhood and it is useful to better understand the character's progression so...try to get over it, it'll be worth the pain! ;)
The characters are all very well defined: you feel like you really know them because small parts of the story are written from their point of view...the beautiful thing is that those parts aren't too long so I was not too displeased to be taken away from the protagonist. The climax at the end of the first book is magnificent!
And then there is the second book...here I loved the first half: it was pensive, sweet and it made me fully appreciate Jurel's dychotomy in the second part...it actually smelt of spring. The second half was a harsh winter storm. Jurel makes a terrible mistake which leads to more mistakes and I actually hated him for a little bit: I was all "What are you doing! They need you and you're there whining and Facing Your Past!!"...but it's all right, a bit of hating makes you love a story more...Odi et amo...
Read these books, you will not regret it!
PS: sorry if there are mistakes but this is not my language :)
October 5, 2011
As with the first book of this series, I was so close to giving this one a fiver. I really wanted to, and would have gladly given it 4.5 if I could, but I just couldn't go so far as to say "it was amazing". I would go so far as to say I enjoyed it even more than the first one though. The repetition of descriptions and events was still there, but didn't seem as frequent or drawn out; and there were still some head-slapping "cooome oooon" moments, but they didn't detract from the story as a whole. One thing I didn't really touch on in my review of the Path of the Sword is that there are some strange grammatical happenings throughout the book, some of which are obviously errors or omissions in editing, and others that I can't be sure aren't part of the authors writing style. Either way, they continue in the second book, and while they are not nearly as numerous as some other I've read, for those that are really bothered by that sort of thing, it could get annoying.
This book has a lot of action, and the story advances at a satisfying pace. The pieces fit well together and the plot rolls smoothly off the page; and the characters are full and great to read. The only really disappointing thing about this book is that it just came out, and I now have to wait who knows how long to finish the series :(
This book has a lot of action, and the story advances at a satisfying pace. The pieces fit well together and the plot rolls smoothly off the page; and the characters are full and great to read. The only really disappointing thing about this book is that it just came out, and I now have to wait who knows how long to finish the series :(
September 21, 2011
An awesome follow up to The Path of the Sword. Very well written and the character development is great. Really looking forward to part 3.
March 10, 2018
Just OK
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews