Exiled. Hated. Feared. Fate hasn’t been kind to Darius, but now, it summons him.
Banished by the only city that would have him, Darius now wanders the lands as an exile, hunting, searching, slaying. In one short year, his deeds have earned him his old, fearsome title…the Slayer of Gods.
But the one he hunts is still to meet justice.
Warlord Hadrian now rules the war-torn west of the Empire, and despite his best efforts, Darius cannot prevent the continued slaughters. The King holds the Warlord at bay for now, but only because Hadrian’s focused on a new prize.
He’s searching for a power lost for over one and a half centuries.
The King knows. And Darius will soon know.
Only the Slayer can stop him.
And if he fails again and Hadrian finds what he seeks, the whole Empire—like Laltos—will burn in rakkan fire.
Wow! This was soooo good. The characters grew so much to where I actually care about them. I didn’t so much in the first book. A little more in the second but it was more for Sulla, Selene and Gorgias. I won’t write a huge review but I highly recommend this. It’s a little slow at first but it really picks up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Banished by the only city that would have him, Darius now wanders the lands as an exile, hunting, searching, slaying. In one short year, his deeds have earned him his old, fearsome title…the Slayer of Gods. But the one he hunts is still to meet justice. Can Darius defeat the Warlord Hadrian before it is to late. Read the book to find out you will not be disappointed.
That this is not a light and carefree fantasy. Several years back when I read book one of the series I left a review and was contacted by the author and we spoke about my feedback as well as the possibility of beta reading for him. As a hobby writer I jumped at the chance and a couple years later I got to read several drafts of book two of the series. This time around I did get to go over a few of the early drafts but unfortunately real life got in the way and I did not see the end product. It took me a while to get off the road and really enjoyed this book like I wanted to. So be forewarned my review may not be the most unbiased.
Andy Blinston is a self-published author who truly knows how to revise and to smooth out his stories. There's also almost no grammar or spelling errors within his series, if any. I've seen and enjoyed series where the authors just throw out works without actually fixing issues. Thankfully Andy is not afraid to go back and work on something he's already published. Which he proved in book 1 when I had to go back and redo a review because the book had been cleaned up and smoothed out quite a bit. It's one of the advantages and curses of being a self-published author. There are some times an author and writer just has to walk away from a story. The series is still ongoing and it is obvious Andy is improving as a writer as he goes along. I would not be surprised to comeback for this on to add or edit review. Seires is a quick weekend read.
This is not a book series for children. It is appropriate for young adults and above dark and rather gitty. If you're looking for a light fluffy fantasy go elsewhere. It is a bit relentless in some ways and is a change of flavor in others. I described the series as an dark epic fantasy with thriller pacing and length. In this world it is not sunshine and rainbows. The characters are not perfect and even their decisions and plans are flawed at times. This most certainly is not an awesome hero of awesomeness story where the protagonist does nothing wrong and is the most intelligent crafty and prudent character of all. However it is at times the hardcore hero of hardcoreness and we do get to see Darius unleashed a few times.
If I have to describe the series I would have to say if it was a movie it would be a dark and gritty action flick. It's meant to be burned through and enjoyed for a story but not dissected too much. You're going to get plenty of action drama and a good climax. I will say that the first part of the story was a little rocky for me but soon I was being pulled through. There are some philosophical or navelgazong moments to bog down the pacing at times but they're gone in a breath.
The one thing I think is interesting that in the early drafts there was a certain character who really threw me off. And still does because you really get to see a truly mentally ill character who makes no sense and is vicious in such a way that makes the reader cringe away. This character does appear out of nowhere and is gone just as quick. I think it's a brave choice that Andy chose to keep the character and the scene. And as a hobby writer it gives me a lot to think about as does much of the story and series.
I first came across a series on Kindle unlimited and it is still available there. That makes it a definitely worthwhile read in a higher quality than you might find in many of the stories there. I've decided to permanently add the series to my library and I am looking forward to the next book or books in the series.
3.5 stars It was better than the last book but I wouldn't go as far as to give it 4 stars just yet. The writing in this was definitely an improvement from the last book and the characters weren't as stupid. Though Darius's love blindness was frustrating, I understand, to a degree, why he wasn't able to see Selene's duplicity. This is why I kinda hate this trope of writing where the author reveals something to the reader but not the characters because it's incredibly aggravating to watch them circle around the discovery over and over until it's too late and the betrayal is revealed. But I certainly see some growth in Darius's character which is nice, he still has some problems with being too trusting even tho he's been burned many times in the past he seems to make the same mistake due to his overly-sympathetic and compassionate heart. All that said, I don't think I'd ever be able to call this a favorite of mine, it's just okay to me, I value intelligence in my fictional characters too much for me to truly enjoy books like these where the mc is mostly brawn and little brain, I enjoy a good balance of both.
Middle of the book was a bit of a slog with not a lot happening. You have to suspend belief in the Selene/ Darius story line, it’s not really a spoiler as the book doesn’t hide what’s happened to her,in fact reinforces it on every page that she’s on! But the disbelief is the fact that whilst she’s suspected no-one really follows through all the way. The big reveal is also signposted although it wasn’t exactly what I thought. On to Book4 & hoping that it’s the end as this has probably gone as far as it can.
The book was definitely another fun. Read the drama in action. Interwoven into the character stories was not only entertaining but captivating where you lost count of time as you read the pages. My only sadness is the next book is not out yet but it's on the way....
My opinion. I found another writer writing a good story without faltering and reaching. It's a good story, good structure, not much repetition, would prefer more action than talk. However the writer has done a good job of writing the story. I am reading the 4th book in the series and I found all of them good for "my liking".
I really enjoyed the world of Darius. I found a MC I really like and appreciate the challenges he faces. I'd like to see things work out for him and Lex but won't hold my breathe. All in all a very nice series and I look forward to more adventures.
Oh so many breaths to hold even though you know all the players the ride is thrilling then new and old ones pop in or people drained of their soul you never know exactly what will happen great reading can’t wait to start the next one
This book really has "The Slayer" establishing himself as the key part of the story. We continue to get multiple view points, but Darius is definitely pelting towards destiny, as he gets himself together and rejoins the fold with his allies.
This author makes the battle fun without skimping on the blood and gore. His characters are troubled and that's just fine with me! Super soldiers battling each other, sometimes protecting ( sometimes killing) ordinary "humans" just adds to the story and battle mix..Next book, please!