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September 17, 2020

Blade Reforged (Fallen Blade 04) by Kelly McCullough

Filed under: Reviews-Fantasy — Suramya @ 11:25 AM

Blade Reforged (Fallen Blade 04)

by Kelly McCullough

Description:

After the fall of the goddess of justice, temple assassin Aral Kingslayer lost his purpose in life and turned to the bottle. That might have been the end of him if luck hadn’t given him a few people to help him get back on his feet—notably the irresistible Baroness Maylien Dan Marchon, who once sought his aid in claiming the throne that’s rightfully hers. Reluctant to resume the role of an assassin, he turned her down.

But now Aral has learned that one of the few people willing to help him in his darkest days has been imprisoned by Maylien’s uncle, King Thauvik. Aral knows he can’t let an old friend die, but the alternative is to return to the life he left years ago. It was the death of Thauvik’s half brother that earned Aral the name Kingslayer, and now he is thrust into a war that will see no end until he lives up to his name…

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Rating: (4.5/5)

Review:

The 4th book in the series starts off in a very weird way. Aral is back at the Gryphon which has been destroyed getting drunk, we have no idea how he got there and why Jax & Faran are not there with him. This is never completely explained in the book and it bugged me. I had to check to make sure I was reading the correct book in the series and hadn’t missed any book in the middle. However once I got past that I liked the book, we have an old flame back in Aral’s life making a play for the throne. Plus there is a living legend who has come back from the dead to make things very difficult & dangerous for Jax. I liked how he had to change his whole way of thinking to get through the mission and how throughout the book he is slowly healing himself. Though his struggle with addiction is still a big part of the character. The following paragraph from the book really highlighted the difficultly Aral is going through with his addiction, and I loved it. Its rare when writers get nuances like this rather than just handwaving it away to advance the plot.

I didn’t answer Triss. I couldn’t. It was taking everything I had not to tear out the cork and drink off half the bottle on the spot. I could feel sweat breaking out on my brows and the palm of the hand holding the bottle as I fought with my own desire. Fuck me but I wanted that drink bad. Without seeming to cross the intervening space, I found myself holding the whiskey out over the water, willing my hand to unclench. It wouldn’t, and probably better that it didn’t.

I ignored that and the increased urgency in his voice and used a word of opening to free the cork—a spell where normally I would have simply torn it free with my teeth. Then, slowly, oh so very damned slowly, I turned the bottle over and poured the contents into the sea. It felt more than half like I’d opened a vein and it was my own blood I was draining away, but I did it. When it was empty, and only when it was empty, did I let the bottle fall into the water and sink to the bottom. I watched it all the way down. Then I sat back against the wall of the cavern and dangled my bare feet in the cool water.

The book is the commulation of the previous three books and if you read this without having read the previous books some parts of it will not make sense. However it can be read as a standalone for the most part.

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