Book Review | The Bladed Faith

Cyrus was only twelve years old when he watched both his god and parents, the king and queen of Thanet, executed right in front of him. For years he spent as a captive prince under his conquerors. However, when he’s rescued by a ragtag group of revolutionaries, he’s offered a chance to reclaim his kingdom and avenge his parents’ deaths.

He becomes a vigilante called Vagrant to strike fear in his enemies and become a symbol of hope for his people, but nothing has prepared him for the bloodshed ahead.

The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish is a fast-paced epic fantasy about vengeance, unlikely odds, and slain gods.

However, I had to admit, this turned out to be a completely different book than I was expecting. Based on the photo cover, at first I was expecting grimdark fantasy.

On the inside though, what I got was a far more fantastical and colorful world. There’s a rainbow butterfly goddess and a flying rainbow lion god, and a nationality of characters with coveted red eyes. It feels like a very classical fantasy with a tinge of cheese and hope, which makes sense to me because I later found out that the author is a huge fan of Final Fantasy.

Typically, I adore this type of fantasy as much as I adore grimdark, but I found it difficult to feel invested in the story and its characters due to its breakneck pacing and narrative structure. For starters, there are at least 8 different POVs, which is a lot to juggle within a span of only 512 pages. On top of that, there are time skips spanning years that gloss over crucial character development for the supporting cast. Personally, I wish the book could have been longer, allowing for characters to be better established so that the emotional moments actually land.

Overall, I loved the basic premise, but the story’s more compelling characters were unfortunately swept under the rug and too often forgotten.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : April 5, 2022

Publisher : Orbit

ISBN : 075955708X

Pages : 512

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