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The Law of Swords #1
In Treachery Forged
THE LAW OF SWORDS: A set of laws written to prevent infighting among Svieda’s Royal Heirs if the King dies unexpectedly. One of these laws has never been needed… until now.
Book I: In Treachery Forged
Following the rebellion of the Borden Isles, the Kingdom of Svieda was forced to make a pact with the Sho’Curlas Alliance in order to maintain the world’s balance of power.
Many years later, Svieda is betrayed, suddenly and irrevocably, when the Sword King of Svieda is brutally assassinated by the Sho’Curlas Ambassador and their borders are invaded.
To help save his country in the ensuing war, Sword Prince Maelgyn must travel to the Province of Sopan, take command of his armies, and join his cousins in battle. Along the way he rescues a Dwarven caravan, forges a badly needed alliance, and accidentally gets married.
And then he learns about the dragons….
Book I: In Treachery Forged
Following the rebellion of the Borden Isles, the Kingdom of Svieda was forced to make a pact with the Sho’Curlas Alliance in order to maintain the world’s balance of power.
Many years later, Svieda is betrayed, suddenly and irrevocably, when the Sword King of Svieda is brutally assassinated by the Sho’Curlas Ambassador and their borders are invaded.
To help save his country in the ensuing war, Sword Prince Maelgyn must travel to the Province of Sopan, take command of his armies, and join his cousins in battle. Along the way he rescues a Dwarven caravan, forges a badly needed alliance, and accidentally gets married.
And then he learns about the dragons….
- GenresFantasy
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 27, 2013
11 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 7, 2014
I found myself really enjoying this book, despite it's Freshman flaws. The story was interesting, the hero enjoyable, and the world quite interesting. Several times I expected typical fantasy tropes, and was pleasantly surprised when it did not turn out as I expected.
I particularly liked the female lead, whose blindness does not keep her from out thinking, out smarting, and generally out maneuvering the men (including the male lead) on a regular basis. She is not portrayed as an object of pity or a girlfriend part, nor is she an emotionless robot. She is not someone who needs to be saved, helped, pitied, or fixed; in fact, she was probably the best written character in the book.
That being said, this book has several rough edges, as is to be expected from an indie author's first book. In particular, the first few chapters don't do a good job of explaining the protagonist's thought processes, feelings, or motivations, so he comes across as callow, particularly to those who like a lot of 1st person angst and melodrama. This improves as the book goes on, but the book is written in a non traditional fashion.
More specifically: The author writes from a 3rd person view with limited omniscience, almost like a movie. There is a lot of action, dialogue, description, and surface thoughts, like a movie focusing on the lead with the occasional voice over representing the lead's thoughts / feelings. This will distress people who prefer the more traditional "let's overthink and overanalyze everything" 1st person / 2nd person / 3rd person omniscient perspective common in most literature.
I feel that this type of writing works well in Fantasy and Science Fiction, where world building is just as important as character development. But it does take some getting used too, and takes practice to get right as a writer, and this author makes several mistakes in the early parts of the book that leave some of the characters feeling unfinished. Most of this is corrected over the course of the book, though cumulative narration and a general increase in writing skill. But the first few chapters could really use a re write.
Recommended to anyone who likes High Fantasy without overpowered, angst ridden protagonists.
I particularly liked the female lead, whose blindness does not keep her from out thinking, out smarting, and generally out maneuvering the men (including the male lead) on a regular basis. She is not portrayed as an object of pity or a girlfriend part, nor is she an emotionless robot. She is not someone who needs to be saved, helped, pitied, or fixed; in fact, she was probably the best written character in the book.
That being said, this book has several rough edges, as is to be expected from an indie author's first book. In particular, the first few chapters don't do a good job of explaining the protagonist's thought processes, feelings, or motivations, so he comes across as callow, particularly to those who like a lot of 1st person angst and melodrama. This improves as the book goes on, but the book is written in a non traditional fashion.
More specifically: The author writes from a 3rd person view with limited omniscience, almost like a movie. There is a lot of action, dialogue, description, and surface thoughts, like a movie focusing on the lead with the occasional voice over representing the lead's thoughts / feelings. This will distress people who prefer the more traditional "let's overthink and overanalyze everything" 1st person / 2nd person / 3rd person omniscient perspective common in most literature.
I feel that this type of writing works well in Fantasy and Science Fiction, where world building is just as important as character development. But it does take some getting used too, and takes practice to get right as a writer, and this author makes several mistakes in the early parts of the book that leave some of the characters feeling unfinished. Most of this is corrected over the course of the book, though cumulative narration and a general increase in writing skill. But the first few chapters could really use a re write.
Recommended to anyone who likes High Fantasy without overpowered, angst ridden protagonists.
March 19, 2014
Absolutely fantastic book by a David Tatum. Story flows at a good pace and has some interesting characters. What I also liked is that only two characters are used to tell the story some authors now a day’s use so many that you actually get confused about what is happening. This a typical epic fantasy whereby a young prince with immense magical power and potential goes out to save the kingdom and along the way finds a love interest who also has some great attributes. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next in the series.
October 5, 2017
When is book two coming?
Out standing book. Wish all books were written this well. Great story line, excellent characters, easy to read, and his definitions were excellent. I couldn't put the book down. Must have book two.
Out standing book. Wish all books were written this well. Great story line, excellent characters, easy to read, and his definitions were excellent. I couldn't put the book down. Must have book two.
August 9, 2019
A good book.
I truly enjoyed this book and loved the spin the author put on the magic system to make it just a bit different than most. The pacing was good and I really liked the MC.
I truly enjoyed this book and loved the spin the author put on the magic system to make it just a bit different than most. The pacing was good and I really liked the MC.
March 19, 2014
Very good, looking forward to the next one.
March 22, 2014
The law of swords
brilliant book ,great character's ,I didn't want this book to end, looking forward to the next instalment .5 stars all the way
brilliant book ,great character's ,I didn't want this book to end, looking forward to the next instalment .5 stars all the way
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews