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Brotherhood of the Blade: The Invitation
All his life Catlow Creedence has been told that he is different. While other boys his age could indulge in youthful pursuits Catlow was forced to learn "The Way of the Sword". His friends prepared for summer vacations and college boards while Catlow prepared for battle. A battle he doubts will ever take place. His family is heir to an inheritance of blood and steel.They are the unhearlded defenders of mankind. They are warriors of uncommon honor and incredible skill.
They are the Brotherhood of the Blade.
All Catlow wants to be is an ordinary teenager.yet his father ,legendary swordmaker and swordsman Pretlow Creedence has other plans.Pretlow had dedicated his life to the Brotherhood and their sacred covenant . A covenant that strives to save mankind from itself.As events and portents begin to manifest the coming the Judges ,Pretlow realizes his son has lost faith in their duty as well as their destiny. As danger begins to encircle them father and son find themselves fight not only their enemies ,but each other as well.
Author S.A.Cosby weaves a complex tale of honor and duty ,of fathers and sons,of love and loss and places the fate of the world balanced on the edge of a sword.
They are the Brotherhood of the Blade.
All Catlow wants to be is an ordinary teenager.yet his father ,legendary swordmaker and swordsman Pretlow Creedence has other plans.Pretlow had dedicated his life to the Brotherhood and their sacred covenant . A covenant that strives to save mankind from itself.As events and portents begin to manifest the coming the Judges ,Pretlow realizes his son has lost faith in their duty as well as their destiny. As danger begins to encircle them father and son find themselves fight not only their enemies ,but each other as well.
Author S.A.Cosby weaves a complex tale of honor and duty ,of fathers and sons,of love and loss and places the fate of the world balanced on the edge of a sword.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 24, 2014
211 people are currently reading
1040 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 19, 2015
An extremely impressive first novel! Shawn Cosby sure knows his way around a sword fight. His battle scenes bring to mind classic martial arts films like 7 Grandmasters, except everyone is equipped with a family heirloom quality blade for extra serious slayage. Gritty and raunchy, this is NOT your little brother’s Urban Fantasy, even though there is enough for a fantasy novel (the Judges’ summons appear in a mysterious black box) and enough clever martial arts (the battles against the Men of First Chaos defy the laws of gravity and physics), this story is grounded in very real danger, bloodshed and other adult themes. Namely the theme of sex and the theme of drugs. These two combine to make for a PG-13 through R rated novel.
Although I think the book would have benefited from one final editing run through as there are strange double periods that should have been picked up by the editor, the story Mr. Cosby weaves is well worth looking past that small distraction. His characters, from the amazingly upstanding and uptight Pretlow to the sleazy drug addled Carcine to the terrifyingly carnal Vivian, have believable back stories and are detailed with care. The various swords and armaments are described in a manner that allows the reader to fully appreciate a particular fighting style. The scenes involving assassins sent to ‘take out’ individual clans are choreographed with such precision that they come alive on the page with the action unfolding clearly as you read. Very few first time indie authors are able to pull this off with such flair.
At the heart of the novel, though, is the relationship between Catlow and Pretlow Creedence and their story elevates this tale head and shoulders above the usual Urban Fantasy Swashbuckler (I made that up) fare.
Not for the faint of heart and with no elves in sight, Brotherhood of the Blade is an urban fantasy novel for those who love flashy fight scenes and expertly drawn characters in a multilevel, but straightforward storytelling style.
Although I think the book would have benefited from one final editing run through as there are strange double periods that should have been picked up by the editor, the story Mr. Cosby weaves is well worth looking past that small distraction. His characters, from the amazingly upstanding and uptight Pretlow to the sleazy drug addled Carcine to the terrifyingly carnal Vivian, have believable back stories and are detailed with care. The various swords and armaments are described in a manner that allows the reader to fully appreciate a particular fighting style. The scenes involving assassins sent to ‘take out’ individual clans are choreographed with such precision that they come alive on the page with the action unfolding clearly as you read. Very few first time indie authors are able to pull this off with such flair.
At the heart of the novel, though, is the relationship between Catlow and Pretlow Creedence and their story elevates this tale head and shoulders above the usual Urban Fantasy Swashbuckler (I made that up) fare.
Not for the faint of heart and with no elves in sight, Brotherhood of the Blade is an urban fantasy novel for those who love flashy fight scenes and expertly drawn characters in a multilevel, but straightforward storytelling style.
October 3, 2022
Interesting story, but
The story itself was fun, part "Into The Badlands" (TV show) and part any coming-of-age story. Where it fell horribly apart was in the editing-or in the lack thereof.
I don't know if the Kindle version I read was just a rough copy, never intended for publication, or if the author actually authorized publication of this, but whatever the reason, it was really, really bad, which is very unfortunate as this author's work is quite good.
Misspellings, poor grammar, appalling punctuation errors, and visible strike outs were all a part of this edition. It needs some serious work.
That being said, I do hope S.A. Crosby writes a sequel to this novel and publishes it AFTER it's been through quality editing.
The story itself was fun, part "Into The Badlands" (TV show) and part any coming-of-age story. Where it fell horribly apart was in the editing-or in the lack thereof.
I don't know if the Kindle version I read was just a rough copy, never intended for publication, or if the author actually authorized publication of this, but whatever the reason, it was really, really bad, which is very unfortunate as this author's work is quite good.
Misspellings, poor grammar, appalling punctuation errors, and visible strike outs were all a part of this edition. It needs some serious work.
That being said, I do hope S.A. Crosby writes a sequel to this novel and publishes it AFTER it's been through quality editing.
March 17, 2021
You need to concentrate
I'm not one for fantasy stories but I stuck with this book and found that I couldn't put it down.So many good and bad characters I had to concentrate a.nd put them in their proper place.Hopefully there's a follow up book?!
I'm not one for fantasy stories but I stuck with this book and found that I couldn't put it down.So many good and bad characters I had to concentrate a.nd put them in their proper place.Hopefully there's a follow up book?!
October 9, 2023
I must confess that I did not finish this book. I heard an interview with S. A. Cosby on NPR regarding his latest book, and it sounded interesting, so I added a bookshelf for him as an author and researched his chronology. I discovered that his first book was Brotherhood of the Blade: The Invitation; so I decided to begin at his first novel. If anyone reads this, who has read his early and later works, I would appreciate a note that assures me that the later books are better. I plowed through 40% of the book, and I just found it a chore to open the Kindle app to read more. My leisure reading is supposed to be fun. The story revolves around swords. In fact, I had no idea that so many types of swords exist. The main character is Pretlow Credence, and he is a sword craftsman. Unbeknownst to the public, however, he is a secret member of a sword cult. His sword cult represents the good guys, and another series of clans associated with chaos represents the bad guys, and the book hints repeatedly that a showdown is in the offing. Chapters are devoted to the bad clans, and they all have crime businesses in drugs, prostitution, and pirating. Pretlow has a son, Catlow, and daughter, Calla, and he has been grooming Catlow in the Brotherhood of the Blade since childhood. Catlow, meanwhile, falls in love with a young lady, Harmony, who is not in the sword society, and this creates family conflict. There are some fairly gruesome flashbacks to sword fights, and the author develops the other houses of Chaos, but I just found it boring and a lot of extraneous information. I'm the son of an English teacher, so the misplacement of punctuation, and typographical errors also annoyed me. If you are into swords and a slow developing story, give it a try. It was not for me.
July 4, 2025
Good story, BAD editing
I really did like the story, plot, characters, etc. but at times the poor editing REALLY got in the way. I’m not talking about obscure grammar rules! There were a LOT of words with strike through (followed by the exact same words w/o strike through) punctuation in the wrong places (e.g. end of sentence .Next sentence), correctly spelled, but incorrect words, character-name mixups. Very distracting.
This is the 2nd book by this author I’ve read and the first one did NOT have _any_ of these issues. It is baffling how this made it to Kindle!!!!
I really did like the story, plot, characters, etc. but at times the poor editing REALLY got in the way. I’m not talking about obscure grammar rules! There were a LOT of words with strike through (followed by the exact same words w/o strike through) punctuation in the wrong places (e.g. end of sentence .Next sentence), correctly spelled, but incorrect words, character-name mixups. Very distracting.
This is the 2nd book by this author I’ve read and the first one did NOT have _any_ of these issues. It is baffling how this made it to Kindle!!!!
July 22, 2025
This book is utter trash. I find it hard to believe that the author of such moern day crime/thriller classics, such as, Razorblade Tears, Blacktop Wasteland, All the Sinners Bleed and My Darkest Prayer, would actually pen such an amateurish effort. No wonder it's not listed as his work, on any of the platforms where he's present and/or active. Be it, Twitter, Instagram or his page on MacMillan.com, the latter his publisher.
June 22, 2022
Reads like an editor's copy of a first novel
Picked this up as I really, really enjoyed Cosby's Blacktop Wasteland. This is awful, typo-ridden, and seems like a sketch of a novel that accidentally got published.
Picked this up as I really, really enjoyed Cosby's Blacktop Wasteland. This is awful, typo-ridden, and seems like a sketch of a novel that accidentally got published.
April 3, 2025
I have read two of Cosby's later books and this one is totally different from anything he has writtem since. It is a fantasy that includes so many characters that was hard for me to follow It is well written and plotted well.
It's the story of two opposing groups that are members of the same "Brotherhood" but are opposed to each other. One group will fight the other using bladed weapons and the winning group will determine whether the life for the rest of mankind will be good or bad for the nest hundred years. Each group spends gererations training for the fight. The main character (one of the good guys) has doubts about the reality of the Brotherhood and their beliefs. Basically it is a good verses evil plot with a lot of personal sketches showing the early life of the older characters. Very good character and fight scene descriptions but a little heavy on sex among the morally bad
I got this book from Amazon and was amazed that it was released as it was. The book had numerous cross outs, extra words and sentences that made no sense because of the crossing of gender pronouns describing characters actions. It appeared the Amazon book was poorly edited and not reviewed after editing. This definitely had a negative influence on how I felt about the book.
It's the story of two opposing groups that are members of the same "Brotherhood" but are opposed to each other. One group will fight the other using bladed weapons and the winning group will determine whether the life for the rest of mankind will be good or bad for the nest hundred years. Each group spends gererations training for the fight. The main character (one of the good guys) has doubts about the reality of the Brotherhood and their beliefs. Basically it is a good verses evil plot with a lot of personal sketches showing the early life of the older characters. Very good character and fight scene descriptions but a little heavy on sex among the morally bad
I got this book from Amazon and was amazed that it was released as it was. The book had numerous cross outs, extra words and sentences that made no sense because of the crossing of gender pronouns describing characters actions. It appeared the Amazon book was poorly edited and not reviewed after editing. This definitely had a negative influence on how I felt about the book.
June 20, 2024
Not one of Crosby's best
Honestly, this seems like more of a draft than any kind of finished product. Its odd that it was even released in this state. Lots of copy errors. Actual strike through in the text. Weird.
Aside from that, the pacing is strikingly bad. Most of the book is spent introducing one new character after another - dozens of characters - most of whom aren't even particularly significant.
Love Crosby, but this seems like something he wrote before he really got the hang of things and developed his own voice.
Honestly, this seems like more of a draft than any kind of finished product. Its odd that it was even released in this state. Lots of copy errors. Actual strike through in the text. Weird.
Aside from that, the pacing is strikingly bad. Most of the book is spent introducing one new character after another - dozens of characters - most of whom aren't even particularly significant.
Love Crosby, but this seems like something he wrote before he really got the hang of things and developed his own voice.
June 5, 2025
Interesting but distracting
The narrative would have been much clearer and coherent if not for the grammatical miscues, punctuation mistakes. Of course, I am an English teacher and such errors drive me crazy 😂. However, the author’s vocabulary, sequencing of events often make up for such lapses. Overall, I am amazed at the concepts the author presents—the possibilities that such organizations exist and good/harm they could do. That willingness to accept “suspension of disbelief” is absolutely necessary to “love” this novel.
I am interested in reading more of his works!
The narrative would have been much clearer and coherent if not for the grammatical miscues, punctuation mistakes. Of course, I am an English teacher and such errors drive me crazy 😂. However, the author’s vocabulary, sequencing of events often make up for such lapses. Overall, I am amazed at the concepts the author presents—the possibilities that such organizations exist and good/harm they could do. That willingness to accept “suspension of disbelief” is absolutely necessary to “love” this novel.
I am interested in reading more of his works!
October 3, 2025
I love this author and really enjoyed the idea of the story. The characters were well written and developed well. There were however so many grammatical errors and spelling issues it distracted from the story. I realized after reading this book and doing some research that this was his first book so I cut him some slack. The editor clearly did not do her job. Trust me read his other books you will not be disappointed.
September 29, 2022
I cannot force myself to read fantasy, and this was no exception. It was a DNF. I tried, but was unable to read enough to give a review. I guess that was also the reason I could not do Harry Potter books.
December 31, 2022
Difficult
This was difficult to get into. Once I finally grasped the information and looked forward to the ending it was over. There were too many unimportant pages/chapters in the beginning and not enough in the end.
This was difficult to get into. Once I finally grasped the information and looked forward to the ending it was over. There were too many unimportant pages/chapters in the beginning and not enough in the end.
January 2, 2025
had no idea this is a “ part 1”.
Good story but badly edited. Dozens and dozens of missing connecting words. Several cases of wrong names. Very frustrating. Other books by Cosby better!
Good story but badly edited. Dozens and dozens of missing connecting words. Several cases of wrong names. Very frustrating. Other books by Cosby better!
February 7, 2025
5 stars for the story, but one deducted for the lack of editing. If you can get past the typos and punctuation errors, you’ll find a compelling story. I can’t wait to read the sequel. I’m a big fan of this author, and his talent really shines even in this early work.
November 26, 2025
Spoiler alert....... . . . .
Great writer but the kindle version of this book had so many errors I wonder if this was his first draft or a draft he got back from an editor or something? I mean strike through lines and words, all over the place. The plot took too long to get to. All those houses to keep up with was ridiculous. If I could erase this from my brain I would. Who sent out the ninja clan? Or were they summoned by the judges to test everyone else? Who led the house of chaos? Did he send out all the ninjas b/c if so I think everyone in his house is dead by the end of the book and there is no need for war? And they talked about this Great War but we never got to read about it, so I'm guessing there is a part two? If so I'm not reading it. It took me almost two weeks to finish this book. I just can't.
Great writer but the kindle version of this book had so many errors I wonder if this was his first draft or a draft he got back from an editor or something? I mean strike through lines and words, all over the place. The plot took too long to get to. All those houses to keep up with was ridiculous. If I could erase this from my brain I would. Who sent out the ninja clan? Or were they summoned by the judges to test everyone else? Who led the house of chaos? Did he send out all the ninjas b/c if so I think everyone in his house is dead by the end of the book and there is no need for war? And they talked about this Great War but we never got to read about it, so I'm guessing there is a part two? If so I'm not reading it. It took me almost two weeks to finish this book. I just can't.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 29, 2021Wow!!
This story was satisfyingly different from the other stories by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! I can't wait for more from this talented author.
This story was satisfyingly different from the other stories by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! I can't wait for more from this talented author.
April 22, 2023
This is not the same author who wrote
Razor made Tears
Blacktop Wasteland
Razor made Tears
Blacktop Wasteland
July 11, 2023
Great read
This is my first time learning of swords it's very interesting I can't wait for part two I hope the men in order win
This is my first time learning of swords it's very interesting I can't wait for part two I hope the men in order win
November 30, 2023
just not what I thought the book would be like. Not what I thought the author would say.
Couldn’t finish, too much killing!
Couldn’t finish, too much killing!
December 3, 2023
Disappointed in this story . . . Probably because I'm not a big fan of fantasy.
June 10, 2024
This author is an addiction, I pulled another all-nighter. Must find out if the sequel is out yet....
Want to read
February 19, 2025Recommended by Jeff Abramovitz - Bridge Church
November 30, 2020
This is an amazing book the sword fights scenes are masterful In this dance of survival or death the fights are visceral and just flows off the page.
October 9, 2024
Good story, abysmal editing.
By and large, I enjoyed the story; however, the lack of editing was extremely frustrating and distracting. There were typos on every page and even strikeouts and switched character names. The book deserves good editing as the author is talented. My other dissatisfaction is with the abrupt ending, setting up a cliffhanger and forcing you to get the next book if you enjoyed reading this one. I call foul.
By and large, I enjoyed the story; however, the lack of editing was extremely frustrating and distracting. There were typos on every page and even strikeouts and switched character names. The book deserves good editing as the author is talented. My other dissatisfaction is with the abrupt ending, setting up a cliffhanger and forcing you to get the next book if you enjoyed reading this one. I call foul.
February 28, 2025
2.75 This was a struggle to get through. But it was actually a really good story. Which is why I finished it.
There was just too many characters and sub plots for me and I found it a bit confusing. I do enjoy this authors more recent books though.
There was just too many characters and sub plots for me and I found it a bit confusing. I do enjoy this authors more recent books though.
November 16, 2024
I found this book a bit tedious and I did not enjoy it that much. I am glad that I read the authors other excellent books before I started this one as I probably would not have tried him again
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews