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Sword of Arelion
War is coming. The peace and security of the Ardean Imperium is threatened from within and without. The members of the Order of Arelion are sworn to protect the Imperium and enforce the Codes. But the enemy operates in the shadows, corrupting where it can and killing when that fails.Fallon Mevarel, knight of the Order of Arelion, carried information vital to prevent civil war from breaking out. Cait was nothing, or so she had been told. She was property, to be used and abused until her owner tired of her. What neither Cait nor Fallon knew was that the gods had plans for her, plans that required Fallon to delay his mission.Plans within plans, plots put in motion long ago, all converge on Cait. She may be destined for greatness, but only if she can stay alive long enough.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 4, 2015
6 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 24, 2015
Interesting read
I bought the book hoping for more"magic." The into gives the impression of near invulnerability to the order but that quickly proven false. I did get a glimpse of magic at the end and I'm intrigued to see the next book. The bad guy's identity isn't revealed but the clues seem interesting. I would recommend to someone who enjoys sword and a little sorcery.
I bought the book hoping for more"magic." The into gives the impression of near invulnerability to the order but that quickly proven false. I did get a glimpse of magic at the end and I'm intrigued to see the next book. The bad guy's identity isn't revealed but the clues seem interesting. I would recommend to someone who enjoys sword and a little sorcery.
April 27, 2018
Great 👍
This tale combines a mystery of who and where Cait the heroin is. Lost of memory and raw power leads her to a undreamed of life.
This tale combines a mystery of who and where Cait the heroin is. Lost of memory and raw power leads her to a undreamed of life.
September 30, 2018
3 stars. Story wasn't bad, but I'm on the fence about reading sequel. I'm afraid the story is nothing but how the MC increasingly becomes a MarySue
February 19, 2019
A heroine with very little agency
while the concept was initially intriguing, I quickly lost interest she to the very heavy religious themes. There's a strong sense of for ing one belief system in others, and to me has a very knights templar feel in regards to the order of knights - religious experts, healers, and fighters. In real life, that's a recipe for disaster. In a book, we can pretend that they're all good and right, but that's not really my thing when they're pushing their beliefs on everyone around them.
I also disliked how everyone treated Cait like spun glass. She has some backbone, admittedly it makes rare appearances and I get the sense it's supposed to give her color but in truth she pretty much let's everyone around her coddle her. She's survived a horrifying experience of slavery but her emotional wounds seem to be summed up by her occasionally jumping when people enter rooms and sometimes giving herself a pro talk.I
She clearly needs constant affirmation because she asks for it indirectly several times a chapter. And they fall all over themselves to give it to her, no matter the situation. At some point, this treatment becomes a crutch; people don't heal and reach for more by being told they don't have to do anything but breathe to be amazing. That's basically what it amounts to; and while I should have more compassion for her neediness, I think she would do better with being treated like an adult. The way people constantly refer to her as child highlights this best. I am pretty sure some of the people using that phrase are maybe 10 years older than her. She's not a child, however delicate she may seem, and having her peers or near peers refer to her that way confirms her lack of agency. Her toddler-like constant of "Fallon, why?" and the victim-like soft speech and downcast eyes make it all worse. No doubt, she needs to rebuild herself after what she went through, but do let's not start somewhere around the age of 5 when she's 18 and had more life altering experiences than anyone around her. She should feel older, not younger.
My other issue with this enforced infantilism is that it makes it convenient for Fallon and others to dictate her world. There are cursory things done to make it look like she's deciding, but Fallon and the rest of the knights just offer another cage, albeit one with less obvious bars. Fallon said he wanted to get her safe and to the citadel, so that's what she does. They test her to join the knights without exposing her to any other options. Obviously, this drives the plot so she has to be there, but the heavy hand of primarily male influencers should not have fallen so hard, or at all. Instead of making a true choice, or even just kicking off a plot point, I feel like Cait is just following the suggestions of the men around her.
At the end of the book, we are left with a prodigy Cait who is magically awesome at all things knight related; she's won over petty enemies but barely grown as a person. She's good at crying, playing the timid victim, being coddled, and generally not doing anything to advance the plot. If I met her in real life, I wouldn't like her not because she has emotional scars from abuse, but because she subsumes herself to the people around her, becoming what they want and playing the eternal victim, maybe because she finds power and attention in it, while almost deliberately failing to develop her own personhood.
while the concept was initially intriguing, I quickly lost interest she to the very heavy religious themes. There's a strong sense of for ing one belief system in others, and to me has a very knights templar feel in regards to the order of knights - religious experts, healers, and fighters. In real life, that's a recipe for disaster. In a book, we can pretend that they're all good and right, but that's not really my thing when they're pushing their beliefs on everyone around them.
I also disliked how everyone treated Cait like spun glass. She has some backbone, admittedly it makes rare appearances and I get the sense it's supposed to give her color but in truth she pretty much let's everyone around her coddle her. She's survived a horrifying experience of slavery but her emotional wounds seem to be summed up by her occasionally jumping when people enter rooms and sometimes giving herself a pro talk.I
She clearly needs constant affirmation because she asks for it indirectly several times a chapter. And they fall all over themselves to give it to her, no matter the situation. At some point, this treatment becomes a crutch; people don't heal and reach for more by being told they don't have to do anything but breathe to be amazing. That's basically what it amounts to; and while I should have more compassion for her neediness, I think she would do better with being treated like an adult. The way people constantly refer to her as child highlights this best. I am pretty sure some of the people using that phrase are maybe 10 years older than her. She's not a child, however delicate she may seem, and having her peers or near peers refer to her that way confirms her lack of agency. Her toddler-like constant of "Fallon, why?" and the victim-like soft speech and downcast eyes make it all worse. No doubt, she needs to rebuild herself after what she went through, but do let's not start somewhere around the age of 5 when she's 18 and had more life altering experiences than anyone around her. She should feel older, not younger.
My other issue with this enforced infantilism is that it makes it convenient for Fallon and others to dictate her world. There are cursory things done to make it look like she's deciding, but Fallon and the rest of the knights just offer another cage, albeit one with less obvious bars. Fallon said he wanted to get her safe and to the citadel, so that's what she does. They test her to join the knights without exposing her to any other options. Obviously, this drives the plot so she has to be there, but the heavy hand of primarily male influencers should not have fallen so hard, or at all. Instead of making a true choice, or even just kicking off a plot point, I feel like Cait is just following the suggestions of the men around her.
At the end of the book, we are left with a prodigy Cait who is magically awesome at all things knight related; she's won over petty enemies but barely grown as a person. She's good at crying, playing the timid victim, being coddled, and generally not doing anything to advance the plot. If I met her in real life, I wouldn't like her not because she has emotional scars from abuse, but because she subsumes herself to the people around her, becoming what they want and playing the eternal victim, maybe because she finds power and attention in it, while almost deliberately failing to develop her own personhood.
September 15, 2015
I enjoyed this story, particularly the idea of the knights and their code and training. I also liked the victim/underdog turned hero part of the story. There were some aspects that I thought were reiterated a little too frequently (Cait and her doubting inner dialogue) and the beginning of the book felt a little slow at one point. After Fallon and Cait leave the village the story picks up to a nice pace. I was expecting a little more conflict as the main character progresses through the story, especially with other students throughout her training. She seemed to be so highly favored by most of the leaders and given extra attention and training to the point where she bypasses others. Overall, not a bad story and it was compelling enough that I'm intrigued to find out what Cait's background is and how she plays into the whole story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2016
When I first read the blurb for this book I was intrigued, yet hesitant because of how many books have let me down latley.im really glad I read it and didn't pass it by.the main character Cait is brilliantly done.She's got an amazing mix of fortitude and vulnerability that's really hard to find in heroines.all the knocks life has given her and still she refuses to be beat down, even when she would obviously rather give in to her fear she pushes through.the supporting characters are just as alive as she is but they don't overpower her.I'm eagerly, impatiently waiting for the next book in this series and I applaud Amanda Green for writing a book that has become one of my favorites!
May 5, 2015
Discordant
It felt too modern for a true fantasy. There were inconsistencies in what some characters knew or believed that pushed me out of the story. Motivations were repeated for certain goals to the point of annoyance.
Proofreading was lacking. Several instances of scrambled word order or doubled words. Spelling and punctuation seemed clear.
It's not terrible. Just not good.
It felt too modern for a true fantasy. There were inconsistencies in what some characters knew or believed that pushed me out of the story. Motivations were repeated for certain goals to the point of annoyance.
Proofreading was lacking. Several instances of scrambled word order or doubled words. Spelling and punctuation seemed clear.
It's not terrible. Just not good.
September 3, 2015
A great start to a series with plenty of character development potential (particularly Cait and Fallon). My only negative is too much "Are you alright Cait?" dialogue.
August 8, 2015
much potential as a series. I need to see what follows...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews