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An Assassin's Blade #1
The Misbegotten
They were supposed to have been hunted to extinction. But sometimes death is a myth.
Astul, an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation, is hunting down a king slayer in exchange for a handsome reward when he makes an unsettling discovery. One involving insane kings and mad queens and kingdoms suddenly poised for war. People seem to be losing their minds. Or rather, forfeiting them.
Astul has spent a lifetime sliding blades across throats, not saving lives. But he either helps preserve his world from a harrowing threat, or he can kiss everything he's ever known, along with domain over his mind, goodbye.
Conjurers have returned.
Astul, an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation, is hunting down a king slayer in exchange for a handsome reward when he makes an unsettling discovery. One involving insane kings and mad queens and kingdoms suddenly poised for war. People seem to be losing their minds. Or rather, forfeiting them.
Astul has spent a lifetime sliding blades across throats, not saving lives. But he either helps preserve his world from a harrowing threat, or he can kiss everything he's ever known, along with domain over his mind, goodbye.
Conjurers have returned.
- GenresFantasy
502 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 14, 2016
78 people are currently reading
421 people want to read
About the author
Justin DePaoli
26 books64 followersJustin DePaoli called Pittsburgh home for twenty-one years, but now lives in Kentucky with his fiancee, stilt-legged German shepherd, two cats, and a company of fish.
Beginning his career as a freelance writer, he now writes fiction full-time.
When he's not writing, he enjoys playing guitar (quite horribly), running, lifting, playing video games, and spending time with his fiancee and menagerie of pets.
Beginning his career as a freelance writer, he now writes fiction full-time.
When he's not writing, he enjoys playing guitar (quite horribly), running, lifting, playing video games, and spending time with his fiancee and menagerie of pets.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 9, 2016
I really loved this book
I originally picked this book up simply because it was free and with low expectations. I can't believe how wrong I was. I was drawn in from the first page right till the end. This book is a must read for fans of the genre.
I originally picked this book up simply because it was free and with low expectations. I can't believe how wrong I was. I was drawn in from the first page right till the end. This book is a must read for fans of the genre.
November 20, 2020
*This review can also be found on my book review blog, The Never-Ending TBR Pile.
Assassins. Conjurers. War.
Astul, Shepherd of The Black Rot, has got his hands full in this fast-paced fantasy that is unlike any fantasy I've read before. For starters, it's all written in first person from the single perspective of Astul, a ruthless and cunning assassin that enjoys the good life to the fullest and doesn't want to see that life change. But Conjurers have other ideas and soon he finds himself embroiled in world-encompassing intrigue, allying with kings and mercenaries, farmers and blacksmiths and soldiers in order to stop the Conjurers from taking over his world and completely draining it of every last vestige of its resources.
The other thing that made this fantasy stand out to me was how it was written. Most high, or epic, fantasies tend to take 5 or more books to tell 20 different plots that all eventually lead to one major conclusion. This first book, if it had been written by the Robert Jordans and George R. R. Martins of the world whom I love, would have taken at least 5 books to tell it. This author, however, chose to stick with one main story line and got it told in one book. And I loved how he did it! Instead of talking about side quests and misadventures of the multiple heroes and heroines, he chose to cut all that out and stick solely with Astul, creating an adventure that could be told in one book with an actual conclusion that was not a cliff-hanger, but left things open for him to tell more of Astul's adventures in future books.
I also liked the more in your face, gritty way of narrating that Astul had. He felt real and his reactions to various situations were a gauntlet of varying emotions from amusement, horror, anguish, arrogance, and despair. His sarcasm and wit practically leapt off the page and I liked that he knew exactly the kind of person he was and had accepted it, embraced it even. Instead of making excuses for himself and his actions, he owned them and I could respect that.
In all, an amazing first book in this trilogy that I will happily continue and would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fast-paced fantasy unlike most fantasies out there today!
Assassins. Conjurers. War.
Astul, Shepherd of The Black Rot, has got his hands full in this fast-paced fantasy that is unlike any fantasy I've read before. For starters, it's all written in first person from the single perspective of Astul, a ruthless and cunning assassin that enjoys the good life to the fullest and doesn't want to see that life change. But Conjurers have other ideas and soon he finds himself embroiled in world-encompassing intrigue, allying with kings and mercenaries, farmers and blacksmiths and soldiers in order to stop the Conjurers from taking over his world and completely draining it of every last vestige of its resources.
The other thing that made this fantasy stand out to me was how it was written. Most high, or epic, fantasies tend to take 5 or more books to tell 20 different plots that all eventually lead to one major conclusion. This first book, if it had been written by the Robert Jordans and George R. R. Martins of the world whom I love, would have taken at least 5 books to tell it. This author, however, chose to stick with one main story line and got it told in one book. And I loved how he did it! Instead of talking about side quests and misadventures of the multiple heroes and heroines, he chose to cut all that out and stick solely with Astul, creating an adventure that could be told in one book with an actual conclusion that was not a cliff-hanger, but left things open for him to tell more of Astul's adventures in future books.
I also liked the more in your face, gritty way of narrating that Astul had. He felt real and his reactions to various situations were a gauntlet of varying emotions from amusement, horror, anguish, arrogance, and despair. His sarcasm and wit practically leapt off the page and I liked that he knew exactly the kind of person he was and had accepted it, embraced it even. Instead of making excuses for himself and his actions, he owned them and I could respect that.
In all, an amazing first book in this trilogy that I will happily continue and would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fast-paced fantasy unlike most fantasies out there today!
August 28, 2017
Unnecessarily sexual and crude, but the characters were generally well crafted and the plot kept me interested. It worked as a stand alone story too as well as the start of a trilogy. I did get a bit lost two thirds of the way in wondering who was based where and who was on which side though
April 26, 2016
Annoying
I don't like many books where the character's well character is already set and defined because then the book becomes predictable. There are some authors that I have read that have made it work however. Not this one. Also the author tries to build him up to be this awesome guy, but he makes so many obvious mistakes it's annoying. The only plot twists we got came from completely new, to the reader, creatures or information. It got predictable. Suddenly something bad happens, it's fixed, then gets ruined because of part of the world the character knows, but was never mentioned in the book.
I don't like many books where the character's well character is already set and defined because then the book becomes predictable. There are some authors that I have read that have made it work however. Not this one. Also the author tries to build him up to be this awesome guy, but he makes so many obvious mistakes it's annoying. The only plot twists we got came from completely new, to the reader, creatures or information. It got predictable. Suddenly something bad happens, it's fixed, then gets ruined because of part of the world the character knows, but was never mentioned in the book.
November 5, 2017
I like the book because of the snarky main character and the fact that I am often interested on a thief/spy/assassin's adventures and misadventures. The only problem is that Astel talk way too much inside his head it gets boring sometimes. I think he likes listening to his own voice inside his head. And the author make one paragraph to describe a person or situation when it could have been in just a word or sentence. I skipped a lot of pages.
I've read better characters, plot twists, court intrigues and battle fights but I am still crossing my fingers and hope book 2 will be better. I rate this 2 and a half star and round it up to three.
I've read better characters, plot twists, court intrigues and battle fights but I am still crossing my fingers and hope book 2 will be better. I rate this 2 and a half star and round it up to three.
November 22, 2017
Good story...
...but it contained a lot of unnecessary crudity. Repetitive use of crude and base language can make or break a story. It also depends on its use, I suppose. But it seemed that a lot of it didn't even need to be included. I'm not sure if I will continue on to the sequel. The jury's still out. If you don't mind such vulgarity then this story will work for you. Me, not so much.
...but it contained a lot of unnecessary crudity. Repetitive use of crude and base language can make or break a story. It also depends on its use, I suppose. But it seemed that a lot of it didn't even need to be included. I'm not sure if I will continue on to the sequel. The jury's still out. If you don't mind such vulgarity then this story will work for you. Me, not so much.
June 4, 2020
Dark and grim but with such an inspired use of language and characters that I couldn't help but love it all the way through. This kept my interest and is easily one of the best fantasy books I've read in ages. Don't be scared of bad language, though. If you are easily offended, then this is not for you. If you love a colourful, imaginative unlikely hero and a plot you can't second guess, however, then this is absolutely one you have to read.
December 31, 2017
Couldn’t finish this book. It was slow, a lot of uninteresting parts, and the writing was not for me. I was really excited when I read the synopsis, but it seemed that that was the best part of the book.
August 4, 2022
This is a pretty good series. I like the snarky protagonist. He's smart, funny and sarcastic. He also gets imprisoned and beat up a lot which seems more realistic to me. An interesting story with a different take on magic users.
January 31, 2018
Got this for free. Couldn’t put it down. Brutal, coarse, engaging and mesmerising. Moved straight to book 2.
August 1, 2020
Lost interest halfway through but what I did read was written well that’s why I gave it a three
March 18, 2017
not for me
February 28, 2017
Loved the sense of humor and witty thoughts. Was a bit disappointed with the main characters lack of talents. Good story line, easy to read.
February 25, 2017
Quite gory, but amusing in a crude school boyish way
April 18, 2016
Wow, out of nowhere comes Justin DePaoli. Let me tell you people- this guy has some talent! I have read almost all of the big names on the epic fantasy shelves (over 200 books devoured in the last 2 years alone) and was pleasantly surprised when I took the chance to read.
This series is best described as a blend of Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, and Scott Lynch. It is gritty, funny-as-hell, has tons of surprises and is all from a single narrative of now one of my favorite characters. Justin really deserves some exposure. He makes me want to join the Black Rot.
It must also be noted that his trilogy is set to start and complete within this year (no need to wait the years that other authors typically string you out for). Put this on your need to read list. You will not be disappointed.
This series is best described as a blend of Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, and Scott Lynch. It is gritty, funny-as-hell, has tons of surprises and is all from a single narrative of now one of my favorite characters. Justin really deserves some exposure. He makes me want to join the Black Rot.
It must also be noted that his trilogy is set to start and complete within this year (no need to wait the years that other authors typically string you out for). Put this on your need to read list. You will not be disappointed.
December 20, 2016
DNF. The plot jumped all over the place giving the sense of a somehow very small world or that time moved really quickly. There doesn't seem to be enough important descriptions of what's going on but there's a lot of description about trivial stuff that doesn't contribute to the story. For example I felt the author tried to make it dark fantasy story and forgot to build the world more.
April 19, 2016
More of a 4.5... Right from the start you are thrown into a gritty, intense world of assassins, royalty, and conjures. The story is told by Astul, shepherd of the Rot. He is dark, funny, raw, foul-mouthed, smart and despite his occupation, you get attached. Vayle and all of the other characters hold their own as well.
October 25, 2016
Very dark fantasy
I would give this an almost 4. It's a very good story if you like dark fantasy, lots of violence, some humor and coarse language. The book is well written, with a good plot and it moves quickly. I will try to read the next book but will take a breather before I do.
I would give this an almost 4. It's a very good story if you like dark fantasy, lots of violence, some humor and coarse language. The book is well written, with a good plot and it moves quickly. I will try to read the next book but will take a breather before I do.
January 2, 2017
The highlight of this book is definitely the writer's dialogue between characters, it was often very amusing. Unfortunately character and world descriptions need a bit of work as well as story progression.
May 27, 2016
Predictable with enough grammatical errors to annoy me. I also found the attitudes of the professional assassins painful.
December 22, 2016
This is the first book by Justin DePaoli I've read what a find enjoyed it from start to finish
Having an assassin as the hero was a bit of a change looking forward to book 2
Having an assassin as the hero was a bit of a change looking forward to book 2
March 30, 2017
Highly entertaining. Normally I find the reluctant hero trope annoying, but I loved this main character and almost all of his actions made perfect sense given the circumstances.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews