Redemption's Blade

After the War #1

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Ten years ago, the Kinslayer returned from the darkness. His brutal Yorughan armies issued from the pits of the earth, crushing all resistance, leaving burnt earth and corruption behind. Thrones toppled and cities fell.

And then he died.

Celestaine—one of the heroes that destroyed him—has tasked herself with correcting the worst excesses of the Kinslayer’s brief reign, bringing light back to a broken world. With two Yorughan companions, she faces fanatics, war criminals and the Kinslayer’s former minions, as the fragile alliances of the War break down into feuding and greed.

The Kinslayer may be gone, but he cast a long shadow: one from which she may never truly escape.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adventure, Science Fiction

520 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2018

About the author

ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.

Reviews

[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a truly epic fantasy but with the best twist... the story was told after the war was won!

I grew attached the the eclectic group of characters and loved how well developed they were.

With every book by Tchaikovsky, I fall in love with his writing more and more.

I'll be picking up more of his books ASAP!

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only reason I gave this book 5 stars is because there are giant, murderous crabs in it. Hahahahaha, just kidding. Then again maybe not.



So if not for the slightly lethal crustaceans, why would I give this story such a despicably high rating, especially since I’m not usually the biggest Tchaikovsky fangirl? Well, the following might have contributed a tiny little bit:

① The premise is quite fantastic, thank you very much: what happens when a war ends after years of brutal combat? When the world seems broken and evil is still afoot? What becomes of the heroes, the villains, the fighters on all sides, those who were brutalized and/or enslaved? What is their purpose in life now that the war is over?

“It’s like the world expected us to die with him, and doesn’t know what to do with us.”

One of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read since the Divine Cities trilogy indeed this is.

② The main character is 😍😍😍. Oh I’m definitely going all Poof Gone Harem on Celestaine here. I mean, a woman who’s a gloriously complex war hero? A sword-wielding badass who helped kill Sauron the Big Bad, defeat his evil armies and save the day? A character who constantly questions her motivations, actions and integrity? And has a pretty great inner dialogue to boot?



③ Those secondary characters! Celestaine’s travelling companions are some of the most beautifully ill-assorted sidekicks ever: two homicidal orcs who once did the Big Bad’s biding (and how), a winged man with no wings, and an undead bard? Yes, please. And such a well-developed, brilliantly characterized bunch they are, too. Tchaikovsky does an amazing job of showing their ambivalent feelings about their actions and motivations, past and present, which adds oodles of delicious depth to their characters.

④ A wonderfully eclectic assortment of species and creatures and beings and races and stuff: a sometimes-badger, murderously vindictive dog-headed men, weird amphibian-looking monsters with bulging frog eyes, cute little deathworms (👋 waves at Nedlam 👋), dragons…If I wasn’t in the crustacean business I’d adopt them all.

⑤ It’s a quest! It’s a fast-paced, action-packed and Super Extra Fun Sword and Sorcery Adventure (SEFSaSA™)! Yes, okay, things get kind of bleak at times (newsflash: this isn’t a Care Bears-type world) but there’s also some lightness and humor, and the story is quite very entertaining indeed, so there.

So, to sum things up: ① + ② + ③ + ④ + ⑤ =



➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): you might say that this is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Yes, you might say that. I mean, I just bought the print copy and am already planning my first reread. I think this might quite possibly tell you something. Yes, I think it might.

P.S. The sequels to this story weren’t written by Tchaikovsky (why? I mean, WHY?) and seem to be debacles of epic proportions. So I will probably stay the fish away from them. Which is slightly heartbreaking since I’d give both my pincers for a chance to go adventuring with this scrumptious bunch again 😭😭.

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this book was okay but I have now made my decision. This author writes superb sci fi but only average fantasy (my opinion).

Redemption's Blade is set in the aftermath of a major war and much time is spent by the main character agonising and moralising over what she has done and will do. There is a huge range of characters from all kinds of fantastical races, lots of magic and lots and lots of fight scenes. The magic is good. The fight scenes go on too long.

It was certainly an okay book but in a totally different league from, for example, Children of Time

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about ‘what comes after’. After the big battles and the world shaking events, when life is supposed to go back to normal, whatever that is or can be once the land is drenched in blood and everywhere death stands triumphant. Celestaine played the biggest of roles in that ‘before’ time, her sword raised against dragons and even the Kinslayer himself. Now, lost in a meaningless life, she seeks a cause to fight for, one which can bring back hope to a whole race de-winged by the cruel games of the Kinslayer, and in doing so, give herself something to believe in and a reason to live again.

Now doesn’t that sound like a premise and a half? It’s a hook that got me. So rarely do readers get to know what follows, the future assuming some kind of rosy glow, the promise of better things. Adrian Tchaikovsky is having none of that shit. This is a bleak world, so emphatically damaged by war that parts of it are forever burning. Races of people have been twisted and broken, monsters freed to roam. People are not living their happy-ever-after, some are fighting to rebuild, some to stay alive. This was the author’s best work, a world that felt full of diverse creations and layered with misery. There was a sense vastness beyond the boundaries of what the reader was seeing that instant, people living stories of their own in devastated and dangerous landscapes. Even if there was a tendency towards generalisation that grated, a this-race-tends-to-be-like-this kind of characterisation, the world felt full of potential.

The choice of characters was less so. Despite being the main POV, Celeste was probably the least interesting of the accidentally heroic company. She has an dangerously awesome blade that can cut through pretty much anything and this, plus her past deeds, seems to be her main qualification for acting the self-appointed champion for the Aethani. In all fairness, her struggle to evaluate her own motivations, from self-interest to genuine desire to help others, provides the main thread of the equivocal morality which underlies the whole story. Throughout the book, the author attempts to overturn all kinds of fantasy tropes and the question of why people do what they do, from undertaking quests to helping a friend, was certainly developed well though the thoughts and actions of the different characters. I would have liked to hear more from the two Yorughan who accompany Celeste, apparently honoured servants of the Kinslayer who switched sides at the last minute to help in his murder, especially considering one of them is her lover, an interesting choice which is barely touched upon. Another duo is borrowed straight out of Malazan. A clever and quirky purveyor of magical artefacts who exchanges dry repartee with a servant who is so very clearly more than he seems… Now if you’re going to base your comedy pair on anyone, Tehol and Bugg are superb choices, but the closeness of the humour and the mirrored relationship somewhat undermines the reveal at the end of the book into more of a ‘oh really, i’m SO surprised right now’ moment. However, they were pretty funny, showing up at the most unlikely times and tending to make the situation ineffably worse- it provided a welcome break from the more depressing woe-is-me contemplation of the main group.

Plot wise, the book is light. The difficulty of a linear narrative that had the band following the path of a magical, mystery crown, was that it became a series of set piece events or battles with the faintest of connections between them. It seemed like the author decided he wanted some fighting underground, some political machinations and a bit of fighting in a city, magical battles in a castle, a dark wood with spider creatures, etc…. and then joined them together afterwards with a bit of travelling from here to there. Don’t get me wrong, the action parts are good, exciting and brutal, but they’re too contrived, there to show off, not to advance the story in any significant fashion. Along with the patchy writing style, it added to the feeling that there just wasn’t enough to hold the story together, a pointlessness enhanced by the borderline grimdark ending. The underlying sentiment of the book is basically: what are we doing here, nobody really cares, and it’s not going to work anyway. That is does work a little is a bit of an accident and almost an insult. The ending suggests more to come, but i’m probably not going to be there to read it.

ARC via Netgalley

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, look - a way to write a fantasy hero story without beating me over the head with certain things. For that alone, I would have enjoyed this story even if it didn't feature the not so good band of characters.
Celestaine feels guilty and restless after the war that left the land completely ruined, to put it mildly. They are yet to witness the horrors the Kinslayer left behind. And you get some of it, in detail. She and her two Yorughan friends are after a very powerful item to restore at least a little bit of the former world.

This is a true adventure story, so if you're in the right mood to follow a small group of adventurers searching for a powerful magical item, go for it. Along their way, they pick up others too; some join them and some just follow after Celestaine's group for their own reasons. The latter are a colourful and humorous addition to the story too.

The thing is, I am tired of dreading the new stories I pick up because more often than not they are preachy as hell. There's none of that here unless you count the good old good versus evil trope. Even our heroes are not as clear as you'd expect. They have to face their own motivation for doing this quest.
The main villain is dead before this story starts, but what he left behind is horrible enough. Kinslayer is the Lucifer of this world. Unless you accept 'because he's evil' or 'wants to destroy everything' as a motivation, that is the only thing that was unclear to me.
Also, I might start nitpicking the characters and stuff (one always can), but I enjoyed the story too much to do it.

Overall, even with a few horrible scenes, this is a light adventure story and the ending seems to be open enough to hope for a sequel. I'll definitely read it too.

ARC received from Rebellion/Solaris via NetGalley

[K.J. Charles]

Exceedingly enjoyable high fantasy set *after* the Dark Lord's defeat. The world is a wreck, and while some people are trying to claw lives back together, others would prefer to keep fighting, see opportunities for personal enrichment, are looking for redemption, or just don't know what to do.

This gives us our band of heroes--orcs, warrior woman, sort of flying elf person, undead bard--and there's also various rather shamefaced demigods kicking about. It's all thoroughly entertaining. The set up is quite bleak, but the characters have great charm and interplay, the importance of friendship and kindness come through strongly, and there's definitely a rising sense of hope. Also a lot of good, sardonic jokes and a really satisfying reveal which was no less satisfying because I saw it coming.

The next book in the series is by a different author and focuses on different characters. Interesting from the publisher but I'm not sure if the world alone is a strong enough selling point. TBC.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kinslayer has been vanquished by Celestaine and now she and her colleagues are at loose ends and need another goal. This comes in the form of a quest to find a magical crown that can restore wings to some of the victims of the war.

Reading this book was like reading the third book of a trilogy without having read the first two parts. The problem is, there are no prior books to inform you so it was hard to keep track of what was going on. The author introduces a jumble of people, objects, creatures and places that are thrown at you with minimal (or no) explanation. Past battles are described, mostly without any real background, and they are irrelevant to the story because they appear nowhere else in the book. For example, this sentence is written a few pages from the end of the book. By then, I had long since forgotten what any of it meant and some of it was new: “The place Kul guided them to was called Grovesendry, part of the fiefdom of the Stipe clan, who had never got on with the Fiddleheads of Fernreame.”

Readers are given information in a very slapdash way. In the first few pages of the book we learn that a Guardian gave Celestaine a sword. Unfortunately, we have no idea who or what a Guardian is until much later in the book. It turns out that they are emissaries of the gods, most of them seem to be missing and they can shape shift. I really needed a glossary. I think that was the reason that I was not all that excited about continuing to read this book, and kept dozing off when I tried to read it.

I really liked other books by this author, but they were more science fiction than fantasy. Maybe fantasy is just not his thing. However, he was really good at describing weird plants and animals and there was some exciting action in the last quarter of the book. The story is complete in this book, but there is a setup at the end for a new adventure (written by another author). I think I’ll skip it. 3.5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5

Click here for full review:

https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.co...

I first discovered British writer Adrian Tchaikovsky about ten years ago when I had the pleasure of stumbling across his excellent Fantasy series Shadows of the Apt. It was such a fresh and well-written Fantasy series and as a result I immediately became a huge fan of his, purchasing everything that I could get my hands on as soon as it was released. Another amazing read from him is his stand-alone Science-Fiction novel Children of Time. It was so good in fact that it won the Arthur C. Clarke award for best novel in 2016 and was one of my top reads for that year. So when I saw that his brand new Fantasy title REDEMPTION'S BLADE (due to be published July 26, 2018) was available to request from the publisher, I immediately shot off a request to Solaris and was rewarded a day or two later when it showed up in my inbox. The beautiful cover just made me want to dive in as soon as possible and so I did that very evening after the kids were asleep. It was then that I was quickly transported into an amazingly complex world that I did not want to leave and upon turning the last page, I realized that Mr. Tchaikovsky had done it again in delivering a truly original and compelling story that hits all of the right literary chords.

REDEMPTION'S BLADE takes place in a bleak war-torn world where I great battle was fought a decade before between the demigod despot Kinslayer and his vile army and the simple people of Aethani. The heroes of Aethani were led by their champion Celestaine of Forith who single-handedly killed the Kinslayer's most powerful and destructive weapon, an enormous dragon that completely decimated every city in its path up to that point. Celestaine's sword was forged with a powerful magic that enables it to cut through anything, no matter how solid or strong. After destroying the Kinslayer's dragon beast, Celestaine realizes that the Kinslayer himself can also die and dispatches him soon after piercing his seemingly impenetrable armor with her sword and ultimately saving the forces of good against his treacherous ambitions. Fast forward ten years into the future and Celestaine is a reluctant hero, lauded for the brave actions she took all those years ago. She also has the unenviable task of attempting to make peace between her people and the Yorughan warriors who were forced into service to assist the Kinslayer, but were later abandoned after he was vanquished. Old prejudices run deep though and the level of distrust between the races who once battled each other to the death are extremely difficult to put aside. There is also the lingering problem of the leftover monsters and minions from the war that are still scattered among the countryside, and many of them either don't know the war has ended or don't care and only wish to continue the killing because that is all they know. Now leaderless without the Kinslayer to direct them, they have become even more unpredictable and dangerous as they raid innocent towns and kill whatever gets in their way. Celestaine finds herself with the daunting task of cleaning up the devastation that the Kinslayer left behind and enlists the help of two of her former enemies Heno and Nedlam, Yorughan warriors who fought on the side of the Kinslayer. They soon embark on a quest to finish eradicating the monsters that still exist among the general populace and to also attempt to mend the fragile alliances that were strained during the height of the brutal war. Celestaine is torn because she doesn't totally trust her new partners but realizes that she also needs them if she has any hope of mending a fractured land and bringing it back to some semblance of peace and prosperity. Along the way Celestaine and her cohorts come to grips with exactly the level of atrocities that the Kinslayer committed in the process of waging his bloody war. Not only did he destroy physical structures and whole cities, but he also left a people who are now psychologically broken and destitute. It is here where we see the true evil of what took place and it is a very hard pill for Celestaine to swallow. No longer living in the isolated area of her own town, she is faced with a daunting task of healing what was broken in more ways than she could ever imagine. The travelling company encounters many obstacles along the way and it is quite clear that although the Kinslayer may be gone, his legacy and influence remain within the vile creatures that are still fighting a war that is no longer being waged. Whether or not Celestaine and her two Yorughan companions can survive the onslaught will depend on her wit and their brawn, for danger awaits around every corner in this desolate landscape where nothing is as it seems at first glance.

First off, I love the fact that the beginning of this book takes place after the war has already ended and we are thrown into the aftermath and what remains. There is a sense of mystery involved and immediately as the reader I wanted to know all that took place, but Tchaikovsky does an excellent job of holding much of it back as a plot device to keep the reader engaged and guessing. Some of the reviews of this book stated that they didn't like this aspect but I actually thought it was brilliantly done and is something that I have become used to in Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing. If there is one thing that I simply cannot stand it is the overuse of info-dumps. I believe in the "show, don't tell" philosophy because I just think that it works so much better and provides a much better reading experience. The world-building in this book is just off the charts brilliant. Tchaikovsky really lets you feel how hopeless this war-torn land is through vivid imagery that he conveys with every word and paragraph. I also enjoyed how Tchaikovsky displayed each character's personality through the dialogue. Celestaine is obviously a hero who doesn't want all of the recognition but it is unavoidable. She struggles with being the savior of her people when all she really wants is a return to normalcy and to help in any way she can to mend the damage done by the Kinslayer. The two Yorughan warriors are also nicely portrayed as suspicious of Celestaine yet gradually accepting of her as they continue on their journey. The monsters are really evil, the battles are gloriously bloody, and the forgotten history of this world is only hinted at, making this a great setup for book number two. Adrian Tchaikovsky just made me appreciate his writing even more with this book as he deftly and smoothly makes the transition from Fantasy to Science-Fiction, and then back to Fantasy. He writes in both genres with equally incredible skill to boot, which is no small feat. I thoroughly enjoyed REDEMPTION'S BLADE by Adrian Tchaikovsky and eagerly am anticipating the next book in this series to find out what happens next. Highly recommended Fantasy with a touch of Grimdark thrown in for good measure.

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/12/01/...

I was not exactly disappointed by Redemption’s Blade, but having gotten a sense of what Adrian Tchaikovsky is capable of, I think I might have expected a little more from this one. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a bad book or even a mediocre one. However, by its very nature, the novel’s premise does not lend itself well to being something to get all that excited about.

For you see, Redemption’s Blade is very much an “aftermath” story. Most fantasy readers are familiar with the idea of the epic battle, or the final showdown that inevitably occurs during the climax of a 1000-page tome or at the end of the long and winding multi-book series. Picture if you will though, a war-torn world where this grand event has not only happened already, but is now more than ten years into the past. Evil in the form of the renegade demigod known as the Kinslayer was defeated, his armies of monsters vanquished back to the foul depths from which they came.

Celestaine was one of the heroes among those who triumphed that day, as the one who personally slew the Kinslayer’s dragon and thus single-handedly removing the tyrant’s most powerful weapon from the field. The Kinslayer himself was soon dealt with after that, and Celestaine became an instant legend. But now, a decade after her victory, our protagonist finds herself jaded with life, struggling to find a reason to keep on fighting. Surprising everyone, she falls into a peacekeeping role of sorts, becoming a champion for the Yorughan, a race of warriors who were forced into the Kinslayer’s service but were left flightless and abandoned after their side was defeated.

The concept behind this novel is a good one, I’ll grant it that. Most classic quest narratives involve our heroes seeking to make the world a better place by removing a source of oppression and misery, which in a lot of cases is the main baddie, but Tchaikovsky has taken this fantasy trope and given in a little twist. What happens when the villain is dead and gone, and the world is still a sick, sad and miserable place? Who do you blame, and what do you fight? The point is, even when you win you can still lose—a lesson Celestaine learned the hard way, when she realizes that while she and others may have beaten the odds that day by defeating the Kinslayer, the world is not a Disney movie where everything reverts to sunshine and rainbows with the wave of a magic wand. To a great extent, this is what made these people’s predicament so tragic and real.

Celestaine, however, was not a character I felt all that interested in, even though I could sympathize with her situation and plight. Despite the author’s attempts to subvert character and genre tropes, his protagonist was still pigeonholed into that boilerplate role of reluctant hero, and there weren’t really any extra layers of complexity to make her stand out. I felt much the same about the story, which featured a relatively light and straightforward plot. In some ways, it reminded me of those old RPG cliché joke charts, in which our questing party must visit 3-4 main locations in order to save the world/galaxy before joining the threads together again for the lead-up to the conclusion, a type of narrative structure that adds a lot of padding but not much actual substance. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the filler-y bits—this being a Tchaikovsky novel after all, he does world-building and character interactions wonderfully—but again, they lacked the depth I’d expected.

I think my problem is that Children of Time was the first book I ever read by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I loved it to pieces, and in a way, that will always be the bar by which I will measure all his other books. Probably not fair, but it is what it is. It’s not that I didn’t have a good time with Redemption’s Blade. In fact, I thought the story was very readable, punctuated by fun and clever wit in spite of the bleak setting. It was also a delight to try something so new and different by the author, but I just know this is not his top form. All the same though, I’ll still look forward to reading his work.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Redemption’s Blade is an absolutely thrilling sword and fantasy tale. What Tchaikovsky does is set his story in the aftermath of the Great War and its consequences. And that makes for very interesting storytelling and a backstory of considerable depth. Just imagine a world where the Dark Lord of Mordor has been defeated after years of terrifying battles against all manner of fell creatures, but the evil things haven’t faded into the earth and there isn’t one King of Gondor to unite everyone. And imagine Aragorn wandering the earth with a pair of giant bloodthirsty orcs with huge tusks, one who gained fame as a torturer of innocents.

Here, the Kinslayer has finally been defeated by Celestaine and other Slayers, her by wielding a magic invincible sword ⚔️. And, the armies of the Kinslayer are still mulling about, half refusing to believe in his defeat. Celestaine might be a hero but her two companions - who helped defeat the Enemy- are ferocious Yorughan including a magic-wielding torturer and a great female troll-like Yorughan monster, both whom the war survivors fear and hate.

The story brings these companions alive as they journey to do one good deed, to save a people who were utterly destroyed, devastated, maimed by the Kinslayer. Nearly every page is filled with ferocious battles among all manner of beings. And the backstories of what happened to these peoples and how they are dealing with each other post-War is just terrific. Who says you can’t find great fantasy stories anymore?

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review. And, yes, it appears a sequel is being prepared. Can’t wait.

[Thea Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

This book is simply put one of the best books I've read this year!

As only my second read by this author I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with Redemption's Blade, I mean the idea of the book sounded fantastic, showing the aftermath of a war instead of the usual lead up and during the war encounters we get in fantasy. I was reeled in by the idea but as said I ha no idea what I was actually going to get.

So what did I get? Well, what I got was the most fabulous and entirely gripping fantasy read that struck me like a sledgehammer. It was very different and very surprising in all the very best ways. The characters are well constructed where as the world building and the world mythology is purposely vague so that as you get scraps of the war's, and the world's, story you begin to fill out the details for yourself. Something I also found wonderful was the very distinctive and inhuman races of the world, whether by godly design or by horrific construction, many of the races featured are very different from your regular human inhabitants and that gave the world something extra in my view.

All in all, this book is really fabulous five star read for me and a definite favourite. With the ending lending nicely into future encounters with these same characters I am eagerly awaiting more After The War stories!

[Antonio TL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Redemption's Blade es la historia de lo que ocurre después. Después de la batalla culminante entre el bien y el mal. Después de la larga guerra que trastorna el mundo cuando dioses, demonios, humanos y muchas razas van a la guerra y arrasan el mundo. Después de que termina la pelea y no queda nada más que recoger los pedazos e intentar restaurar un mundo que nunca podrá ser realmente restaurado.

Redemption's Blade tiene lugar diez años después de la muerte del Kinslayer. El Kinslayer escapo de su prisión subterránea y con un ejército de brutales yorughan arraso el mundo. Marchó por todo el mundo sin descanso, hasta que murió asesinado por un puñado de héroes, incluida la protagonista Celestaine. Ahora Celestaine se ha encargado de tratar de corregir algunas de las peores cosas que Kinslayer infligió en el mundo. Con sus dos compañeros yorughan (antiguos sirvientes del Kinslayer) se propone descubrir primero qué puede arreglar y, segundo, cómo puede arreglarlo. En el camino se encuentra con criminales, fanáticos y oportunistas. Celestaine no está segura de si su tarea es alcanzable, e incluso si lo es, ¿hará alguna diferencia?

Adrian Tchaikovsky toma el topico del Señor Oscuro, lo pone de cabeza y le pega buena paliza. Aquí hay una historia de Celestaine, la Cazadora del Señor Oscuro, vive las secuelas del gran conflicto. La tierra hierve de refugiados, hambrunas, escasez, odio, inseguridad, miedos y llamada a la venganza. Celestaine busca encontrar algunas razones para todo esto, queriendo traer más que la muerte, algún cambio que mejore la vida de aquellos que han perdido tanto.

Tchaikovsky aborda la fantasía épica desde un ángulo que no se encuentra a menudo y que rara vez se vemos. ¿Qué sucede después de una guerra que involucra a dioses y criaturas de más allá de tu mundo? ¿Cómo recoges los trozos? ¿Y qué sucede con el ejército atacante una vez que se queda sin timón y no tiene adónde regresar? Estas son preguntas de peso y Tchaikovsky te hace sentir el peso de ellas. Celestaine siente su peso. En lugar de que eso la rompa como a muchas victimas en el libro, elige hacer algo. arreglar algo o al menos intentarlo.

Tchaikovsky no escatima en acción. Hay emocionantes escenas de batalla, enigmas para resolver y alianzas frágiles para navegar. El horror de luchar contra un dios enojado y su ejército es una cosa diferente en el momento de la batalla pero de alguna manera, el horror de sus acciones es aún mayor cuando no tienes una batalla para distraerte de ellas.

Tchaikovsky ha creado un elenco de personajes que son complejos y comprensivos. Te muestra el arrepentimiento que acompaña tanto a las acciones que tomaron como a las que no tomaron. Sería fácil hacer que una historia como esta sea oscura o triste, pero Tchaikovsky la infunde esperanza. Me encanta una buena fantasía épica. Tchaikovsky ha demostrado que hay una historia después de la historia. Y esa historia también vale la pena contarla.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The war is over. The demigod Kinslayer has been defeated. His shattered army of monsters is left aimless, the land is in ruins, and slowly, tentatively, people are starting to rebuild.

And this, right here, is going to be a deal-breaker for some people. They want to see the moment the hero Celestaine infiltrated the Kinslayer's fortress, took her magic sword and ended him. They want to see the battles, the sieges, a pain-crazed dragon wading into the fray and destroying friend and foe alike, objects of power found and lost and used, they want to see the blood and the guts of it all.

That's not this book though. This is a what comes next kind of book. What do you do when the dark lord is gone but all the orcs (not that they're called orcs in the book but that's basically what they are) are left behind, what do you do when for years you were a hero, and you had a purpose, and you have brothers and sisters that stood at your shoulders and yes, maybe everything was awful but damn it you've never felt so alive, so what do you do when that's over?

This is the question facing Celestaine, the famous war-hero, the woman who killed the Kinslayer. She has her magic sword that can cut through literally anything (and low-key one of my favourite parts of this book was seeing all the inventive ways Celestaine uses her sword, and all the unique problems that comes with it), she has two not!orc companions who were once the Kinslayer's minions but have thrown their lots in with her, and she has a compulsive need to just do something good, to help, to have a purpose. She basically fixates on the most awful thing she thinks she can fix, in this case a race of flying people who, to a man, had their wings torn off by the Kinslayer, and she decides to find a way to give their wings back.

Pared down to its simplest parts this book is basically just a hunt for a magical McGuffin, a magic crown with enough power to regrow an entire race's wings. It's almost episodic, the way the party travels to a place, overcomes and obstacle, finds a clue and heads to the next place. But the characters are so wonderful that it would be a book about Celestaine popping down to the shops for some milk and I'd still be slamming the five-star button hard enough to break my keyboard. Celestaine is great, I really loved watching her try not to be cynical but never quite managing it, but this is Adrian Tchaikovsky and if there's one thing this man can do, it's non-human characters.

Nedlum and Heno, Celastaine's not!orc companions, are amazing. Nedlum is this cheerful, easy-going warrior and Heno is a too-smart, too sarcastic, too-inscrutable mage. And Kul, a member of the once-winged now wingless race Celastaine is trying to help, is great too. A really interesting mix of innocence and putting arrows through eye-sockets. They encounter a lot of other non-human races on their journey too (yes, including spider-people, would hardly be a Tchaikovsky book without some manner of spider-thing) and it never ceased being fascinating. And I haven't even touched and Dr Catt and his friend Fisher who are also after the crown, and are the closest thing to Malazan's Tehol and Bugg since Tehol and Bugg.

I get why it doesn't work for some, but I just love books where the pages are heavy with backstory. Like in Richard K. Morgans The Steel Remains, or the whole Robert's Rebellion in ASoIaF; where the momentous things are in the past and all we get are snatches of epic events. This book might be the best example of this that I've encountered yet. This book poses some heavy questions but is never weighed down by them, and there are enough genuine surprises that I've left entire characters out of this book for fear of spoilers, which is also why I've barely mentioned the romance.

This book showcases Tchaikovsky's deft hand when it comes to exploring heavy issues while keeping things fun. It opens with Celestaine hitting up a bar built inside the cavernous statue of a dragon she herself slayed, for crying out loud. It also made me cry.

Plus, that ending. Wow.

[Scott Hitchcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to put this down and restart it several times. It was a slog from start to finish. My previous two books from AT Guns of the Dawn and Children of Time were both 5* efforts making this even more of a disappointment.

Things are after the epic battle to end all battles and they keep flashing back to them as a telling. It would have been better to show the battles.

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publishing Date: July 2018

Publisher: Solaris

ISBN:9781781085790

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.3/5

Publisher’s Description: Ten years ago, the Kinslayer returned from the darkness. His brutal Yorughan armies issued from the pits of the earth, crushing all resistance, leaving burnt earth and corruption behind. Thrones toppled and cities fell. And then he died. Celestaine – one of the heroes that destroyed him – has tasked herself with correcting the worst excesses of the Kinslayer’s brief reign, bringing light back to a broken world. With two Yorughan companions, she faces fanatics, war criminals and the Kinslayer’s former minions, as the fragile alliances of the War break down into feuding and greed.
The Kinslayer may be gone, but he cast a long shadow: one from which she may never truly escape.

Review: Not sure if the cover art is relevant to the story line. Don’t remember reading about someone with a long white beard. So, scant written reviews so far on this adventure fantasy novel set in the time after a great war that united the disparate kingdoms against the evil Kinslayer.

To say this was an enjoyable read does not quite do justice to the effort rendered. I found myself wholly transported into another world with rapt attention paid to every detail. The writing wends it’s way into your psyche, so much so that you empathize with all of the characters.

“So why you no give 5 stars?!!”. Celeste and her cohorts are on a quest, only I don’t exactly know what was in it for Ned and Heno. Heno is banging Celeste (which was kind of gross) and they were involved in the slaying of the Kinslayer but you never get the sense at what is really the driving force. Riches? Something to do? A higher calling? I think it was in there somewhere (the reason) but I may have missed it. Additionally the last third of the novel tended to drag a bit. There were some forced outcomes to situations that did not fit very well with a well established story line. Those events never elevated to a broader outcome but were of the same confrontational bent.

Still, a great read that will keep you up until the wee hours. You can read all of my reviews, here

[Sibil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and to the editor. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hoping to read something by this author from some time, now. I heard good things about his books and he writes fantasy, not only them but most of his books are of this genre, so, obviously I wanted to try them! And when I saw this title on NetGalley I had to request it. I know that I said that I would have tried to not add new requests, but come on! I’m justified, right?
Anyway… I requested it and they approved me! I was so so glad! And so I had to go and start it as soon as possible, and now here I am with the review! I’m doing a little happy dance right now!

I didn’t know what to expect from this book, to be honest, but I was expecting something nonetheless, because of what I read around about the author. Well, let me tell you that this book exceeded my expectations! And it wasn’t just for the characters, even if we have a good cast of them, mixed and original and well developed, and it wasn’t either for the world-building, even if it’s full of new species and cultures and things, and it wasn’t for the story, even if it’s fast-paced and interesting. All these things were great, mind me, but I loved this book for its ideas.

What happened when the bad guy is defeated and the good guy won the day?

This is the starting point of the story, and we see a world that has won the war and now it has the peace all wanted so much, a world that has defied his enemies, yes, but it paid a dire cost to do so.
The alliances formed during the war are a tenuous thing and mistrust and greed are everywhere, now that cohesion is not needed anymore. The economy is at waste, the war took her toll in lives, in destruction to the cities, with all the things that this destruction implies: the destruction of buildings, yes, but also a stop to the commerce and to the production of goods. The cities are devasted and need rebuilding. Societies (all the different races, kingdoms and empires, religions and so on, so on…) now have to deal with the past and choose what would they do with their present. It’s not just about building, but about people, too. They need a new identity, and it’s not just the identity of the single person, but the identity of all the societies, small or big. Every city, state, empire, every race, every religion. Everything now needs to choose his present and his future.
To be honest, this book could have been a sociological fantasy essay, for his deepness while speaking about all this.
And I loved the way in which we can see the different cities and groups of people deal with a new, painful, reality because even if the war is won it’s not done.

And what happened to the heroes, once they kill the bad guy?

This is another of the important questions that we can find between those pages. More often than not, books end when the good win over the evil, and more or less, we have a happy ending for everyone (not always, that’s true, but you get what I am meaning, right?). We don’t see how the cities rebuild themselves, how the people adapt to the new life and we don’t see what is of the heroes once they’re not needed anymore.
Celestaine, the MC, is a hero, albeit reluctantly. She was part of the group who killed the Kinslayer (yep, the bad guy) and everyone acclaimed her as a hero, with songs and ballads for her feats. But she thinks herself a fraud, not a hero. For every battle won there was one lost. For every life she saved there was someone that she left behind or that she killed. Even if the world saw her as a paladin, she doesn’t think so well of herself. And she tries to atone, starting a new adventure to try and bring back the light to this world where shadows and darkness are everywhere. To try and do something good and to, at least, see herself as a real hero.
But now the people don’t know what to do with her, she’s not needed anymore. The authorities watch her with suspect and don’t want her around. We have the quest to find a new purpose, a new identity and to be, at last, satisfied with ourselves.

And what happened to the minions and to the loyalist of the bad guy? And to the race that he created during the war?

This is another question that we don’t find often in the books. But it’s a really interesting one! And in this book is central to the story. We see how people treat the others, the former enemies. And that’s what really shows us as not all in the world is always black or white, but that in the end the life it’s all made of greys, and we have a ton of different greys.

This is what really made the difference for me. All these questions, all these considerations made the reading a great one!
I’ve said before that the world-building is good. The author creates a lot of different species for his book, and they all are original and well done. We have a lot of fantastic creatures who live there, and all of them fascinated me. They are all tragic, the lot of them, but there is hope, at least for almost all of them, and that’s what matters in the end. I really can’t say that this author is unoriginal!
And then we have the characters. We have Celestaine, Heno and Nem, two Yorughan (and that’s a great thing because Yorughans were the most feared and hated during the war, because they were the attacking force, the most brutal and vicious on the battlefield. So they really were “the enemy”.) and yet Celestaine brings them along, trying to do the right thing, always. And then we have Ralas, the bard, Catt and Fisher, and this pair is really fantastic, and Kul, a prince of one of the races that suffered more during the war. This last one is the one who I liked less. It’s not a bad character, but he’s the less developed, and I’d liked to see something more about him. I didn’t click with him.
And I liked the writing, too, with a humor which makes the reading all more pleasant.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, and at times, philosophical read by Tchaikovsky, but compared to some of his other fantasy works, a bit of a let down. The backstory comes in dribs and drabs, but essentially, a demigod, one of several immortals left to tend humanity, went rogue about a decade before the novel starts and led a campaign to subjugate the entire world. The 'Reckoner', renamed the Kinslayer, brought forth from the underworld (and other worlds?) a fearsome army that did almost conquer the world, but a hardy band of warriors/adventurers managed to kill him, and his minions fell apart. The so-called 'Slayers' now find themselves in a battle-wrecked world, and one of them, our protagonist Celestaine, now desires to make the world 'right'.

This starts off with Celestaine, along with a pair of Yorughans (part of the Kinslayer's army) meeting up with a war refugee named Kul. Many races inhabit this world, some hominoid, some just bizarre. Kul, comes from folk that had wings and a beautiful forest city; the Kinslayer enslaved them, destroying their wings, and forced them into mines to dig iron. Celestaine's grand plan involves finding some magical artifacts to restore Kul and his people. Hence, this quickly becomes a quest novel, with a ragged band of heroes out to find a magical crown fashioned for the Kinslayer.

While we have, therefore, a basic plot, Tchaikovsky really flaunts his imagination here, with all kinds of people, strange critters, monsters left in disarray after the war. In their travels, the band encounters all kinds of ugly scars from the war, including the survivors, many of which now vie for power, all in a battle-wasted land. It seems the Kinslayer attempted to destroy all that was beautiful, committing atrocity after atrocity. The 'unredeemed lands' are the worst, the center of the Kinslayer's empire, reduced to smoking waste, 'left over' creatures he summoned, and lots of hate.

The neat thing about this novel, and what I liked the most, concerns the psychological scars left from the war, and how various people handle them. Celestaine's traveling companions instill fear at first sight, and then often hatred. The Yorughan were the Kinslayer's shock troops, and many, many people fell to their armies. The group travels the world, finding adventure after adventure, and often courting death in numerous ways. I liked this, but it lacks the magic of Tchaikovsky's Apt series, or his latest The Tyrant Philosophers. The guy is so prolific he just has to have a relative dud every now and then. That stated, Tchaikovsky's lesser work often stands heads about the run of the mill fantasy pumped out these days. 3.5 mildly depressing stars!

[Antonio Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tchaikovsky ha demostrado que se puede escribir una novela de fantasía épica que innove, con un worldbuilding alucinante e ingenioso, con personajes que jueguen con los estereotipos y, por si fuera poco autoconclusiva, en 100.000 palabras o menos.

[Javir11 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

Por ahora el libro que más me ha gustado de Tchaikovsky. Trasfondo muy interesante y personajes con mucho más aplomo que en lecturas anteriores, donde pecaban para mi gusto de ser muy planos y con el carisma justito.

Tiene aspectos mejorables, el desenlace no es nada del otro mundo, aunque creo que en castellano lo disfrutaré más, tengo intención de releerlo, pero en general es un libro de fantasía más que recomendable.

[Standback · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cool, intriguing project.

It takes the style and tropes of "light," jovial epic fantasy, but sets the whole thing after The Horrible Dark One has been defeated -- and now, what needs to be done is much less fighting monsters or riding into battle, and much more rebuilding society from the ground up. (And, not letting everybody else rip it apart.)

Possibly most representativve is when the protagonist, Celeste, comes to some traders and goes, "Hi, I'm one of the reknowned Slayers. I've got this magic sword here that can slice through anything. Can I trade it for anything, anything, that will help out these people who the bad guy has ripped the wings off of?"

It's... well, it's pretty damn tragic is what it is. But it feels a lot more weighty and well-thought-through than more generic hack-and-slash. And, given that every single thing about the story speaks of devastation and horror, it's... surprisingly upbeat? Because, well, it's people actually trying to do something about all that. Even if it's with magic spells and enchanted swords. They're pretty good about the swords and spells not being the thing that makes the big differences.

Very excited to see where this series goes, with additional volumes by new and interesting authors. Very very cool.

[Julia Sarene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book won't be for everyone, but it was pretty much *perfect* for me!

First off, this starts after the big war already ended. So you get thrown into the story and at first you feel a bit lost. This works so well though, as it means you get a whole different set of questions and friction.

What do heroes do once the bad monster has been slain? How can you rebuilt a world when people still distrust everyone? Can former enemies really live in peace just because the evil leader is gone?
I loved this new perspective, and was easily hooked.

The characters start out a bit one dimensional, but the more you learn about them, the more you also see their hidden depths. I really enjoyed the ragtag team of misfits and strange people.

There's a great beyond of humour with little gems like this (I audiobooked, so maybe not exact quotes)

"She kicked him between the legs. Adding considerably to the celibacy of the priesthood."

"She left them mostly alive, or at least only slightly dead"

"You should probably grab something offensive as well, in sdo far you need anything more than your face and general manner."

But then it's also dark and a bit philosophical at times. Things like pondering how a war doesn't just lose singular lives, whole cultures get lost in it.

For me this mix is amazing, and something I always crave more of.

[Quintin Zimmermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A high altitude free fall into a world of events so far past the present that you are literally left behind before you have even landed.

Deploy that parachute and crash land Terra Nova without a map, without any point of reference.

A whole trilogy has occurred and all we have is now, the calamitous leftovers.

Redemption's Blade is like Sandra Bullock arriving on the scene of Speed after the bus exploded, like John McClane entering the Nakatomi high-rise days after Christmas. Sarah Connor is dead and although Skynet didn't take over the world, it may as well have.

Who cares about redemption when all we have left are the remnants?

Don't get me wrong, Adrian Tchaikovsky is an amazing writer. Sci-fi is his true stomping ground, fantasy not so much. I will read almost anything written by Tchaikovsky, even his shopping list, but regrettably Redemption's Blade is not his best work... by far.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Tchaikovsky I couldn't get into.
Perhaps it was the wrong time? I can't put my finger on what didn't work. I will try another read some time later.

[Sherwood Smith]

Tchaikovsky gives us an entire world with PTSD.

The way I see it is, epic fantasy published in the last forty years is in some measure in conversation with Lord of the Rings, whether pretty much reflecting the structure of the story, or thumbing its nose at its themes (a lot of grimdark fantasies seem to have been inspired by this), or—in more complex books—grappling with a more contemporary view of Tolkien’s themes, while respecting the core.

This is such a book.

It takes place after the huge war (the inspiration might have been the collapse of Mordor after Sauron was destroyed). The world is a wreck, vast armies are out of work, and in this particular story, the gods are gone, and apparently so are the Guardians, godlike figures, some of whom helped defeat the Kinslayer (ultimate evil), others were killed by the Kinslayer, and a few . . . hid.

Celestaine the Slayer (who reflects that ‘the Kinslayer Slayer’ sounds pretty stupid) is appalled by the waste, the detritus, and above all by the evil still existing in the world. She’s been in the hero trade for so long she can’t define herself in any other way, and so, when she finds yet another seemingly impossible cause—restoring the culture of the beautiful flying people, wantonly destroyed by the Kinslayer who couldn’t abide beauty in any form—sets out to track down the magical artifact that will make that happen.

So this is a quest novel, with a band of adventurers, each with his or her own goal, motivation, and above all, emotional as well as physical fallout from the Kinslayer years. Every one of those companions could easily star in a story of their own—they’re fascinatingly complex, sometimes harrowing, other times delightful.

The quest offers plenty of tense and bloody action, as by no means has peace been blanketing the world. There are those (including supposedly good guys) trying to fashion up another Kinslayer, either in situation or literally, but then there are those who are adapting, and a few transcending the utter destruction.

Tchaikovsky is so good at worldbuilding, especially designing various types of critters whose sentience may be quite alien. Everybody has self and so comes alive on these pages, even the “one-off” monsters. There are plenty of surprises in this quest, including moments of profound insight and flashes of the numinous.

The story stands complete, though I hope there will be more in this world, because I fell in love with all the characters by the end. The prose is vivid, graceful and witty, sometimes mercilessly so, with the occasional lancing shafts of infinite mercy.

One of the best books I’ve read this year.

Copy provided by NetGalley

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Redemption’s Blade follows a band of characters after the epic war has been fought and won. The main character, Celestaine, is on a mission to right the wrongs of the war while wrestling with her own transgressions, guilt, and desires. Redemption’s Blade has a lot of interesting and well-written characters, but Tchaikovsky’s choice to inform the reader of significant world building information in a piecemeal fashion left much to be desired.

Incredibly fascinating and compelling characters surround Celestaine as they travel from location to location on their quest. Two of her companions are ex-soldiers from the Kinslayers’ army. Brutal killing machines now turned good, though their motivations aren’t always what it seems. Tchaikovsky does a fantastic job of crafting character whose motivations and actions aren’t black and white. Their backstories are engrossing and made me want a novella detailing their lives under the Kinslayer.
Unfortunately, Celestaine isn’t as compelling are her companions. She’s built up to be this badass warrior who defeated the Kinslayer, but she falls flat. She’s only ever the woman who defeated the Kinslayer and nothing else.

Tchaikovsky’s world is bleak and desolate after the war. The people of this world are confused, angry, and lost. They do not know how to recover as much has been lost because of the Kinslayer himself and the destruction of the war. Each leg of the quest, the main characters face people who have been left behind by the Kinslayer, religious fanatics, and criminals who are all trying to forge a new path for themselves.

The reason I rated the novel three stars instead of four was because I truly detested the way Tchaikovsky gave the reader world building information in a piecemeal fashion. It left me confused about the world most of the time until it was absolutely necessary that I have the information to understand the scene playing out. This is purely a personal preference of mine, so if you enjoy or do not mind this type of story telling, Redemption’s Blade will be a good fit for you.

Overall, Redemption’s Blade is an interesting enough fantasy story that includes compelling characters and an engaging world, if you have the patience to wait for the information.


** I was provided an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tchaikovsky per me è una garanzia, prendo un suo libro e so che 1) mi piacerà molto, e 2) troverò qualcosa di nuovo.

In questo caso ci troviamo in una situazione particolare, l'immediato "dopo la fine di un grande romanzo fantasy".

Siamo in un mondo popolato da numerosissime razze senzienti, con religioni, nazioni contrapposte le une alle altre (anche e soprattutto umani contro umani, come sempre). Un mondo dove le divinità avevano inviato dei Guardiani a guidare e proteggere le giovani razze create, solo che poi uno dei Guardiani era diventato leggermente malvagio distruggendo tutto, uccidendo i fratelli, tagliando fuori le divinità stesse e creando mostruose creature da riversare su un mondo che nei suoi piani doveva diventare un posto grigio e malvagio asservito a sé.
Alla fine gli eroi hanno vinto, con in prima fila Celestaine, una guerriera armata di una spada capace di tagliare attraverso qualsiasi cosa.

Ma tutto questo lo scopriamo poco a poco, così come i dettagli di quanto successo.
Si parte dal mondo DOPO la vittoria.

Le nazioni superstiti stanno cercando di venire a patti con le conseguenze di dieci anni di guerra (se fortunate) o di dominio del signore oscuro (se non fortunate). Stanno cercando di capire come comportarsi coi vicini, ora che la causa comune è sparita: riprendere vecchie ostilità o creare qualcosa di nuovo?
Le creature create dal Kinslayer sono ancora lì, senza più un padrone, comprese le razze senzienti da lui allevate e selezionate, generazione dopo generazione. Che fare con loro? Cosa vogliono fare loro?
E poi abbiamo i Guardiani scomparsi l'assenza degli Dèi.

E abbiamo anche gli eroi sopravvissuti.
I sensi di colpa per quanto non sono riusciti a fare, il senso di inadeguatezza, la ricerca di un senso in un mondo ormai in pace, la consapevolezza di un mondo nuovo che dovrà nascere ma anche quella del mondo vecchio che difficilmente accetterà i cambiamenti necessari.

Un inizio francamente ostico (ma con questo autore un po' ci sono abituato, dai), poi la lettura scivola via agevole.

E ammetto di esserci cascato, ho immaginato che l'inseguito fosse una certa persona per metà libro, trovandomi alla fine Celestaine esternare la mia stessa ipotesi, vedendola poi ridotta in frantumi con un bel colpo di scena. Anzi, un paio.

Ben fatto, Adrian. Sicuramente continuerò questa ennesima serie.

[Xavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como acostumbra a pasar, Tchaikovsky propone cosas originales en esta entretenida novela, sobre todo su inicio y algunos de los personajes. Parece el segundo libro de una trilogía y al principio tienes la sensación de que te has perdido algo. Pero ni que haya un esfuerzo importante para innovar, algunos de los tópicos habituales del género continúan estando presentes. Que difícil es escribir fantasía épica...
https://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/20...

[Hannah Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love high fantasy but I had such a hard time reading this one, not for it being bad itself but I just really did not care for any of it unfortunatly.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone familiar with epic fantasy is sure to recognize a story of a land with different peoples, and a terribly strong being who accumulates power through oppression, magic, the creation of foul beasts and armies, the eradication of governing bodies, gods and religions, and the destruction of the environment.
Well, what happens after a band of heroes kill this guy? Adrian Tchaikovsky asks this question in this book, starting the story a little while after the baddie’s death (he was known as the Kinslayer because he killed his brother god).
One of these heroes, Celestaine, who actually cut off the Kinslayer’s hand with a sword granted her by one of the land’s Guardians (who have mostly been killed by the Kinslayer) decides she’s going to help one of the land’s peoples, the Aethani, who were brutalized. (There is no shortage of damaged and brutalized people in this land after the Kinslayer had his way with all of them.) The Aethani had been a winged people, till the Kinslayer ripped all their wings off and sent them to work in mines. Celestaine wants to find a magical doodad that will grant the Aethani their wings back.
Her two companions are Yorughan; this species is huge, terrifying looking, and universally hated by all the people the Yorughans killed while part of the Kinslayer's armies. What is less known about the Yorughans is that they, too, had been tortured and brutalized by the baddie and forced to fight for him.
By all rights, Celestaine should hate Heno and Nedlam, but these two were instrumental in getting her and the band of heroes close enough to the Kinslayer to kill him.
As the three, along with the prince of the Aethani, travel looking for the magical doodad, they encounter resistance, frequent specism, and many attacks, as the physical and mental wounds from the 10-years of war are still too raw, and trust is scant.

The story's premise is interesting, as most epic fantasy concerns itself with the slow buildup of atrocities by a strongman, the slower coming together of heroes from different races, with their posturing, bickering, politicking and attempted murder of each other inhibiting their progress against the strongman. Eventually, all the escalating conflicts culminate in a massive war and the successful destruction of the baddie, with rainbows and sunbeams naturally occurring immediately after, because those longstanding rivalries are all gone now. Right?
The story is constantly in conversation with the conventions of the genre, poking at them, and more often than not, throwing them over. Celestaine’s altruism and motives for helping the Aethani are constantly challenged by others, and also by herself: what should a hero do once their wars and chances for glories are past? Why is she doing something so risky and with so little chance of success? Why is Celestaine so hellbent on helping, and who is she really helping?
Along the way, Tchaikovsky also gives us the Yorughans' perspectives on their unwilling role in the war, and how former enemies must constantly learn to handle their fears and preconceptions of each other if there is ever to be any kind of peace.
The author doesn't let the story bog down, despite its weighty underpinnings. There is frequent humour and action, and Nedlam, the physically larger of the two Yorughans, shows off her physical prowess frequently, and sheer joy in being able to live as she pleases; she quickly and easily became my favourite character of this book.
The author also introduces a pair of characters, Doctors Catt and Fisher, who are lawyers and apothecaries, but in reality, collectors of all manner of magical and arcane books and objects, and who often get in Celestaine and company's way on her quest to help the Aethani. Catt and Fisher are a combination of funny and a little annoying, which actually helps intersperse the heavier moments with needed levity.
I enjoyed this book a lot, and look forward to a different author's take in book two on this damaged and complicated world that Tchaikovsky has created.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fantasy novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky, whom I previously admired for his great SF, namely, Children of Time, Children of Ruin and The Expert System's Brother. I had high expectations about this one as well, but it failed me.

The premise is great: just before the story started, valiant heroes defeated Great Evil Power, think end of The Lord of the Rings for example. And now peace and a reconstruction should start, everyone living happily ever after. Not so fast… :)

Celestaine was one of the team of heroes, who defeated the Kinslayer, the Evil Demigod. She has a sword that can cut though anything. Now she travels with her companions, a big brute Nedlam (think orc/troll equivalent) and Heno, a heart taker (a mage, think Nazgul). Both companions shifted sides when she was captured by the Kinslayer and played an essential part in his demise. The team seeks how to mend the ruined world one good deed at a time and they set on a quest to restore a race of winged humanoids, the Aethani, who were deformed by the Kinslayer so they cannot fly and were sent to toil and die in mines under earth. Celestaine hopes to find a way to give the Aethani flight back.

The story is quite usual quest plot, go across the world, seeking for pieces of the puzzle and meeting different people. One of the failing of the book I guess it making it too broad: there are a multitude of different races, gods, customs, and the breadth is more important than depth of each separate group, so it is hard to care for any of them. The idea that fighters against evil aren’t always good is nothing new but it is a prominent theme of the story. For me it was just too simple. An easy fast yarn but not something to leave you thinking.