Shadowblade

by Anna Kashina, Avita Jay (Narrator)

A young sword prodigy must impersonate a lost princess and throw her life into a deadly political game, in this kinetic epic fantasy novel by the author of the award-winning Majat Code series

Naia dreams of becoming a Jaihar Blademaster, but after assaulting a teacher, her future seems ruined. The timely intervention of a powerful stranger suddenly elevates her into elite Upper Grounds training. She has no idea that the stranger is Dal Gassan, head of the Daljeer Circle. Seventeen years ago he witnessed the massacre of Challimar's court and rescued its sole survivor, a baby girl. Gassan plans to thrust a blade into the machinations of imperial succession: Naia. Disguised as the legendary Princess Xarimet of Challimar, Naia must challenge the imperial family, and win. Naia is no princess, but with her desert-kissed eyes and sword skills she might be close enough...

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Audiobook, Fiction, High Fantasy

Audio CD

First published May 14, 2019

About the author

Anna Kashina is a critically acclaimed award-winning author of “The Majat Code” series, featuring adventure, swordplay, intrigue, and romance in a historical fantasy setting. She is the author of the official novelization of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, a bestselling video game by Nihon Falcom Co.

Awards: 2015 Prism Award (Fantasy, and "Best of the Best" grand prize), Locus Award Nominee, 2013 ForeWord Book of the Year (IndieFab) Award, 2014 Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY).

Reviews

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the eARC of Shadowblade by Anna Kashina! Received in exchange for an honest review - all opinions are my own.

From the Goodreads blurb:
"A young sword prodigy must impersonate a lost princess and throw her life into a deadly political game, in this kinetic epic fantasy novel by the author of the award-winning Majat Code series"

This book had me completely addicted from start to finish. I read it in two sittings and just couldn't get the next answer fast enough. That said, the story itself is awesome and the chapters are the perfect length. There are so many betrayals and twists and a ton of action packed into a stand alone book.

This is where my impression went a little flat. I could have read about weapons training and life in the Jaihar all day, and was so bummed when 3 years skipped by and we missed all the Jai training. I would love to chop this into three books and make a trilogy out of the training, takeover, and subsequent rule? The action was so rushed after Naia hit the upper level of training. and then the ending felt soft.

Or do I just want more Karrim? I assumed their steel whispering blood brought them a natural closeness, but the relationship didn't have time to flush itself out enough for me to ship it. Naia was my perfect female character as well as she grew and developed. She was not quite reduced to a love interest but I wanted to see more of the pair outside of the bed room. I liked his manner and personality SO much.

The world, in general, as well didnt have all the time to flush out. I was imagining like a desert or arab state, and the orders explained themselves briefly as the book went on,

So long story short: action packed, strong female lead, and entirely addicting book - that ended up leaving me wanting more. I edited my rating to a 4 star- there were weak points but anything that makes me fever-read deserves 4 stars! I recommend to anyone that is a fan of the genre!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this eBook from the author, publisher, and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Naia is a trainee for the Jaiha order who is almost expelled from the stronghold after a fight with a superior. When she is tested for her rank, she passes and becomes a Shadowblade one of the fiercest warriors in the Jaiha order. Now Jai Naia is able to fight for her comrades and the empire. It is only when the Daljeer order decides to have her take over the empire as the legendary Princess Xarimet of Challimar that makes Naia nervous. Can she do this assignment or is she really the princess of legend? Read on and find out for yourself.


This was an awesome action-adventure fantasy story . It had a great storyline and more. If you like these types of stories, be sure to check this book out when it comes out to bookstores and wherever books are sold online when it releases on May 7, 2019

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Kashina's previous offerings I was eager to read Shadowblade, however, it was an oddly disappointing tale. I felt feisty protagonist Naia was an interesting character, but I would've liked for there to be more background about her as she remains enigmatic the whole time.

I am not a fan of reading about romantic liaisons at the best of times and it was difficult to accept here because it came out of nowhere; I really don't like insta-love. On the other hand, it is a fun, fast-paced, clean young adult fantasy with some smart twists. Of course, the concept is a dime a dozen in the epic fantasy genre.

The ending leaves a lot to be desired too and felt rushed. I'm not sure whether this has been optioned as a series or is merely a standalone. I await either the follow-up or the authors next book. Many thanks to Angry Robot for an ARC.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

So you want to stage a soft-coup and manipulate the succession, but you have one problem: you need some kind of plausible heir. Fortunately for you, about 17 years ago you encountered a baby at the same time there was a royal massacre, and well, you know, one thing led to another, and you ended up stashing her with some super skilled warrior so she would grow up all big and strong. Also, you read this play called Anastasia you found lying around near that weird door that leads to another dimension, and it gave you some ideas….

This is basically the plot of Shadowblade (minus the multi-dimensional shenanigans, sorry to say). Anna Kashina tells the story of a young woman, Naia, manipulated by old, ambitious men (and one old, perhaps even more ambitious woman) to take over the empire—albeit temporarily. Along the way, she has to learn to be more confident in herself. Because as the overarching plan goes awry, Naia finds it necessary to step in and fill the gaps with her own ideas. That doesn’t make anyone happy! And there are fight scenes. And sex too. Thanks to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the eARC.

I’m going to jump right into the things I disliked about this book.

There’s way too much telling versus showing happening here. We’re told that the emperor is a bad dude and that his heir is also a bad dude—but we never actually meet the emperor. Conversely, we’re supposed to take Dal Gassan at his word that he has the empire’s best interests at heart—but aside from knowing that he’s a healer, we only really ever see him interacting with Naia, with some of the Jaihar, etc.

Kashina has created, frankly, an intriguing world here. I like how she weaves together the disparate cultural elements of Challimar, the Jaihar, the Daljeer, etc. It’s creative and fun and interesting, and I want to know more. Yet for all of these ideas, Shadowblade’s narrative scope is frustratingly shallow. The pacing and plot are almost so spare that we seldom get to see the characters do anything other than move the story forward by conversing about politics or having some cool battles. Perhaps the closest we get are some nice scenes between Naia and Karim near the beginning of the book where they spar and then go for dinner and he basically gives her a pep talk while he tries to figure out if she’s worth keeping in the order. For the most part, however, we move forward because a select few people tell us we need to move forward with this secret plot, without ever really giving us much reason to trust them other than the fact the book is following their point of view….

Content notice for somewhat graphic sex scenes as well. The romantic subplot here is predictable; however, Kashina at least makes its development gradual enough to feel more believable. Romance (and especially) sex don’t do much for me personally in these books, though, so I skimmed those parts. Just a heads-up if you’re not a fan of that stuff. I do like, however, that the older character at least attempts to consider the power imbalance created by their age and position (although the power imbalance created by position actually changes by the end of the book, interestingly enough).

Even with regards to that relationship, though, Kashina might have explored more deeply. That’s my overall critique of Shadowblade: it has so many opportunities to get deeper and even more interesting, but it never manages to take the plunge.

So why read this book? Well, Kashina knows how to write combat. She focuses both on what the characters do as well as what they’re feeling. Even though there’s a little bit of magic involved with “iron-sensing,” the characters with this ability also train tirelessly to become skilled fighters regardless of their innate senses. Kashina and her characters also have a keen sense of how storytelling is important to national identity and pride and to any good con. The plot, while predictable, is executed in an enjoyable way.

In other words, Shadowblade was a fine diversion for a holiday Monday afternoon. Alas, I was in the mood for fantasy that would ignite my senses and make me crave more, more, more … and it doesn’t quite go that far.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

You can read all of my book reviews at http://www.NerdGirlLovesBooks.wordpre....

This was a fun book to read if you just take it for what it is and don't dig too deep into it. There was plenty of action and intrigue to keep my attention. I liked the main character, Naia, a young girl that dreams of becoming a Jaihar Blademaster. After she assaults a teacher at her school, her future seems uncertain. Unexpectedly, an important stranger intervenes on her behalf and she is elevated to train in the elite Upper Grounds training facility. What she doesn't know is that she is being secretly trained to impersonate a legendary princess to challenge the imperial family and wrestle the throne away from tyrants that massacred an entire Court of people, and achieve peace.

I liked this book but thought it was a bit uneven. It has pretty glaring flaws that prevent me from ranking it higher than 3 stars. The author makes a big deal about Naia being an exceptionally skilled fighter who could be a great Blademaster once trained, but then skips through her training years with hardly a mention. I would have liked to read more about what she went through. There is also very little world-building, so we don't really know how the kingdom is structured, why the current ruler and his family are bad and need to be replaced, or why the rulers slaughtered an entire Court. There is no explanation as to why or how the impostor princess can challenge the imperial succession, or why the scheme has a chance of success. There is also no mention as to what happens if she succeeds, and why a young, weaker son of the ruler is the better choice to lead the kingdom.

Even so, it's a fun read if you just want a bit of escapism.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Adjectiveplusnoun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review: ARC of Shadowblade by Anna Kashina
I received this book on Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review. If you like this book review and/or my writing style, you can find more of both at my blog https://adjectiveplusnoun.wordpress.com/

I wanted to love this book. In theory it sounded like it would be perfectly suited to my tastes. The idea—Anastasia (the movie version), only Anastasia is a ninja as well as a princess who thinks she’s a con artist. The reality is pretty different.

I never realise before how useful genre and tropes are in giving the reader an idea of what to expect. I couldn’t tell what genre this book was trying to be. It read as standard YA, but then it includes full blown sex scenes, so I’m not sure who the market for this book is.

The plot was introduced early—which is good—but the level of threat only reached the high set by the opening scene during the climax of the novel. It left me feel like I was waiting for things to get interesting again for the majority of the book. I also thought that Naia’s blade skills would be more important to the plot. This was not the case.

Naia as a main character was a bit of a problem for me. She was presented as a skilled warrior with a natural affinity for weapons, and that’s about all we ever learned about her. Her personality was weak, and despite her (almost overhyped) abilities, she had to get saved a bunch of times from situations that seemed included only to make her feel indebted. Ultimately—Naia was bland, which made her hard to relate to. It’s not that I didn’t like her, it’s that I didn’t feel like she was ever a fully developed character.

Naia also had a bad case of Main Character Disease LINK. Everyone risked themselves for her, helped her, saved her or adored her for no reason, unless they are a Bad GuyTM, in which case they hated her or tried to manipulate her immediately, for just as little reason. This lack of depth to supporting character’s reactions to Naia only emphasised the blandness of her personality.

Jai Karrim as a character was interesting, but despite his fairly central role in the novel, the novel ended with the reader knowing very little about him that wasn’t mentioned the first time his name was. Dai Gassan likewise seemed like a missed opportunity. The villain had slightly more backstory and character motivation introduced, but only to retroactively justify their seemingly out-of-character actions. This made most of the major plot points seem overly-convenient and unsatisfying.

The conclusion included several villain monologues to explain what was going on, and quite a few moments of decades long plans being fooled by needless subtlety in some areas, when the villain had already exposed themselves.

The world Shadowblade is set in could also have been far better developed. Even the rankings among the Jaihar (Warrior Guild) weren’t properly explained, and the political situation that the plot should have been based on was only sketched in where absolutely necessary to allow the plot to happen. The time jumps in this book were also a bit jarring as there’s no chapter heading or section break (eg. Book I—Ninja School) to indicate years have passed, so every time it happened I got thrown off my stride a bit.

None of the relationships between characters in Shadowblade had much depth, with one exception—and both parties involved in that keep mentioning that they shouldn’t like the other person. Lust and surface-level similarities were seemingly the only thing tying them together for most of the book, a couple of near-death experiences happened and suddenly they were irrevocably in love. It rang false. The characters in this book just didn’t change, the plot all seemed connected by only the barest of threads, and even the world and political situation doesn’t get explored in enough depth to really sell the story. To be honest, I feel like the book could have began where this one ended and stand a far better choice of keeping my interest.

The premise was great, and right up until the first sex scene I thought this book was a fairly standard hero’s journey in the style of The Magician’s Guild by Trudi Canavan, The Way of Shadows by Brent weeks or even The Poppy War by RF Kuang; the inclusion of a romance sub plot and the general haziness of the plot and muddied tension from that point on made Shadowblade a more unique story, but one that I found far less impactful—especially when it came to world-building and character development.

Ultimately, I think this book would be best suited for those who want a light read, with an interesting premise and setting. If you like classic fantasy and enjoy reading about elite warriors and fairytale retellings, you might like Anna Kashina’s Shadowblade.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Shadowblade' by Anna Kashina is a fantastic heroic fantasy saga, complete with; politics, assassins, royalty and romance that surpasses itself. Akin to 'Throne of glass' series by Sarah J Maas, I was thrown into a world of splendid courtly life, proud warriors and a setting akin to that of Herbert's 'Dune' series. Piquant, fresh and action-packed this highly original tale was a real gripping page-turner and one that I would certainly read again. It is a story about fierce loyalty, bravery and outstanding courage and cannot fail to impress. A truly terrific read!

[THE BIBLIOPHILE (Rituranjan) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(e ARC received from the publisher Angry Robot via Netgalley)

Quite an enjoyable fantasy novel with a sexy heroine. I finished it in two sittings. It has action, intrigue, politicking, and a subtle amount of magic. I enjoyed the middle-eastern setting. The book has a YA feel to it on account of the romance strewn into the story, but, it is not central to the story. The linear narrative with short chapters makes up for the good pacing, and keeps up the tension in regard to the plot. The writing is elegant and easy to follow, has wit and humour, but, it lacks convincing dialogues to make it more snarky.

The story begins with a rather suspenseful scene, a child delivered in a package escaping from an assemblage of royal assassins. The story then shifts to 17 years later prior to the incident. As in the trope, there is an elite military school, and a orphan girl training hard to become one of the topmost elite warriors called 'Shadowblade' in rank. The worldbuilding isn't much, but we are given glimpses of it through the lessons imparted to our heroine, regarding to the kingdom of Chalimar and the Jaihar warriors. I liked the idea of warriors able to sense iron, and enhance their fighting prowess and techniques.

The characterization was pretty simple on part of the main protagonist, Naia. She has an innate proficiency in weapons, and she breezes through the tests with less efforts. The author tried to make Naia stand as a feminist heroine in the midst of the males of the Jaihar warriors. Initially, she is a pawn in a greater game, but ultimately she stands on her own radiating power and authority. She is a badass warrior, but, she lacks complexity which I like in a character. On the other hand, the character of Mehtab is shaded in greyness, and there are layers to her character. I would definitely like to read more of her. She is intelligent, fierce, brutal, and manipulative, while acting as a mentor to our heroine. I hope Anna Kashina writes a novella about Mehtab. The only male character that stands out in my opinion is Dal Gassan, as he plays the game through Naia.

The action isn't much, but we get to see it in the training fights. It is done pretty well. The two Complaints I have against the novel is the element of adolescent romance which was saccharine at best. I wanted depth and nuance in the relationship between Naia and Karrim, but, sadly the relationship didn't feel real to me. And, the second, is the lack of character complexity in Naia. I wanted depth, inner conflict, motivations, but, those are lacking. Naia follows and bests everything just because she can. Readers looking for a lighthearted excitement with action and romance can pick this up.

[Tzu · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay but less than I had expected, especially since it doesn't fall under YA, which it might have. The writing is fluent and speaks to the imagination, I liked that a lot and it became one of the only reasons I pushed through. The plot was rather transparent, except for one twist that truly came as a surprise.

[Jaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's rare for there to be fantasy romances right now, so I am so disappointed that Shadowblade missed the mark for me. Insta romance is just not my thing, although the audio narrator did keep me invested much longer than I would have had I read this exclusively in print. Not a bad book, just a "meh" for me.

[Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This moved entirely too slowly. I feel like story could've been better served if it was edited down far further and a feeling of urgency was instilled. Instead, it dragged and the main character Naia had no drive of her own. I felt detached from her and it made the story far less engaging.
The secondary characters were more intriguing by comparison.
All together, a disappointment.

[Alex (HEABookNerd) · Rating 3 out of 5]

SHADOWBLADE was an interesting fantasy adventure that follows the plucky and determined Naia as she gains her Jaihair status and then embarks on her first mission. I enjoyed the world that Anna Kashina has created; it's filled with intrigue, manipulations, and several powerful entities all vying for control. The first half of the book was a bit slow and it took awhile for me to really get into the meat of the story. I wasn't expecting so much time to be spent on Naia's training but it does allow the reader to get to know her character.

At first Naia comes across as very young for her age. She starts the book at 17 but her voice and her actions "feel" younger. There are a few time jumps that in my opinion didn't work too smoothly but as the book continues, we see Naia start to come into herself more. While Naia certainly holds her own as a warrior and deserved every bit of her rank, I was bothered by the fact that Naia doesn't seem like the main character in her own story. Throughout the book Naia is led and manipulated into most of her actions and she spends much of the story simply reacting to things already happening or following the orders of others. There are very few instances where Naia is actually making her own decisions to progress the story. While a portion of Naia's lack of choice is built into the actual plot, she's far too passive for a main character.

The majority of plot progression came from side characters like Karrim, Mehtab, and Gassan. I enjoyed these characters and how they shaped the story, each with their own wants and desires for the empire. There is a bit of a love story between Naia and Karrim but it does happen very quickly. Naia and Karrim are pretty much smitten with each other after a single day for no apparent reason other than how much they enjoy sparring with each other. I would have liked to see better development in this part of the story because it felt a bit tacked on to give Karrim a reason to support Naia.

Overall, SHADOWBLADE was a good read with an interesting world, but it needed a stronger portrayal of it's main character.

ARC provided by author for honest review

[Traveling Cloak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has almost everything you want in a fantasy novel: great fights, awesome weapons, likeable characters, unlikeable characters, sensuality, an intriguing world, and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

It does have a few drawbacks that held it back from a perfect score. First, it is not what I would consider "epic" fantasy, and I usually reserve perfect scores for books that are a little more complex. The plot was a touch more simplistic than that. There were a few phrases used too often to describe characters feeling toward one another and some errant awkward sentences here and there, all of which could have been enhanced during copy editing. Lastly, (and this is a very small piece that only comes up 2 or 3 times), but the author uses a game similar to chess as a medium for introducing military strategy. To me, this is an overdone approach. None of these flaws , however, were enough to overcome the positive aspects.

In all, I had a lot of fun reading Shadowblade, and I hope Anna Kashina chooses to revisit this world for another novel. This is a really good book, and I recommend it to all fantasy readers.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing read, Anastasia retelling and I love it so much. Fast paced, full of action. Keeps you guessing all the time with lots f twists and turns. Great characters and chemistry. A highly recommended read

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

[Angie Gaule · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is an excellent read. It is fast-paced and very smooth. In fact, I was surprised to come to the end, as I did not feel that I have been reading nearly long enough. The story takes some interesting twists and turns, some more unexpected than others, and made sense every step on the way. The characters were fun to get to know and showed appropriate growth. All in all, I absolutely recommend this title. Oh, and the best part is that it is a stand-alone book. There could be other books set in this world, but the story here is complete.

[Helen Wawrejko · Rating 4 out of 5]

The massacre of the entire royal line. Or so it's believed. An orphaned child raised in a warrior training ground when she shows an affinity for weapons. When her first assignment brings her to impersonate the long lost child that can contest the succession of the emperors line that killed the only ones that could claim the throne, the twisty's are big. And bold. And made for a great ending. Great book for YA on up. I enjoyed it. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC form Netgalley.

[Veselina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange of honest review.
Every second in this book I have to hold my breath. Never fully sure how the events will turn and what should I expect.
Interesting, fast pace and pure joy. I hope there will be book 2.
Enjoy.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Reading Reality

This was another book that I read at least a couple of weeks before I wrote this review, and for the same reason as the last time – because I was a bit disappointed.

(I’ve discovered that this happens for one of two reasons – either because the book disappointed me and I don’t want to write about it – or that I loved it so much that I need a few days to let the urge to squee tone down a bit. I’ve also discovered that the disappointment generally lingers while the squeeing does not tone down very much at all – but I try.)

The reason that I expected to love Shadowblade was that I absolutely adored the author’s previous series, the Majat Code. The books in that series, Blades of the Old Empire, The Guild of Assassins and Assassin Queen, were among my very favorite books in the years they were published.

But I didn’t love Shadowblade. I did like it, but I just didn’t love it. And the why of that feels like it’s in direct consequence to both that previous epic series and to another book with a somewhat similar storyline, Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep.

And the key difference is that the previous epic series was just that, an epic SERIES. And that Kill the Queen, while it hits many of the same plot beats as Shadowblade (or the other way around) is the first book in a SERIES, emphasis on series if that wasn’t obvious by the ALL CAPS.

Shadowblade has an epic story to tell. It begins with the death of one entire ruling house at the hands of a rival, and one baby brought miraculously out of the slaughter. It picks up years later, with that baby now a young woman, a young trainee swordswoman who is about to be ejected from her training, her guild, and any possibility of a halfway decent life.

That’s the point where the political machinations that maneuvered her escape so long ago come back into her life and begin meddling. Not, of course, for her own good, but for theirs.

And possibly everyone else’s. But there’s a secret puppetmaster hiding in the shadows, determined to wrench the future into a pattern of their choosing – no matter what – or who – it costs.

Escape Rating B-: I’m putting the rating here so I can continue talking about the story and my disappointment with it.

Shadowblade is a standalone epic fantasy, but the story it has to tell is too big and too, well, epic. In order to fit into a single volume it feels like too much worldbuilding and too much story ended up on the virtual cutting room floor.

This should have been at least a duology. It feels like there might have been more than enough story for the author to have even committed trilogy – and I’d have happily signed up for all of it!

Instead, Naia’s training years, which should have had plenty of drama, are reduced to a few brief scenes at long intervals. There was so much to explore even at the point where she is introduced to readers as a near-adult. There seems to have been an awful lot wrong at the Blademaster “Academy”, Naia seems to have been at the heart of it, and yet we don’t know how she got into the fix she’s in. While information supplied later gives us the gist of the immediate issue it feels like Naia’s difficulties with her trainers have much deeper roots that we don’t get to see.

Another place where the story gets very short shrift is the romance. Because there is one. But we’re supposed to accept Naia’s HEA without seeing the relationship building that leads to it. That part of the story felt rushed, but then so did a lot of it.

There was just so much fascinating story lurking in the background that just didn’t seem to make it onto the page. I wish it had. That trilogy would have been epically awesome, while the single-volume we got is just OK.

Shadowblade should have been a truly epic story – but whatever caused it to be a single-volume rather than the longer work it needed to be means that the epicness fell short.

As always, your reading mileage may vary.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

Just as there are times when I go into a book, really looking forward to it and I end up disappointed, there are also times when I start a book with a bit of trepidation and wind up really liking it. The latter is the experience I had with Anna Kashina's Shadowblade.

Naia is a young woman who would love to join the ranks of the elite Jaihar and become a Blademaster. Her natural talent is evident but so is her temper. When she assaults one of her tutors she suspects her dreams of becoming a Blademaster are completely dashed. What she doesn't know is that Dal Gassan, head of the Daljeer Circle, has been watching her and has special plans for the young girl. She is to be trained as a Jaihar and then impersonate the legendary Princess Xarimet of Challimar and lay claim as the legitimate heir to the throne.

Jai Karrim, the top Blademaster in the Jaihar (and one awfully sexy man, to whom Naia has long been attracted), will train her and then be her escort (and Dal Gassan's insurance that Naia won't try to keep the throne once she gets it). What could go wrong?

In many ways this book is a YA "Mary Sue" novel (Google the term if you don't know what I mean). But otherwise this has just about everything it needs to be an exciting read. It's got action - lots and lots of fighting (mostly training, but not entirely), some mystery and intrigue, betrayal, a few twists and turns in the plot, and romance and sex. I didn't need the explicit sex - something a little more discreet and private seemed more in line with the characters and story. It also struck me that everything about the sex, and her partner, were perfect.

But overall I really enjoyed this story. I really liked the character of Naia - brassy but determined, with a natural gift. I even liked Karrim, even though he seemed unrealistically perfect. Of course that would be one of the attractions in a Mary Sue story - the perfect man who treats the main female character, well, perfectly.

The betrayal wasn't too much of a surprise, though the reasons for it were.

It would seem to me that we're only beginning a longer story here, but this book is a complete book (beginning, middle, end) and is very satisfying.

Looking for a good book? Shadowblade by Anna Kashina is a very exciting YA fantasy. The main characters don't seem to have any flaws - which is actually a little bit boring - but it is a fun, quick read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a strange one. Strange in that it was compulsively readable, but also incredibly predictable, with bland characters and no real tension or conflict.

The main character, Naia, was intriguing at first, which is why I kept reading, but she ends up being one of those characters that defeats every obstacle put in front of her and only ends up being bettered by hypnosis, and even that doesn't entirely work on her. She also falls for the first guy who is even remotely nice to her. The author takes care to note that she's not incredibly beautiful, but most men seem to fawn over her anyway.

Her Super Specialness is joined by Jai Karrim, a shadowblade who helps Naia at the start of the book, and after spending one day with her decides she's the best thing since sliced bread and he wants her. Likewise for Naia. Apparently all you need is one day to become obsessed with someone.

The two spend very little time together, but at the first opportunity jump into bed together and declare their undying love for each other after virtually no time spent together (despite it being over three years since their first meeting). I felt no real chemistry, no build up, no getting to know each other, no nothing. The romance is just there for the sake of it, and it annoyed the hell out of me. I don't mind a well-written romance in a fantasy story, but I hate insta-love romances that are just there for the sake of it.

The plot was completely predictable, to the point where I knew who the villain was almost straight away. As stated before, Naia overcomes what little obstacles appear in her way with little effort, mostly because other people swarm around her to make the journey she has incredibly easy. Naia is also gullible enough to believe everything she's told, which is one of her only faults, really.

The writing was okay, enough to keep me reading, but as said before, I wasn't really enamoured with any of the characters, I predicted the plot, the romance was bland and uninteresting a bit insta-lovey for my tastes, and the ending fell a bit flat.

I should probably note that one of the few good points about this, apart from how readable it was, was the whole 'atmosphere' - set in a desert-like world, it seems to take inspiration from various cultures, and this too made me want to keep reading. I liked the world, what little we saw of it, and I wished the rest of the story could have made it worth my while to keep reading this one.

Overall, I wouldn't really recommend this an outstanding fantasy story - there are much better ones out there. It can pass away a day or so if you've nothing better to do, though.

[Dabbling Madman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of Shadowblade from the author in return for posting reviews. While I want to say all the nice things and congratulate Anna Kashina on a well rounded story, I cannot.

The book grabbed me fairly early on. Then went straight down right after that. I was thinking, oh this will be a strong independent woman story, sounds good. No.. nope.

So after the intro of a royal massacre and a baby spirited away in the night, who could possibly be heir to the throne, our main character Naia is training in the elite warriors guild basically. Going through some rough patch she is almost kicked out. But with some charismatic words, people step in to have her case evaluated.

So what happens? Naia goes all moon brain over an elite warrior and starts getting turned on by his fighting skill and looks of course also the fact that he’s the first male to be nice to her (which really speaks horribly to the story).

After that the guild decides to keep her and train her. A few people are introduced, Flash forward (literally! Where’s the story) she’s getting ready to graduate and be “ranked” in her guild. Who is here again but her crush, they fight (for her final test) she is graduated, gets an assignment to impersonate royal blood and become empress so she can hand it over to another prince in the family. But first she gets to screw her, now, coworker since they have the same rank

Couple other things happen, plan goes to crap. Turns out she’s just a pawn. Hand maiden is the really empress and wants everyone to die. Or at least doesn’t care if they do. She gets defeated and yay more sex oh and everything you’ve ever wanted you now have even if it doesn’t make sense.

But it’s okay because more sex was had and now that there is a happily ever after you can’t stop thinking about screwing your crush.

Honestly here’s a quick list on what seems to be important enough to spend time writing well.

1 sex
2 thinking about sex
3 smell of food
4 taking a bath
5 nice clothing.
6 story (maybe, if we have time)

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadowblade by Anna Kashina starts off with all the elements that I know I'll love. We meet Naia, a young orphan with astounding martial skills, who is trained up in an order of assassins. We have shadowy puppet masters who are angling to topple an imperial despot. We have a mystery surrounding Naia's birth that is absolutely delicious when she is tasked with taking on a role in a conspiracy to challenge the succession. Machiavellian skullduggery meets fast-paced action. I should have been in my happy place.

I'd say that this book *almost* nails it, but the pacing is just that little bit off. I was deeply invested in seeing Naia as she undergoes her training, yet part of this feels glossed over to where we get her embarking on her first, important mission. A too-obvious, too-easy romance liaison gets tossed in, with repercussions I called the moment we first hit the bedroom, but perhaps the thing that kinda made the entire novel fall a little flat for me was when the antagonist's identity was revealed far too early. And that, for me, made me feel as if we missed out on much of the tension. Not once did I fear that my protagonists would succeed – and I would have liked to have had more of a sense of impending doom.

The setting, in the second half of the novel, that takes place in an imperial palace, is a stage set that is ripe for a more complex treatment – especially if we could see the introduction of more opposing factions, but I feel that this last part of the story gets rushed. I feel with a little careful planning, this could easily have been a very satisfying duology or trilogy, as there is so much material to mine in the setting. Is this still an entertaining read? I'd say yes. This is not the first of Kashina's novels that I've enjoyed, but this one's just not quite the five-star read I was hoping for. But it's still good. It has its moments, and what Kashina does well is write excellent fight scenes involving characters who are likeable and relatable.

[Gayatri Saikia | per_fictionist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely unpredictable and unputdownable Shadowblade by Anna Kashina has definitely own a spot on my top fantasies of 2019. Shadowblade has all the elements of a perfect fantasy betrayals, plot twists, strong characters, brilliant writing and a gripping storyline you name it.

Shadowblade centers around our protagonist Naia,the who is in the verge of to be expelled from her training academy on the pretext of attacking her mentor. But a visit from Dal Gassan,a honorary member of the Daljeer circle changes everything and Naia is deemed as one of the prospects eligible to be a Jaihar Blademaster,the top most position in her academy. The story then continues with Naia's training and later we get to see her impersonate princess Xarimet of Challimar. But for Naia, challenges donot cease and every step of the way she has to fight her way out of the mess her enemies create.

Anna Kashina has expectionally crafted the character of Naia, who luminescence as a fierce warrior who also doesn't hesitate in taking orders from her mentors when required. The camaraderie and respect she has for her seniors and her iron-will to always stand up for what is right is visible from the initial chapters. The chemistry between Naia and Jai Karim cannot be left without a mention because it was one thing that I lived for. The slowburn romance and the tug of love between the two warriors made the book every bit spicy.

As much as I loved the refreshing plot, at times I felt that it would have been better if we got a decent explanation or foundation course on how the Jaihar and Gassan society actually worked and the intricacies of their classes. But, I was also delighted to spot inclusions of various Indian elements like Shatranj ( chess) . It definitely has plenty of action and plotting with people changing sides often, a lot of court politics and unanswered questions.

I personally would have liked to experience more of Naia-Karim banter, of what happened in the three years of training(the author basically skips those years) and a more character driven plot rather than a plot that drives the characters.

But on the positive side: no cliched tropes, a relatable protagonist, intriguing court politics definitely stamps my four stars for this book.

[Jennifer Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her newest epic fantasy novel, SHADOWBLADE, Anna Kashina mixes sword fighting, political intrigue, and romance with practiced finesse. Her action scenes are beautifully written with a skill few authors can replicate. The sword fighting is never tedious, never too complicated to follow. It’s also integral to the story.

The main character, Naia, is a seventeen-year-old orphan with the sun-kissed eyes of the Challimar, given over to the Jaihar Order because of her affinity for swords. She hopes to attain an elite Jai rank, but circumstances and prejudiced trainers keep her dreams out of reach.

Her luck changes when she meets two men, one who has kept an eye on her since she was orphaned as an infant, the other a handsome elite Shadowblade - the highest rank among the Jaihar Order. One guides her toward her destiny while the other sets her on the path to becoming a fellow Shadowblade. Both encounters change her life forever.

The romance in SHADOWBLADE is a slow burn, teasing the characters and the reader throughout the novel. It’s enough to pull a reader through the book if sword fighting isn’t their cup of tea. The politics are integral, though like the romance, it takes time to heat up. What doesn’t take time is the connection with the main character.

This is definitely a character-driven fantasy, with a main character that pulls the reader in and holds them close. And while Naia isn’t the only point-of-view in this book, all the characters are fully-developed and interesting. Their motivations are engaging, and Ms. Kashina weaves them into a strong storyline with an intriguing plot.

I’d be interested in a sequel, but this is an excellent stand-alone novel. I’d read anything by this author and recommend her work to anyone who loves the sword and sorcery sub-genre of fantasy. She excels at writing books involving sword-fighting heroines and romance.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

This is the first book of this author that I have tired and although I have a few issues with this book I might try some of her other books as the plot was right up my alley.

Shadowblade is a standalone fantasy, but the story it has to tell is too big and I think it would have benefited from being a series. In order to fit into a single volume it feels like too much was cut out, there were points where we the time period jumps and I would have liked a bot more world building. I would also have loved more of a story after the ending - it feels like a comma than a full stop!

My other issues with it was insta-love! I enjoy romance in my fantasy but I would have like more than one day to develop their relationship (especially in a book where the story span several years). The other problem was the names, I struggle with differentiating between lots of unusual names anyway but add the titles that all the character have in this world and it just made it slightly more complicated to follow for me.

Despite these issues I did really enjoy this book, it had politics, assassins, royalty, romance, betrayal, twists and feisty main characters.

[Jeffrey Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story here was formulaic and the characters were rather stereotypical but this is fantasy romance so I wasn't expecting genre-defining innovation. The setup of the characters was well done and their motivations were enough to make me want to follow the story, to the point where I was obsessively page-turning in places. The heroine was again fairly typical "modern coming-of-age female hero in fantasy" material and I was a little annoyed at her obliviousness to some things, but it was still enough to keep me invested.

My main complaint about this story is that it felt rushed. It feels like this could have been two books; a lot of the female main character's training was glossed over and skipped and I feel like there was enough unexplored territory there to have dragged it out a bit more. Similarly things still felt rushed at the end of the book as the major movings and shakings were unfolding. Maybe I'm just too used to epic fantasy.

Either way the story was good enough that I'll be looking through Ms. Kashina's other offerings, as this seems to be a standalone book (so far).

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up from 3.5. I liked Naia a lot, and her world is vivid and lovely while not trying to be epically expansive--Naia was raised in one location, in one city, in one country, and so her knowledge becomes more general as she ventures out of that comfort zone. I also enjoyed that the plot was long. Rather than having to rush the whole Xarimet plot/concept, the Dals have three years to plan and implement, Naia has three years to learn about Challimar history as well as to train as a warrior-assassin, nobody is being shoved into the imperial court not knowing the situation or how to conduct themselves.

A couple of plot threads felt rushed or handwaved; Karrim and Naia's attraction is just there from the first, and aside from a couple of "well, this is inconvenient when we have so much else going on" thoughts, both of them pretty easily accept that they are each other's Person. The main villain is dealt with, but given the long-simmering hatred of Challimar for their conquerors, I doubt that cutting the head off the snake and calling Naia "empress" a lot is going to appease everyone. Still a fun, fast, fascinating story, and a world I enjoyed slipping into.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and another fairly strong argument for picking a book at semi-random off a library shelf (although prior picks The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and Lightless are significantly stronger). It went quickly, but I don't think I'll really remember much about it in a year. The crystal leech plot thread was the most interesting and the only piece I didn't find standard fare for a lost heir, young woman coming-of-age and being good at swords kind of book. Because it's well-written and made me want to keep reading, I might have given it four stars, but the world-building just wasn't there, so down to three.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book at the start. The characters were interesting and the relationships were solid. I did fail to appreciate the tangents into erotic episodes however. A bit of romance is usually passable but the story goes a bit too far in that regard for me albeit brief occurances. I kinda felt they were a bit out of place but would not be interesting to me anyway. Likely that's just what I wasn't expecting and is purely personal. The story has descriptions of different cultures which could be fleshed out a bit more, and personally I found the rushed growing of the main character to have missed some interesting parts. The ending comes quite quick and ever so nicely wrapped up. Loses momentum. But still worth a jook.

[Roxy Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked at least the first book of the Majat code series better, haven’t read the others yet. The question of who Nya is was an interesting plot line to follow and the conclusion, though not surprising, was okay. I wasn’t a fan of the romance at all though. Seemed built on nothing. I’m never a fan of “love” at first sight. There also wasn’t much character growth for Nya. She kinda spontaneously gets this Empress Attitude which becomes key for the conclusion, where did that come from? I also think the villain was revealed too soon and the villain’s plots were mostly explained rather than observed. What happened to the whole servants helping her out as well? So overall, some good ideas but the development and organization could have used more work.
2 explicit scenes.