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Heretic Spellblade #2
Heretic Spellblade 2
Changing history is harder than it appears. Every time Nathan thinks he has stopped a world-ending war, he learns that somebody is trying to start it again. But once this is over, he’ll be free to relax and spend some quality time with his Champions.
As the war heats up, Nathan finds himself caught up in the schemes and fluffy tails of one of his former Champions, Narime. More figures from his past intrude, including a dark elf with a twisted personality and a princess who makes Nathan question his memories.
Behind everything, Kadria lurks alongside the other Messengers. Nathan finds himself buried in politics and at risk of losing everything should his heretical alliance with her be discovered.
In the end, the risk is worth it. Because the reward is to get back everything that Nathan lost.
Heretic Spellblade contains plenty of violence, harem/undefined relationships, beast girls, and scenes that don’t fade to black. Consider yourself warned.
431 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 27, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
February 8, 2021
A really good read.
This series is really fun to read. The characters are interesting and the world building is very interesting to read. Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next book.
This series is really fun to read. The characters are interesting and the world building is very interesting to read. Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next book.
March 21, 2024
This series has been a surprise. I only recently discovered this author, but so far have enjoyed most of what he has written.
January 29, 2021
Really good
I am really enjoying the heretic spellblade series so far. The author is doing a fantastic job of creating a world so detailed and interesting that I can imagine myself going on adventures their. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
I am really enjoying the heretic spellblade series so far. The author is doing a fantastic job of creating a world so detailed and interesting that I can imagine myself going on adventures their. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
February 7, 2021
A solid book, and things threaten to break Nathan's brain in this one, as he struggles to understand his place in the world. Turns out it's not quite what he thought, which opens up a much larger universe for these books should the author decide to exploit that. If you like the first one this shouldn't disappoint.
August 13, 2026
★★★★☆ — HERETIC SPELLBLADE 2: THE FUTURE IS BREAKING, THE POLITICS ARE THICKENING, AND NATHAN IS LEARNING THAT A SECOND CHANCE DOES NOT COME WITH A PERFECT MAP
Audiobook review by Kiba Snowpaw — Alpha Ice Wolf of HowlStrom
Essential
Heretic Spellblade 2 by K.D. Robertson is a stronger continuation in some ways and a more frustrating one in others, because the series stops letting Nathan treat his old timeline as a reliable strategy guide. Book 1 gave him the terrifying advantage of memory: he had already watched the world fall, already knew many of the important players, already understood the Bastion and Champion system, and already carried emotional history with people who technically had not lived that history yet. Book 2 begins twisting that advantage. Nathan has changed enough that the future no longer wants to follow the path he remembers. Every victory creates another branch, every political move changes somebody else's position, old Champions return in new circumstances, Narime pulls him into another knot of personal history, Kadria and the Messengers remain a threat hanging over everything, and people from Nathan's past begin forcing him to ask whether his memories are knowledge or merely one dead version of reality. I like that development because a time-reset story becomes boring if the protagonist always knows the answer. My problem is that Book 2 spends so much more time inside politics, negotiation, exposition and expanding relationship complications that the sharp urgency of the apocalypse sometimes disappears beneath meetings, schemes and people explaining the next layer of the world.
Hook and Thesis
The central idea that works for me is that Nathan is slowly losing the very thing that made him powerful: certainty. He still has experience, magical knowledge and memories, but the farther he pushes the new timeline away from the original one, the less useful exact foreknowledge becomes. That is where a second-chance story becomes psychologically interesting. Change one major event and everything after it should become unstable: people survive, alliances shift, enemies react differently, and even memory can become dangerous because confidence based on an obsolete future is another form of blindness. My thesis is that Heretic Spellblade 2 becomes better whenever Nathan is forced to admit that remembering the future is not the same as understanding the present. Unfortunately, the book also becomes more bloated whenever it confuses complexity with momentum. Political intrigue can be fascinating, but when too much of the middle becomes peace talks, faction positioning and repeated explanation, I start feeling the story grind against the ice. The apocalypse is still coming. Demons still exist. Messengers are still manipulating events. I should feel a clock ticking beneath every conversation, and sometimes I simply do not.
Basic Plot Summary
Nathan begins Book 2 after achieving a major victory that should have changed the path toward the apocalypse, only to discover that preventing one disaster does not remove the people and forces that benefited from disaster in the first place. War and political tension continue, and Nathan is increasingly drawn into negotiations and power struggles involving nations, factions and figures whose original futures he remembers imperfectly. Narime, one of his former Champions, becomes a major part of the story, bringing another complicated collision between Nathan's memories and a woman who has not lived the same history he remembers sharing with her. Other people from his previous life also intrude, including a dark elf with a dangerous personality and a princess whose existence and behavior force Nathan to question how accurate his memories really are. Meanwhile, Kadria remains connected to the larger mystery of the Messengers, and Nathan's secret cooperation with her is politically explosive enough that discovery could destroy much of what he is building. The sequel therefore expands beyond “go back and stop the catastrophe” into something messier: prevent war, rebuild alliances, understand the Messengers, survive political enemies and decide which parts of his old life should actually be recreated. The future is no longer a road. It is cracked ice, and every step changes where the next fracture appears.
Praise and Critique
The best improvement is that the world feels larger and less obedient to Nathan. Book 1 sometimes risked making him look like a player running New Game Plus with a completed walkthrough open beside him. Book 2 starts tearing pages out of that walkthrough. That is exactly what I wanted. Nathan can still use experience, but he has to interpret rather than simply remember. The political environment also gives the magic system more meaning because Bastions and Champions are not isolated adventurers; they exist inside nations, military structures and competing interests. Power has diplomatic consequences. A Champion is not just a strong woman standing beside Nathan because she looks good on a cover. She can change the balance between factions, carry history, represent another nation and create strategic problems simply by choosing where her loyalty rests. I also like the slow expansion of the Messenger mystery because it prevents the demons from being reduced to a simple red-colored enemy faction waiting at the end of the campaign. Kadria is dangerous precisely because Nathan cannot file her neatly under ally or enemy. He knows she helped send him back, but he still does not fully know why.
Narime and the returning characters also strengthen the book when they expose Nathan's emotional arrogance. He remembers people as they were after years of shared experience, but they are not obligated to fit those memories now. That is one of the most important themes for me. Nathan is not merely rebuilding an army; he is meeting ghosts who are still alive. Imagine remembering someone dying for you, loving you and fighting beside you, then meeting that person years earlier when you are effectively a stranger. Nathan cannot emotionally erase the history inside himself, but the other person has no responsibility to validate it. That creates an imbalance in almost every reunion. When the novel lets that imbalance remain uncomfortable, I like it. When the narrative seems too eager to pull former Champions back into Nathan's orbit because that is where they “belong,” I become suspicious again. My Kiba line for Nathan would be: “Memory tells you who stood beside you once. It does not give you a leash around who they must become now.”
Criticism
My biggest problem is the amount of political discussion compared with the urgency of the larger threat. Politics are not filler by definition. In fact, a world-ending invasion should create vicious politics because nations do not become rational just because extinction is approaching. People protect power, lie, negotiate and sabotage each other even while the roof burns. I can believe that. But the book sometimes spends so much time on peace talks, diplomatic positioning and repeated arguments that I started wondering whether everybody had forgotten the demons were still waiting outside the walls. The issue is pacing, not realism. A political scene needs revelation, a changed alliance, a moral dilemma or a consequence; when characters simply circle positions I already understand, tension leaks away. There is also enough exposition that conversations occasionally stop sounding like humans trying to persuade one another and start sounding like the author moving information from one folder into my head. I want Nathan reading a room, noticing fear, hearing someone hesitate before lying, watching a hand tighten around a goblet. Those details make politics physical. When everything becomes explanation, the world turns into a briefing room.
Nathan himself also becomes frustrating when his angst repeats without enough transformation. I do not object to him questioning himself. He should. He watched his first world die, he is cooperating with beings he does not fully understand, he is rebuilding intimate relationships under morally complicated circumstances, and every alteration he makes destroys more of the certainty he brought from the future. He should not be emotionally relaxed. The problem is when self-doubt becomes cyclical instead of developmental. If Nathan asks whether he is becoming like an enemy, I want the answer to change how he acts. If other characters compare him to people he hates, I need the comparison to reveal something meaningful rather than simply provide another “maybe we are not so different” conversation. Moral ambiguity works when the similarities are concrete—methods, manipulation, sacrifices, people treated as pieces. It becomes fake depth when two different people are declared similar simply because both use power. Book 2 occasionally approaches that line, and the more often characters insist Nathan should question himself without giving the question new teeth, the less psychological weight it carries.
The relationship problem from Book 1 also remains. I like that the women have more political and personal identities than disposable harem slots, and some of the relationships genuinely feel different from each other. But Nathan is still psychologically ahead of everyone because he remembers intimacy they have not experienced. That makes every reunion dangerous territory. Nathan may remember years of love while she may have met him yesterday. That mismatch should create boundaries, fear and occasionally rejection he cannot fix. The series becomes less interesting if every former Champion is ultimately destined to slide back into the same emotional position around him. A new timeline should produce new relationships, not just restore an old party roster with slightly altered dialogue. If Nathan truly wants to save these women rather than reclaim them, he has to accept that saving someone may mean watching her choose a future where he is not the center.
Evaluation
This entire idea hits me mentally because I understand the desire to use the past as a map. When you live through depression, anxiety, grief and long periods of being trapped inside your own head, memory can become both shelter and trap. You replay things because the past is fixed. It cannot surprise you anymore. Even painful memories can feel safer than an uncertain future because at least you already know how they end. Nathan enters his second life with the ultimate version of that comfort: he believes he knows what happens next. Book 2 begins taking that comfort away. To me, that is much more interesting than another power increase. The moment Nathan changes history, he should eventually reach a day he has never lived before. From that point onward, he is no longer a man revisiting his life. He is simply alive again, with all the uncertainty that comes with being alive. That is terrifying.
I have had to learn that remembering an older version of myself does not mean I can simply return to him. My mental image can remain younger than the face in the mirror, but time does not reload the old save. Loss changes you. Isolation changes you. Surviving years of your own mind changes you. You can rebuild, but rebuilding is not restoration. That is what I want Nathan to understand. He keeps talking in terms of getting back what he lost, but a second chance should eventually force him to ask whether “getting it back” is even possible. Maybe the best future is not the old fortress rebuilt perfectly. Some Champions may become different people, some relationships may never return, and saving the world may mean allowing it to become something Nathan has never seen. My Kiba line would be: “If your new future looks exactly like the old one, brother, then you did not really escape the grave. You only decorated it differently.”
In HowlStrom I imagine the same nightmare. Suppose I watched the Ice Wolf clan fall, saw my frozen castle shattered and then woke ten winters earlier with every death still screaming inside my head. At first I would mark every date, every attack and betrayal, preparing until my claws bled. Then I would stop the first disaster—and suddenly tomorrow would become unfamiliar. Someone who originally died would now make choices they never survived long enough to make; another wolf might leave, and an enemy might become an ally. That is the moment the second chance would become frightening. I could no longer protect everyone by following memory. I would have to trust them again. Nathan is moving toward that point, and Book 2 is strongest whenever I can feel him realizing that knowledge of one dead timeline cannot substitute for understanding living people.
Comparison and Impact
Compared with the first book, Book 2 has less of that explosive “second chance begins now” energy but more uncertainty. I prefer the uncertainty because it gives the series somewhere to grow. Nathan cannot spend eight books simply collecting former Champions and checking historical disasters off a list. The Messengers, changed politics and altered personalities suggest something much larger is happening, and that keeps me interested. Compared with The Ten Realms, this series is much more political and relationship-driven, while Erik and Rugrat usually attack uncertainty through preparation, military logic and brotherhood. Compared with The Primal Hunter, Nathan is almost the reverse of Jake: Jake keeps trying to escape responsibility and relationships, whereas Nathan surrounds himself with people because he already knows what isolation and defeat cost him. Yet both characters have the same danger in different forms. Jake can mistake independence for freedom from connection. Nathan can mistake connection for the right to recreate old bonds.
That is why Nathan interests me even when he irritates me. I do not need protagonists to make the same moral choices I would. I need their choices to have consequences and their contradictions to remain visible. Nathan wants to save people, but he also wants them back. Those are not automatically the same desire. One is about their future. The other can become about repairing his past. Book 2 gets closer to exposing that difference, and I hope the series keeps cutting into it instead of smoothing it away with another romantic reunion.
Audiobook Evaluation
As an audiobook, Book 2's heavier politics and larger cast make clarity more important than in Book 1. Political fantasy becomes exhausting in audio when names, titles, factions and motives arrive faster than the listener can build a mental map. The strongest sections are therefore the ones where political information is attached to personality and action rather than delivered as exposition. A threatening pause, a sarcastic exchange or a character refusing an order stays in my memory better than another explanation of who technically controls which territory. The adult material works similarly. I have no problem with explicit scenes, but they are strongest when they reveal trust, tension, vulnerability or changed dynamics. If a sex scene can be removed without changing either character afterward, then for me it is decoration, not development. Book 2 generally has enough story that the harem material does not overwhelm everything else, but the larger the cast becomes, the more important it is that each relationship have its own emotional shape rather than just a different body attached to Nathan.
Conclusion
Heretic Spellblade 2 is a good sequel because it begins destroying the safety of the premise that made Book 1 possible. Nathan went back believing knowledge of the future would let him save the world. Now the world is changing beneath him, and every success makes his memories slightly less trustworthy. That is exactly how a time-reset story should evolve. I like the expanding Messenger mystery, the Bastion and Champion system remains excellent, the world feels politically alive, Narime and the other returning figures create more emotional complications, and Nathan increasingly has to navigate consequences he cannot predict. At the same time, the sequel is heavier, slower and more talkative. Peace negotiations and political exposition sometimes consume momentum, Nathan's repeated self-questioning occasionally feels like performed depth instead of actual transformation, and the old problem of treating former relationships as something to be reclaimed rather than rebuilt remains lodged under my fur.
Still, I am more interested in the series after Book 2 because the future is finally becoming dangerous again. Nathan is strongest when he does not know the answer. The apocalypse he remembers is no longer the only apocalypse possible. Kadria and the Messengers clearly know more than he does, political enemies are reacting to a timeline that never existed before, and the women from Nathan's old life are slowly proving they are not ghosts waiting for him to put them back where they belonged. They are alive now. That distinction matters.
Standing on the walls of HowlStrom, I would tell Nathan to stop staring backward long enough to see the snow falling in front of him. “Your first life gave you scars, brother. Use them. Your memories gave you warnings. Listen to them. But stop treating yesterday like prophecy. The moment you changed one death, you created a world your dead future never knew.” Then I would turn toward the mountains, where a storm Nathan had never seen was already forming, and add the only advice that truly matters once the map runs out: “Now you have to live it.”
Final Rating: ★★★★☆ / 5
Story: ★★★★☆ | Worldbuilding: ★★★★½ | Magic System: ★★★★★ | Nathan: ★★★★☆ | Narime: ★★★★☆ | Kadria/Messenger Mystery: ★★★★½ | Political Intrigue: ★★★★☆ | Pacing: ★★★½☆ | Relationships: ★★★½☆ | Exposition: ★★★☆☆ | Emotional Impact: ★★★★☆ | Desire to Continue: ★★★★½
Final thought: Heretic Spellblade 2 understands something the first book only began to reveal: going back in time does not give Nathan his life back. It gives him another life carrying the memories of the first one. The farther he succeeds, the less useful the old future becomes—and that is exactly when the story becomes most interesting.
Audiobook review by Kiba Snowpaw — Alpha Ice Wolf of HowlStrom
Essential
Heretic Spellblade 2 by K.D. Robertson is a stronger continuation in some ways and a more frustrating one in others, because the series stops letting Nathan treat his old timeline as a reliable strategy guide. Book 1 gave him the terrifying advantage of memory: he had already watched the world fall, already knew many of the important players, already understood the Bastion and Champion system, and already carried emotional history with people who technically had not lived that history yet. Book 2 begins twisting that advantage. Nathan has changed enough that the future no longer wants to follow the path he remembers. Every victory creates another branch, every political move changes somebody else's position, old Champions return in new circumstances, Narime pulls him into another knot of personal history, Kadria and the Messengers remain a threat hanging over everything, and people from Nathan's past begin forcing him to ask whether his memories are knowledge or merely one dead version of reality. I like that development because a time-reset story becomes boring if the protagonist always knows the answer. My problem is that Book 2 spends so much more time inside politics, negotiation, exposition and expanding relationship complications that the sharp urgency of the apocalypse sometimes disappears beneath meetings, schemes and people explaining the next layer of the world.
Hook and Thesis
The central idea that works for me is that Nathan is slowly losing the very thing that made him powerful: certainty. He still has experience, magical knowledge and memories, but the farther he pushes the new timeline away from the original one, the less useful exact foreknowledge becomes. That is where a second-chance story becomes psychologically interesting. Change one major event and everything after it should become unstable: people survive, alliances shift, enemies react differently, and even memory can become dangerous because confidence based on an obsolete future is another form of blindness. My thesis is that Heretic Spellblade 2 becomes better whenever Nathan is forced to admit that remembering the future is not the same as understanding the present. Unfortunately, the book also becomes more bloated whenever it confuses complexity with momentum. Political intrigue can be fascinating, but when too much of the middle becomes peace talks, faction positioning and repeated explanation, I start feeling the story grind against the ice. The apocalypse is still coming. Demons still exist. Messengers are still manipulating events. I should feel a clock ticking beneath every conversation, and sometimes I simply do not.
Basic Plot Summary
Nathan begins Book 2 after achieving a major victory that should have changed the path toward the apocalypse, only to discover that preventing one disaster does not remove the people and forces that benefited from disaster in the first place. War and political tension continue, and Nathan is increasingly drawn into negotiations and power struggles involving nations, factions and figures whose original futures he remembers imperfectly. Narime, one of his former Champions, becomes a major part of the story, bringing another complicated collision between Nathan's memories and a woman who has not lived the same history he remembers sharing with her. Other people from his previous life also intrude, including a dark elf with a dangerous personality and a princess whose existence and behavior force Nathan to question how accurate his memories really are. Meanwhile, Kadria remains connected to the larger mystery of the Messengers, and Nathan's secret cooperation with her is politically explosive enough that discovery could destroy much of what he is building. The sequel therefore expands beyond “go back and stop the catastrophe” into something messier: prevent war, rebuild alliances, understand the Messengers, survive political enemies and decide which parts of his old life should actually be recreated. The future is no longer a road. It is cracked ice, and every step changes where the next fracture appears.
Praise and Critique
The best improvement is that the world feels larger and less obedient to Nathan. Book 1 sometimes risked making him look like a player running New Game Plus with a completed walkthrough open beside him. Book 2 starts tearing pages out of that walkthrough. That is exactly what I wanted. Nathan can still use experience, but he has to interpret rather than simply remember. The political environment also gives the magic system more meaning because Bastions and Champions are not isolated adventurers; they exist inside nations, military structures and competing interests. Power has diplomatic consequences. A Champion is not just a strong woman standing beside Nathan because she looks good on a cover. She can change the balance between factions, carry history, represent another nation and create strategic problems simply by choosing where her loyalty rests. I also like the slow expansion of the Messenger mystery because it prevents the demons from being reduced to a simple red-colored enemy faction waiting at the end of the campaign. Kadria is dangerous precisely because Nathan cannot file her neatly under ally or enemy. He knows she helped send him back, but he still does not fully know why.
Narime and the returning characters also strengthen the book when they expose Nathan's emotional arrogance. He remembers people as they were after years of shared experience, but they are not obligated to fit those memories now. That is one of the most important themes for me. Nathan is not merely rebuilding an army; he is meeting ghosts who are still alive. Imagine remembering someone dying for you, loving you and fighting beside you, then meeting that person years earlier when you are effectively a stranger. Nathan cannot emotionally erase the history inside himself, but the other person has no responsibility to validate it. That creates an imbalance in almost every reunion. When the novel lets that imbalance remain uncomfortable, I like it. When the narrative seems too eager to pull former Champions back into Nathan's orbit because that is where they “belong,” I become suspicious again. My Kiba line for Nathan would be: “Memory tells you who stood beside you once. It does not give you a leash around who they must become now.”
Criticism
My biggest problem is the amount of political discussion compared with the urgency of the larger threat. Politics are not filler by definition. In fact, a world-ending invasion should create vicious politics because nations do not become rational just because extinction is approaching. People protect power, lie, negotiate and sabotage each other even while the roof burns. I can believe that. But the book sometimes spends so much time on peace talks, diplomatic positioning and repeated arguments that I started wondering whether everybody had forgotten the demons were still waiting outside the walls. The issue is pacing, not realism. A political scene needs revelation, a changed alliance, a moral dilemma or a consequence; when characters simply circle positions I already understand, tension leaks away. There is also enough exposition that conversations occasionally stop sounding like humans trying to persuade one another and start sounding like the author moving information from one folder into my head. I want Nathan reading a room, noticing fear, hearing someone hesitate before lying, watching a hand tighten around a goblet. Those details make politics physical. When everything becomes explanation, the world turns into a briefing room.
Nathan himself also becomes frustrating when his angst repeats without enough transformation. I do not object to him questioning himself. He should. He watched his first world die, he is cooperating with beings he does not fully understand, he is rebuilding intimate relationships under morally complicated circumstances, and every alteration he makes destroys more of the certainty he brought from the future. He should not be emotionally relaxed. The problem is when self-doubt becomes cyclical instead of developmental. If Nathan asks whether he is becoming like an enemy, I want the answer to change how he acts. If other characters compare him to people he hates, I need the comparison to reveal something meaningful rather than simply provide another “maybe we are not so different” conversation. Moral ambiguity works when the similarities are concrete—methods, manipulation, sacrifices, people treated as pieces. It becomes fake depth when two different people are declared similar simply because both use power. Book 2 occasionally approaches that line, and the more often characters insist Nathan should question himself without giving the question new teeth, the less psychological weight it carries.
The relationship problem from Book 1 also remains. I like that the women have more political and personal identities than disposable harem slots, and some of the relationships genuinely feel different from each other. But Nathan is still psychologically ahead of everyone because he remembers intimacy they have not experienced. That makes every reunion dangerous territory. Nathan may remember years of love while she may have met him yesterday. That mismatch should create boundaries, fear and occasionally rejection he cannot fix. The series becomes less interesting if every former Champion is ultimately destined to slide back into the same emotional position around him. A new timeline should produce new relationships, not just restore an old party roster with slightly altered dialogue. If Nathan truly wants to save these women rather than reclaim them, he has to accept that saving someone may mean watching her choose a future where he is not the center.
Evaluation
This entire idea hits me mentally because I understand the desire to use the past as a map. When you live through depression, anxiety, grief and long periods of being trapped inside your own head, memory can become both shelter and trap. You replay things because the past is fixed. It cannot surprise you anymore. Even painful memories can feel safer than an uncertain future because at least you already know how they end. Nathan enters his second life with the ultimate version of that comfort: he believes he knows what happens next. Book 2 begins taking that comfort away. To me, that is much more interesting than another power increase. The moment Nathan changes history, he should eventually reach a day he has never lived before. From that point onward, he is no longer a man revisiting his life. He is simply alive again, with all the uncertainty that comes with being alive. That is terrifying.
I have had to learn that remembering an older version of myself does not mean I can simply return to him. My mental image can remain younger than the face in the mirror, but time does not reload the old save. Loss changes you. Isolation changes you. Surviving years of your own mind changes you. You can rebuild, but rebuilding is not restoration. That is what I want Nathan to understand. He keeps talking in terms of getting back what he lost, but a second chance should eventually force him to ask whether “getting it back” is even possible. Maybe the best future is not the old fortress rebuilt perfectly. Some Champions may become different people, some relationships may never return, and saving the world may mean allowing it to become something Nathan has never seen. My Kiba line would be: “If your new future looks exactly like the old one, brother, then you did not really escape the grave. You only decorated it differently.”
In HowlStrom I imagine the same nightmare. Suppose I watched the Ice Wolf clan fall, saw my frozen castle shattered and then woke ten winters earlier with every death still screaming inside my head. At first I would mark every date, every attack and betrayal, preparing until my claws bled. Then I would stop the first disaster—and suddenly tomorrow would become unfamiliar. Someone who originally died would now make choices they never survived long enough to make; another wolf might leave, and an enemy might become an ally. That is the moment the second chance would become frightening. I could no longer protect everyone by following memory. I would have to trust them again. Nathan is moving toward that point, and Book 2 is strongest whenever I can feel him realizing that knowledge of one dead timeline cannot substitute for understanding living people.
Comparison and Impact
Compared with the first book, Book 2 has less of that explosive “second chance begins now” energy but more uncertainty. I prefer the uncertainty because it gives the series somewhere to grow. Nathan cannot spend eight books simply collecting former Champions and checking historical disasters off a list. The Messengers, changed politics and altered personalities suggest something much larger is happening, and that keeps me interested. Compared with The Ten Realms, this series is much more political and relationship-driven, while Erik and Rugrat usually attack uncertainty through preparation, military logic and brotherhood. Compared with The Primal Hunter, Nathan is almost the reverse of Jake: Jake keeps trying to escape responsibility and relationships, whereas Nathan surrounds himself with people because he already knows what isolation and defeat cost him. Yet both characters have the same danger in different forms. Jake can mistake independence for freedom from connection. Nathan can mistake connection for the right to recreate old bonds.
That is why Nathan interests me even when he irritates me. I do not need protagonists to make the same moral choices I would. I need their choices to have consequences and their contradictions to remain visible. Nathan wants to save people, but he also wants them back. Those are not automatically the same desire. One is about their future. The other can become about repairing his past. Book 2 gets closer to exposing that difference, and I hope the series keeps cutting into it instead of smoothing it away with another romantic reunion.
Audiobook Evaluation
As an audiobook, Book 2's heavier politics and larger cast make clarity more important than in Book 1. Political fantasy becomes exhausting in audio when names, titles, factions and motives arrive faster than the listener can build a mental map. The strongest sections are therefore the ones where political information is attached to personality and action rather than delivered as exposition. A threatening pause, a sarcastic exchange or a character refusing an order stays in my memory better than another explanation of who technically controls which territory. The adult material works similarly. I have no problem with explicit scenes, but they are strongest when they reveal trust, tension, vulnerability or changed dynamics. If a sex scene can be removed without changing either character afterward, then for me it is decoration, not development. Book 2 generally has enough story that the harem material does not overwhelm everything else, but the larger the cast becomes, the more important it is that each relationship have its own emotional shape rather than just a different body attached to Nathan.
Conclusion
Heretic Spellblade 2 is a good sequel because it begins destroying the safety of the premise that made Book 1 possible. Nathan went back believing knowledge of the future would let him save the world. Now the world is changing beneath him, and every success makes his memories slightly less trustworthy. That is exactly how a time-reset story should evolve. I like the expanding Messenger mystery, the Bastion and Champion system remains excellent, the world feels politically alive, Narime and the other returning figures create more emotional complications, and Nathan increasingly has to navigate consequences he cannot predict. At the same time, the sequel is heavier, slower and more talkative. Peace negotiations and political exposition sometimes consume momentum, Nathan's repeated self-questioning occasionally feels like performed depth instead of actual transformation, and the old problem of treating former relationships as something to be reclaimed rather than rebuilt remains lodged under my fur.
Still, I am more interested in the series after Book 2 because the future is finally becoming dangerous again. Nathan is strongest when he does not know the answer. The apocalypse he remembers is no longer the only apocalypse possible. Kadria and the Messengers clearly know more than he does, political enemies are reacting to a timeline that never existed before, and the women from Nathan's old life are slowly proving they are not ghosts waiting for him to put them back where they belonged. They are alive now. That distinction matters.
Standing on the walls of HowlStrom, I would tell Nathan to stop staring backward long enough to see the snow falling in front of him. “Your first life gave you scars, brother. Use them. Your memories gave you warnings. Listen to them. But stop treating yesterday like prophecy. The moment you changed one death, you created a world your dead future never knew.” Then I would turn toward the mountains, where a storm Nathan had never seen was already forming, and add the only advice that truly matters once the map runs out: “Now you have to live it.”
Final Rating: ★★★★☆ / 5
Story: ★★★★☆ | Worldbuilding: ★★★★½ | Magic System: ★★★★★ | Nathan: ★★★★☆ | Narime: ★★★★☆ | Kadria/Messenger Mystery: ★★★★½ | Political Intrigue: ★★★★☆ | Pacing: ★★★½☆ | Relationships: ★★★½☆ | Exposition: ★★★☆☆ | Emotional Impact: ★★★★☆ | Desire to Continue: ★★★★½
Final thought: Heretic Spellblade 2 understands something the first book only began to reveal: going back in time does not give Nathan his life back. It gives him another life carrying the memories of the first one. The farther he succeeds, the less useful the old future becomes—and that is exactly when the story becomes most interesting.
May 30, 2022
Torneus invaded the Empire and colluded with demons in invading the empire (in volume 1), and yet, the author creates half a volume of useless "peace-talks". If every reader knows the truth, that Torneus should be prosecuted and his office, removed, the author creates such a convoluted and irrational negotiation.
What is the point to a "peace-treaty" if people like Torneus have betrayed humanity and colluded with the demons.
Who would want to read lies, cynicism, and stupidity from Torneus.
Nathan is in the middle of the "peace-talks", but why? If the real enemies are the demons, then why waste time (half a volume) on this? Author uses main character's male member (yes his d*ck) as a plot compass, every time Nathan sees one of his old champions, old harem members/retinue, the story moves that way until, Nathan grows in harem members. His harem is currently three, but author is looking to increase it to six, eight or maybe more...
This second volume is not as interesting as the first volume. Because Nathan is trying to reunite his harem and make the "peace", story loses focus and meaning. It doesn't make sense to focus on peace talks, and reuniting the "harem" if this is already another life, a second chance, the closest Nathan gets to his last life, the closer he will be to the apocalypse where humanity lost everything to the demons. This will be the second time. So Nathan hasn't really learned anything, has no vision, has no discipline and lets his "little head" think and decide for his "other head"...
Author and illustrator have on the cover a Wolf-girl (Beast-girl) that is not part of the "harem" or Nathan's retinue, so again, like volume 1, both covers are probably from other stories because, none of the main characters have magenta hair or are wolf-girls. None of the antagonists are either. Is this the first fantasy novel series, where the cover illustrations have nothing to do with the story written?? Is that even possible??
Volume two, has 400+ pages and 41 chapters. There are at least 4 volumes, the 4th published in January of 2022, so I guess this is an ongoing-story. The problem is the author and main character are more worried about "growing" and "recapturing" the "old-harem" than actually defeating the Demons and saving this alternate reality world. Can this be any more irrational?
What is the point to a "peace-treaty" if people like Torneus have betrayed humanity and colluded with the demons.
Who would want to read lies, cynicism, and stupidity from Torneus.
Nathan is in the middle of the "peace-talks", but why? If the real enemies are the demons, then why waste time (half a volume) on this? Author uses main character's male member (yes his d*ck) as a plot compass, every time Nathan sees one of his old champions, old harem members/retinue, the story moves that way until, Nathan grows in harem members. His harem is currently three, but author is looking to increase it to six, eight or maybe more...
This second volume is not as interesting as the first volume. Because Nathan is trying to reunite his harem and make the "peace", story loses focus and meaning. It doesn't make sense to focus on peace talks, and reuniting the "harem" if this is already another life, a second chance, the closest Nathan gets to his last life, the closer he will be to the apocalypse where humanity lost everything to the demons. This will be the second time. So Nathan hasn't really learned anything, has no vision, has no discipline and lets his "little head" think and decide for his "other head"...
Author and illustrator have on the cover a Wolf-girl (Beast-girl) that is not part of the "harem" or Nathan's retinue, so again, like volume 1, both covers are probably from other stories because, none of the main characters have magenta hair or are wolf-girls. None of the antagonists are either. Is this the first fantasy novel series, where the cover illustrations have nothing to do with the story written?? Is that even possible??
Volume two, has 400+ pages and 41 chapters. There are at least 4 volumes, the 4th published in January of 2022, so I guess this is an ongoing-story. The problem is the author and main character are more worried about "growing" and "recapturing" the "old-harem" than actually defeating the Demons and saving this alternate reality world. Can this be any more irrational?
February 13, 2021
This story is very captivating for me. However, it could do with a lot less exposition & focus more one the 5 senses of the protagonist's perception of reality. That said, it is a polyamorous novel, though it is tagged with 'harem simply' for the purpose of identifying the genre... which I find irritating but it is mostly likely outside the control of Mr. Robertson.
The women have their own wants, dreams, goals, & ghosts and so they have great character depth. The relationship between each of them & Nathan are similar but also unique.
The world is dreadfully small, like Doumahr is smaller than our moon small, think do I. There should be hints of myriad of more factions nested within each other before even approaching cosmological horror. Think of the British Isles & make it a planet all by itself. Of course, the story would have to limit Nathan's perception of his world, but there should still be 'hints' of the larger world.
The world that is described is very interesting, complex, & seemingly realistic. By realistic, it is meant that each element of 'majik' is balanced against each other & against nature as a whole. The author does a great job of balancing the mechanics of the world he describes.
The massive amounts of exposition are troubling to be forced to skip through. It is understood that these types of books like to 'base build' as if it is a game. However, it tends to negatively affects immersion into the story, think do I. As said before it would be better to limit the description to the 5 senses that Nathan experiences. Describe the world through his actions & what those actions allows him to sense.
For sharing Gravity, grateful to you am I. May the Goddess be allowed to alighten a path towards love, joy, & happiness along the self'determined life'cycle chosen by the higher'self of yours, pray do I.
The women have their own wants, dreams, goals, & ghosts and so they have great character depth. The relationship between each of them & Nathan are similar but also unique.
The world is dreadfully small, like Doumahr is smaller than our moon small, think do I. There should be hints of myriad of more factions nested within each other before even approaching cosmological horror. Think of the British Isles & make it a planet all by itself. Of course, the story would have to limit Nathan's perception of his world, but there should still be 'hints' of the larger world.
The world that is described is very interesting, complex, & seemingly realistic. By realistic, it is meant that each element of 'majik' is balanced against each other & against nature as a whole. The author does a great job of balancing the mechanics of the world he describes.
The massive amounts of exposition are troubling to be forced to skip through. It is understood that these types of books like to 'base build' as if it is a game. However, it tends to negatively affects immersion into the story, think do I. As said before it would be better to limit the description to the 5 senses that Nathan experiences. Describe the world through his actions & what those actions allows him to sense.
For sharing Gravity, grateful to you am I. May the Goddess be allowed to alighten a path towards love, joy, & happiness along the self'determined life'cycle chosen by the higher'self of yours, pray do I.
February 17, 2021
A really strong second book
Book 2 is a really strong follow up to the first, it maintains a lot of the cool world/magic, but adds some new characters and events progress pretty well. I still have some of my issues with the first book where the main character doesn't really connect with the people around him besides for a few. Needs to be more actual conversations instead of explaining things. I also feel like Kadria doesn't really fit in like she should, the author seems indecisive on where he wants to go with that aspect. In my opinion it should be more combative due to what she did in the beginning of book 1 and he shouldn't really associate with other demons at all. But I'm excited for the next book either way.
Book 2 is a really strong follow up to the first, it maintains a lot of the cool world/magic, but adds some new characters and events progress pretty well. I still have some of my issues with the first book where the main character doesn't really connect with the people around him besides for a few. Needs to be more actual conversations instead of explaining things. I also feel like Kadria doesn't really fit in like she should, the author seems indecisive on where he wants to go with that aspect. In my opinion it should be more combative due to what she did in the beginning of book 1 and he shouldn't really associate with other demons at all. But I'm excited for the next book either way.
May 9, 2021
This are starting...and ending. But not in the way Nathan expected
I was looking forward to the continuation of this series and I am not disappointed, K.D. Robertson has continued to move forwards with the characters and further flesh out not only them and their relationships, but the world itself in a way that feels organic. The author has managed to avoid the pitfall of the adult fantasy genre that many others have failed, presenting the adult scenes tastefully and in a way that makes the sex part of the story instead of its focus. I am looking forward to the next book and I suspect the author will continue in failing to let down their readers.
I was looking forward to the continuation of this series and I am not disappointed, K.D. Robertson has continued to move forwards with the characters and further flesh out not only them and their relationships, but the world itself in a way that feels organic. The author has managed to avoid the pitfall of the adult fantasy genre that many others have failed, presenting the adult scenes tastefully and in a way that makes the sex part of the story instead of its focus. I am looking forward to the next book and I suspect the author will continue in failing to let down their readers.
January 2, 2022
I don't know what this book really is about when it concerns the "messengers".
Will be reading the sequel to get answers to this and more.
3/5 Stars
Will be reading the sequel to get answers to this and more.
3/5 Stars
September 7, 2022
The best series I have read in the genre continues...
In this book there is a lot of power politics between nations. One of the great strengths of the series is that the cast goes beyond hero, harem and monsters to provide allies, rivals, and people with their own goals and motivations. In the hero's "past life" he was a warrior who did his job, given another chance he is determined to take the initiative to address the political problems that doomed his old world.
Also in this book the most vivid pair of characters make their appearance. Nathan's Champions sometimes seem to blur into each other a little, but the Twins can never be confused with anyone else
In this book there is a lot of power politics between nations. One of the great strengths of the series is that the cast goes beyond hero, harem and monsters to provide allies, rivals, and people with their own goals and motivations. In the hero's "past life" he was a warrior who did his job, given another chance he is determined to take the initiative to address the political problems that doomed his old world.
Also in this book the most vivid pair of characters make their appearance. Nathan's Champions sometimes seem to blur into each other a little, but the Twins can never be confused with anyone else
October 14, 2025
I really liked the series and the book … until that stuff with alternate timelines got introduced. That is usually the point most stories turn for the worse or stop making sense. Heretical Spellblade is sadly no exception.
Within half a page Nathan stopped being a hero, trying to save the world for his loved ones, and became giant as*hole and hypocrite, who teamed up and started a sexual relationship with the woman who murdered all the people he cared about, and went on to another world to brainwash copies of said people into having feelings for him so he can feel better.
Im pretty sure Robertson did not realize this when he introduced that plottwist.
Within half a page Nathan stopped being a hero, trying to save the world for his loved ones, and became giant as*hole and hypocrite, who teamed up and started a sexual relationship with the woman who murdered all the people he cared about, and went on to another world to brainwash copies of said people into having feelings for him so he can feel better.
Im pretty sure Robertson did not realize this when he introduced that plottwist.
February 10, 2023
wow, simply wow
Okay, Robertson….. well played. This series is really heating up. The plot twists and turns is insane! The messengers are truly intriguing! I really have my suspensions about them. To be honest I don’t think they’re evil at all… kadria let some truths out about her boss and about her being “free” now and how the demons aren’t there’s… that speaks volumes. Im just so amazed to be able to hang on every single word that Robertson has written and the plots and world building keeps getting grander and more stupendous! Im excited for the next book! Onward lads!
Okay, Robertson….. well played. This series is really heating up. The plot twists and turns is insane! The messengers are truly intriguing! I really have my suspensions about them. To be honest I don’t think they’re evil at all… kadria let some truths out about her boss and about her being “free” now and how the demons aren’t there’s… that speaks volumes. Im just so amazed to be able to hang on every single word that Robertson has written and the plots and world building keeps getting grander and more stupendous! Im excited for the next book! Onward lads!
February 12, 2021
Well done
I enjoyed the 1st book, and this book wasn't bad but the author made numerous errors where he got names mixed up for both characters and countries. An example is towards the end He talks about taking over the federation but says conquered the empire instead, when those errors did come up I would get confused and i had to reread the pages a couple of times to realize what the author was intending.
I enjoyed the 1st book, and this book wasn't bad but the author made numerous errors where he got names mixed up for both characters and countries. An example is towards the end He talks about taking over the federation but says conquered the empire instead, when those errors did come up I would get confused and i had to reread the pages a couple of times to realize what the author was intending.
November 19, 2023
Good second book
This was a good second part.
While the story at times felt slow, it was still understandable and good.
And while the MC is still enjoyable to follow, at times I feel he is not realizing his full potential and all he has available, like awakening the feelings of his old girls when doing so would help his current deteriorating situation and prevent more drama.
Either way, it was a good book.
Looking forward to the third book.
This was a good second part.
While the story at times felt slow, it was still understandable and good.
And while the MC is still enjoyable to follow, at times I feel he is not realizing his full potential and all he has available, like awakening the feelings of his old girls when doing so would help his current deteriorating situation and prevent more drama.
Either way, it was a good book.
Looking forward to the third book.
February 1, 2021
Machinations
The rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper in book two as the political games and world bending dynamics collide. We spend a lot more time immersed in the turning of gears here but I very much enjoyed where the relationships do peek through the haze and look forward to where the story goes next.
The rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper in book two as the political games and world bending dynamics collide. We spend a lot more time immersed in the turning of gears here but I very much enjoyed where the relationships do peek through the haze and look forward to where the story goes next.
February 6, 2021
Good but needs minor editing
The story was decent and did a good job of continuing the previous novel. The author is also building an arc that continues past this book. There were no problems with grammar but the author should get an editor to catch content mistakes like switching names or mixing up viewpoints.
The story was decent and did a good job of continuing the previous novel. The author is also building an arc that continues past this book. There were no problems with grammar but the author should get an editor to catch content mistakes like switching names or mixing up viewpoints.
February 15, 2021
A good story ruined by a cast of characters right out of a teen drama.
The setting and the characters involved are completely at odds. A world ending demonic invasion is not the back drop you get from the childish, immature characters. Add in a main character that makes all his choices based on gathering his dead harem regardless of the world stage and you have a terrible story.
The setting and the characters involved are completely at odds. A world ending demonic invasion is not the back drop you get from the childish, immature characters. Add in a main character that makes all his choices based on gathering his dead harem regardless of the world stage and you have a terrible story.
March 9, 2021
Very well done
Love this series its got politcal manuvering, warfare, a very complicated magic system that i think i have figured out . Maybe. The next book will probly give me more info about it but its like a puzzle that you have to work out its great dont take to long with the next book please
Love this series its got politcal manuvering, warfare, a very complicated magic system that i think i have figured out . Maybe. The next book will probly give me more info about it but its like a puzzle that you have to work out its great dont take to long with the next book please
April 21, 2021
Please. More. It’s been so long.
I got really addicted to this series, the literal only thing I’d change is for the other girls to get any amount of screen time besides a mention. Fei be hoggin it. But that’s small fries compared to the impressive story and world building. I love the premise so much.
I got really addicted to this series, the literal only thing I’d change is for the other girls to get any amount of screen time besides a mention. Fei be hoggin it. But that’s small fries compared to the impressive story and world building. I love the premise so much.
April 25, 2021
Really enjoying the story
It has a interesting work with a system of magic I’ve never experienced before. I’m interested to see more about the world the authors created as well as the interactions between the main character and the world around him. Looking forward to the next installment in the series.
It has a interesting work with a system of magic I’ve never experienced before. I’m interested to see more about the world the authors created as well as the interactions between the main character and the world around him. Looking forward to the next installment in the series.
September 17, 2021
A good continuation. Action is good as well. Far raunchier this time, which I could have done without. The thing that really detracted from the story was the major info dumps where characters just sat around discussing concepts. It’s nice to see the world is developed, but perhaps less could have been provided? It made the middle drag.
July 15, 2022
Fun and entertaining.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Every time things calm down, some new threat appears. It kept me hooked from the start. The story and characters are interesting and engaging. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next. This book is definitely worth reading.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Every time things calm down, some new threat appears. It kept me hooked from the start. The story and characters are interesting and engaging. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next. This book is definitely worth reading.
June 25, 2024
Webs within tangled webs
This universe keeps expanding. Like really expanding! I’m wondering how the Author keeps all the plates spinning and balls in the air while swallowing the sword on his unicycle. I mean that with zero disrespect. It’s impressive what’s going on in this story.
This universe keeps expanding. Like really expanding! I’m wondering how the Author keeps all the plates spinning and balls in the air while swallowing the sword on his unicycle. I mean that with zero disrespect. It’s impressive what’s going on in this story.
January 31, 2021
When reading book one it felt like the story is missing something but book 2 filled the gap left by book one and explained things which were mystery in the previous book. Book 2 finishes the first part of the plot. Overall nice continuation of the series and was better than book 1.
February 4, 2021
An amazing story
A wonderful fantasy story, filled with powerful magic, action, adventure and warfare!!! The adult fantasy portions are extremely well written and so very few editing mistakes there is no distraction!!!! More more more
A wonderful fantasy story, filled with powerful magic, action, adventure and warfare!!! The adult fantasy portions are extremely well written and so very few editing mistakes there is no distraction!!!! More more more
February 5, 2021
Great fun
This series is highly energetic and is a great fun ride. I enjoy the cast of characters and the MC, and appreciate getting to know them and their motivations. Great setting vividly described being readers deeper into this epic take. Can't wait for more.
This series is highly energetic and is a great fun ride. I enjoy the cast of characters and the MC, and appreciate getting to know them and their motivations. Great setting vividly described being readers deeper into this epic take. Can't wait for more.
February 6, 2021
Nice
Quite interesting, although if the MC isn't supposed to know anything about Earth then there are a few references that are a bit confusing. Apart from that a very good mind bending time altering tale.
Quite interesting, although if the MC isn't supposed to know anything about Earth then there are a few references that are a bit confusing. Apart from that a very good mind bending time altering tale.
March 10, 2021
Awesome series
This is a good book. You shouldy read it. I like the story. The characters are fun. The book is a good read. i enjoyed it alot.. Download or buy it today. why not? Can’t wait for the next one.
This is a good book. You shouldy read it. I like the story. The characters are fun. The book is a good read. i enjoyed it alot.. Download or buy it today. why not? Can’t wait for the next one.
May 8, 2021
A sexy gripping romp through a fascinating fantasy world full of beautiful powerful women with a smart and strong protagonist that was near impossible to put down until I'd finished it within a day. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel.
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