Huge thank you to Second Sky for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I will admit, I was coming off two DNFs with some incredibly dense writing/political schemes when I cracked this open. The first page was like a breath of fresh air. The conversational tone as our narrator, Cetrik, begins to tell the life of the most deadliest man alive had me hook, line, and sinker. 

You get an inkling of what might be about to happen, but it doesn’t feel like a disappointment. The pace is so fast and the action is back to back. There isn’t much downtime or idleness for the characters even in the first quarter of the book. I love the begrudging ally relationship that develops with Cetrik and Locan (very Falcon and Winter Soldier-esque). 

Make no mistake this is straight fantasy, we have orc-like characters, clerics, elves, and everything else between. If you love D&D or the old DragonLance Chronicles this novel is going to hit the sweet spot of nostalgia for you. But the best part is the fight scenes. These are so well-crafted and detailed, you are holding your breath while you sweep through them. The vivid imagery is grisly, no doubt. But there is beauty to it, too. Really well done! (And I say this as someone who tends to skim fights because they tend to drag on and get boring/repetitive.)

Overall fantastic read, perfect for anyone that wants to get lost in an adventure! I’m very much looking forward to the next book in the series!