The King’s Blade is a fantasy novel by Anya Rousselle.

The short version is that The King’s Blade is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I totally and absolutely recommend it. The characters are varied, consistent, believable, deep, and interesting. The magic and magical creatures are cool. The story is captivating and believable. The world is rich, and the lore is vast. There are many heart-wrenching moments, as well as a few wholesome and humorous ones. The story made me think about it a lot, and also prompted me to consider the topics it discussed. It was a delectable read.

Now, the longer version.

The story talks about Lorea’s struggle to save her and the neighboring towns and villages from an evil King Gorge, who forces people into his army called the KingsGuard, after which no one hears from them. We later learn that there’s a special reason behind the King’s behavior.

We learn that Lorea is a badass assassin, but only an assassin. She has almost no ability to fight one-on-one and must rely on stealth and distance. The story establishes it once and never strays from it. The plot never gives Lorea any more strength than she already has, so she has to improvise and survive. Aside from her slowness, Lorea has another handicap, and Anya uses it to its full potential. All these problems make the story very tense and believable, and they make victories deeply satisfying.

But the fact that Lorea doesn’t become stronger physically doesn’t mean she stays the same mentally. Anya does a very good job of character development. And Lorea is not the only one who receives it. Near the start of the book, she meets Henri, who is as different from anyone she has ever met as possible. Together, they dive into a long adventure. Anya does a great job of mirroring their strengths and weaknesses. As they both grow and become stronger, they move towards one another not only in terms of their strengths, but also emotionally and physically. Anya does a good job of ensuring tension and stakes: the journey has many bumps, so Lorea and Henri sometimes have to take a few steps back, but overall, they constantly move forward.

The world in Anya’s book is rich and complex. There are many continents, people, and magical creatures. Everything feels alive and lived-in. There’s cold snow and water, rain and mud, hard floors and knuckles, but there are also hot springs and food, caring people, and soft beds. People from the same village may have entirely different views on the same topic. The longer the book goes, the bigger the struggle becomes, so the second book may very well be a planet-wide battle for survival.

The magic and magical creatures are cool, deep, detailed, and sometimes scary. Anya uses some of it to provoke very interesting thoughts about time, love, life, and death. There are four gods. It is known that at least three of them can create creatures and magic, and the fourth god can manipulate chance and perhaps time. The world’s brewing conflict is actually between some of these gods, and, naturally, humans and magical creatures that the gods created have to suffer.

The lore is deep, and Anya does a good job at telling us about the world when it makes sense, avoiding too long info dumps. She never gives us all of the answers, and I enjoy the opportunity to hypothesize.

The world is not black and white. Not everyone avoids being recruited to the KingsGuard. Magical creatures created by the evil god are sometimes a lot nicer and ready to help, compared to some creatures created by the good goddess. Some characters seem to have a hidden agenda and may even be revealed as evil in the next book. There is a possibility that joining the KingsGuard offers not only a better chance of survival but also a chance to save the world.

The characters are varied, consistent, deep, and interesting. Anya shows it through good dialogue and through their actions. If a character acts a certain way, the reason behind it will probably be revealed.

Even though Lorea and Henri sometimes receive magical help, they only do that in the magical forest and mountains where they couldn’t possibly survive on their own. Once they are outside, there’s no magical help, and virtually no plot armor, which makes the story all the more believable and tense. Lorea’s handicap is always there. When she’s beaten, she feels the pain for long enough. Henri’s realistic assessment of his own insufficient tactical and leadership abilities always bothers him, making the journey very emotionally taxing.

Anya’s descriptions of places and characters are on point. Her descriptions of battle scenes are mostly very good, chaotic, and fast-paced.

The romantic component is also on point. There’s a reason why both Lorea and Henri are attracted to one another. There’s a reason why sometimes they have to take a few steps back and reconsider their feelings towards each other and themselves. Unlike some books I’ve read, when it counts, they can stop themselves from drooling over each other and act rationally. But when it’s time to give in to their feelings, they do it all the way without reservation.

Even though most of the chapters are given from Lorea’s point of view, there are some where we’re following Henri. It brings variety.

There are a few setups and paybacks. I like it. Some are heart-wrenching, while others are rage-inducing.

Although the entirety of the text above focuses on the positives, unfortunately, the book is not perfect. Occasionally, the text is repetitive, meaning that it uses the same pronouns or words repeatedly within the same paragraph. Anya sometimes states things in addition to showing them, so she essentially repeats the information. There’s at least one inconsistency in the lore, but maybe Lorea was simply mistaken. The names of some magical creatures are quite long and hard to pronounce or remember for an English speaker, so I wasn’t always sure who the book was talking about. The start of Chapter 37 is a bit heavy-handed. I feel it’s a bit too obvious what Anya was trying to do. The battle in Chapter 40 was too slow — the characters had the time to speak and said many words. And Anya sometimes overexplains, albeit not too much.

So, as I said, The King’s Blade is among the best I’ve ever read, so the issues that I found are insignificant. I absolutely recommend it to all enjoyers of fantasy.

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