Blood and Iron (1) (The Book of the Black Earth)

Where did it go wrong? Some have called the beginning slow, I think it was good pacing to avoid being rushed. I liked Jirom and the slave trade was spot on. Everything was reading almost as an historical mashup of Romans and Crusades and Persians. Even the magic was a fun system.

Then ...Horace. First, this minor carpenter on a troop ship seems to a kid, then he is a grownup. He acts outraged at the actions taken by the guards against the slaves, as if he is completely unaware HE IS A SLAVE!!!

Then he discovers he has magic. Soon he is being walked through the front doors of a palace where he starts critiquing the art. This ships carpenter is now an art aficionado.

...when the main character is the worst designed character...oy.

And that is the true problem for me. Everything else hung together pretty well. Okay, having Jirom suddenly thinking about kissing his buddy Horace was a little odd, but it did help to motivate Jirom a little. Kinda simplistic, but whatever.

The training pit was interesting, but not very well thought out. The attack on the stronghold in the desert...if the Akeshians had magic and the Crusaders didn't, why weren't they cleaning their clocks?

But it all comes back to Horace, the middle aged manchild. Nothing about the character rang true for me. The pain of losing his wife and child, being lost in a land where he didn't speak the language, vast cosmic powers where everyone else struggles...it was all just a mishmash of backstory that left me bored.

A good book to me is one that when I hit the halfway point I can no longer put it down. I put this book down three times for days each time and had to struggle to finish out of a sense of duty.

Two stars because the writer does have some talent for linking words together, and his supporting cast was good.

Despite the predominately male-centric, violent, testosterone-infused themes and stories, I love fantasy fiction. The magical domains of Patrick Rothfuss, George R.R. Martin, Mark Lawrence and Anthony Ryan are great testimonials for leaving the real world behind to travel into Westeros or The Broken Empire. These stories are why I love fantasy fiction, and it's why I am always looking for new writers to excite and spirit me away to their worlds. When I picked up Jon Sprunk's novel, Blood and Iron, I expected to find a new Kvothe or maybe another Middle Earth. Alas, all I found was a predominantly male-centric, hyper-violent, testosterone-infused book full of funky names, uninteresting characters, and confusing storytelling.

First of all, it starts out sloooowly. A shipwreck off the coast of the enemy country of Akeshia leaves Horace of Tines, a lowly shipbuilder, alone and at the mercy of slave traders. His meager knowledge of the country and the distinct language barrier force Horace, and the reader, to slooowly piecemeal where he is, who are his captors, where are they going, and what happened to his ship. A former gladiator/mercenary now slave, Jirom, speaks a little of Horace's language and answers some basic questions. But it is not until one-third of the way through the book that the reader is finally allowed a semi-comprehensive view into this new world. Until then, the slaves are starved, marched through the hellish heat of the desert, beaten and/or killed on a daily basis.

In the capitol of Akeshia, Queen Byleth politically battles the Sun Cult, a religious sect, for her entitled right to rule the country. The reader is first introduced to Byleth after her slave, Alyra, arrives late one morning. To prevent further dawdling, Byleth has a 10 year-old slave girl whipped while she forces Alyra to watch. Alyra, it turns out, is a spy for the rebels and she endures the Queen's cruelty to further their mission to overthrow the government and free the slaves.

After it is discovered that Horace is unknowingly blessed with magical powers the book picks up in the world-building department. However, the nonsense also increases as Horace quickly goes from filthy savage slave to a highly placed position in the Queen's court with his own house and Alyra as his handmaiden. Oh, and his previously unknown magical powers are stronger than anyone else's and, while it takes most Akeshian sorcerers years, he learns how to control his powers within a matter of days.

Meanwhile, Horace's friend, Jirom remains a slave in a dog soldier camp where the slaves are starved, marched through the hellish heat of the desert, beaten and/or killed on a daily basis. It is as if the author is afraid the reader might forget how horrifically the Akeshians treat the slaves and must frequently remind us. The former gladiator is approached by a rebel leader and is asked to join their cause. How a group of slaves is able to sneak out of the camp, cause chaos at night, and return before morning is highly fantastical. And, even more implausibly, Jirom wants to sneak into the capitol and rescue Horace. He has...feelings...for Horace.

The dialogue is clunky and follows no consistent frame of reference in this fantasy world; sometimes it's like listening to a bunch of teenagers. Most of the characters are one-dimensional and unsophisticated in their creation, and the author was unable to convince me the Queen is a flawed, but sympathetic, character. The politics and different levels of magic, while intriguing, are confusing. And when the Queen grants Horace his one true wish, I laughed out loud at the reasoning behind his decision.

So, I'm sure this book will have many fans and the saga will become a hit but, for me, it just did not have the beauty and sophistication and magic many fantasy novels have that grips the reader. Perhaps the second book will be better, but I'm not going to find out.

I didn't want to to like this novel. I really, really, really didn't. It started slow, the tropes were all there, and I was preparing to just toss it aside...but I decided to stop being such a snob and just read the thing. I am happy to say that I am glad I did.

While it starts of at a leisurely and plodding pace, the story of Horace and the intrigue of the Akeshian kingdom is actually quite engaging. Despite my best efforts, I found myself wanting to know what would happen to each character, how the interwoven plots would come together, and where they would go from there. I got sucked in. Now I need to read book two and find out more. Curse you Jon Sprunk...curse you for making me like this book!

While the characters can seem pretty one dimensional (and some of them truly are), others are painted in detail that belies their simplicity. Councilor Mulcibar, the slave Aylra, and the gladiator/slave Jirom were my favorites in the book. Shadowy sorcerers, a powerful religious cult, and courtly intrigue all have a hand in this novel as well. While not handled as deftly as some would like, they are all worked in together and with an appropriate smattering of surprises along the way.

Some of the plot points seemed a bit contrived, and I spent the latter half of the novel just wishing Horace would stop being such a depressed mope, but he redeemed himself toward the end, I am happy to report. Similar to his plight, (him being a castaway, then a slave, then an official of court) we are taken on a jaunt across the landscape between two main viewpoints- each with a distinct corner of the world to examine. Sprunk does this well and the shift isn't as jarring as I have seen in other novels.

Despite its flaws, I really did like this book. I found myself interested in the outcome, wanting to find out what happened next, and intrigued by the situations, the kingdom, the magic system, and the caste system as well. The character of the queen seemed to be out of focus with her earlier representations in the novel, but that could be easily rectified in follow up books- the same with the other characters. Slaves as soldiers of the empire? How do you prevent a riot- why train the slaves to fight in your army? Magic that injures it's users as a price for it's power? Nicely done- I'm interested to see where this one goes as well. Again, I liked it- despite my best efforts not to.

BLOOD AND IRON

John Sprunk has crafted a very entertaining and interesting piece with this first in a series, at least I think it will be a series. Any way this is the story of Horace and the magic he discovers he has. It is an interesting journey that is full of fun characters and action. I have read other reviews about this being a slow read at first but I thought it was fairly well paced. When the action hits it hits and the characters are fun. I really enjoyed the process Horace goes through finding out about magic. This was a good book and I am looking forward to the one in the series.

I see from the information on the back cover that this book is the beginning novel in an "epic" fantasy series. I can certainly see that this can be considered the first adventures in the life of an intriguing character. This novel shows how Horace progressed from being a simple ship's carpenter to being First Sword for Queen Byleth of Erugash. The countries and cities in this novel rely on a slave and master caste culture and Horace has his time of suffering as a slave before his latent powers in a very inventive sorcery come into the picture. Other perspectives in this fantasy world are shown through the actions of Alyra, a handmaiden of the queen and Jirom who is an ex-mercenary who now fights as a gladiator for his owners.

Readers who enjoy high action novels will certainly find that in this novel. Even though the start of the novel was somewhat slow in developing there was certainly enough action during the exhibition of the magical abilities by Horace and other sorcerers to get your heart pounding. I've not read any other novels by Jon Sprunk so I can't say if this style of writing is usual for him, but I would describe it as being on the sparse and elementary side when it came to description and dialogue. That was not completely to my personal taste and yet Sprunk does definitely get his points across. If you are already familiar with and enjoy other works by this author, I'm sure you will want to read this opening novel in a new series. If you aren't necessarily looking for lyrical prose, but prefer that the author give you more facts than fancy, this will also be a good reading experience for you. I do read quite a bit of fantasy literature and I would say this novel is standard in the amount of violence it contains. Especially considering that one of the main characters is a soldier and gladiator.

This was an interesting reading experience for me. I appreciated the unusual source of magical abilities and can see how the story arc concerning how to end slavery within this fantasy world will provide a lot of scope for the author to work with throughout the series.

After a providing a roller coaster ride of action in his first series (Shadow's Son), Jon Sprunk has come back meaner and rougher in the opening book of the Black Earth set. "Blood and Iron" leaves the reader little time to catch a breath as his hero rushes into and out of one life-threatening situation after another. As ever, Sprunk is at his best in descriptive battle scenes and developing believable and sympathetic characters. Well worth a lost night of sleep.

Blood and Iron was an exciting tale combining 3 unique characters from very different walks of life. For the most part I enjoyed reading the book as it was similar to others I have enjoyed in the past--free man becomes a slave only to find out that he has a `special' ability that puts him on the path to leadership, a good plot line no matter the take on it.

I really enjoyed the different take on how magic is used. The man had never heard of it and wasn't aware of how he was doing what he was doing. This made it more interesting as the story progressed. The loyalty shown between characters was heart-warming. In a world where feel-good stories seem to be gone, this one stands out.

The only issue that came up was it delved into a few social/political issues that seemed unnecessary. Take that away and you have a great storyline that involves action, romance, and magic... I can't ask for more and I'll be sure to recommend it to others.

Blood and Iron was an exciting tale combining 3 unique characters from very different walks of life. For the most part I enjoyed reading the book as it was similar to others I have enjoyed in the past--free man becomes a slave only to find out that he has a `special' ability that puts him on the path to leadership, a good plot line no matter the take on it.

I really enjoyed the different take on how magic is used. The man had never heard of it and wasn't aware of how he was doing what he was doing. This made it more interesting as the story progressed. The loyalty shown between characters was heart-warming. In a world where feel-good stories seem to be gone, this one stands out.

The only issue that came up was it delved into a few social/political issues that seemed unnecessary. Take that away and you have a great storyline that involves action, romance, and magic... I can't ask for more and I'll be sure to recommend it to others.

I was surprised by BLOOD AND IRON, part one of The Book of the Black Sun. Fantasy, this type anyway, is not my usual forte. But author jon Sprunk's writing style made the thing come alive for me. reading almost as a straight historical despite the magical elements.

Horace is a man marooned in the lands of the enemy, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. He discovers within himself a power, they call it zoana, he'd never known was in him.

he geys caught up in the politics of his new home, rising in status, makes a few friends, and sets off on an odyssey to change his world.

Quite enjoyable and ready for more.

There is a lot to like in a world built on magic, slavery, political/religious intrigue but with some weak character development this book is not great. The biggest flaw with the book is the relatively shallow protagonist. We are introduced to the lead as a shipwrecked crusader washing-up on the shore. Basically it feels like we are following an amnesiac as he recalls his past. Because the author is trying to draw him from a blank page, bit by bit as the story progresses, he comes across as very one dimensional as he is buffeted from one bad scenario to the next. This was an interesting (aka bad) choice because the author can write and builds a good set of interesting reasonably developed supporting characters.

The world building and pace are good. There are a lot of familiar themes here but they have been reworked enough that they are not dull. The crusaders vs locals themes are handled well and the author avoids the trap of a simple morality play which could detract from the action. There is a lot of political intrigue which does slow down the book and will probably annoy people who are looking for pure action/adventure.

Overall this is a good book and given that we do start to understand the protagonist at the end, I will be picking up the second book in the series.