Book Review: Nightblades Vengeance by Ryan Kirk

Title: Nightblade’s Vengeance

Author: Ryan Kirk

Series: Blades of the Fallen #1

Genre: Fantasy 

Publisher: 47 North

Pub Date: October 24, 2017

Pages: 333

My Copy: Courtesy of 47 North and NetGalley

Book Summary:

In a thrilling fantasy series from the author of the Nightblade novels, revenge becomes a quest for a young female warrior.

In a feudal land, a Kingdom is at risk. With no heir to the fragile throne, its future rests with the powerful members of the dying king’s Council, including Minori, a nightblade warrior, and Kiyoshi, a dayblade healer. The two men are bound by the sword but divided by two opposing principles: rule the land, or serve it. In their challenge for supremacy, a spark has been lit.

Her name is Asa. Her creed is revenge.

A fierce nightblade warrior, she’s spent a decade in pursuit of the enigmatic general who killed her father in a violent revolt—then mysteriously vanished from all records. Now, her desire for reckoning has led her to the village of Two Falls—and straight into the heart of an impending civil war. Minori and Kiyoshi are vying for her loyalty. And Asa must choose sides.

As fresh betrayals unfold and a new uprising looms, Asa knows that chasing a ghost is no longer just a personal quest for retribution. It’s going to alter the fate of the entire Kingdom.

Book Review:

This was an interesting first book in a series. What I like is that we get to see very dynamic and interesting people living their lives after a great tragedy has occurred and it has affected all of our characters in very interesting and complex ways. Asa is a very strong heroine and so are the other characters in this.

I like the way that the story is set up. We don’t begin with our heroine, but rather with what happened at a place that changed everything for everyone. This massacre is terrible for everyone involved because this affects all the characters in the story in different ways. Two Falls is an absolute disaster. A lot of people who mean a lot die at this conflict. The Prince dies, Asa’s father dies and many others die as well. The Prince’s death means there is no heir for the Kingdom and that has dire consequences for the Kingdom. Asa loses the person who she loves and the man who provides for his family by someone who comes to her home and identifies this girl as having the ability for being a nightblade.

We fast forward to the present somewhat 20 years later and learn that things are not good. There are a lot of lords that want to be King and no one knows who will become King. This causes a lot of uncertainty in the Kingdom. Then there’s Asa who is single minded in finding a Nightblade by the name of Osamu. She blames him for all the problems in her life and the reason her father died. Her father’s death caused her mother to later die, and then her brother working himself so hard to maintain it, and then he would die. So for her, this is about revenge and what her life has become, to find this man. She manages to do things that one would not suspect.

There is a day blade named Kyoshi, who has been healing  the King. It’s only a matter of time before the King dies. So of course there are things that have to happen and be dealt with. The Night Blades are also people that have to be dealt with. Some believe them to have too much control, others think that they are needed to help maintain peace. Minori and Kyoshi both have different viewpoints, but realize that when the King dies, without a clear successor that another civil war could start between three lords, all with very big armies. So both of them realize that they need to start to talk to all the lords and things happen that no one sees coming.

Asa also gets some information. Yet, it’s like the man she is hunting, Osamu has vanished. No one has seen him since the massacre. She is very determined to find this man who basically caused her family’s demise. There are also some people that Asa fights in a way that she never expected. She also finds that a lot of people want to try to forget what happened at the massacre, but to Asa it has been her reason. 

When she gets attacked, it’s someone unexpected who helps her. She learns from both Kyoshi and Minori things that both challenge her view points on things. I love how all three of these characters interact and give each other a lot of food for thought on life, revenge, and what the future could bring. Also one of the Lords, Lord Shin plans a coup and succeeds at it unfortunately which puts Minori in a very bad position.

The King is very slowly dying and that makes things all the more perilous in a way. Kyoshi is doing everything that he can, but realizes that it’s only a matter of time and is trying to get a message to another lord. When Kyoshi is gone and Asa is left to care for the dying King, something happens. The King reveals a secret to Asa and accidentally calls Kyoshi Osamu and that makes Asa very upset to be lied to. Asa doesn’t like to be lied to. No one would like this. You actually understand her anger and how she has to take matters into her hands.

This book ended in a very unexpected way. I like the fight and how all three of our main characters met their fates in different ways. Like how nothing is going to be the same for Asa or Minori now that things have played out. Also like how the future is now going to be what they make of it and live in a new world.

Rating:

4 Hearts