4 out of 4 stars
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The 19th Bladesman by S.J. Hartland bears all the hallmarks of a great fantasy. It has intrigue, moral dilemmas, complex characters and an elaborate world-building. The novel is set in an alternate world with many moons and supernatural elements like sorcerers, ghouls and wraiths. This world has mountain lands, tidelands, isles and forests. The setting is exquisite, and the author has done a fantastic job of attributing certain characteristics to people from different lands.
Kaell is the nineteenth bladesman who is a warrior bonded to a god called Khir and is born to kill ghouls ravaging the lands. Ghouls are very similar to the vampires we know. They drink blood and cannot survive in daylight. Kaell is also the ward of Val Arques, an immortal, who is known to all as Lord Vraymorg, lord of the mountains. The story unfolds as Kaell runs away from Vraymorg due to youthful rebellion. This precipitates a series of events where a multitude of vibrant characters interacts with each other to bring about a delightful blend of fantasy fiction that is this book. There are the siblings, Heath and Judith Damadar, who thrive in political intrigue. There is another pair of siblings, Aric and Azenor Caelan, who are the descendants of Roaran Caelan whose sorcery has been defending the lands from the ghouls. An event occurs, which breaks this magic and the ghouls are set free. The ghouls’ god, Archanin, plays a significant role as the prime antagonist.
Many of the characters in this book are immensely complex. They cannot be judged as good or evil in the conventional sense. They do what they believe is right, which might not be the most judicious choice at that point. For example, Azenor travels to a magic land and spends a decade with an ancestor as his lover, and when she returns to the real world, she is ready to kill someone to get back to him. Aric decides to kill an innocent person to save his sister, but later repents and saves that same person.
The story is narrated from the perspective of various characters. I fell in love with each one of them, even the antagonists like Heath Damadar, who is a killer at heart and someone who thrives on chaos and mayhem. It is quite exceptional for a fantasy novel of this depth to contain humorous content, but the author has succeeded in infusing some characters with an endearing sense of humour. I quote:
There are plenty of multi-dimensional characters like Aric Caelan, who struggles between his duty and his empathy for Kaell. Lord Vraymorg is one of the most complicated characters I have seen in any fantasy. He has five centuries of experience, yet he is torn between love and duty. He struggles with his identity as a duty-bound soldier and his previous life as an Isles man. Even minor characters such as the sorceress Aingear, the warrior Pairas and the King Cathmor are given depth and colour."You’re the one who reads old stories in your creepy tower.”
“It’s called a library, Pairas.”
“Whatever. It still creeps."
If I were to state it simply, this novel would be ultimately the story of Kaell and Vraymorg- the bond they share and each realising what they expect of the other. Over the 625 pages of this book, we see Vraymorg struggling with his fatherly love for Kaell. On one hand, he is duty-bound to the king because of a century-old curse. On the other hand, he loves Kaell like a son and wants to protect him. Alternatively, Kaell is always motivated by his need to please Vraymorg.
Another significant characteristic of this book is that the violence of bondage, torture and rape is always towards men and sometimes inflicted by women. It explores a side not always resorted to in fiction; it is refreshing to burst out of gender stereotypes and show that men are equally vulnerable. This novel also upholds the freedom of a woman to take multiple lovers, just as a man can. The author is never crude while detailing the scenes of torture and darkness. The love scenes are beautiful and heart-wrenching sometimes. All the women characters possess a lot of power and mostly possess a nimble tongue. This leads to some extremely funny dialogue, and I loved it.
I can write many more paragraphs about this novel. However, I am worried I would wax poetic (like Kaell) and reveal spoilers. I was drowning in the world fashioned by S.J. Hartland. I loved each and every twist. There are many loose ends in the book, which I am sure will be tied up in the next of the Shadow Sword series. If I were to cite one thing that I disliked about the book, it would be the length. This was mostly because I was just extremely curious to know what would happen to the various characters immediately, and the length was a hindrance to this. So, this observation is absolutely subjective. Now that I have read the book, I do not want the book to be shorter. I will gladly read the next book in the series even if it is 800 pages long. I really wish there was a list of all the characters in the book at the end and a map to know the lay of the various lands. However, I did compile my own list of characters to track them throughout the story.
For a book of this size, it is challenging to have no typos. I did find two or three, but only because I was looking for them with an eagle’s eyes. Else, the book is perfectly edited in every way. In light of all the above, I give The 19th Bladesman by S.J. Hartland a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to anyone who loves being immersed in a fantasy world with supernatural beings and royal intrigue imbued with magic, curses and blood rituals. Any reader who loves complicated characters, morally grey areas and philosophical ponderings would drown willingly in this book. I would not recommend this book to someone who wants a shorter read, or to those who shy away from text containing gore, torture and pain. There are some love scenes and sexual content, but they are never vulgar or crude. Therefore, I would say any reader above the age of sixteen could read this novel.
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The 19th Bladesman
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