I came across this book in the book list for the @the_fold and as I had recently decided to take a break from literary fiction, I decided to grab it from the library. I am sure glad I did! 

The story follows Tau, a young man living in a land of perpetual war between his people - colonizers of the country- and the native tribes. He was born and raised in one of the lower castes of his rigidly divided society, forcing on him the destiny to fight at the front lines, and not expected to be much more than fodder. However, he is found by a commander that has been given privileges to try new training techniques with his unit in a bid for stronger soldiers. Tau has only one goal of vengeance against those who hurt his family. But he learns to fight with two swords and soon earns a name for himself amongst all the training camps, and at the same time, rattles the cages of the caste system that all are born into and none can escape.

It took me a few chapters to get into, but once I was in, it was like being strapped in a roller coaster. No getting off, no stopping, and only action until the last page is flipped. What really stood out to me is how masterfully Evan Winter wrote all the fight scenes (and there are a lot). In one of the FOLD workshops, he says he edits until the words disappear, and WOW does that work. I felt like I could see each step and swing and block in my head, without pause or break as I read. It actually did feel like the book wasn’t there. 

The story was also very engaging. There’s magic, demons, and dragons, but unlike some high fantasy, I wouldn’t say there is a “Big bad” in the form of the Pure Evil Villain, but rather the conflict is the caste system and those upholding it, and colonialism and those who benefit from it. Tau is single minded in his goal, but puts pretty decent dents in these systems to achieve it. The second in the series, Fires of Vengeance is already in my grasp and I’m super excited to see where it goes from here.