Book Review: Broken Blade (Fallen Blade, #1) by Kelly McCullough
Broken Blade (Fallen Blade, #1) by Kelly McCullough. © 2011 Ace. ISBN 9781937007089. Mass Market Paperback. Fantasy. 288 pages. Source: review copy provided by the publishers.
“Once a fabled Blade of Namara, Aral Kingslayer fought for justice and his goddess alongside his familiar, a living shadow called Triss. Now with their goddess murdered and her temple destroyed, they are among the last of their kind. Surviving on the fringes of society, Aral becomes a drunken, broken, and wanted man, working whatever shadowy deal comes his way. Until a mysterious woman hires him to deliver a secret message-one that can either redeem him or doom him.” – back cover
My Review –
Broken Blade is the first in an all-new high fantasy series by the author of the Webmage books. Our protagonist is Aral Kingslayer, a former Blade of Namara who now hides, taking odd jobs as a jack (“a jack of shadows, the underworld’s all-purpose freelancer…”). The Blades were once followers of the Goddess—noble assassins of the unjust and amoral—but the Goddess was murdered and her temple destroyed by the Son of Heaven. The Blades were hunted down and Aral believes he is the only one left. Read more
“Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and—after much political and moral debate—made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems—including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors.” — from back cover
Synopsis: The near future. The United States isn’t so much. There are forty-four states remaining and that number is tenuous. The country is in economic collapse. And a good portion of the population is addicted to a drug called Flashback. With the world in such chaos, who would want to live in it when it’s possible to relive the earlier, better times? You can be with your loved ones who have died, you can once again experience the life that was before The Day It All Hit The Fan. Or, in the case of the flash gangs who run rampant, you can relive the crimes you commit, getting that “rush” without the risk. (Though really there is no risk for the flash gangs because law enforcement is so overrun that frankly the gangs are not a priority.)
Synopsis: Three year ago, an object one hundred miles across was spotted on a trajectory for Earth’s sun. Now, it’s journey is almost over. As it approached, two competing manned vehicles race through almost half a million kilometers of space to reach it first. But when they both arrive on the entity, they learn it has been sent toward Earth for a reason. An intelligent race is desperately attempting to communicate with our primitive species. And the message is: Help us.
Synopsis: Chicago, 2064: Talon Avalon is a timecaster–one of a select few peace officers who can operate a TEV, the Tachyon Emission Visualizer, which records events (most specifically, crimes) that have already happened. With crime at an all-time low, Talon has little to do except give lectures to school kids and obsess on his wife’s profession as a licensed sex partner. Until one of her clients asks Talon to investigate a possible murder. When Talon uses the TEV to view the crime, the identity of the killer is unmistakable—it’s him, Talon Avalon.
Synopsis: The world is only half made. What exists has been carved out amidst a war between two rival factions: the Line, paving the world with industry and claiming its residents as slaves; and the Gun, a cult of terror and violence that cripples the population with fear. The only hope at stopping them has seemingly disappeared—the Red Republic that once battled the Gun and the Line, and almost won. Now they’re just a myth, a bedtime story parents tell their children, of hope.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. © 2008 Children’s High Level Group. ISBN 978-0-7475-9987-6. Hardcover. Fiction. 109 pages. $12.99 US. [ 
