Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia

Synopsis: Ashok Vadal has been chosen by a powerful ancient weapon to be its bearer. He is a Protector, the elite militant order of roving law enforcers. No one is more merciless in rooting out those who secretly practice the old ways. Everything is black or white, good or evil, until he discovers his entire life is a fraud. Ashok isn’t who he thinks he is, and when he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, the consequences lead to rebellion, war – and destruction.

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Another random pick.

I’ve not read anything by Larry Correia before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  There’s a huge amount of familiar ground here.  I don’t want to name names but it’s easy to tell what the author’s been reading.  I can’t stand it when people blatantly copy from another author’s work.  It just seems so lazy and pointless.

There’s something about Larry though.  Maybe there’s just some source material that he’s read and that I haven’t.  Unlike a lot of other people he’s not a goodreads author so I can’t actually check what he’s read.  I don’t think so though.  I don’t hate this book, and as far as I can tell there are two main reasons; he respects the source material, and he’s a good writer.

It’s not perfect.  There’s room for improvement here, as everywhere.  Not much, though.  There’s a range of characters.  The main is charismatic and likable.  There are shades of gray, and it’s not a straight up good vs. evil showdown, there are multiple factions here.  Unlike some of what I’ve been reading, the main character actually undergoes some personal growth, though proportionately and realistically, with the view from the beginning of a series.

Yes.  Definitely give this one a go.  Sons of the Black Sword could have been plagiarism but instead complements several bestselling fantasy series.