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The legend said that the weapon-bearers used them to defeat the Gods. That when these great warriors vanished and the memory of their actions was forgotten, their weapons were lost also. Not all of them though. Some were kept, preserved by men of knowledge. It is said that there will be a time when the people will try and use the living swords again, but when that time finally comes, one of them will disagree and steal its freedom from the hands of man.
A young orphan Philip, accepts the proposal of a mysterious wandering Asian warrior to assist him in his quests, after he promises him fame, wealth and titles. But in a world full of dangers and secrets, everyone has his own agenda and the young orphan realizes that if he wants to stay alive, he must learn to wield a Living Sword.
Unrated 3rd Edition
A young orphan Philip, accepts the proposal of a mysterious wandering Asian warrior to assist him in his quests, after he promises him fame, wealth and titles. But in a world full of dangers and secrets, everyone has his own agenda and the young orphan realizes that if he wants to stay alive, he must learn to wield a Living Sword.
Unrated 3rd Edition
ebook
First published April 10, 2011
About the author
Angelo Tsanatelis
31 books66 followersAngelo (Aggelos) Tsanatelis was born in Athens, Greece on Octomber 24th 1979. He lived for seven years in Bulgaria, where he studied Law at the University of Sofia. During his studies he traveled in Europe and Africa, taking part in 'famously daring expeditions' , visited mysterious locations or simply searched for hidden treasures in the most unlikely o' places' as he quoted himself in a interview in 2012.
After he finished his studies he worked in the private sector for several years before he realized his childhood dream and became an author.
He's currently working with Grimdux on the Old Realms series. A completely new fantasy world and novels. The first volume, Touch O' Luck will come out in early 2022.
for more info Biography from Wikia
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 27, 2011
A good fast read, with nice characters and lots of action. Interesting story overall that keeps you wanting for more. The ending was a surprise that brought the story at full circle. I recommend it.
May 17, 2011
Well I had great fun reading this one. The action is non-stop at times and the occasional humor adds to the whole atmosphere well. Nice historical setting and the concealed throughout the book back-story isn't revealed until the last pages. Loved the ending, very rewarding in my eyes. I am rooting for a sequel.
December 15, 2013
A touching tale, with a real-life common teen, as a protagonist, thrown into a violent, unforgiving world, from the very first page and asked to swim or die. I enjoyed it a lot and I eagerly wait for the sequel to come out. Simple, fast reading and funny.
June 27, 2011
I was pleasantly surprised. A good friend recommended it and I was hooked from the first page. Great story, a lovable protagonist and an ending that feels like a beginning. Thumbs up!
June 5, 2011
A good solid read, that doesn't shy away from difficult subjects nor try to hide its flaws. Although it introduces a number of very interesting characters, it doesn't get carried away, but rather stays on the protagonist throughout the story. I would prefer it to be longer, but as an introductory novel, it serves its purpose, that is to make the reader want, to read the sequel. Sharp like a blade and extremely violent at times, cunningly deceiving, through a number of unrelated incidents, that set a dark background of lies and selfish acts, it answers a part of the riddle with a clever ending.
August 1, 2011
I didn't see the ending coming from a mile and that alone was enough for me to give it five stars, in a sea of books that I can figure out in a heartbeat. But then it was really raw at times, thank god I know my way around indie books, extremely violent for my tastes and you have to really wait for any kind of romance to kick in. The second chapter changes the pace of the story somewhat, but again everything ends in a sea of blood. It has an extremely intriguing, background story though 3.5 stars.
August 1, 2011
At first I wasn't that impressed, it seemed like a story in the usual fantasy/adventure style, a boy first loses everything and must start from scratch. So little by little he climbs the social ladder etc. I thought yeah okay, so what? Well thanks to a friend that had warned me to stick around, I moved, I admit, quickly through this part of the book and then the whole thing changed. There is a backstory that slowly kicks in, two villains completely different from each other, and a number of characters that although not explained enough for my likes, they dictate the pace of the story in their own way. A tragic romance that moved me, a paranormal angle, plus the surprising ending, picked my interest enough as to what will happen, in the second volume of the series. Not a bad first novel, despite its understandable flaws, I will recommend it, especially to those liking blood and gore. The fights in this one are brutal!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2011
Well I just finished reading it. Wow, it was a fast read. Good story, with very interesting characters. A grant prologue in a way, for the sequels (two as I understand) that I've read, are on their final stages. I loved the fact that although opened-ended, this could serve as a standalone novel. But plainly it is not the whole story. Maybe a touch too violent, surprisingly romantic in its own way, with some really dubious villains, but you expect as much from a sword and sandal period novel.
PS. The Asian guy reminded me a little, of Yoda, in a less moral way.
PS. The Asian guy reminded me a little, of Yoda, in a less moral way.
August 1, 2011
After some getting used to, with the author's style, I enjoyed it, it was getting better & better as it moved along, until the unexpected finale; the battle scene at the end of the 1st chapter was epic! I've read the 2nd edition.
March 2, 2013
I started reading this book over a month back after the insistence of my brother who was entertained reading it; Then I forgot about it completely for a couple of weeks and started it again after the end of my classes on my Kindle.
The book is split into two parts. The events of the first part are unfolding mainly in Spain and Portugal and those of the second in Devon, England.
The story starts around 965 AD introducing the main character Philip a young orphan boy who in the first pages of the book during a Viking raid loses his foster family and barely escapes with his life. It continues unfolding from that point on following Philip through a number of years, introducing two main side characters Rousse a carefree healer and Xe an Asian warrior who becomes Philip's mentor. The main villain in this one is a Saracen lord who is terrorizing the land with his war-band, killing or enslaving whomever he sets his hands upon. When this man Azis attempts to kidnap a Saracen Princess Philip along with Xe intervene ruining his plans. The first part ends with Philip gravely injured after the fight with the warlord.
In the second part, an older Philip now a Captain of the Lisbon guard is embarking on a mission in England trying to win himself another title and possibly the hand of Princess Saida with whom he is infatuated. This is where the story becomes a little foggy. While it gives us a new romantic interested for the main character and one of the better parts of his story it follows an unconventional path I haven't encountered in fantasy before and ends introducing a character that had remained in the sidelines despite the fact he was the first one to speak, the Rootless. I didn't like the way it ended, although I can see, since a couple of more books came out since this one, how such an ending could help the author begin the series.
Characters: Philip is the one we are dealing the most, a young somewhat naive teenager, temperamental but with a sense of honor and duty that eventually dooms him. All the others fall into the same category, they have their moments and their backgrounds but the author never takes the time to tell us more about them. Most of the times our only point of view is that of Philip's and he, perhaps purposefully, hasn't the best grasp of things.
Plot: Straight forward dark fantasy novel with a major twist that I can see distracting readers, it didn't bond that well with me. On a side-note the scene with his son and Princess Saida at the end was heartbreaking.The twist is that although we are investing in the main character's adventures, perhaps foolishly so, this book is about the Living Sword. Aka the nameless Demon, who has a number of other interesting nicknames, but is undoubtedly the Rootless, that is trapped or imprisoned inside the weapon is the unlikely protagonist and although he has little screen time the whole story serves as a platform for him to step into the real world. Some other events I suppose they will be explained in the next books in the series.
Action/Rating/editing: Strong language, a lot of sword fighting, many gruesome killings, plenty descriptive scenes of dismemberment/disembowelment of live human beings. One battle towards the end of the first part treats the protagonist in an extremely cruel manner. For adult readers with a strong stomach for blood and violence. I read the unrated version which I believe must be the latest out. I encountered some odd translations but no major issues, nothing to keep me from reading.
Grade: Three point five stars.
The book is split into two parts. The events of the first part are unfolding mainly in Spain and Portugal and those of the second in Devon, England.
The story starts around 965 AD introducing the main character Philip a young orphan boy who in the first pages of the book during a Viking raid loses his foster family and barely escapes with his life. It continues unfolding from that point on following Philip through a number of years, introducing two main side characters Rousse a carefree healer and Xe an Asian warrior who becomes Philip's mentor. The main villain in this one is a Saracen lord who is terrorizing the land with his war-band, killing or enslaving whomever he sets his hands upon. When this man Azis attempts to kidnap a Saracen Princess Philip along with Xe intervene ruining his plans. The first part ends with Philip gravely injured after the fight with the warlord.
In the second part, an older Philip now a Captain of the Lisbon guard is embarking on a mission in England trying to win himself another title and possibly the hand of Princess Saida with whom he is infatuated. This is where the story becomes a little foggy. While it gives us a new romantic interested for the main character and one of the better parts of his story it follows an unconventional path I haven't encountered in fantasy before and ends introducing a character that had remained in the sidelines despite the fact he was the first one to speak, the Rootless. I didn't like the way it ended, although I can see, since a couple of more books came out since this one, how such an ending could help the author begin the series.
Characters: Philip is the one we are dealing the most, a young somewhat naive teenager, temperamental but with a sense of honor and duty that eventually dooms him. All the others fall into the same category, they have their moments and their backgrounds but the author never takes the time to tell us more about them. Most of the times our only point of view is that of Philip's and he, perhaps purposefully, hasn't the best grasp of things.
Plot: Straight forward dark fantasy novel with a major twist that I can see distracting readers, it didn't bond that well with me. On a side-note the scene with his son and Princess Saida at the end was heartbreaking.The twist is that although we are investing in the main character's adventures, perhaps foolishly so, this book is about the Living Sword. Aka the nameless Demon, who has a number of other interesting nicknames, but is undoubtedly the Rootless, that is trapped or imprisoned inside the weapon is the unlikely protagonist and although he has little screen time the whole story serves as a platform for him to step into the real world. Some other events I suppose they will be explained in the next books in the series.
Action/Rating/editing: Strong language, a lot of sword fighting, many gruesome killings, plenty descriptive scenes of dismemberment/disembowelment of live human beings. One battle towards the end of the first part treats the protagonist in an extremely cruel manner. For adult readers with a strong stomach for blood and violence. I read the unrated version which I believe must be the latest out. I encountered some odd translations but no major issues, nothing to keep me from reading.
Grade: Three point five stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2012
I don't say this about many books, but I can't make it through this one. It seems every other sentence has a grammar error, and it's just too distracting.
July 29, 2011
According to Aldiko, I'm at the 27th page of a total 160 that this book possesses, and I've encountered dozens of grammatical mistakes, and improper word uses. This writing is dreadfully boring, and sentence construction is headache-inducing.
Yes, you may think that I'm not giving this book a chance but, quite frankly, I'm not willing to spend time on something that reads like an inept high-schooler's D-grade essay. The only upside, as far as I can tell, is that I spent only $2 to get this on smashwords.
You should take away two words from this review: Stay. Away.
Yes, you may think that I'm not giving this book a chance but, quite frankly, I'm not willing to spend time on something that reads like an inept high-schooler's D-grade essay. The only upside, as far as I can tell, is that I spent only $2 to get this on smashwords.
You should take away two words from this review: Stay. Away.
February 1, 2012
A little difficult to follow until I got the hang of the odd translations, but then I got lost again at the end.
March 23, 2012
i didn't even finish this book....i found i just didn't care what happened. sorry angelo
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews