Review: Six Sacred Swords

Six Sacred Swords by Andrew Rowe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ahh, here's a nice little change from Andrew Rowe. After two meaty paper bricks in the Arcane Ascension series, here, Rowe shifts focus to Keras with a sort of prequel spinoff, presented as a story which Keras tells while on a long ride abroad with Corin and company at the end of On the Shoulders of Titans. It's a much shorter book than the first two Arcane Ascension novels were, and is a hell of a lot of fun to read, in one sitting no less. Though there are some nods to this universe's complex geopolitics, religion, and magic systems, it's a more straightforward story here of Keras just doing some Keras things. Like meeting a dragon who proves to be quite a match for him in combat, but just as much fun to have around as a companion (and helps this story pair pretty well with L.R. Lam's Dragonfall). Or Dawnbringer, a hilarious sapient sword who knows full well this isn't any old Arthurian legend. It's hard to say whether or not this book's blatant cliffhanger is meant to lead into its own sequel, or the third Arcane Ascension book, but the latter is luckily already atop the pile of library books on my desk, so I'll be starting it next.

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