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Wednesday 10 July 2019

BOOK REVIEW: Tempest Blades - The Withered King, by Ricardo Victoria


One of the delights of writing is the authors you work alongside - and especially seeing their work take shape over time. I've been delighted to see Ricardo Victoria make progress toward his first novel's publication - and it's coming out soon. I had the chance to read an advance review copy of the novel - and here's my review. Oh, and I should point out - I'm in the book! One of the characters is named after me. So, be advised that my character is of course brilliant...


This is not something you've read before. 
Tempest Blades - The Withered King is the first novel from Ricardo Victoria, and like just about everything he writes, this is bursting with ideas. 
To try to contain Ricardo's ideas is like trying to contain jelly with elastic bands. He's exuberant, he's bubbly - and he's bristling with imagination. 
Let me tell you what Tempest Blades is. It's a fantasy epic. No, wait, it's an anime-style adventure. Hang on, no, it's a science fiction escapade on another world. But hold up, here are roots of Ricardo's Mexican heritage. And Celtic myth. And a cartoon team-up of mighty heroes. It is a steampunk extravaganza with a soaring airship. It is science, and magic, and the science that underpins magic. It is tragic, it is witty. It is each of these things. It is all of these things. 
This is not something you've read before. 
It all begins with an ancient battle, before a flash-forward in time to a mystery of a missing professor. One by one, the team of heroes assemble as the mystery reveals a greater danger. An ancient danger. A danger that the seemingly immortal Fionn had thought long gone. 
Ricardo really handles the build-up of this team well - it reads like episodes of a series, each of which adds an extra layer to what has gone before. Before you know it, you have come to know a whole team of heroes, and care for each of them. Just in time for their world to start falling apart. 
So hop aboard. It's a science fantasy epic that bursts with originality. It is new, it is fresh, and it makes the imagination soar.
In short, this is not something you've read before. 

AI Rating: 5/5


Tempest Blades is available at various outlets - including Amazon here.


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