Tempest Blades: The Withered King by Ricardo Victoria – ARC Review

Thank you to the author and Shadow Dragon Press for providing me with this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available on August 20th.

This book is centered around Fionn, wielder of the sword Tempest Blade. He has kind of dropped out of life after his past fills him with loss and an overwhelming sense of guilt. He gets a chance to set things right when his friend, Harland asks for help finding a missing person. Fionn has unique abilities that make him an invaluable asset, especially where magic is concerned.

Fionn was a fun character. He had that self-loathing part of him, but he was also well aware of his abilities and how useful he could be. It was a good juxtaposition, one that was balanced skillfully. On his own, Fionn might have been too much, but the addition of two other characters- Alex and Gaby made the story work. Alex was well written  but Gaby is the one who stood out. Her skills at butt-kickery made her a blast to read. It’s always a pleasure to read a character like that.

The story read a bit like a video game- and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It was a fun, fast book, full of action beats. It was also surprisingly introspective and deep. As entertaining as it was, this is ultimately a book about second chances. I found it highly enjoyable.