The Living Sword

Full review published at: https://talesfromabsurdia.com/book-reviews/the-living-sword-review/

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The Living Sword is a curious book.

It has a well-realised world with a good supporting cast, but the quality of writing is very inconsistent.

It's a mostly an enjoyable tale and whilst Janes's novella tends to be a bit tropey (chosen one / absent parents / Eurik doing lots of things ‘grimly'), it's very much the book equivalent of a popcorn ‘flick.

The Living Sword is fun, a little wacky at times, and worth the price of admission.

However, it needs much better editing – the writing is clumsy throughout.

It's also quite jarring thematically. It's a fantasy world, but immersion is broken every now and then with contemporary references.

Other times, characters will ‘charge up' their attacks as if it's a videogame or anime. It's clear where the author's influences come from, but they don't translate well to prose.

In fantasy fiction, immersion is so important, and little things like this can fracture a reader's belief in the fictional world.

And that's a shame, because there is some semi-decent world-building here.

Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable read and an earnest effort for a debut piece of writing.