Of War and Heroes Review Spotlight

 

 Of War and Heroes is the first book in Benjamin Sanford’s The Chronicles of Arax. This fantasy novel will blend magic with some scifi but will absolutely take readers on ride of a story that will keep you coming back for more.

Of War and Heroes draws the reader in with a cover depicting a fight scene between two warriors front and center. Their swords flashing – one with a white light, and the other with the colors like a flame. It appears that they are doing battle at a castle as towers loom in the background. To the right, is are a pair of men wielding guns shooting the enemy appearing on the left side of the cover and the monsters coming in from the sky. This cover alone promises a gripping novel to check out.

As the reader delves into Of War and Heroes they will be taken to a scene of a small farm. There readers will meet young Terin. Terin is preparing to leave his family behind and travel to the city. There he is being sent to work as a scribe and apprentice to Torry ambassador, Squid. Terin does not wish to leave his family behind, because he knows the hardships that they will endure without him, but he is sent on his way as they hope for him to have a better life than the one he currently leads.

Of War and Heroes is told from the third person perspective. Terin is an interesting character, and he is one that will be easy for readers to like and be drawn to. Little by little readers will discover that there is more to Terin than meets the eye. Whether it is Terin himself or the sword that his father has given him. He will have quite the journey ahead of him.

Of War and Heroes alternates between a variety of characters. There will not be any distinctions to let readers know when a new character is about to be the focal point of the story. The only indication that readers will get will be a slightly larger than usual gap between the paragraphs. These will be your clues that the story is about to shift to another character and leave the one you are currently following behind for the time being.

Initially, these transitions were confusing, but as we got the lay of the story we knew what to expect when we came across them. The pacing of the story tends to be slower when not immersed in a drama packed moment, but it still manages to keep the reader engaged and curious as to what is going to transpire next.

Expecting horrific monsters to be harassing the good people of this story? Well, there really won’t be any of those – just monstrous gargoyles who will rip you to shreds and devour you. Author Sanford does an excellent job playing up the horrors these creatures wreck on the people of various towns.

Brace yourself for tales of horror and heartbreak as several of the characters (mostly side characters) will relate stories that will make you truly hate the gargoyles and their true cruelty.

Readers get a nice variety of characters in this book. You get people who hail from Earth – Raven and his crew, who came on a space ship and became stranded due to not having the parts to repair the ship. Then you have soldiers that Terin meets and befriends on his way to Rego to take up his new role as a scribe.

Author Sanford will tease readers with the fear that negative drama will unfold in the least inopportune of moments, especially in an early scene that plays out with Terin and when he meets Cronus after he, Terin, nearly gets robbed by an ocran thief.

The pace of this story is slower than we would have liked at times, but then things do ramp up and this book becomes a real page-turner. To be expected there is a lot of back and forth when it comes to the pacing. It could be that we were simply finding our stride in the story, or that is just the true pace, but it creates an interesting story.

Towards the end author Sanford begins to seed readers with the feeling that things are heading towards a cliff. Terin is about to find himself being hunted by the enemy, as will Cronus. How will this play out for these two characters? Terin is still learning and discovering more about his sword, but now more danger lies in store for him.

It will definitely be interesting to see where things go from here. Packed with fantasy, drama, some romance sprinkled in, an enemy on the march with the intent to dominate all, this book is sure to delight many a reader who enjoys epic fantasy!

Pros:

• Page-turner
• Good storytelling
• Dynamic
• Nice variety of characters
• Leaves you wanting more

Cons:

• Pacing was slow at times

5 out of 5 stars

                                                                       

Want your own copy? Click on your favorite book seller to grab one today! 

AMAZON: https://amzn.to/4di1JKO 

B&N: Of War and Heroes by Benjamin Sanford, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/of-war-and-heroes/20730727?ean=9798988624905  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195882224-of-war-and-heroes?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_16