I had the chance to preview Blood of an Exile, out this August, and it looks to be an exciting adventure into a new fantasy kingdom where dragons are aplenty and exiled men are indentured to slay them until they meet an untimely demise. There’s an interesting dynamic across the kingdom in relation to the dragonslayers and their reputations. To the common folk, the dragonslayer Bershad is an immortal legend. People cower in fear at his feet or bow at the sight of him. You expect to find a venerable knight and instead, we’re met with a drunk beast of a man who merely got lucky and has slain dozens of dragons. The book is partially an expose on the making of a tall tale, showing us the man behind the myth and the many quirks that take him from god to regular man. It’s quite intriguing to see that disconnect.

The story itself has a great beginning, promising a dangerous trek to a far off part of the kingdom, filled with battles and mysteries aplenty. Bershad has a compelling backstory in a medieval soap opera kind of way, fulfilling the jilted lover sent to die a gruesome death role, only to succeed and prove his hateful king wrong. This is definitely a world where dragons are quite common, considered more of a nasty predator or pest than some mystical being to be revered.

Overall, Blood of an Exile promises to be a well-done epic fantasy, complete with heroic battles, death-defying acts, and the continuation of a misunderstood hero’s story.

Preview to be published on 5/13: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/05/13/previewing-blood-of-an-exile

I'm going to assume this was an uncorrected proof, even though it didn't state that at the beginning. At least I hope it was.

The story was ok and the writing was pretty good. I liked a few of the characters but wasn't attached to any of them.

That ending was abrupt, to say the least. I know it was the first book in a series, but literally nothing was resolved and it made it feel incomplete. Frankly, it was so incomplete that I won't be reading anymore of the series. I feel like I wasted my time.

I loved this preview but there's a big issue: it was just a preview and now I must read the rest of the book.
I loved what I read and it left me craving for more.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Seems like it would be an interesting book. I would like to read more tho.
Thanks for the preview.