The Certainty of Blood by Tim Frankovich, I enjoyed this book, it had a unique power system and a good storyline.

What a great story! Absolutely loved the MC Aldan/Clanless and was fully engrossed in his story throughout. Loved the world building and setting of the novel and the premise of the arenas.

Although I usually do not like novels that flit back and forth between the past and future I actually think the author did this very well and it tied the story up at the end where the two timelines met very smoothly!

There is an interesting magic system which was never fully explained leaving mystery and more to find out in future instalments but enough info was given to be able to understand what was happening.

I really enjoy very plot focused novels and this one moved at a fairly fast pace and there were no periods in the book that felt like “fillers”. Every part of the story was relevant!

Thanks Warpsteel Press/Netgalley for the eARC!

Unfortunately, I've hit a stretch of books that, when I've read them, are just... okay. This makes them difficult to review, hence my brevity. I really loved the concept, but I lacked proper connection with the character, story, and world, and for such an interesting concept, the execution needs to live up... and for this, it didn't.

Thanks to Tim & Netgalley for the opportunity to read & review!

Clanless has become the empire's champion, and its not long until he buys his freedom from the gladiator arena. He has just one more fight against a well known revolutionary, on a big festival day! But there are warnings that this won't be a sure thing!

The Certainty Of Blood is a chance for us to read fantasy done differently. The story focuses on Clanless' rise from an outcast, due to his magical ability, to a beloved champion. The actual story is well written, the characters are real, and the magic system very interesting. The action is almost non-stop and magic, while not huge in The story, its is still integral.

This book was given a blurb, relating it to name I'd the wind. While the story style is a little remiscint, that's really the only similarly. This however doesn't detract from the book.

Enjoyed the book

This is an okay book not a great book. My problem with it is it is more of a character sketch than a story. There is no real plot to it just past explanation and "now" happenings. The main character is forced into slavery by a corrupt priesthood who fears his power. He is a gladiator slave and his only opportunity for freedom is to buy it. The society he lives in is built on blood, both sacrificed and stolen. Even the currency is blood. Apparently their goddess demands it. You get a rich detailed backstory on this character and he has a difficult decision to make in the now. But there is no plot. Simply the life of the character as a gladiator slave who wants to be free. Even when his master is pure evil he doesn't really want to kill him or anything he just wants to do his time and earn his freedom. He is a bit bland in that way. The world itself also lacks in depth description. You don't know how or why the magic system works the way it does, or why blood is so important that it is a currency. Just that the goddess demands blood. This leaves you wondering all the time. So it's an okay book, but not a great one. Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this surprisingly really good book. I’m usually dissatisfied with most Indie books but this one was very well written with a simple but unique magic system and great character development! I’m also a sucker for gladiator stuff so I may be biased to this more than most people! 🫶🏻 ⚔️

The story follows Ardan who get banished from his clan, branded a slave, and name changed to “Clanless”. He must use this name his whole life, never father children, and never cover his brand. All for being “tainted” which means he has the ability to burn blood.
Blood is worth a lot in this world. You might say, “well John, isn’t blood worth a lot in this world too?” Why yes Goodreads Buddy, but in this world blood is currency, life, and a form of magic. Slave owners have the ability to control you through a blood bond. If you escape from him/her your body will stiffen up for example.

The blurb of this book references Name of the Wind. While not an outlandish reference, it’s only similar in the fact that it goes in and out of the past to tell his story, which I love that so much and very thankful that it’s becoming a normal form of storytelling.

Most of the story follows Ardan’s, excuse me, Clanless’ journey as a gladiator. His goal is to gain as much blood as he can, which he gathers a portion off the dead bodies he’s killed in the arena, and buy his way to freedom and start a life with his love interest Kekeen. Gaining friends is difficult. Some friends die in the arena and some friends you must actually face in the arena. Ardan never loses his sanity and you find out at the end of the book how he’s able to keep it all together and has a nice twist for his fate. Very much looking forward to next book in the series as well as his other series.

I received this eARC courtesy of Netgalley, the Author and Warpsteel Press.

This is a coming of age fantasy centered around gladiator-like fighting, along with some magical elements. Aldan was banished as a child from his clan, had his family and name stripped from him, was branded a slave, and sold to the arena for the crime of having tainted blood. His name then becomes "Clanless".

In this society blood is everything. It's life, power, and sometimes money. It's used to perform magic, healing, etc. It's also used to control, such as with a bloodbond. Clanless can't, for example, run away from this awful way of life because of the bond. The holder of the bloodbond has total control over those bonded. His only chance of legal escape comes with surviving the arena battles and accruing X-amount of his deceased opponents' blood in order to purchase his freedom. He is determined to accomplish this goal at all costs.

The tale begins in the now, after Clanless has just killed another arena fighter. Then he starts to reminisce and we go back in time to the start of this travesty when he was still Aldan. We see how the ugly events unfold to the present.

I liked the characters for the most part. There were some good enigmatic characters, particularly Bain and Kan the trainer. The bloodwraith was a neat concept, too. On the other hand, the evil priesthood was a tiresome trope. It's gotten to the point in fantasy books that if there is a religion in the tale the priests are evil and the followers are fanatics. Another negative is the relationship between the male and female leads: it was kind of insta-love-ish. At least the MC wasn't a total special snowflake. He had an ability, but it apparently wasn't exclusive to him. He didn't leave his fights unscathed, and sometimes he only won by the skin of his teeth. I did enjoy watching Clanless evolve as a character, and it wasn't always for the better. That was definitely one of this story's strengths.

The book really could have been pared down somewhat without losing any integrity. It was 600+ pages, and I didn't think all of the details were strictly necessary. 300+ pages were devoted to three years of the MC's daily grind, for example. Because of this, I didn't have any problems setting it aside. I didn't dislike it; it was just too much information at times. All of this said, the build up towards the ending was terrific. That part of the book made up for everything else. Ironically, once I reached the end I found myself wishing that there was more!

Fantasy readers really into gladiators or arena fighting would probably enjoy this one. If there is to be a sequel I'll be reading it.

Aldan’s ability to burn the blood of others didn’t do him much good. If anything, it made him a slave and an arena fighter. Also, he’s hearing voices. From his own blood. Dope. But handy. The voice helps Aldan to become the greatest arena fighter of his time. But winning just for winning is lame; Aldan does it for freedom and love. There’s one more fight to win, with a rebel leader hailed as “the Chosen One”.

The characters here are well-developed characters, the plot mostly exciting plot, and unique magic system dope. I also enjoyed the setting and world-building. I think the book could be shorter, but it’s suspenseful and emotionally compelling enough to keep the reader engaged until the very end.

With its memorable characters, solid plot, and intriguing setting, it’s worth a shot.

A good plotted and entertaining story, powerful characters, and a gripping plot. An entertaining book I recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I loved every minute of this book and needed more from some of the characters because it is so amazing. You get just the right amount of angst and suspense in this story that it will leave you wanting for more and at the edge of your seat.