In a series of flashback chapters, the story is revealed how he is chosen by the sword at age five.

Also, each house has a black blade that chooses who gets to use it.Īshok the Protector has been a member of the order for 20 years which is the enlistment time. There are black swords that contain memories of past users. There is a mention of two moons in the sky so that with other clues, this novel could be classified as a sword and planet novel. No one can go into the ocean without being eaten by the demons. A hero is sent in a metal ship to defeat them or rather the demons are driven into the ocean. The demons arrived hundreds of years ago “falling from the sky” and rampaging. The story starts out running with an attack by two “demons.” There is a military order called the Protectors who put down rebellions, enforce “The Law,” and battle demons. There is a caste system and at least some of the names are Indian (“Ashok” for example). The world is a small continent called Lok, divided into somewhat feudal rule by “Houses.” There is a capital in the desert. Style wise, Son of the Black Sword is somewhere between sword and sorcery and epic fantasy. This story is a flashback chapter in the second half of the book a character from the story/chapter has met up with Ashok Vadal, the main character of the novel. I had read an excerpted chapter as story in Shattered Shields (“The Keeper of Names”). There is a map of the world of Saga of the Forgotten Warrior. Son of the Black Sword is published by Baen Books, $8.99, 532 pages, cover by Larry Elmore.

The book is listed as part of “Saga of the Forgotten Warrior.” At Correia’s blog, the two future volumes are entitled: House Assassin and Destroyer of Worlds. So I picked up a book of what if scenarios in the remaindered section for my credit card purchase and a few weeks later the gift card arrived.Ĭorreia’s Son of the Black Sword was one of my purchases. All you have to do is use the credit card once and you get the gift card. In October, I was in the local Barnes & Noble store when I was offered a $25.00 gift card if I signed up for a B&N credit card. By that time, the hardback of Son of the Black Sword had been out since October 2015 and the mass market paperback was about to be published. This past summer, I read “The Keeper of Names” in Shattered Shields. His story really stuck out in comparison to the rest of the stories in that anthology. The only fiction of his that I had read was “The Great Sea Beast” in Kaiju Rising. When I had heard that Larry Correia had written a fantasy novel, I took notice.

Son of the black sword by larry correia