Book Review: The Mortal Blade by Christopher Mitchell

 The Mortal Blade by Christopher Mitchell

This is the first book in a series of fantasy novels about a City under eternal siege. The main characters are involved in the military and their efforts to keep the city safe from the Greenhides who constantly press towards it. There are dragons, powerful gods and a bunch of twists and turns.

I enjoyed this book. I felt it was a bit slow to get started, but once I got into it, I wanted to keep reading. I liked Maddie, her growth over the course of the book and her relationship with those she works with is great.

Corthie Holdfast was a new Champion brought to help on the front lines, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about him. He’s interesting, and he has a real ‘fish out of water’ feel as he gets used to his new home and role. He grew on me, though.

I did find his sudden use of Scottish vernacular a bit jarring. For a fantasy setting, it was quite a shock to suddenly read the term ‘bawbags’ in the dialogue. But I think that also highlights that Corthie is very different from the people of the City.

Altogether an entertaining read and I will likely end up reading more in the series in the future. The world building is good and I think the characters are interesting. I do feel like the ending was a little unsatisfying as nothing had really been achieved and there was a real cliffhanger. But we’ll see. Four stars from me. 

Emi the Cat Lady 😽