Customer Reviews

Sasha (A Trial of Blood and Steel, Book I)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov Science Fiction novels. With Sasha he left the Science Fiction world and moved to Fantasy. Sasha starts slower and did not catch me as quickly as The Cassandra Kresnov novels. Much of the book is taken up with setting up the complex world and the characters needed for the next books in the series. There is action and adventure, stress and tension, combined with complex family and clan interaction. While one problem is solved the stage is set to further drama. This is a good start for a new series and I look forward to the next books.

Sasha is the first volume in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL, a projected 4-book fantasy series by Australian author Joel Shepherd, who previously also published a science fiction trilogy called the CASSANDRA KRESNOV series. His novels have been available in Australia for several years, and are now being released in the US thanks to Pyr, with Petrodor, the next volume in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL, due out in March 2010. Based on the strength of Sasha, I expect Joel Shepherd to become a well-known name in US fantasy circles soon.

The land of Lenayin is spiritually divided into two different religions. The Goeren-yai faith, which is the original Lenayin religion and embraced by most of the common people, has a pagan flavor, its adherents guided by spirits and focused on strength and honor. The Verenthane belief more closely resembles a traditional organized religion and counts the vast majority of Lenayin's nobility amongst its followers. When the sole remaining Goeren-yai High Lord kills a neighboring province's Verenthane leader, a complex conflict begins that threatens to tear apart the fragile balance keeping Lenayin together.

In this setting we encounter the novel's fascinating heroine, Sasha (short for Sashandra), a younger daughter of the Lenay king who has abandoned her royal privileges to live among the Goeren-yai and study svaalverd fighting techniques with Kessligh, the hero of a past war with neighboring Cherrovan. She has also adopted the Nasi-Keth, a third belief system that follows the teachings of the non-human serrinim. Sasha is an interesting protagonist -- a supremely talented sword fighter, but temperamental, stubborn, and torn in different directions by her desire to lead a simple life studying swordwork on the one hand, and the call of history and duty on the other hand... especially when it becomes clear that the Goeren-yai believe she is guided by the Synnich spirit that will liberate them from Verenthane oppression.

Complex as all of this may sound, it's only a very crude sketch of the intricate and frankly huge fantasy world Joel Shepherd has created in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL. The novel introduces or hints at several other plot threads, and the country of Lenayin, which this entire novel is set in, barely takes up 5% of the map. It's very clear that there is a huge amount of space and story left for the next novels in the series to explore and develop, but at the same time, Sasha is a self-contained story. While the novel starts out slow due to the understandable need for some basic exposition early on, it quickly ratchets up the intensity to the point where I had trouble putting it down, and reaches an explosive conclusion.

One minor criticism: Sasha has a LOT of characters, and unfortunately, several of them have quite similar names. Not counting the historical names, the cast list has 66 names, and almost 50 of those contain the letter Y: Jaryd, Daryd, Garys... Tyrun, Tarryn, Tarynt... the Lords Usyn Telgar and Udys Varan... You get the idea. There's really nothing wrong with this in principle, but combined with the slower pace of the first few chapters, it makes this novel a bit harder to get into than it could be, and impatient readers may unfortunately lose interest and miss out on the big pay-off later on.

Aside from that minor point, I thought Sasha was excellent, especially given that this is Joel Shepherd's first fantasy novel. It offers a huge fantasy world, a fascinating heroine, heart-pounding descriptions of both small-scale sword fights and full-on warfare, several characters that genuinely grow and change, and -- maybe most importantly -- the hint that this is just the start of what could become a great series. While I wouldn't rank it quite as high as George R.R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, I think Sasha will go down very well with fans of that series because it shares some of its characteristics, including its huge scope and cast, its focus on politics and noble intrigue, and (at least in the early novels of ASoIaF) the almost complete absence of magic and mystical creatures. Based on the cover art of the recent Pyr edition (which, to my eyes, unfortunately resembles a screen capture of a bad video game and made more than one person ask me if this is a YA novel), I had low expectations for this novel, but those were quickly blown out of the water. Sasha is an excellent epic fantasy novel that promises great things for the rest of the series. Recommended.

first time I have given a 5 star review on a free kindle book. very nice pace, great characters, the first book is setting up the "the world" but bear with it, its not so hard. IT is over in a few chapters and the story takes over. I totally enjoyed the strong female characters! there is a nice depth to the book. some good insights into some "world wise questions". the only fault might be in the end scenes where a one of the hero's has a broken arm, and ribs and still carry's another off the field...hm... well it is fantasy.
definitely getting the next book. a great read.

Sasha is a bit of an oddity, it is hard to place it in a specific genre. It is almost a young adult coming of age story, but not quite. it has the feel, setting and sound of a fantasy story, but there are no elements of magic and no fantastic creatures in sight.

Sasha is the apprentice of great swordsman Kessligh, daughter of the King and a woman of her own making. She simply does not care what others thing, she follows her own heart and mind and thinks little of the consequences her actions bring. I thought Sasha was an exceptional character. She isn't perfect; she certainly has her faults, but that only makes her more intriguing. She does a great deal of growing up over the course of the story, mostly because she is forced to.

I loved all of the characters, mainly Sasha and Jayrd; a young heir to the lordship of Tyree. I was a particular fan of their relationship; theirs was a great friendship to watch unfold. At the start of the book they are both weary of one another, but as time progresses, they begin to understand, respect and enjoy one another.

I always struggle with high fantasy novels, trying to keep the names of different things straight. Now, like I said I always struggle a bit with these novels, but I thought my brain might explode while reading Sasha. There are an absolute plethora of characters and many of the names look and sound a lot of like. For example there is Terjellyn, Teriyan, Tarynt, Captain Tyrun, Lord Tymeth Pelyn, Tarryn, Lord Rashyd, Lord Rydysh, Lord Krayliss and Kessligh. I could keep going, but I think you get the idea. Do you see why I got a bit confused? To help with this, there is a series of maps and a complete list of characters with their nationality and brief description - a sort of cheat-sheet chart in the beginning of the book. I found myself flipping back to this a lot during the first half of the book, while I was still putting things together in my head. It got to be a bit distracting, but at least it helped me piece together exactly what was happening. I am not going to lie to you, I began to just keep reading through it, in hopes that I got the general idea. There are still parts, mainly dealing with the politics that I know went over my head. The characters and their relationships, on the other hand, are easy to follow and I wanted to understand them. But when the book went on a rampage about the intricate details of each territories' political standings and ambitions, I began to fog over. I understand that the author wanted to develop a complete world, but I think he went a bit overboard with the heavy things. For me, it definitely took away from the book - I enjoyed the characters enough to trudge through all the political mumbo-jumbo, but that might not be the case with every reader. This was a long book, I have no idea what the word count is, but there are 421 large pages (this is a huge paperback book) with tiny writing.

Although I had a few issues with the book I did enjoy it. Honestly, the characters were fascinating, entertaining and well-developed. The overall storyline was also remarkably well done. A great deal happens throughout the first book, but a lot of plot line is also setup for the sequel. Most of the characters go through a game changing event - so I am eager to see how they all deal with their new circumstances and outlooks on the world.

Writing this because I feel that people would do well to pay some attention to the book, and it has no reviews, not good news for the author!
Like most these days, this book could use a Ruthless Editor. The story moves along briskly when the author is not trying to stuff a history book down your throat. The young woman who is the central character is believably dense and endearingly annoying, dialogue is very well done. Minor characters are not reduced to muttering "Yes, my Lord." too damn often. The troopers are especially good, a bit of Monty Python? as they rail on each other. In fact, they are more interesting than some of the main characters. Love this trend.
I like Sherri Tepper's books because she constructs an ethical and sociological framework that you yearn to see applied to the 'real' world. This series seems to be trying for some application of rational world-building, more would be better. Why pretend we are not interested in a better world? If only in our heads. That would get it a four star from me.
On the whole, a good read, will be buying the next book in the series.

As other reviewers have stated this book gets off to a slow start as the complex world is set up. However it is this complexity that makes the book so engrossing. This is no fluffy fairy tale.

Once we start to get into Sasha's head the pace picks up tremendously. In fact I could barely put the book down to go to work. Shephard creates a very likeable female heroic character. After convincing the reader of Sasha's skills he doesn't over do it. The characters are believable.

Now I know why this book was free. There are three more books in the series. I just downloaded the next one for close to $10 - ouch! Yeah Sasha was THAT good. This story did have satisfying ending though. It's not a cliff hanger to be continued in the next book. It is a complete story on its own. A thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone who likes a good adventure.

This is an amazing story one that will keep you coming back for more. I do not give spoilers because why should one read a book when others have already posted the story line, characters, and almost written a "book" on the book! If you like fantasy without a lot of magic, epic storyline, great battle scenes, power plays, deception, court intrigue, great characters, with a touch of mystical thrown in , then READ THIS BOOK. You will not be disappointed. This is not a fast read book but one that needs to read slowly and savored. You will be glad you did.

I really liked the idea of a young woman savior for a country. The land and characters with names and languages we never heard, people and others who fight amongst themselves, an impending war and a dysfunctional family. Sasha is a reluctant leader who has been trained for 12 years but doesn't realize her value. She is selfish and arrogant. But underneath is a skilled leader with a warm heart for her people. This was my second novel on Kindle; Joel Shepherd was a new author to me. A delightful experience. I recommend this book heartily.

In the Kingdom of Lanayin, the monarch supports the newer Verenthane religion over the established Goeren-yai. This has increased the schism and caused widespread intolerance. Some people are especially caught between the old and new like Svaalverd style master bladeswoman Princess Sasha, who has blood from both sides.

To Sasha who fights from the heart, everyone seems to argue religion especially her mentor-teacher Kessligh Cronenverdt, her royal siblings and her neighbor Jared. However, it was the death of the king's heir, her brother Krystof that has her seeking vengeance as closure is impossible. War is imminent as each religious faction wants to dominate; to her shock, principled idealist Sasha leads an army against her pragmatic father who struggles with the cause that will destroy his country especially when he knows neighboring nations foster the civil war that divides families.

Although the story line starts slows as the support cast define the realm through banter, humor and wit; fans will enjoy this entertaining coming of age saga. SASHA is a terrific lead character struggling with the hostilities while also being a cock-sure combatant. Ironically this sword and sorcery fable has few blood scenes and non-existent fantasy segues as the only possible (so far) paranormal element is the non-human Serrin who joins in the religious philosophical debates. Fans who appreciate a deep thought provoking thriller will enjoy Joel Shepherd strong look at social, cultural and religious divides that threaten to tear apart a nation that sounds so colorfully familiar.

Harriet Klausner

This took a lot of set up, and it took a while to understand the world and how it works. The explanations that are present in the narrative are brief, without much elaboration. Understanding of the world is gleaned by what the characters say and how they react to things. One reviewer said that Sasha on page 1 is no different than Sasha at the end. In a sense it is true, but no more than one person stays the same in real life. Her thoughts and inner reactions remain angry, but that's just the character she is. The manner in which she deals with those thoughts evolves throughout the book. Also, another reviewer (the same one?) said there are no "good" Verenthane characters. There are bad ones, yes, but given the setting of the book and the focal point of the conflict, it is a given. If a drama were written about The Crusades, i'm sure there would be many a "bad" Christian character. There are many "good" Verenthanes.
This book, once the conflicts and history are understood, became very compelling. The rest should make very good reading.