The Sword in His Hand by J. J. Fischer is a christian fantasy novel that I got free for my honest review from Ambassador International. Now, I am so excited that they are publishing more christian fantasy – the other one I received was The Kingdom Above the Cloud.
When I got this book in the mail, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it is- the cover, the map, -etc? Plus it’s a hefty 500+ pages which is always a good thing, especially in the fantasy genre.
When a strange young woman named El, washes up on the shores of Darcentaria, brought somehow by a strange metal craft that is now a burning wreck, there is plenty of suspicion about her. The villagers wonder if she’s an agent of their cruel oppressors, the Dalriadans, sent to spy on them? Or is she from the Outside – the legendary lands that lie beyond their borders. Torsten Eislher has spent the last nine years wrongfully imprisoned. His uncle, the empire’s ruler, used him as an example to any who might oppose him. But now, as a young swordsman, and having escaped the fate planned for him, Torsten is staying alive and one step ahead of his uncle’s soldiers by keeping a firm grip on his sword. He hates anything to do with the Outside; but when he is inexorably drawn to El, he finds himself questioning everything he’s been told about her world. The hunt for Torsten and El is started in earnest when the ruler, Jurien Arminius decides to take the Outside world’s advanced military for his own. But it’s not just Torsten and El that he’s looking for, there were two others that landed with her. And he will stop at nothing to win the war against the rebellion that could destroy his empire.
Now, this is one that is going on my Favorite Reads of 2021, no doubt about it. Fischer carried quite a few different storylines throughout and wove them together so beautifully. I did get a little confused between the bad guys in the beginning, but it becomes clearer once you get into the story more. I appreciated the strength of Torsten’s convictions throughout (even if they aren’t the best *cough*) and found myself a little frustrated with El’s vacillating although it did make sense, with all she went through. There were so many great side characters, I’m not even going to try and name any of them because then I’ll never get stopped.
As I am always curious about how clean a book is, I will share a few things with you. First off, it is very clean – a fact that I just loved, getting to read another fantasy with no ‘ugh’ parts! But, throughout there are mentions of the guards forcing themselves on the women prisoners, and El deals with a lot of suggestive behaviors and more from the strangers that she’s around while traveling through this world. (Thankfully, none from Torsten – that probably would have broken my heart.) There is also talk of how she gave herself to a young man back in her world – but none of this is shared in detail. Another fact that I highly appreciated.
I was engrossed in this novel pretty much from beginning to end and while I was satisfied with the end, I was sad it was over and needing to know what happens next!
I can’t wait for the sequel that’s coming out this summer!
the start of a good life 
Sounds so good! Adding to my good reads!
LikeLike
Great review, thanks!!
LikeLike