Review: Unique Epic Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2012
I am an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy.  One of the most common complaints I hear from my friends who are NOT lovers of the genre is that any book I recommend is "just another" Lord of the Rings with the typical knights, wizards, evil king, dragons, etc.  The Best Weapon is decidedly NOT just another carbon copy of the same themes and characters.The Best Weapon has two heroes, one from an order of knights, the other from a primitive tribe on the other side of the known world.  Their fates are intertwined and guided by two Demon/Gods who are in fear of losing control of their own realm.  The Demon/Gods actually created both heroes in order to carry out their master plan.The author(s) bounce around throughout the story with several different viewpoints.  I thought that the most interesting viewpoint was that of the two demons who are manipulating the mortal world through a kind of board game in which they have carved our two heroes from clay.  The interactions of those demon/Gods lent a truly unique aspect to the plot.  The two heroes are born on opposite sides of the world.  One of them is a young knight in an order of Templars (deriving from a more traditional fantasy setting), and the other is a fugitive from a society of savages and shaman.  We follow them separately through much of the story while each is, to a large degree, caught up in their own firestorm of life that is being consistently nudged by the demons.  As an added bonus, there is a slowly unfolding subplot in which the demons are facing their own impending doom if their scheme is unsuccessful.A large portion of the book is a buildup to find out what will happen when the protagonists meet, as their individual adventures are leading them to one another.  The story doesn't drag during this waiting period, however.  In fact, I enjoyed the character building that took place in the first half of the book, primarily due to the fact that the characters were so compelling.  Even the ancillary characters, most of whom were scheming and conniving, as well as a bit mysterious at times, made the story as much of a page-turner as the main characters.I would recommend this book to fans of the genre and more importantly I am going to have a retort to my friends who ask if it's just another repeat of the same old fantasy story.