Review: Not your usual historical fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2012
The Best Weapon was a pleasure to read--not just for the compelling characters and the cool fantastic setting involving Lords of Hell but also for the beauty of the world-building that takes place across a wide variety of cultures. I was reminded of the rich world of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart in certain sections. Both brothers live in such richly detailed and different worlds--worlds that are culturally familiar in some ways and very much their own societies in others.Likewise, the worlds inhabited by the Lords of Hell are also fascinating although the climax of the Lords' story was over a bit quicker than I expected and I would have loved to have seen more of their nemesis. Fulk also meets with a very out-there individual that brought up more questions than he answered. In many ways he was the scariest part of the book. Can I hear a sequel in the works? I hope so!I was completely sucked into the world and the characters of this novel and enjoyed it immensely. If you are looking for a very historically grounded fantasy that pulls no punches in the gritty realism department, absolutely read The Best Weapon.