Bloodguard
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4.2 • 40 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A HOLT Medallion finalist in Speculative Romance of 2025
A Barnes & Noble Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Book of 2024
An Amazon Editor’s Pick, October 2024
“An expertly crafted page-turner with unpredictable twists, steamy romance, and magical creatures.” —Kirkus
One hundred years. Tens of thousands of gladiators. And today, only one will rise…
Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.
Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.
He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.
All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.
Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom.
But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.
Nor will his ultimate revenge…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Robson (Weird Girls) sets up the power structures and politics of her Old Erth romantasy series with this epically gory and tense love story. In the wealthy kingdom of Arrow, gladiators fight for the entertainment of the populace and the nobility, suffering inhuman conditions and risking their lives for pittances of cash. Elf princess and healer Maeve, whose father rots in prison for allegedly killing her grandmother the Queen, must marry to take the throne when she comes of age. Her hatred of her most likely match, General Soro, leads her to instead champion Leith of Grey, the gladiator with the best chance of winning enough contests to become a Bloodguard, an honorary noble whom it would then be allowable for her to wed. Robson loads the story with deadly monsters, elaborate battles, evil machinations, personal secrets, and unsavory power grabs while keeping hero Leith sympathetic and easy to root for. As his politically motivated relationship with Maeve becomes a real love match, Robson alternates between the leads' perspectives to showcase the differences in their worlds. The sheer amount of death and dismemberment can be overwhelming, but Robson still manages to make the reader feel the significant losses and provides satisfaction in both the romantic and the battle scenes. This is a promising start.
Customer Reviews
Hoping for a sequel
Really enjoyed this book, I hope the series continues. It has a few faults, like some of the deaths not being as impactful as they should have been and the sexual tension not being built up as much as I would have liked. Some of the dialogue felt too modern. But overall I liked how dark it was; it doesn’t spare the main characters (nor the reader) from realistic outcomes or tragedy. The action is well written and there’s a lot more of it than typical for this genre. The emotional and psychological impact of these tragedies on the characters just needed to have more depth.