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    Blades of the Old Empire: The Majat Code, Book 1
    Unavailable
    Blades of the Old Empire: The Majat Code, Book 1
    Unavailable
    Blades of the Old Empire: The Majat Code, Book 1
    Audiobook15 hours

    Blades of the Old Empire: The Majat Code, Book 1

    Written by Anna Kashina

    Narrated by Genevieve Swallow

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When Prince Kythar falls under attack in his own castle, he has no idea that his enemies are none other than the ancient Kaddim Brotherhood plotting to destroy his royal line. His inborn ability to control the elements is the only power that can stop this plot—but there is one problem. Kyth's fighting skills are no match for the Kaddim, leaving him no time to put his magic to work. To defeat the Kaddim, Kyth must rely on his bodyguard, Kara, a beautiful Diamond-ranked assassin from the elite Majat Guild. But his enemies develop an elaborate plan to remove her from their way.

    Acting through treachery and scheming, they pitch Kara against the Majat, marking her as a target for the only warrior who can defeat her in battle. With the deadly assassin on their trail, Kythar and Kara must face impossible odds to save the kingdom and their lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateFeb 18, 2019
    ISBN9781974935093
    Unavailable
    Blades of the Old Empire: The Majat Code, Book 1
    Author

    Anna Kashina

    Anna Kashina enjoys writing historical adventure fantasy and featuring exotic settings, martial arts, and elements of romance in her writing. Her Majat Code series received two Prism Awards in 2015. Russian by origin and a scientist by day, she freely draws on both backgrounds when writing. She currently resides near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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    Reviews for Blades of the Old Empire

    3/5

    6 ratings6 reviews

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    • 2/5
      If mercenary Ninja Assassins are your thing, then this is a book not to miss.

      The ‘Majat’ warriors are the ninjas. Sworn to the strict code of their order, they have a thousand-year reputation for being strictly neutral in every political struggle – until now, I guess, when emotional and ethical considerations get them breaking their vows left and right.

      King Evan is on a mission to nullify the law that says that anyone born with magical power should be put to death. (He’s particularly motivated to do this because his son and heir, Kyth, has recently been revealed to have such power.) He is opposed by the traditional priests of the realm – who have recently been revealed to be harboring – perhaps even led by – a cabal of dark demon-worshippers with sorcerous powers themselves.

      Both sides want to hire top Majat wariors to help them in their struggle. But, as I mentioned, love gets in the way – the plot prominently features two romances – one between prince Kyth and the young-but-unbelievably-talented warrior Kara, and one involving the young truthseer Ellah’s infatuation with the warrior Mai.

      There’s also some nature/forest magic going on, and quite a few other things.

      Overall, the story is a quick read, fun and entertaining, in the classic fantasy vein. It doesn’t really add anything remarkably new to the genre, or transcend any preconceptions, but not every work has to break new ground. I was reminded more than once of sword-and-sorcery movies from the 80’s. I like those, so I don’t mind. It’s not realistic: if you demand a believable description of martial arts (or of medical procedures after people are wounded by those martial arts), you’ll find things to nit-pick. Nope, the ninja stuff here is over-the-top fantasy fare. The writing style is unremarkable, sometimes a bit too overly-colloquial or awkward, but it gets the job done. The romance aspects got to be a bit much, though. There were some eye rolls as kisses ‘drown people, then bring them back to life and drown them again,’ &c, &c.

      I’ve seen some other complaints about this book that say that some aspects are confusing, or that the character development is insufficient. After wondering about a few things, I looked at the author’s bibliography. This is actually the second book in the series, although it’s not being marketed as such. These characters were introduced in Kashina’s 2012 release, ‘The First Sword.’ I have a feeling that if I’d read that first, I would’ve felt like I already knew the characters a lot better, and some references to prior adventures would’ve made more sense.

      I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley. Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot!
    • 3/5
      The tale is well written but verbose and tends to go a bit too much into various politics with lots of point of view switching. I gave up after 32% as it got a bit boring for me.
    • 2/5
      This could have been a short story. Sure, I like detail and a look into the heads of the characters, but dedicating an entire chapter to overcoming the fear to cross a river is a bit much. Beyond that we have a rehashing of old worn-out fantasy cliches, forbidden magic, forbidden love, and the like. Maybe someone reading this as their first exposure to fantasy may enjoy it, but this would be a sad introduction indeed. Though, through all this, there is a hint at Kashina's true literary prowess, I do suspect that the future may hold promise for a more successful book by this young author.

      I received this ARC through a Goodreads-Giveaway.
    • 3/5
      When I look back at Blades of the Old Empire, all I can think of is, here is an example of a novel which would've been better served with some major polishing. And did you know this isn't even technically the first book? I didn't. I only found out after I did some digging around, because I couldn't help getting this feeling I was missing something... Turns out, my instincts were correct. Most of the main characters in here were first introduced in one of Kashina's earlier novels, The First Sword. Information like that should have been made clearer, if only because I may have been more lenient when I was reading this book. This isn't the first time I've jumped in into the middle of a series, or even a spin-off or later novel set in an existing universe without reading the previous books first. The only difference is, all those times I was prepared. Quite honestly, I don't even know how well this book works as the beginning of a new series. Sure, you can read it and still understand the story, but I spent most of the time feeling like I've only scratched the surface, and wondered if so much feels lacking because the author expects you to know these things already.Hence, polish. I'm afraid the character development needs quite a bit of work, especially if you're going to have multiple romantic subplots. If I can't connect to the characters, I'm not going to feel any chemistry, and then it's not going to matter one whit to me who's crushing on whom. It helps also, if I can get a good bead on your main protagonists' approximate ages right away. Not exactly sure why, but the way this was written, I spent the whole intro of the book thinking Prince Kyth was a young child. Even after I realized my mistake, it was difficult to view Kara as his romantic interest, and not a nanny-type figure. Needless to say, that was a total mood-killer.For a fantasy novel of this type, there was also nowhere near enough context. By all rights, the story itself should have been quite epic, encompassing a long history and involving several kingdoms hanging in the balance, with conspiracy and corruption threatening to bring down everything. I knew this, but only because the book told me. I didn't actually feel it. An overall sense of vastness and importance seems to be missing. Despite the characters traveling for days to get from one place to another, the scope of their journey feels small, possibly stemming from a lack of world building.My opinions notwithstanding, the reason why I'm not giving this a lower rating is because I feel this book has plenty of potential. I enjoyed the premise and it had a lot of good ideas, especially when it comes to the magic, if only it had been explained a little better. Rigorous editing and several more drafts could have perhaps improved things, knocking out some of the redundant phrases (there seems to be an inordinate amount of blood streaking out of the corner of people's mouths, for instance -- the author likes to use this description everywhere, and even three times in one short scene), or toning down some of the more absurd battle sequences. Being over-the-top can sometimes work in your favor, but this is not that kind of novel. At best, this crazy, overly bombastic martial arts stuff comes off as comical, but I wasn't laughing. The Diamonds are too powerful, one fighter taking on dozens of enemies at once, and also somehow surviving the most grievous of wounds. I draw the line when a character can miraculously come back from the dead, and the way it happens makes very little sense. There is no perception of danger or tension, not if every close call can be fixed with a magical potion or a touch from a healer.Giving a middling rating for this, because I neither liked it nor really disliked it. To summarize, the book has a raw and unfinished feel, and based on that I can't really recommend it. A shame too, because with some fleshing out and more honing-plus-fine-tuning, this book could have been so much more.
    • 4/5
      Kara is a mercenary, a Diamond warrior, the best of the best. She's protector of Prince Kythar and her contract is up, when she goes to the guild home she discovers that her next contract goes against her grain. Meanwhile his father is trying to ensure that the coming war will be fought by everyone in the kingdom.I didn't see much of the romance but it also was an interesting read and the characters made me want to know them more.
    • 4/5
      Kara is a mercenary – a Diamond warrior, the best of the best, and a member of the notorious Majat Guild. When her tenure as protector to Prince Kythar comes to an end, custom dictates he accompany her back to her Guild to negotiate her continued protection.But when they arrive they discover that the Prince’s sworn enemy, the Kaddim, have already paid the Guild to engage her services – to capture and hand over Kythar, himself.A warrior brought up to respect both duty and honour, what happens when her sworn duty proves dishonourable?Certainly the beginning of an excellent fantasy series, if not an epic fantasy series, Blades of the Old Empire is a well thought out and delivered first book in a series. It sets the scene and tone for the ongoing story, while ensuring the reader is engaged in the story from the very beginning. In some ways this story reminded me of Kristin Cashore's Graceling series. Most specifically of the first book, Graceling, where the focus is on Katsa and Prince Po. Between discovering the full extent of their fighting Graces, as well as other situations, the similarities between the two stories are difficult to miss...Between the lovely word building and exquisite characters I thoroughly enjoyed this book. With much of the focus being on Kara, often thought to be the most lethal warrior of the Majat Guild. No wilting flower, Kara is much closer to a finely crafted blade that bends rather than breaks. However she has an imperfection, as she discovers she is unable to adhere to the mandates of her guild. The Majats are mercenaries, selling their skills to the highest bidder. Their only concern is their guild, remaining emotionally detached from events in the outside world. It is this attitude that makes them such an effective force. With no emotional attachments aside from their guild they are better equipped to face prior clients on the field of battle should they ever be hired by the enemy. Yet knowing all this, having been raised and indoctrinated into this set of beliefs, Kara is unwilling, or unable, to ignore her emotions. And a fearful enemy exploits this 'flaw,'setting into motion a lethal chain of events.Kyth is the heir to the Dorn King, and a talented young man in his own right. However he has developed a problem that impacts the kingdom. One their enemies are quick to take advantage of, some using it at face value, while others just use it as an excuse to make trouble. Alden and Ellah are his boon companions, and each have important roles of their own, which they discover as this story unfolds. And of course there is Mai, the only Majat warrior that is considered to be possibly as good as Kara - though of course all Diamond-level Majat warriors are supposed to be interchangeable regarding their skills and training. Yet for some reason both Kara and Mai seem to have an unknown quality that sets them apart, and above, their peers.With many more important characters, this book is well-rounded on that front. They are well developed, showing depth and dimension that is rather surprising for such a large cast. At least this is true of the protagonists. The antagonists are certainly scary, cruel, imperious, and evil. What they aren't is well developed. So far they appear to be simply bad guys, available to stir up trouble, but lacking a hard explanation for their motives. Their reason is given, yet it is never explained in any depth, and only briefly referenced when necessary. I am hoping that in the sequel they will become more than the one dimensional characters they currently represent, particularly now that the scene has been set.As for the arc of the plot, it is engaging and unfolds quite smoothly throughout the book, picking up speed as the story progresses. It provides us with many of the reasons for the conflicts within the book, but certainly not all of them, ensuring we still have questions throughout the story. Many of which remain unanswered by the end of the book. Thankfully there is a sequel, one we can hope will shed some light onto the remaining mysteries, as well as the new ones that are bound to crop up in the next installation in the series.

      1 person found this helpful