Master Assassins (The Fire Sacraments #1) by Robert V.S. Redick

Posted July 9, 2021 by jrsbookr in Fantasy / 0 Comments

by Robert V. S. Redick
Master Assassins (The Fire Sacraments #1) by Robert V.S. RedickMaster Assassins Series: The Fire Sacraments #1
Published by Simon and Schuster on March 6, 2018
Source: ARC Trade
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary, Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Fantasy / General
Pages: 460
Find the Author: Website, Blog, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon
Format: ARC
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
five-stars

Never, ever take your brother with you to war…

Kandri Hinjuman was never meant to be a soldier. His brother Mektu was never meant for this world. Rivals since childhood, they are drafted into a horrific war led by a madwoman-Prophet, and survive each day only by hiding their disbelief. Kandri is good at blending in, but Mektu is hopeless: impulsive, erratic—and certain that a demon is stalking him. Is this madness or a second sense? Either way, Kandri knows that Mektu’s antics will land them both in early graves.

But all bets are off when the brothers’ simmering feud explodes into
violence, and holy blood is spilled. Kandri and Mektu are taken for contract killers and must flee for their lives—to the one place where they can hope to disappear: the sprawling desert known as the Sumuridath Jal, the Land that Eats Men. In this eerie wilderness, the terrain is as deadly as the monsters, ghouls and traffickers in human flesh. Here the brothers find strange allies: an aging warlord, a desert nomad searching for her family, a lethal child-soldier still in her teens. They also find themselves in possession of a secret that could bring peace to the continent of Urrath. Or unthinkable carnage.

On their heels are the Prophet’s death squads. Ahead lie warring armies, sandstorms, evil spirits and the deeper evil of human greed. But hope beckons as well—if the “Master Assassins” can expose the lie that has made them the world’s most wanted men.

Review

It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to read an Adult fantasy. I tend to dwell in the young adult fantasy section. This one, though, is a must-read for fantasy lovers. The plot is perfect two brothers who accidentally kill two horrible prophets and are now on the run. Along the way, we get back story around these two brothers and how they are at odds over women who it seems loved them both. By the end of the first book, you find out they may just be carrying the recipe to save the world from a deadly plague. This book contains a little bit of everything murder, intrigue, monsters, magic, world-building, romance, beautiful landscapes, and incredible inventions. I am interested in what Sidewinders has in store.

five-stars

About Robert V. S. Redick

I’m the author of The Fire Sacraments epic fantasy trilogy. My new novel, SIDEWINDERS (Book II in the trilogy) is the longest and most ambitious book I’ve ever written. If you like desert adventure, meditations on peace and war, brothers with a love/hate relationship, dastardly global criminal networks, demon children or flying jellyfish, this book is for you. I’m told it reads well as a standalone too.

I wrote much of MASTER ASSASSINS (Book I), in the city of Bogor, Indonesia, beside a window through which the sounds of the city–calls to prayer, street vendors, kids, dogs, parrots, screeching toads and geckos–filtered in a soundtrack that waxed and waned but never stopped.

I’m also the author of the epic fantasy series The Chathrand Voyage Quartet, which begins with THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY and concludes with THE NIGHT OF THE SWARM.

I’ve had the good fortune to live abroad and travel extensively. Before my two years in Indonesia, my travels were mostly in Latin America. In Cali, Colombia, I worked with a human rights foundation and taught in a bilingual school. In Argentina I interviewed park rangers, park administrators, superintendents and biologists across the country and wrote an in-depth study of ranger training in Argentina and elsewhere. My first novel, Conquistadors, is set during the Argentinian dictatorship of the late 1970s. The book was a finalist for the 2002 AWP/Thomas Dunne Novel Award.

For four years I worked as a stage critic for two New England newspapers–a nice job to have if you’re dating. I’ve also worked as a baker, translator, Paso Fino horse handler and lab technician in an acid rain study.

For more information please visit robertvsredick.com

I live in rural western Massachusetts with my compañera, Kiran Asher, and an assortment of mammals and reptiles.

Rating Report
Plot
5
Characters
4.5
Writing
4.5
Pacing
4
Cover
4
Overall: 5