Petrodor by Joel Shepherd (Orbit)

Finally the second instalment of Shepherd’s A Trail of Blood & Steel series that started with Sasha is available.

This Australian author is best-known for his science fiction but this series is a rollicking journey into classic swords and heroes fantasy.

Sasha, the disowned princess and heroine of the first novel, is living in Petrodor with the Nasi Keth (something like the warrior monks of ancient China and Japan) and the Serrin (something like our myths of elves), working for a fisherman.

Her disliked sister is married into the local merchant-nobility; Sasha’s long-lost elder sister likewise is a member of the ruling class.

But there is about to be a struggle of supremacy amongst the ‘higher-ups’ and Sasha has to work out who’s side she’s actually on.

Is blood thicker than training and belief? Or will Sasha realise that the family you choose is more reliable than the family you’re born to?

Added to the mix is a possible romance, lots of swash-buckling sword fights described is action-packed detail and great swathes of humour.

It’s the essential humanity of his characters that makes Shepherd’s fantasy so likeable and easy to read.

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