Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was pretty much a perfect fantasy book for me and I couldn't be more thrilled! I loved the world that we find ourselves in, having both a nature-focused kingdom and a highly mechanised empire creates some fascinating dichotomies, I really enjoyed all of the character point of views - Bershad is a great protagonist and both Vera and Ashlynn are strong female presences with their own motivations, and aren't simply there for window dressing. The action is violent and bloody (LOVE) and the plot is full of political maneuvering with betrayals and alliances a plenty. Overall, this book was an absolute delight from start to finish and I have immediately picked up the sequel. I would definitely recommend this for fans of Joe Abercrombie too. Loved it!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a really good start to what could be a very good series.If you like Dragons and Dragonslayers etc then this is for you.

I have heard such good things about this book and at first I was put off due to all the good reviews however when I did finally pick it up I was not disappointed.

Brian Naslund has created such a great world and can I say Dragons? When dragons are part of a book then I am definitely there. The world building was phenomenal and I cant' wait to dive back into book 2.

This was a fantastic start to this trilogy and a great introduction to this world and characters. The characters are well written and the story remains compelling throughout. I love the world of the dragons and really liked that there was information on each dragon at the back of the book. I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Does the description death, murder, backstabbing, political machinations and dragons sound familiar to you? Here we have a brand new series to fill that A Game of Thrones hole with. Blood of an Exile follows an infamous dragonslayer, Silas Bershad, on his journey for redemption. Many years after being stripped of his titles and land, Silas is given the opportunity to return from exile and reclaim what was once his. In order to walk free forever, the King wants Silas to kill a foreign emperor. Silas’ dangerous journey means he must fight his way through criminal underworlds, dragon-infested lands, enemy filled mountains and a strange city guarded by deadly technology. This is definitely an action-packed adventure.

The world building in Blood of an Exile is really well done. It contains many different layers including politics, culture and history. The writing goes beyond the typical ‘and there were dragons’ to them being a fundamental part of Terra’s ecosystem. There is a history of these wonderful creatures and how they have been mistreated for human gain. I really love how the natural world and laws of nature are woven into the fabric of the world and the plot.

Terra is expansive. I love the huge variety of cities and landscapes. Taggarstan is my favourite location. Who doesn’t love a make-shift floating city comprising of barges, gangplanks and ramshackle buildings? No matter where you are in the book, each place is vivid and fresh with a lot of flavour.

This book is not for the faint-hearted. Naslund has created a brutal world with political unrest, rival leaders and dirty underworlds. It is violent and gory at times, contains animal death, murder and many unsavoury characters! You know when you get really angry with a book because of things that happen? This is one of those but in a good way. Caring means that you are invested. My comparison to A Game of Thrones stands well.

The multiple person narrative adds an extra vastness to the story and gives a brilliant insight into the important characters.

Blood of an Exile has many well-written characters. The book begins with Jolan, an apprentice alchemist who is helping to prepare for the arrival of the dragon slayer. Fascinated with the natural world, Jolan is a nice kid but doesn’t always know when to stop talking. That said, his knowledge can come in extremely handy!

Rowan is Silas’ forsaken shield and only real friend. He is an extremely likeable character and definitely the one companion that you can always count on.

Garret is the dark, mysterious stranger. He is a man of many layers, making the chapters from his point of view really interesting. You don’t know his role in the story straight away so it is exciting to find out what he is really up to.

Silas “the Flawless” Bershad is the protagonist of the book. He is an exile whose duty is now as a dragon slayer. Bershad is a much deeper character than he first appears to be. He is complex, struggling with guilt and his inability to trust people. Although, he does have his reasons. He is deeply caring underneath his rough facade and scarred exterior.

Vera is awesome! Papyrian Widows are elite guards but have that ninja assassin feel! Love her.

Last but not least, we have Princess Ashlyn Malgrave. Ashlyn is strong, determined and passionate about dragons. She is not scared to do some ass-kicking herself!

This is the best fantasy debut that I have read in ages! Honestly, I initially thought it was going to be just another dragon slayer book but it was so much more. It has a lot of classic fantasy elements but somehow seems to break the mould slightly. I believe a big part of this is to do with the importance of the natural world in the book as well as having nuanced and multi-layered characters. This is a brilliant book for fans of J.R.R Martin, Andrzej Sapkowski and Joe Abercrombie. I can’t wait to find out what happens in book two!

This book was absolutely fantastic. Firstly LOOK AT THAT COVER! What more do you want from a book? I really do feel that a cover that draws my attention really does add to my enjoyment. Whilst on the face of it, Blood of an Exile looks like a heavy fantasy book, I actually found it a very easy to read book. Everything was explained in just the write detail, concepts were not made over complicated just for the sake of it. I love the sarcasm and the wit, Blood of an Exile is the type of book that can make you laugh and then cry with the turn of the page. And boy did I cry ... yes I cried. If that isn't enough to make you pick this book up then I dont know what is! I am so intrigued by the ending of this book and I cannot wait to pick up the next in the series to find out what happens next. I cannot believe that this is a debut for Brian Naslund, honestly without reading that somewhere online I would not have thought it was. Such a complex writing style, so engaging and honestly just brilliant. 100% recommend and I cannot wait for the next one.

Sentenced to die. Impossible to kill. The two main sentences illustrate and summarise this book perfectly. What an incredible journey I’ve just been on. I feel like I’ve gone through an fantasy epic. Like the old days. I’ve related to characters, I’ve seen gore and brutal torture that will remind you of Medieval times, I’ve seen spies and networks of a vast web of power and corruption. How the rich nobles of this world try to manipulate people to fight for them. And boy, was this such a good cast of characters.

You know which character I ended up liking the most? Rowan. That old man was a man of foresight, honor and courage. He represented the goodness in all of us humans. I have a feeling he’s lived through an epic life that I wish Brian would make a prequel about him. I wonder if Rowan had a lover. Then it was Felgor, who turned out to be a more mature version of Jolan. The evilness that is depicted in the Lords of Power, from the Emperor of Balaria to the King of Almira himself, just goes to show how good people are taken in, and then twisted to the roots as they are forced to do acts of terror that they would never wish to do in the first place.

More than that, I sympathised with Bershad a lot man. Poor guy’s been through so much, and yet he’s still a badass taking on the biggest dragons in this world. I love how Brian related the effects of climate change and illustrated into it the fantasy context. There’s an empire that has no proper roads, lets say its Almira, and they worship with mud-totems. One of the most incredible things that Brian did was relate the jaguar/jungles to this European foundation that Almira to me resembles. This is actually more historically authenthic, because when the Spanish settled in the New World, they began to adapt a lot of customs from their Aztec neighbours, and thus the infusion of a new Latin culture integrating the Spanish and the Mexica, so to say, was born. The jaguar is a potent symbol in the Aztec culture, and was worshipped often. So I really liked this.

I don’t want to spoil the plot. It took me 2 days to get started, but man, I did enjoy this. Really buy this book now. Go get it!

Blood of an Exile is entertaining enough to start with, but quickly devolves from a classic-style adventure fantasy into an aggressively macho, violent fantasy which relies solely on action, rather than ever building any depth in its characters.

Our hero is the Flawless Bershad, a dragonslayer cursed with immortality. He used to date the princess, but his father did something treasonous and so he was exiled. At the start of the book, his exile is revoked and he is sent on a mission to assassinate the emperor of another country, who has kidnapped the princess's younger sister. And, er, that's it. There are multiple other threads thrown out in this book - it opens with Bershad meeting an alchemist's apprentice whose master has just been killed, leaving him adrift, who was instantly a more interesting character than Bershad himself, for example - but most of them are abandoned quickly in favour of Bershad trekking through multiple countries to reach the emperor. It has so much promise in the first 100 pages, offering glimpses into class systems, economics, the eco-system of the world, but then just peters out into a simplistic male power fantasy with little originality to it.

I was heartened by the appearance of Ashlyn, a princess and a scholar who had an interest in the natural world and an intelligent, big-picture view of the way that politics were affecting the eco-system - great, I thought, a fantasy that will explore some interesting and unusual issues of statecraft. But sadly, this aspect of her character and this aspect of the plot are quickly sidelined as she decides to go to war. Her entire plot becomes about being a 'strong queen', which is extremely boring. I also hated the fact that multiple villains tried to sexually assault her (of course), and referred to her with aggressively sexist language, and that she was largely there as a motivation for Bershad's plot as the two of them had romantic history (and an unnecessary sex scene) Despite Ashlyn's initial STEM-focus, which was incredibly cool, it seems the author suddenly had a revelation that 'female characters are only strong if they are physical fighters'', and altered her character accordingly without revising the first section. There are two other named female characters - a hard-boiled assassin who sleeps with the hero at the first opportunity (yes, even though he's supposed to be in a relationship with Ashlyn, he can't help himself), and Ashlyn's sister, who appears only at the end of the book and is pretty shallowly drawn. Other than this, the only women seen are faceless and nameless foreign assassins, again referred to with derogatory sexist language, and slaughtered without ever being actual characters. If a new character ever shows up and has some relevance to the plot, they're guaranteed to be male as a default. It's weak, outdated, and misogynistic to sideline women in fantasy like this.

I'm personally not a fan of the angry-hero, brutal-camping-and-battles, peppered-with-the-word-fuck style of fantasy that seems so popular with a male audience these days. I hesitate to call this book grimdark, because it never even really gets that dark - it's more like an attempt to subvert classic adventure fantasy that falls short of subversion and just ends up being a mediocre example of the tropes. Had it been the smart, political, original fantasy the opening section promised, I would have adored this - and had it not promised that, I would have been okay with this being a middling epic fantasy. It's the disconnect between the promise and the execution that has left me so disappointed.

I really enjoyed this story ! The dragon/dragonslayer trope can be tricky because it's a beloved one. I really enjoy what the author did with this book. I liked the different points of view and i'm really looking forward to the next book

Who’s up for a story with more dragons than Game of Thrones (admittedly, there are only three), and nearly as much gore? Blood of an Exile is definitely a rollercoaster: a wild, bloody ride through a medieval-inspired version of Europe, where the weak are preyed on and the balance of power is always shifting.

There’s no better book to kick off Blogtober, that’s for sure!

Dragons get Darwinian

One of the most interesting things about this book is the way in which dragons are portrayed- in fact, the way in which the whole ecosystem is portrayed. This world is lush and green, covered in dense mangrove forests where dragons nest and where humans are trying to wipe them out (and suffering the consequences of doing so. Remind you of anywhere?).

It’s incredibly well imagined, and I love the detail that goes into the dragons themselves: from the Ghost Moth to the Snub-Nosed Blackjack, you believe that the dragons are an organic part of the world that Naslund is creating. Extra bonus points for the cool warrens, which is overgrown with magical healing moss which can be harvested by apothecaries.

Morally grey characters

The characters themselves are just as vicious as the dragons. This is a story, basically, about the delicate balance of power. Characters jostle for their place on the board, and any weakness is sniffed and exploited in a matter of minutes. This feels like an exotic, reimagined version of medieval Europe, and reading about the customs of the people that live there- mud totems, animal-faced warrior masks and a land that worships a clock.

I also loved Silas Bershad. Otherwise known as the Flawless Bershad, a noble stripped of his titles for committing a terrible crime against the king. His punishment? To become a dragonslayer. Most people die within six months. Bershad has been killing dragons for fourteen years, and we first meet him stinking hungover and foul-mouthed.

As antiheroes go, Bershad is a good one: a violent exterior hiding a scarred and damaged interior. However, what’s more interesting is his relationship with Princess Ashlyn, his former lover and now heir to her father’s kingdom. Their blatant distrust of each other, the willingness of both of them to lie to each other, and the mutual attraction between them makes this fascinating, especially when they go their separate ways, Ashlyn to rule a divided kingdom and Bershad to save the dragons of Terra.

A vicious, bloody thrill ride

From start to finish, this book doesn’t miss a beat. The action scenes are taut and breathless, the characters are well fleshed-out and the plot skips effortlessly from person to person, coming together in a huge, bloody tapestry.

I’m looking forward to reading the second!

Immortal, super strengthed warrior par excellence and expert dragonslayer plus dragons plus fantasy world plus corrupt king may sound very off the peg in terms of innovative, epic fantasy. However that is far from the case. This is a staggeringly good debut novel and what really sells it is the complex and multi-faceted character of Bershad himself. One of five povs – all equally compelling – I was racing through the book to find out what the mystery was surrounding his powers and why he was a condemned man in the first place. This was a brilliant exampleof the genre and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but you know the drill – all opinions are my own.

Anyway as you can probably guess from the rating, I really enjoyed this book…like really enjoyed it. I honest to Gods didn’t think it would be as good as it was. Quite simply put, Brian Naslund did what hardly anyone does…he thought extensively about how dragons would work in a world among humans. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not having a go at other dragon books…I love dragons, but Brian Naslund actually thought about the ecosystem. He thought about how an apex predator would effect that ecosystem and how he could make it work. And work it did my friends. His world building blew me away! I was honestly so excited to learn about the different species, the magic, the eating habbits, the consequence of dragon numbers dwindling…it was just beautiful. Really, a big thank you to Brian Naslund for giving me a world of dragons that I can live and breath and totally imagine being 100% legit.

Bershad, our main character, is a miserable and seemingly prickly man who is forced into a life of killing the very beasts he once admired. His rank and station are removed from him, and he is given over to a life on the road…so it is very understandable that he is prickly. I would be. He gives me all the badass warrior vibes I need in a character! As the book progresses we see him open up and we delve more into him as a person and I have to say… I love him. I’m not even kidding!

There is so much in this story that leaves you wondering why. Wondering when you get to know x, y, and z. It was a truly enjoyable story and I highly recommend this book! If you like dragons definitely pick it up, but even if you aren’t a fanatic like myself pick it up anyway! It was such a good journey, and very worth the read!

This book is incredible. I also have a physical arc of it and its massive! Its bloody brilliant to read and the main character has a roguish quality to him but it's hard not to like him. If you like dragons, people ignoring what they're 'supposed' to do to do what they want... then this is the book for you!

Fantasy stories tend to gravitate toward a number of “classic” themes like the quest and the hero’s journey and in this Blood of an Exile is no exception, but experience taught me that what truly matters is the way that journey or quest is told, and how the characters can reach out to the readers and make them care: Brian Naslund’s debut novel accomplished this goal by creating an intriguing background that stems from the usual fantasy elements, then enriches them with some unexpected angles, and by shaping equally intriguing characters that grow on you slowly but surely, their flaws more captivating than their strengths.

In Almira, one of the kingdoms of Terra, criminals are punished by being charged with the slaying of dragons, and Silas Bershad - once an Almiran noble now fallen in disgrace - was so sentenced: life expectancy for dragon slayers is quite short, not surprising in consideration of their deadly prey, but Bershad has been enduring his sentence for fourteen years, slaying dozens of dragons and becoming something of a folk hero. Still, he’s an outcast, marked by the infamy tattoos on his face and easily recognizable by the symbols of those killings that are branded on his arms. He’s offered a chance for redemption though: king Malgrave, the man who condemned him and the father of his former lover, princess Ashlyn, offers him a full pardon if he will travel to the neighboring realm of Balaria to rescue the king’s younger daughter Kira, who was kidnapped, and also kill the Balarian ruler.

After some initial reluctance, Bershad agrees to the mission and leaves with a small group of people: his faithful companion Rowan and the inseparable donkey Alfonso; a noble from the Almiran court who’s there to expedite passage through the land; Vera, a widow, i.e. a female warrior trained in the most fierce of martial arts, and condemned thief Felgor, whose sneaky ways will prove invaluable once they reach their destination. The journey is of course fraught with perils, double dealings and revelations, and while the group is en route to Balaria the situation in Almira becomes quite complicated as political intrigues and long-standing plots finally come to fruition, offering an interesting counterpoint to the disparate travelers’ mission and expanding the readers’ knowledge of the land and its history, as the tension escalates toward its edge-of-the seat ending and promises more to come in the following books.

On the surface, Blood of an Exile might appear like your run of the mill fantasy novel, but there are some elements that set it apart from its brethren, and the story’s background is one of them, particularly when you take into account the dichotomy between Almira and Balaria: the former offers the standard medieval context of a primitive land with basic living conditions, where ignorance and superstition rules - the inhabitants’ response to any problem or ailment is to shape mud statues as an offering to the gods, and princess Ashlyn’s interest for natural studies is considered odd and tainted by witchcraft - while the latter is more technologically oriented in what looks like a steampunk society, and the capital city is shaped like a clockwork-driven mechanism requiring great quantities of dragon oil to function.

Linked to that is a very intriguing - and new to the genre - angle on environment and the way its delicate balance can be upset by inconsiderate choices: Ashlyn’s studies have brought her to understand that kind of balance and how it’s all linked to the dragons - how decimating them, either to assuage the people’s fears or to obtain their precious oil, is causing some of their natural preys to overbreed and in turn lead to crop failures or widespread disease. There is a thought-provoking passage in which the Balarian ruler offers a deaf ear to Ashlyn’s warnings about the fragility of the whole system, saying he’s not afraid to go against the “natural order of things” as long as he can keep his people comfortable and happy: it’s a very contemporary, very widespread attitude, that of thinking only about the present and not caring about the future….

As far as the characters go, the chosen theme of throwing together a mismatched band of people to accomplish a given task is one that always intrigues me, because it helps showcasing their characters and makes for a compelling narrative, especially when danger starts rearing up its ugly head and everyone is forced to abandon the mask they present to the world at large. Along the journey I became quite fond of some of these characters and in the end it proved a mixed blessing, because here I must warn you not to become too attached to anyone, since there is no certainty of survival for all of them - that was one of the most devastating surprises in a story that is certainly filled with violence and hardship, but also proved unexpectedly cruel to some of its players.

Of course Bershad takes the lion’s share of the story, and if at first he’s the epitome of the anti-hero, moving from one dragon slaying to another and drowning himself in wine between assignments, his past is revealed bit by bit and we understand how guilt for his actions and resentment for his fate have come into play, while the uncanny way in which he heals from the wounds sustained in his craft seems to go against what I could see as nothing else but a death wish - unexpressed, but clearly latent. This narrative element will come to present a compelling angle in the overall story and it’s clear it will be at the roots of its continuation: I for one am looking forward to see the direction it will take in the future installments.

Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as I was expecting, I didn't find much unique about it, it read like most grim fantasies out there. The writing was good though a bit lengthy in parts, the characters were good but I just couldn't feel anything much for them. I did like that it had a lot strong female characters, it wasn't like some more male dominated fantasy out there. Ashlyn and Vera were well rounded, interesting and they could fight, they weren't just there as love interests to the male character (and not a healer woman with a heart of gold in sight). I didn't really care for Bershad, I never worried about him during the fights scenes and some of his parts until he teamed up with Vera and Felgor bored me to be honest. I enjoyed his sections more once he had a group to interact with. The parts I really enjoyed were with Garret and Jolan, I think they had a really interesting dynamic but unfortunately their sections were few and short lived. Overall I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it.. If you don't mind some wordy descriptions, traditional fantasy settings, like strong female characters and love gory fight scenes it might be the book for you..

This book started nicely for me. Flawless Bershad is a dragon slayer. This is a job for those who are exiled for their crimes - he was once a lord. The life of dragon slayers is generally either short or very short. Bershad has killed more dragons than anyone else. His survival is seen as remarkable. He is surprised to be called back to the capital by the king who sentenced him. He is even more surprised at the offer the king makes him. Kill a foreign emperor and he will be able to walk free again. Other than the fact he is unsure whether he is interested in the task there is a high probability of death if he does accept. Will anything make him inclined to go?

This tale follows two main threads. Bershad's journey with some very diverse companions and Princess Ashlyn's back in his home country. Not only is she a Princess but she was also once Bershad's lover. These two threads have a very different feel to them for me. A fairly prominent theme in this is the economics and ecology of dragons. I do admire the fact that ecology has been brought into this however I have to say that it did feel a little contrived to me. Overall there is a medieval feel to this story with lords and fairly primitive weaponry in the main.

Coming from a "Lord of the Rings" background many years ago this is a far more modern approach to fantasy writing. While there is some "ancient" and some "quest" involved this feels more contemporary. There is sarcasm, humour and bad language here which brings a lightness to what can be quite a dark read at times.

The main characters were good - Bershad particularly so. In general minor characters stayed just that. However a definitely honourable mention for the Garret and Jolan partnership - I enjoyed that. I did find that Bershad's thread worked far better for me than Ashlyn's one. Bershad is an action character and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Ashlyn's part which had some "politics" in it was less appealing to me.

Overall I found this very readable and was reluctant to put it down. For me it is more contemporary than say Robin Hobb's work but still more traditional than someone like Jay Kristoff's books. I liked the lightness of touch combined with a real bite to the story at times. However I was never really blown away by this book. That said I have a feeling I would like to know what happens next!

Blood of an Exile is a thoroughly entertaining and epic fantasy. It’s got great characters, an excellent plot and it captivates the reader from the outset. I really liked the world-building, and I’m here for pretty much any dragon stories. Highly recommended!

Firstly, I much prefer this cover to the one that is on Goodreads. This book had an exciting premise but I feel that it suffered from a lot of telling and not showing. It also skips scenes where the journey could have been described. This author has promise and I would like to check out his future books to see how his writing develops!