Publisher’s Weekly Review for Son of the Black Sword

((I got a Starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. They don’t hand those out those stars very often.

Son of the Black Sword
Larry Correia. Baen, $25 (432p)
ISBN 978-1-4767-8086-3

Bestselling fantasy author Correia (the Grimnoir Chronicles) casts a compelling spell with this India-influenced series opener. Elite fighter Ashok Vadal, bearer of the magical ancestor blade Angruvadal, has dedicated his life to serving the law. He fights demons and kills rebels who try to bring back religion and stand up for the casteless, the lowest of the low in this highly stratified fantasy-world society. When the Inquisition sends Ashok to infiltrate a rebel group working to free the casteless, he’s certain it’s punishment for the revelation that he himself was born a lowly untouchable. The Inquisition’s real goal is to engineer a reason to annihilate the casteless entirely; unfortunately for them, Ashok is the worst person they could have chosen for the job. Correia skillfully sets in motion this story of plots within plots, revealing complex, sympathetic characters and black-hearted villains with equal detail and insight. Full of action, intrigue, and wry humor, this exciting series launch promises many more thrills to come. (Nov.)
—Publishers Weekly

Book Bomb this Thursday, the 8th
Fisking the New York Times' Modern Man

50 thoughts on “Publisher’s Weekly Review for Son of the Black Sword”

  1. Congrats! That’s awesome!

    … but you’re totally going to lose your “hated outsider” status if you start getting major recognition from folks like Publisher’s Weekly!

    1. It’s a setup for a prank, like the popular kids used to do in school. They invite some poor nerd to come sit with them at the cool table, make him think he’s been accepted as one of them, and then humiliate him.

      I’m not sure how one would humiliate Larry though. That’d be like trying to humiliate a bear. It wouldn’t work, which is actually a good thing for the pranksters because if it did he could leave pieces of them strewn across the landscape.

      1. You’ve seen those Jack Links beef jerky Messing With Sasquatch commercials? It would be like that. 🙂

        1. I could never understand why those guys were mean to the Squach. Then again, I thought the rabbit should get cereal if he bought it.

  2. Still no Kindle edition? Come on Larry, I hate trees as much as the next guy, but I have small children who view all paper as an irresistible magnet for crayons. Also, I no longer remember how normal books work.

      1. The e-book will be available on Oct 16. All of Baen’s e-book are always available on the 16th of the month.

      2. What Gary said. E-book on the 15th or 16th, dead tree will ship towards the end of the month. Official release month is November.

        Of course, having purchased the eARC, I’ve long since read it.

  3. Congrats, Larry! This line made me laugh:
    The Inquisition’s real goal is to engineer a reason to annihilate the casteless entirely; unfortunately for them, Ashok is the worst person they could have chosen for the job.

    I want to read the book EVEN MORE now. I can’t wait!

  4. “Ashok” huh?
    I get the feeling that he’s inspired by “Asok the Intern” from Dilbert. The poor, hapless, abused, bottom of the social ladder intern who seems to be the smartest employee of the firm. But he’s just so gullible…

  5. Saw you this weekend on Redshire. You were in the VK28.01, I was in an SU-152. You might have spotted some hits for me…. but in the end, the team fell apart and we all died. Seemed to happen a lot this weekend for some reason.

    1. Man, I can’t get on a winning team to save my life this week. You know there is something wrong when you’re in a Tiger 2 in a Tier 8 game, and you do 4500+ damage, and still lose.

    1. It’ll give them an even greater foaming fit when the sales figures come out and SoTBS outpaces all of their preferred favorites. Combined.

      What was it that pipsqueak at The Guardian said? That Mr. Correira’s sales would “pay a price” for Sad Puppies?

    1. I find it amusing how Scalzi feels the need to tell his fans *how* to discuss things. Micromanagement of one’s fanbase strikes me as the height of control freak.

      1. I do. He doesn’t call people moron. And doesn’t make moronic predictions like Ted Cruz to win the Republican nomination. He is the grown up in the room, yes?

        Also hang out at 770 and I thank you and your puppy pack for steering me there.

        And also GRRM’s not a blog – again thanks to youse guys.

        1. No, he doesn’t call people morons. That’s not how daffy supremacist cults and group defamation works. He just takes out all men, all whites and all heterosexuals at a single stroke of genius by calling them all shitlords for not bowing to the wisdom of political lesbianism and how the gals writhe under the neck of “compulsory heterosexuality” and “rape culture.”

        2. Don’t act like one, won’t be called one.

          Also, trolls aren’t supposed to show butthurt. Tighten it up, buttercup.

        3. Ooooh, you mean two months ago, out of the most crowded primary field in history, it doesn’t appear that I made the correct prediction? Yeah, that’s never happened before in the history of politics! Well, shit, if I had called it perfectly that far in advance I’d be making that sweet Karl Rove money! Oh wait, the highly paid pollsters get that stuff wrong too. Wow. You showed me!

          You are one stupid, straw grasping, motherfucker. 😀

          Yes, yes. He’s the Modern Man in the room.

          I don’t care how you got here. You came, you saw, you proved you’re a dumbfuck, and now we’re making fun of you. I spend a few minutes in the morning as I read through the prior day’s blog comments insulting you, but I’m beginning to wonder about your bizarre fixation. It is really kind of sad.

          1. You are predicting a Ted Cruz victory and you want to make fun of me. And you pretend you understand numbers. Carry on.

          2. Yay! 😀

            EDIT: Place your bets. Will idiot troll SJW Numbers actually go away? Or will he be unable to resist posting more nonsense?

          3. *yawn*

            Yes, yes. You need to knock down the icky awful Corriea monster so the voices in your head will stop screaming at you. Carry on.

            *pats SJW on the head with a pitying look*

          4. Huuuuuuurr Duuuuurp… You didn’t accurately predict polling numbers in a complex system two months in advance!

            Funny, neither did any actual pundits, dipshit. 😀

        4. He doesn’t call people moron. Yeah he usually goes for really sophisticated insults like shitlord, dipshit, and asshat.

  6. Was lucky to have received an advanced copy at Dragon Con at the Baen event. Stayed up all night reading it. Best High Fantasy I have read. In a while. On par with Lord of The Rings and. In The Name of The Wind

  7. Really looking forward to reading this. My only hesitation in doing so is the knowledge that, by the time I’m finished with it, I’ll be itching for the next volume RIGHT NOW.

    Its bad enough that we’re almost a year away from the next MHI book…

  8. Wait, Larry’s a gamer … Indian flavor to the fantasy world … could it be inspired by Tekumel?

    Or is nobody but me THAT old-school?

  9. Sorry if this has addressed elsewhere, but are there any major differences between the eARC and final release other than a layer of editorial polish?

        1. Right now I have a trilogy under contract.

          Son of the Black Sword
          House of Assassins
          Destroyer of Worlds

  10. I got my ebook from Baen. I read the book in three days. Excellent work. The characters are all flawed (both sides). It is unusual that I pick up a book and then don’t put it down. I’m in the habit of reading a half a dozen books at the same time.

    But once I started this I continued to completion. I may buy a 2nd copy in hardback to have one on acid free paper.

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