The Righteous Blade: Book Two of The Dreamtime

By Stan Nicholls

Cursed with immortality and fits of blind, deadly rage, swordsman Reeth Caldason has wandered the world seeking both revenge for his slain tribe and a cure for his affliction. His travels have brought him to Bhealfa, where the authorities use magic and brute force to control the entire population.

The paladin clans, an order of mercenary knights, are determined to crush the growing revolution, and Devlor Bastorran, the wildly cruel heir apparent to the clan leadership, plots a gruesome revenge against Reeth.

But Reeth has larger problems to contend with. The rebels have decided on the location of their new state -- a remote island -- and he has been given the dangerous task of delivering payment in gold. Soon Reeth discovers that a powerful new enemy threatens to destroy not only the Covenant, but also his chance for redemption.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061835698

Stan Nicholls

Stan Nicholls is best known for the internationally acclaimed Orcs: First Blood series. His journalism has appeared in Locus, SFX, the Guardian, the Independent, the Daily Mirror, Time Out, Sight and Sound, and Rolling Stone, among many other publications. He currently lives in the West Midlands, U.K., with his wife, the writer Anne Gay.

Reviews for The Righteous Blade

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A bridge novel and you can see the setups for the finial story building here. While you could read this alone as the author usefully has a recap at the beginning, it does follow on from the previous novel. Reeth Caldason is still trying to work out where he comes in the scheme of things and why he is so difficult to kill. The rebels are trying to find themselves a utopia away from tyrrany and the madness of some kings is getting worse.Overall interesting, made me want to read book three now and I wondered what was happening. However there are a profusion of characters and it was occasionally difficult to care for them all.