Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords by Benedict Patrick

“The beast opened its mouth, and Arturo expected an almighty growl to come forth, but the actual noise was worse – it was the sound of a baby crying, coming from this filthy, unnatural creature, an uncanny lure that had pulled them all from the safety of the campfire.”

Blurb

Don’t draw your blade in the City of Swords, unless you’re willing to kill… or ready to die.

Young and filled with idealistic fervor, Arturo packs his blade and travels to the fabled City of Swords in the hopes of joining the dashing Bravadori. Yet upon arriving he discovers these masked vigilantes have more in common with brutal thugs than noble monster slayers. Disillusioned and mocked, he stubbornly refuses to give up his dreams.

When an impending bandit attack threatens untold depravities upon a distant village, and no others will heed the call for help, Arturo joins forces with a worthless outcast and a walking legend to attempt the impossible, to traverse the demon-haunted wilderness and prove that in the City of Swords, true heroes can rise from the unlikeliest of places.

Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords is a gritty, action-packed standalone novel set in Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld, a land where folktales and fantasy mix, where the monsters from stories are real.

Start reading today to discover this epic tale of broken heroes and inspiring hope!

Personal notes

I’ve received an ARC from Benedict Patrick in exchange of an honest review. This review was originally written in 2017 October, but in honor of its cover winning the blogger vote of the SPFBO cover contest, I decided to touch it up a bit and publish it on my blog too.

Song of the Book

Not exactly sure why, but when I started to think what song should I choose, my mind toward something country like. Then I remembered this song – maybe because I’ve been listening to Shinedown today and they have an amazing cover of this song. Anyway, I went and listened to it again, and the more I think about it the more I like the idea of this song being the theme song for Arturo and for the song. Probably something more mediterranean/mexican would be better, but I can’t get over this one. I can just see before me Arturo’s mom telling his son to be humble and not greedy and foolish.

“Boy, don’t you worry, you’ll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied”

Review

It’s no secret that Benedict Patrick had become one of my favorite authors in 2017. I’ve read all three of his books and I can’t wait for the 4th to come out already! We’ve talked about that and a few other things in this interview earlier.

Arturo just arrived to the city Espadapan, with the intention of joining the Bravadori, the famous swordsmen, whose legends are widely known, and whose main job to keep the order and save the people from any danger. Arturo want’s nothing more than to be one of the brave, untouchable heroes he dreamed about as a child. Although soon he has to learn the legends and the reality not always walk hand in hand. Not long after arriving to the city he finds myself in the middle of an adventure, with the most unlikely companions: Crazy Raccoon, member of the Lion’s Paw, legendary hero who never lost in a fight and whose mere presence can stop a fight; Yizel, the maskless Bravador – every Bravador wears a mask, representing his/her group, unless he/she commits a crime which is punished by taking the mask and live as Shaven, living from day-to-day if they get hired for a job. Both of them change a lot during the story, their character arcs are pretty well written. Arturo himself reminded me a bit of young d’Artagnan, being hotheaded, full of hopes and ideals.

Besides the main characters, Benedict Patrick introduces a few really interesting side ones, who happened to be my favorite ones: Gavrilla, the Queen’s Bride, who helps out Arturo when he seems to be lost in the city. She has that kind of humor I like and also a rebelling personality. If Patrick ever comes back to visit this part of the Yarnsworld, I really hope Gavrilla will make an appearance. The other significant side characters are the Shepherdess and Procopio, whose story runs parallel to our heroes’. As usual, the short folk tales accompanying the main story shed some light on past happenings, which led to the current situation. But the hints might be not so subtle this time, if someone pays attention, can foresee some of the twists.

Benedict Patrick’s writing style is flawless and every character comes alive on the pages. His world is vivid, his imagination is endless, his creatures are unique, his descriptions picture like. One can easily lose himself/herself in the city of Espadapan which has a mediterranean feel to it. It’s a pity we don’t spend nearly enough time there to properly discover its streets, and population. Despite the obvious writing skills Patrick has, for some reasons this time his magic is not working so well. The characters although well fleshed out, felt a bit flat and their actions were predictable, the twists weren’t all that surprising as they should have been, and the last fight scene a bit too rushed. Although the creative swearing made up for all the flaws a bit. Some of them was pretty hilarious and found myself snorting out loud.

Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords is Zorro meets The Three Musketeers. It has adventure, exciting sword fights, clashing morals. The reckless youthfulness meets the wise seasoned fighter and sets sparkles. And of course there is no Benedict Patrick novel without rich mythology and folklore to make the Yarnsworld a place you’d like to visit. Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords is a tale about heroes, braveness, selflessness, sorrow, revenge, regrets and chances to begin again. Its tone is different from the other Yarnsworld books, so if you are looking something fun and action packed then this book will be perfect for you!

Read my review of They Mostly Come Out at Night, the first book of the Yarnsworld series!