YA
A border city with a weak-willed duke is doing more heavy lifting here than the title suggests.
That’s the bit that stuck with me in Brutal. The Sellsword works because Aldreth feels pressurised, like the walls are already leaning in before anyone draws a blade. Strip that away and it’s just another hard man wandering into trouble. With it, the whole thing has shape.
I’m always more interested in that kind of setup than in sheer violence. Give me the city, the politics, the sense that everyone is one bad decision from collapse. Much harder to fake.
That’s the bit that stuck with me in Brutal. The Sellsword works because Aldreth feels pressurised, like the walls are already leaning in before anyone draws a blade. Strip that away and it’s just another hard man wandering into trouble. With it, the whole thing has shape.
I’m always more interested in that kind of setup than in sheer violence. Give me the city, the politics, the sense that everyone is one bad decision from collapse. Much harder to fake.
Titles like that can be a bit of a trap. If the setting and power struggle are doing the real work, the blunt title starts to feel almost defensive.
That setup is the bit I’d pick up on too. A weak duke plus competing wizards is already enough pressure without anyone needing to swing a sword for pages on end. More books should trust that kind of tension.
That setup is the bit I’d pick up on too. A weak duke plus competing wizards is already enough pressure without anyone needing to swing a sword for pages on end. More books should trust that kind of tension.