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The Sword (Chiveis Trilogy, #1)

Bryan M. Litfin

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Feb 01, 2012 Stefan Yates rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, awol

While post-apocalyptic themes seem to be all of the rage of late, this new series seems to take a different slant than most that I have seen recently. In this version of the post-apocalyptic future, society has reformed itself into a feudal-type society similar to that of the Middle Ages. All previous religion has been lost and a multiple-god religion with the god of the sky ruling over all has developed. Remnants of the ancient society proceeding the apocalypse can be found in ruins throughout While post-apocalyptic themes seem to be all of the rage of late, this new series seems to take a different slant than most that I have seen recently. In this version of the post-apocalyptic future, society has reformed itself into a feudal-type society similar to that of the Middle Ages. All previous religion has been lost and a multiple-god religion with the god of the sky ruling over all has developed. Remnants of the ancient society proceeding the apocalypse can be found in ruins throughout the kingdom and its' surrounding out-lands and, by chance, a church containing a carefully preserved copy of the Christian bible is found.

I thought that this was a pretty decent book with a few minor flaws. The plot is well thought out and for the most part implemented skillfully. The storyline moves the reader along at a rapid pace and it is a fairly gripping page-turner that I found difficult too put down as I was eager to find out what was going to happen next. The characters are very likable and mostly believable except for the part that the main hero and heroine are mostly too perfect (the best/most beautiful/most admired in the kingdom.) I also found the premise of introducing Christianity into a society that has absolutely no prior knowledge of it to be very compelling and actually liked the way that Litfin had his characters introduce these new ides.

Where I thought that the book was a bit lacking was in the depiction of the current religion of the realm. Not that other religions can't have evil intents or that the power inherent in leading others in religion can't lead to evil motives, but it just seems that the author went a little over the top with the lengths that the priests and priestesses go to. For example, priests of one of the gods carry acid guns that they remorselessly use to disfigure those that defy them. I also thought that the group that was introduced to Christianity was far to quick to turn to it as the one true religion without truly questioning whether or not these new ideas had any possible negative outcomes.

All in all, I thought that this was a pretty decent read with some original ideas and I'll most probably follow up with the series when the sequel is released. ...more

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