FORGED IN BATTLE… FROM THE DUST OF THE ARENA… A LEGEND WILL RISE The action-packed tale of a 17-year-old warrior princess and a handsome gladiator who dared take on the Roman Republic–and gave rise to the legend of Spartacus… For teens who love strong female protagonists in their fantasy and historical fiction, Blood and Sand is a stirring, yet poignant tale of two slaves who dared take … poignant tale of two slaves who dared take on an empire by talented debut author C. V. Wyk.
Roma Victrix. The Republic of Rome is on a relentless march to create an empire–an empire built on the backs of the conquered, brought back to Rome as slaves.
Attia was once destined to rule as the queen and swordmaiden of Thrace, the greatest warrior kingdom the world had seen since Sparta. Now she is a slave, given to Xanthus, the Champion of Rome, as a sign of his master’s favor. Enslaved as a child, Xanthus is the preeminent gladiator of his generation.
Against all odds, Attia and Xanthus form a tentative bond. A bond that will spark a rebellion. A rebellion that threatens to bring the Roman Republic to its end–and gives rise to the legend of Spartacus…
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I freaking loved this book. Blood and sand was a pretty rapid read for me since I only received it a couple of day before the release date and like to be up to date my review. Anyway I read it within 10 hours without any kind of hardship despite being in a horrible bookslump.
The story is amazing, action-packed and has such an underlying intensity that you just can’t put it down. The whole book has a kind of gender-bender Spartacus retelling feel to it especially at the first half of the story but for me personally it’s not a problem. I mean one of my fave movies of all time is The gladiator so I just loved the setting and the atmosphere of the story. The plot basically revolving around a warrior princess and gladiators, there is plenty of fight scenes and they are described really vividly and with a lot of details which helped me picture some spectacular scenes. However if I have to be honest with you the pace of the story is not the fastest and also there is not much of a progression in it. Oh it’s nowhere near boring I would rather say it’s high strung and one of my problems with it was that after the build up during the whole book the spark, the conflict just was missing in the end.
The world building is not really detailed but it doesn’t even necessary because the plotline builds strongly on ancient roman history. Sure the author took some creative liberties here and there but it all was for the entertainment of the author, because let’s be honest if we were reading about the actual lives of roman slaves the story would be pretty bleak.
I enjoyed the writing style, it’s quite captivating and fluid. A couple of times I had the impression of reading a historical text but just a few times and it was an interesting twist on the usual writing styles. The narration is alternating between Attia and Xanthus POV and I personally preferred Attia’s side more still found the dual point of view a necessary tool. The only thing that I can mention here is that the POV changed without warning and sometimes even in an abrupt way. It’s not that it was hard to follow because the author made sure you knew instantly who is speaking but there were occasions where the change happened in the middle of an interesting scene and it bothered me a little bit.
I really liked the characters, especially Attia but her demonstrated constant defiance towards her masters would have gone over so well in real life. Yet her strong personality, her cunning and even her vulnerable side comes through perfectly creating and amazing main character. I liked Xanthus too with his kind and remorseful light but at the same time cocky and playful fighting. I really hope his fate turns out to be differently in the next book as it seems like now, but I see only a small chance of that.
However the romance between them was a bit strange and not really genuine. There wasn’t a spark or an insane attraction between them, their relationship came more out of convenience and companionship. But the lack of emotions was pretty much typical for the whole story. I still liked it.
I also loved the other gladiators and the brotherhood between them. I always love when there is such a bond demonstrated in my reads.
Blood and sand was a really enjoyable and intense read with plenty of action, intrigue and surprises and quite the few historically correct elements in it. I’m not in love with the cover however. It’s not the worst I ever so, it’s actually pleasing but I don’t think it’s serves the story justice.