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senqin 's review for:
The Ragged Blade
by Christopher Ruz
Any man who says he has the answers is lying. Any man who does not try again is no father, only a shadow looming over a child. You must know this in your heart, scholar. Know that you know nothing. That it will always be hard, that you will be wrong more times than you are right, and that you must always try again. Then, perhaps, you will be a father, and not just a shadow.
★★★★½
I bought The Ragged Blade a couple of months ago and then proceeded to forget about it and now I feel like the biggest fool for not reading this sooner because HOT DAMN is it good. I may have purchased it solely on a single tweet by the author, Christopher Ruz, in which he describes his brand as "Magic Monster Queers" and summarized this story as "stabby alchemist dudes descend into monstrosity as they fight for custody of their daughter" and so of course I automatically threw my money at him. And let me tell you that it was so worth it!!
The Ragged Blade tells a gripping story of a retired soldier as he flees with his young daughter across a dangerous desert to escape the clutches of his ex-lover/the ruthless ruler of his kingdom. Among many other things it contains (also straight from the author's twitter):
- Mysterious desert demons
- Bi dad angst
- Small, stabby girl
- Clingy, evil magician ex
- Zombie doggo
- Warlord with a heart of gold
- Lovers-to-enemies
The story has an almost episodic feel to it (I can totally imagine this as a tv series) but at the same time never manages to lose the thread that ties together its overarching narrative. I actually had a hard time getting into The Ragged Blade in the beginning, but I'm so glad I persevered because the payoff and the journey were both just *chef kisses* The characters were all hot messes and I loved that about them. I enjoyed reading about Ana's warring natures and trying to get a grasp on the Magician's true character. Xaree who I thought was going to be an antagonist turned out to be such an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Richard is a mercenary of dubious moral standings but clearly loves his daughter despite struggling to act as a father (understandably) and has several moments where we get a glimpse of his humanity. Can we have more complex, messy queer dudes in dark fantasy books please
The setting at first also seems kinda familiar with its medievalish backdrop and "sword and sorcery" feel but the more you dive into it the more you notice all the unique and intriguing bits of lore and worldbuilding that the author has crafted. The atmosphere especially has such a distinct feel to it - very bleak and sombre and haunting. The "demons" especially were so interesting and truly seemed vast and unknowable. Some parts of the story even kind of teetered into horror but it was never gratuitous. The lack of sexual violence inflicted against ANY of the characters was such a breath of fresh air in this kind of dark setting. The closest I can think of for comparison is some combination of The Witcher x Dark Souls/Blasphemous. The imagery of the setting, monsters, and gods was just SO GOOD.
THE BAD NEWS - I am so sad that the publisher for The Ragged Blade unfortunately seems to have closed so if you wanted to pick this up (WHICH YOU SHOULD) there's only some used copies available online for now. I really hope that Christopher Ruz either self-publishes the rest of this series/his other books or another publisher picks up his stories because he seems to write EXACTLY the kind of fantasy that I'm dying to read more of!
— ♩♫♩ ~ Que Las Campanas Me Doblen