Serialized stories are not new. Magazines often published novels and stories in parts, but this form of storytelling fell out of popularity as audiences switched to novels. Novellas and novelettes also declined in popularity, but in the past few years, the form has gotten renewed interest. So, why not serialized stories? Serial Box is answering that question with high quality episodic tales. With The Witch Who Came in from the Cold and Bookburners, I’ve been interested in Serial Box’s offerings, but I haven’t yet had the Serial Box experience. Arrivals, episode one of Born to the Blade, piqued my curiosity. Formal, magical duels won me over, and I’m happy it did. This first episode lays a lot of groundwork down without overburdening the reader with world building. If you’re interested in sword fighting and sigil magic, there’s a whole lot more here for you.

TL;DR

Arrivals is a promising start to Serial Box’s Born to the Blade series. Recommended.

From the Publisher

This is the 1st episode in the first season of Born to the Blade, an 11-episode serial from Serial Box. This episode written by Michael R. Underwood.

For centuries the Warders’ Circle on the neutral islands of Twaa-Fei has given the countries of the sky a way to avoid war, settling their disputes through formal, magical duels. But the Circle’s ability to maintain peace is fading: the Mertikan Empire is preparing for conquest and the trade nation of Quloo is sinking, stripped of the aerstone that keeps both ships and island a-sky. When upstart Kris Denn tries to win their island a seat in the Warder’s Circle and colonial subject Oda no Michiko discovers that her conquered nation’s past is not what she’s been told, they upset the balance of power. The storm they bring will bind all the peoples of the sky together…or tear them apart.

Arrivals

Exploring the Serial Box website, you see that they organize their series by season and episode, which makes the comparison to television series unavoidable. The site lists eleven episodes for season one of Born to the Blade, and if each episode builds off this one, this will be an excellent story. On the website, Serial Box is listing four authors for this project: Michael R. Underwood, Malka Older, Marie Brennan, and Cassandra Khaw; all of these authors are well regarded and on my new writer (to me) watchlist.

Mr. Underwood wrote episode one, which introduces us to various countries of the sky. This action packed prologue gives us our first taste of the magic system, which at the moment is connected to the blade. I’m interested to know if the sigil requires only a sword or can other tools/weapons act as a substitute. The sky society revolves around swords; the magic system, even the government, is sword based; so, I’m guessing that magic is only capable with the sword. Dueling is an integral part of the society, and I look forward to seeing how its explored in future episodes. I liked how Mr. Underwood weaved the sigil magic in with the sword fighting; it worked. The worry about any magic system is always if magic exists, what are the limits on it? We see that even though magic exists in this world, Mr. Underwood shows that it’s not ominpotent, but the system is modifiable enough that the authors have freedom to expand. It reminded me of living card games, where you can add boosts to your characters, but Mr. Underwood did a better job with it than my description.

Writing

Episode one carries a large burden. It has to introduce us to the world, set up future conflict, maintain our interest in the story enough to continue, and be readable through action and tension. Arrivals pulls it all off. Many themes exist in this first portion; imperialism, cultural clash, the effects of propaganda, and political flexibility. With each chapter, the world of Born to the Blade deepened as the story flew through the sky. Mr. Underwood set the stage for adventure.

Serial Format

As I said, Arrivals is my first dip into the Serial Box offerings, and I liked it. The story is short, but Serial Box prices the episodes affordably. Though it ends with a major revelation, it didn’t end on a cliffhanger, which was my fear. It has a beginning, middle, and end. I wasn’t sure that I’d enjoy it knowing I wouldn’t have the whole story, but when I read the last word, I had finished a whole story that is also a puzzle piece for a larger story. After years of being programmed by reading large, door-stopping epics that sort of, kind of end but not really, I enjoyed that the story had an arc, not just a cliffhanger. In a way, it felt closer to television in that the episode had its own arc that fits into the overall arc. It seems likely this is a feature of the pilot episode and further into the story cliffhangers might be required. In short, though a quick story, Arrivals satisfied.

Conclusion

Arrivals starts off the Born to the Blade series in a fun, magic packed story. This opening teases at a larger, complex world where politics involves duels and airborne islands. Recommended.

7 out of 10

Arrivals, the first installment of Born to the Blade, publishes on April 18, 2018 from Serial Box.