Death always comes too soon. We don’t think about it as a survival mechanism, but it’s out there waiting for all of us. Yet, we delay things because we believe tomorrow will come. Whether optimism or naivete, we put off doing things that are difficult, that are painful. We put off reconciling. Sometimes, we put it off too long and can never reconnect. Lukan Gardova in The Silverblood Promise by James Logan has done exactly that. One day as he’s playing cards in a city far from home, he learns that his father has been murdered. Now, not only is Lukan head of a minor noble house, he’s no longer able to reconcile with his father. But his father left him a mystery to solve. Maybe if Lukan can figure out who murdered his father, he can get some closure.
TL;DR
The Silverblood Promise by James Logan exceeded all my expectations. This novel features a main character worth rooting for, a city worth exploring, and a plot worth reading. This is a promising debut and wonderful opening to The Last Legacy series. Highly recommended.
From the Publisher
Set in a city of traders and thieves, monsters and murderers, this page-turning epic fantasy debut is a must-read for fans of Nicholas Eames and Joe Abercrombie.
Lukan Gardova is a cardsharp, academy dropout, and—thanks to a duel that ended badly—the disgraced heir to an ancient noble house. His days consist of cheap wine, rigged card games, and wondering how he might win back the life he threw away.
When Lukan discovers that his estranged father has been murdered in strange circumstances, he finds fresh purpose. Deprived of his chance to make amends for his mistakes, he vows to unravel the mystery behind his father’s death.
His search for answers leads him to Saphrona, fabled city of merchant princes, where anything can be bought if one has the coin. Lukan only seeks the truth, but instead he finds danger and secrets in every shadow.
For in Saphrona, everything has a price—and the price of truth is the deadliest of all.
Review: The Silverblood Promise by James Logan
Lukan Gardova has regrets. Don’t we all? After a night of cards and drinking, Lukan makes his way to his lodgings and finds himself followed. His shadow is from his past; the woman who raised and educated him after his mother’s passing. She tells him that his father has been murdered. Lukan and his father haven’t talked in some time; actually, Lukan avoided his old man ever since the incident that made him leave home. Lukan is now the head of a minor, maybe disgraced, noble house. Who murdered his father and why aren’t clear. But as his father lay bleeding out, the man wrote three words on a scrap of paper in his own blood. Lukan Saphrona Zandrusa. The first two words are obvious; Lukan is his son; and Saphrona is a rich port city. But who or what is the third word? To find out, Lukan must travel to the port city. Hearing about the loss of his father, Lukan feels the door to reconciliation shut. But maybe if he can solve his father’s murder, he can make peace with his old man. So Lukan makes a promise with blood and silver to find his father’s murderer. What he doesn’t know is that Saphrona is filled with dangers and adventures that might take precedence over his promise. In an attempt to uncover his father’s murderer, Lukan finds himself embroiled in political machinations that could destroy a decades old peace. Saphrona, like any merchant city, has a price that Lukan must pay.
The Silverblood Promise by James Logan is a third person novel with Lukan as the narrator for the majority of the read. Near the end, other narrators take over a few chapters, and it can be jarring. However, it works. The style is fast-paced without losing the character exploration that I find necessary for a good novel. The worldbuilding is quite good, and I cannot wait to explore the world further. This novel engaged me from the first chapter, and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s 512 pages long, and I read it in 6 days. My wife even commented on how fast I read the book because I couldn’t put it down. In other words, I highly recommend this book.
Lukan Gardova
Lukan is a fascinating character. He’s a mix of self-reflection and zero thought whatsoever. His concern is the people around them. Like any good narrator, he observes closely. We get his regrets on the duel that cost him and his family a fortune. We learn about his regrets with his father. We hear his internal debates about engaging his allies to help him. On the other hand, he runs head first into schemes and relies on his quick wits and luck to save him. As a long term strategy, it seems flawed. Yes, he is protected by plot armor, of course. And honestly I didn’t care because he was so entertaining. Often, he used his quick wit and words as a strategy to get his way. More than once, his mouth got him in trouble, and sometimes it seemed as if he were mouthing off simply for plot reasons. Again, I was okay with it, but YMMV.
We learn at the beginning that Lukan’s father passed. But we don’t see him grieving. In fact, his reflections on not making up with his father are quick. I interpreted that as the mission giving him purpose and taking up so much of his thought processes that he didn’t grieve. In my head, he grieved in his own way on the trip to Saphrona. But the problem with grief is that it shows up at inconvenient times. Seeing a book might remind someone of their lost parent. I hope that in future books we get see Lukan’s grief.
At the same time, this mission he’s undertaking for his father lets him connect to his father in a way that’s new. When we’re kids, we have a hard time seeing our parents as people, as fallible humans doing their best to deal with their own emotions and fears. As adults, we begin to understand that aspect of our parents. If you’re lucky, this happens before a parent’s passing. Lukan isn’t lucky. However, he does get the chance to reflect on the past from his father’s point of view. The immediate emotions of the moment have disappeared, and we can get perspective on what the other side was thinking and/or feeling. This perspective is a way of connecting with a parent as an adult that can deepen a relationship and, in my opinion, is necessary in the process of forgiving that parent. Seeing Lukan begin the process of understanding his father was fantastic. It added a wonderful undertone to an already fantastic novel.
Saphrona and the Larger World
Logan has built an intriguing world. Lukan starts in a tavern close to the Grey Lands where treasure hunters seek out relics from a lost, advanced civilization. And that’s all we get to know about the Grey Lands because we’re soon off to Saphrona. The lost Phaeron civilization weaves its way through the novel, hinting at a world older and more mysterious than the current moment. Legends and travel guides make up the fun that Logan has created, and Saphrona is the jewel of the novel.
In order to accomplish his goal, Lukan travels through the power pathways of the city. What the reader sees is a port city brimming with trade, culture, and danger. From the heights of noble society to the underworld domain of the criminal, Lukan experiences Saphrona in a way no tourist would ever want to. But it really does sing as a city. Commerce from all over the globe takes place in the port city. Lukan encounters people from numerous other countries and citizens of the fair city itself. Make no mistake, the book isn’t a travelogue describing the sights and smells of the city. There’s plenty to Saphrona that we don’t get. Yet, from what we saw, there’s much more to explore. I can’t tell if I want Logan to return to this city or give us another wonderful setting in future books.
Action
The Silverblood Promise is full of action. Full of it. Logan balances this with character growth, with time for reflection. But the one thing that Lukan has no time for is planning. He rushes headlong into an adventure when others might hesitate. This makes for an action filled novel, and the way the action comes about naturally is wonderful. You see, for every success that Lukan has, that success complicates the situation further and requires more action to resolve the situation. It’s clear that Logan plotted this story out, but it feels as if the story grows as we read it. I kept reading because I wondered what sort of trouble Lukan would get into next.
Conclusion
James Logan’s The Silverblood Promise was excellent. It’s a book that I wish I could read again for the first time because it was so engrossing. It sets a high bar for the second novel in the The Last Legacy series, and I have confidence that Logan will easily clear that bar. A likeable protagonist in a captivating background with a mission to reconnect with his murdered father is a recipe for a bestseller. I hope this book becomes one because it deserves it. The Silverblood Promise exceeded all my expectations, and I cannot wait for book two. Highly recommended.
The Silverblood Promise by James Logan is available from Tor Books on May 7th, 2024.
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