Grievar’s Blood

• Author: Alexander Darwin
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: December 5, 2023
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Combat Codes #2

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where single combat determines the fate of nations, the Grievar fight in the Circles so that the rest can remain at peace. But given the stakes, things are never so simple. The Daimyo govern from the shadows and plot to gain an edge by unnaturally enhancing their Grievar Knights.

Cego and his team enter year two at the world’s most prestigious combat school, the Lyceum. Though he’d like to focus on his martial studies, Cego feels the pull of his mysterious past and two missing brothers.

Solara Halberd, daughter of the fighting legend, embarks on her own quest to bury the past. She must utilize every lesson her father taught her to explore unknown lands where evil lurks in the shadows.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, The Combat Codes, and couldn’t wait to start reading this one. Since it was a while between when I read the first book and now, I did a quick audiobook reread to refresh myself on the particulars of the story that I might have forgotten about. As usual, I’m glad that I did because it made me feel ready to start this book.

There’s a lot of changes that occurred in this book, both in how the book is written, and what the topic matter is. Rather than keeping the perspective close and narrow with just Murray and Cego as POV characters, Darwin opens up the view in this book by adding in two other perspectives—Solara Halbard (Sol), and The Slayer, the Grievar Knight who appeared at the end of the last book to turn the world of our characters upside down. This allows the scope of the world-building to increase and give us even more of a view into the world that our characters inhabit, and a new view of the lives that they live.

We also get to see new sides of the characters that we already know, as we are also introduced to new characters. I enjoyed getting to know them on a deeper level, even as the story took a darker turn. It picks up a while after the last book ended, so Cego and his friends are a little further along in their schooling at the Lyceum, and have progressed to the next year. But rather than focusing on how the students are adjusting to their training and forming their alliances as they navigate their way around the school, this book focuses a lot of attention onto delving into the past and learning more about where Cego came from and the two brothers that he has been separated from, while Solara is actively working towards uncovering something from her own past and laying it to rest, while the Slayer’s chapters are more geared towards his immediate actions and plans for the short-term as well as his long-term goals. 

I was already a huge fan of this series, but this book proved what Darwin is capable of. As a martial arts master and teacher, he can write a fight scene that keeps even the most fight-challenged (me) interested and following without any problem. His talent here is strongly reminiscent of Fonda Lee’s skill with battle scenes in Jade City, and it makes this book fast-paced and exciting to read. Second book syndrome is avoided completely here, and this book only made me more excited to read the next one, as surprising alliances are revealed and there are some more truths left to uncover. And while there’s a lot going on in the story, it also focuses on some deeper themes, such as loss, grief, courage, and the need for supports. This is one of those books and series that I wholeheartedly recommend—as a matter of fact, I even recommended it to my nephew who doesn’t read, simply because he’d love the fight scenes. And the audiobook for the first book is amazingly done. 

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