i really enjoyed that they described this as Gladiator meets Game of Thrones. I felt that title is very true and I really enjoyed reading it. I hope there is more in the series.

Cael Brenion is an Arenaman in the city of Yddinas. He does this to provide for his younger brother. However, he becomes tied up in the cities political games after his rapid rise to Champion and the Chanceloress takes an interest in a stone in the pommel of his weapon.

This book is an odd one. It's description states it as a 'Gladiator meets Game of Thrones' story. Cael is certainly a Gladiator type character and his role of Arenaman certainly fits. The political games played by the sadistic Chancellor and his wife are reminiscent of those played in the Game of Thrones series. There is also some sort of 'other place' that seems to be guarded by a magical barrier of sorts but this is barely mentioned. As this book is the first of a series, this fantasy element will probably come more into play in later books.

Additionally, the first 60 per cent of the book was really slow going with a lot of really long sentences that contained too many long words which also makes the reading a lot slower. For the first book in a series, this book could have stood to be a lot more concise. I think a solid 15% could easily be cut without losing any relevant parts of the story. Perhaps those less interesting parts will breathe more life into later books. But at this stage, there is no knowing. As such, I very nearly lost interest in the book several times and only brief moments of intrigue kept me going.

The story really improved a great deal in the final 30-40 per cent. The pace picked up, the language simplified and interactions between characters became significantly more interesting and I sped through the remainder of the book.

I flipped between wanting to give this a rating of 2 or 3 stars. Unfortunately, too much of the book was rather droll and as such, I stuck with 2 stars. However, I am interested in reading the sequel as the ending of this story leads me to believe that the next will be much better.

The Arena by R.B. Ellis, a strange take. I felt disconnected from the story and struggled to understand where it was going, but do think others will like it.