4.5 / 5 ⭐️

What an incredible fantasy inspired by the Roman Empire! I'm so glad the author is rapidly releasing this series because I definitely don't want to wait long for book 2.

In this multi-POV novel, we follow characters across the board: Zephyrus, an enslaved gladiator who can't remember his past but knows he has a major role to play in the oncoming war; Laeden, a prince who is doing his best to keep the peace like his father; Danella, the queen of the realm who is moving her pawns in order to do the gods' bidding; Nallia, the daughter of a slave owner who slowly realizes the harmful part she plays within the system; Iylea, a seer who gets caught practicing illegal magic; and Threyna, a mysterious woman who is trying to destroy the Skeleton King through evil gods.

Through these many points of view, the readers gets a look into each of the different religions and beliefs that make up the different sides of the oncoming war. Being able to see these perspectives shows the reader how ambiguous the "sides" really are. Multi-POV novels are always interesting to me since you can really see how everyone has what they consider good intentions even if they're going about them the wrong way.

One of my favorite parts about this book was the unique world-building. I have never read a fantasy novel where the main character, Zephyrus, had as little information about the world as I did, and that really gave me a sense of familiarity and helped me bond with and relate to Zephyrus right off the bat in a way I haven't been able to with other main characters in the past.

If you like epic fantasies, gladiators, multi-POV novels, and the Roman Empire, you should definitely check out this novel. It is unique in all the ways that matter with some great plot twists and a killer cliffhanger ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Torch Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off a little rocky for me, but most fantasy does. I need the info dumping. But around 30% in, I was hitting my stride. I really like the battle scenes in this book, and there are a lot of battles! The politics made it very interesting as well, This book didn’t have too much magic in it, but after the ending, I imagine that will change in the sequels. I’ll definitely be picking the next one up when it comes out. If you like gladiators and really fleshed out political machinations where everyone has a motive, then pick this one up. Also, buy it just for that badass cover! “We will have our vengeance”.

Thank you NetGalley and First Torch Books for providing with an arc copy of this book. A Vengeful realm has to be one of the most epic fantasy gladiator books ive read. Whilst not heavily filled with romance it is still very captivating and action packed. From the very first page you are gripped with the storyline of Zephyrus and sucked in as he becomes a slave/gladiator and tries to figure out who he truly is. The book is written in multiple POV and can sometimes be hard to figure out who’s voice you are reading, however its needed for the scale of world building and the amount of characters present in the book.
If you enjoyed movies like “Gladiator” or series like “Spartacus” then this book is definitely for you.
I cant wait for the next book.

I actually ended up with both the digital and Audio arcs of this title much to my surprise. I enjoyed everything about this title and can not wait to grab a physical copy. I was delighted to experience A vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola. World building was handled excellently alongside superb character development. The multiple points of view set up made the narrative feel like it was flying by and now I desperately need a book two.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Okay, first up, the foreshadowing in this book? So good. And that ending – WOW. I became a big fan of Phoenix and Zephyr, and by the end, Nallia really grew on me. Super excited to see where the next book takes them! Even with heaps of world-building, I’ve still got so many questions about this universe. It was a fresh take on the whole Roman Empire retelling vibe, and I was all in. Yep, it’s a long one (took me a while to get through), but totally worth the ride. Also, the writing is just plain beautiful. Can't wait for the next one!

A Vengeful Realm (The Scales of Balance #1)
Written by Tim Facciola
Read by Landon Soelberg
Book 208/200
Genre: Fantsy
Format: Digital/Audio, ARC
Pages/Time: 528/16hr 6min
Published: 2023
Rating: 8/10

Roman Empire inspired fantasy series? Sign me up! Facciola's debut novel throws readers into a gladiatorial epic in the tone of A Game of Thrones. I had a really good time reading this one! A Vengeful Ream was exciting and intense with it's non-stop action and inventive magic system.

Facciola does a great job writing action scenes and character development. And Soelberg absolutely kills it in the audiobook! I felt like I was a part of this world, and was hanging on for all the twists and turns. This was the solid start of a series and cannot wait to read more by Facciola.

If you're anything like me, you must have all too high of a standard when it comes to investing your ever-slimming spare time in a hefty fantasy novel. There's criteria to meet: heart-winning heroes, heart-stopping action, thought-provoking themes, mind-blowing twists, and a world with lore to bewitch the brain. Imagine my gratitude to find I need look no further than Facciola's A Vengeful Realm to satisfy my every standard.

What perhaps sets A Vengeful Realm apart from similar stories with grandiose worldbuilding and interwoven character arcs is the intervention of the divine in the land of the living. We often, in fantasy, are subjected to the invisible (and, oftentimes, incomprehensible) influence of gods. Or at least what the world interprets as such. But the gods of New Rheynia – be they the old or the new, friend or foe – don't watch their world waste away from a distance. No, they are active players and participants in its future and in the paths of our protagonists, as much as a king or general or other such conventional archetype. All the while, they retain their intrigue without forsaking their impact. To see the two pantheons using the protagonists as pawns or partners in their eternal chess match against one another, and to see characters portrayed with genuine and positive faith in the gods, is as refreshing as it is rewarding to the reader.

Fear not: the humans are no less enthralling to follow. While A Vengeful Realm will have you oscillating between the lives of fascinating characters throughout all corners of the kingdom (and some beyond), Facciola undoubtedly excels most so with his female leads. I found myself championing each from the moment of their first introduction to their final page. Each is as diverse in their personality as they are endearing in their passion – even when tragically misguided. To find women written right in fantasy is an unfortunately rare relief, but to find them even outshining their male counterparts is a most pleasant surprise. Don't underestimate the men either though: each is as complex as the world they come from.

Facciola's fascination with and expertise in martial arts shines through every fight scene. You can envision every slash of a sword and loss of a limb with gratifyingly gruesome detail due to the author's understanding of combat. Every battle brings you closer to the edge of your seat: which, as someone often bored by combat, is high praise. If the jaw-dropping plot twists and intense contest of wits won't sate your taste, the action will most certainly quench it instead.

A Vengeful Realm is a victory in every sense: both for its author and for its audience. The only thing you risk to lose by reading A Vengeful Realm is the rest of your free time, as this story will slowly consume your every waking thought until you reach its shocking conclusion – and, undoubtedly, many a night pondering the pandemonium soon to come thereafter.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Torch Books for gracing me with this first glimpse of New Rheynia: and bravo, Mr. Facciola.

I got this and read this with my husband. He enjoyed it thoroughly, but I felt that we drifted off the main point in various spots. Very good and would read another. I don't know, maybe I am being too picky.

THE NARRATOR O.M.G I DONT EVEN HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE BOOK. RUN! DONT WALK RUN TO GET THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW! It is so WELL written. So WELL written that you lose yourself and want to read this 24/7. I CRIED WHEN I SAW THE NAME UNDER CHAPTER 16 ! i really wanted to be a part of this book , but the more i think of it the more i realise i would die in the 3rd second loll. 29391438758974857/5 stars. AMAZING

I had a hard time getting into this book. I did eventually end up enjoying it but the names and places and jumping around really messed with me. It helped that at the time I was reading it, I was also able to listen to the Audiobook. I am looking forward to continuing the story.

Sorry, but I couldn’t get into this story. The book description sounded interesting, the enslaved gladiator with amnesia who’s trying to save an empire, the intrigues and all, but, in the end A Vengeful Realm didn’t click for me.

This was a great start to the Scales of Balance series, it does a great job in keeping my attention. I enjoyed everything that was going on in the world. The characters did everything that I was hoping for and I enjoyed the use of gladiators. It left me excited to read more from this series.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Where to start, where to start? A Vengeful Realm is an epic fantasy novel set in an Ancient-Rome-flavored world—which I feel like I don’t see very often in fantasy, so it was a welcome change here!

Starting off with a few things I really liked about this one:
* The world! Again, I think this sort of Gladiator-inspired setting is underdone in fantasy (at least, this is my first time reading a fantasy like this), and Facciola does an admirable job bringing it to life.
* The fight scenes. These were the best part of the book by far, IMO. According to Tim Facciola’s author bio, he trains with “maces, clubs, staves, and swords”—which is VERY cool, and it shows in his combat scenes. They’re smooth, exciting, immersive, and believable.
* The shifting POVs. I did have a few least favorite characters, but that’s to be expected with a cast this large, and I think Facciola uses the format well here to convey the scale of the world and all of the political intrigue it contains.
* The plot twists/reveals were excellent throughout. I gasped aloud on multiple occasions.

This is a long book. I’d say it justifies its length in the sense that something is always happening; the story Facciola wants to tell is vast and labyrinthian, and the book needs all of its “run time” to set all of the necessary pieces in motion. That said, there were places where it dragged for me, contrasted with moments where important plot beats (especially emotional/relationship ones) felt rushed or unearned.

Part of this was due to the oft-changing viewpoints, and the sheer weight of information the reader is expected to remember—both of which are, I understand, conventions of the genre, but it took me until about two-thirds into the book to get a somewhat-solid grasp on the differences between the different political and religious factions, and what characters belonged to which faction. Facciola does a good job of reminding readers of the main points throughout, but I would have loved to see a bit more of this information introduced earlier on in the narrative, and then expanded upon more than they were. I wanted to care more about the things the characters cared about—to understand more about the different gods and what they specifically meant to each character.

In general, I think my overarching feeling about the entire cast of characters was that I wanted to care about them just *slightly* more than I did. The stakes here are high: gods and slaves, life and death, war and vengeance. But I had trouble fully connecting with the characters. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why, and I wonder if it’s not for a want of specificity. This ties back to my earlier critique about the way the religions are explained: some additional details and explanation (about the religions; about the characters’s relationships with their religion; about the characters’s relationships with each other) throughout the book would have gone a long way in making these characters feel just a bit more real. There were also a few moments where I felt like a character’s virtues were being told to me, but not shown in their actions, which always puts up a barrier for me in how much I like a given character. That said, there were a couple of characters I *really* loved by the end!

The prose was decent throughout. There were lines that really shone, alongside a couple of moments of dialogue that felt a bit anachronistic. I saw another reviewer recommend this to fans of Brandon Sanderson, which I would agree with, with the caveat that I think the prose here is absolutely better than Sanderson’s.

Overall, a solid effort! I loved the world, the twists were excellent, the ending moved at a thrilling pace. It’s really impressive to me how Facciola managed to pull off a story of this scale and complexity in his debut, and I look forward to seeing how he grows as he continues publishing.

A Vengeful Realm is a very captivating story with sexy, swoony characters and fantastic writing! Definitely a book worth reading.