Oath of Swords by David Weber Book Review

This is the first book in the War God series by David Weber.  As with his science fiction he creates a world, and populates it with extraordinary characters.  This series is a fantasy epic that centers around the conflict between the gods of light and the gods of the dark.  Unlike some fantasy stories however the main character does not want to be a hero, nor anything to do with gods.  The war god actually has to go through significant effort to get noticed by the hero, and when he does he is basically told no, and questioned as to why a god would need him.

The only thing that I didn't like about this story is that it didn't have enough explanation as to how their religious system worked, but since the main character comes from a race that feels that the gods have abandoned them it is understandable.

This story is the beginning of a heroic journey for Bazhell and his companion Brandark.  The two are unlikely hero's since they are Hradani.  Hradani were originally an elf like race that lived in harmony with the land, but in the last wizard war they were twisted by dark wizards to have the rage, which manifests as murderous fits that cannot be controlled by the person afflicted. Because they are basically ticking time bombs the other races exterminated them where they could and the survivors by Bazhell's time are one step above savages.  It has seemed that even their gods had abandoned them since they had not seen one since the war.  Time heals all things however, and the gods have been working to change the rage to something that can be controlled.  When Bazhell fights the servants of a dark god for the sake of a servant girl, the god of war and justice decides that the time has come to help Bazhell and the rest of the Hradani.  The problem is that Bazhell doesn't want the help he is quite bitter towards the gods, and the war god must prove to him that he is a captain worth following.  In the end when Bazhell is faced with an evil from outside his world he realizes that those who would stand for the light must stand together or be destroyed by the darkness.  During the battle he takes the god up on his offer.  The followers of the dark should be very afraid because when a Hradani that controls the rage is backed by the god of war the very world cannot help but change.

This book will appeal to fans of David Weber's science fiction work, Classic fantasy fans, and anyone who likes a good adventure.  Bazhell is a fun hero to read about because he never set out to be one, he only wanted to do what was right.

This book can be found at www.amazon.com as an e-book or in print.  It is currently free as an e-book since it is part of Baen's free library, which has many first books in a series.  Their hope is to hook you and that you will buy the rest of the series, but a free book is a free book.