Author of LitRPG, Gamelit, Sci-Fi, Progression Fantasy & Historical Fiction Books.
Author of LitRPG, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Sci-Fi, Murder Mystery & Historical Fiction Books.
Fire and Song: Warformed: Stormweaver, Book 2
9/10
Bryce O'Connor
Progression Fantasy, Progression, LitRPG, Military, Sci-Fi
The Story
The Iron Prince will claim his crown.
Reidon Ward's first semester at the Galens Institute hasn't been without reward. In just over half a year he's gone from the weakest cadet at school to one of the strongest in his class, and there's no one left who would argue that his Device, Shido, isn't the most terrifying CAD they've ever laid eyes on. Still, Rei knows that his climb has barely begun, like he knows that the true fight is only just starting.
After all… The Sectionals tournament has arrived.
Rei, along with Aria, Viv, Catcher, and a couple unexpected squadmates, are about to face the first real battle of their careers. Squaring off with some of the best Users in the Astra System, they're going to have to put everything they have—as individuals and as a team—into their coming fights if they want to ultimately end up standing at the top. As ever, though, their journey is hardly bound to be a smooth one.
Especially not when Rei and Aria begin to suspect that Shido may be even more formidable than it appears, much less as the powerful entities who've already taken notice of the 'Iron Prince of Galens' begin to make their moves, some casting their hands in his favor, others very much against…
My Review
This book has been ready to take its place on my review pile for so long, ever since I read Iron Prince and recognised it as one of my favourite books of all. Seriously the wait from a 10/10 book to get the second was like torture, but here we are, and it’s been read!
After the events of Iron Prince (Spoilers) we are left wanting to know more. How Rei was going to grow, if he would ever reach Godhood, if he would finally confess his love for Aria, how his CAD would grow and evolve and so much more. And what about his real family? They were there somewhere right? Honestly there’s so much going on that you can see how the book’s such a monster.
Well there are answers. And they are Lots, yes, yes, quickly and kind of.
To scratch that progression itch, Rei and Shido both grow as a character and a CAD. Rei develops more in the way of perception and intuition and Shido evolves, gains abilities and becomes exactly what you want it to – legendary. This interspliced with future segments looking back on the rise of Rei and Fire Song was particularly well done in my opinion, because we both knew that they were all going to have a meteoric rise, but also got to sit along for the ride.
The book mainly focusses (in my opinion) around the first tournament that Rei and his squad are participating in and as always the fight scenes, the training and the intricate details of CAD fighting are really well done. All of the characters go through a ton of growth too, which was really nice to see, especially Logan.
Rei’s secrets come out, but Grant pulls off a fantastic heel turn to become one of the good guys and we learn a lot more about his past and upbringing – which in itself was well written and thought out.
The only downside to the book – and I can only assume that we will find out in book 3 – is that the arc of Rei’s family seemed to be half-baked. It was the only think that let it down for me. There were scenes of intrigue like Rei getting offered wealth and riches by (unbeknownst to him) his real family – but then he figures it out – as does everyone else – and nothing ever really comes of it. There are a few shady-dealings scenes with them, but other than that, its kind of alluded to and then forgotten. For me, this should be addressed in book 3 and it’ll round off the story nicely.
All in all, This was pretty much everything I wanted from book 2 in this fantastic series, and I will no doubt be back for a second read before long – with these two books, there’s always something to pick up on the second time around.