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.
The Training Grounds, Book 2: From the Ashes
9/10
Jason Clark
Magic, Swords, academy, progression
The Story
After suffering devastating losses in the pursuit to destroy the reaper, Millicent, Adelaide, and Oakes try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. As they prepare for another year at the Training Grounds, events unfold that provide hope—and the promise of more bloodshed.
The discovery of an ancient map presents a world of possibilities, along with whisperings of a device that holds the potential to bring Darius back. Millicent and her friends will embark on an epic journey and attempt the impossible—to cheat death. While increasing her control over the elements, a strange voice from beyond reaches out, offering a deadly proposal.
As the three students search for a way to bring Darius back—or decide to finally let him go, Dean Anders joins forces with Bao and Bixia to prepare the Training Grounds for an imminent attack. Not only must Anders juggle the external threats of Belladonna and the Unified Republic, but a new foe emerges, threatening to destroy the school from within.
The stakes are higher as cataclysmic battles bring Merchant Valley to the precipice of annihilation. Will the new weapons Anders creates for his prize students be enough? Can they possibly withstand the inevitable onslaught destined for the school? This time everyone must fight to stay alive—or die trying.
My Review
Wow I hadn’t been expecting to miss the characters as much as I did since the first book. I WAS surprised that Darius hadn’t hand waved himself back to life from the beginning - but I guess that was just wishful thinking, right?
Another book with my favourite trope - the academy. But this has something different. Again, not just sword and sorcery, but a trickle of weapons from the future (or cyclical past - whatever you get the point). And they aren’t just a total whitewash of OP-ness, but few and far between, used to fight an enemy with power that can’t be rivalled.
Belladonna is the BBEG and she fits the role perfectly. A great mix of sinister, mystery, power and outright blood-thirst. What more could you want?
And then there’s the depth to the characters. Dean Anders’ voice (narrated amazingly by Jamie Treselyan by the way) was something I didn’t know I’d missed since the last book, but as soon as he spoke it was like everything came rushing back to me.
Millicent, Adelaide and Oakes are the meat of this story, with the main drive being a split between preparing for a war that students perhaps shouldn’t be involved in, and trying to find a way to bring Darius back.
Oh and did I forget to mention that the ever tantalising threat of Darius’ father is still up there?
Honestly there’s a lot going on in this instalment of the training grounds, but it is well written and well narrated. Certainly a series that I’ll be continuing, and I hope that many others do too.
Because otherwise we’ll never know if the green rot gets its cure.