Synopsis

Dev shook his head, spitting out dust and rock chips. The last rays of the setting sun stained the ground crimson. “Betrayer,” he murmured, ears still ringing from the terrific explosion, “we have a problem.”
The cryptic message from Olympus changes everything… One moment Devcalion and Betrayer are free, climbing up Half Dome without a care in the world, the next they are dragged into battle with the Destroyer, Zeus’s ancient foe.
The Dark Power is merciless, and time is running out. It’s up to Dev and Tray to try to stop him, or the world of men and gods is doomed.

Book One of the Blood Series – Destroyer’s Blood by award-winning author – Michael Lynes

My Review

Okay, so the Greek gods and goddesses have always fascinated me, it might be because I would like to be immortal and have some cool powers, I don’t know, I’m just saying. Throughout the book we meet some of the famous Greek gods and goddesses, there’s Zeus, Prometheus, Gaia, and Hades.

Within the pages of this book, we meet many mythical creatures, gods, demi-gods, Titans, some icky harpies, a gorgon. Well, we’re talking about Olympus after all so be prepared to meet quite a few interesting characters.

There are some cool Samurai/sword fighting, which I love. Lynes actually mentioned some of the sword fighting moves/stance that is being used, some of which I had to look up to get the visual in my mind. Here’s an example ko-gasumi no kamae stance. Some famous Samurais are referenced as well as the weapon’s used by Dev.

“Faster than the eye, I drew her forth, assuming a ko-gasumi no kamae stance, my arms extended, her razor-sharp edge held crosswise before me.”

Destroyer’s Blood is a fantastic story to be sure told by Protagonist Devcalion, a Demi-god, chosen by his father as Guardians of men and the Defender of the Light and son of Prometheus. Devcalion and his sentient magical sword Betrayer, yes Betrayer, that is her name. I love Betrayer, she is one complete badass, I wish I could say more about her, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I also love Hermes, he had me LOL a few times, especially when I first met him, okay I’m not saying anything else here either. Then there’s Adrestia, Devcalion’s betrothed, another total badass.

The world building was well developed and I enjoyed the flips between our world and Olympia. The prose flows well and the story is absolutely amazing. Let me tell the view of Tartarus is scary as hell (pun intended). The language is good or should I say languages, there’s also a little bit of French and Latin. A couple of accents as well, when I met Hephaestus, I was like what’s he saying lol, but only for a moment. I just had to pay attention to what he’s saying and then I was good. Hephaestus is such an awesome character.

There is an evil driven to destroy not only Olympia but also Earth. Zeus the all-god must choose a champion(s) to destroy this evil. Can the evil be stopped? Already, it’s taken the lives of gods.

The pace of the book is nice and steady when the action comes, it’s worth it. I mean hello, we’re talking about gods and demi-gods fighting here, of course, it’s awesome. As we already know, when it comes to the gods, there’s always fighting amongst themselves, here it’s no different. We will witness an unflinching betrayal(s) that may or may not come as a surprise, for when one holds power some always want to possess more and until all is destroyed.

I enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it to all, it’s a true journey to Olympia, a wonderful blend of fantasy and mythology. If you enjoy Greek mythology, magic, realism, telepathic abilities and so much more, then give this book a go.

This is book 1 of a trilogy, I look forward to reading the other two. Read the Prequel to Destroyer’s blood. It’s in the Blood.

From the book: A death poem of the great Samurai, Shiaku Nyûdo

Holding forth this sword
I cut vacuity in twain;
In the midst of the great fire,
a stream of refreshing breeze!

Title: Destroyer’s Blood
Author: Michael Lynes
Published by: Michael Lynes
Published: November 6, 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Blood Series
Number of Pages: 330

I would like to thank Michael Lynes for sending me a digital copy of his book Destroyer’s Blood for review.

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Twitter: @woodheat