![]() ![]() Ample action and earnest romance fail to fully compensate for murky mythology and heavy-handed plotting. When Ash discovers Madoc’s secret, she endeavors to win him to her cause, potentially at the risk of his own. Ash intends to avenge her mother, Char, who was killed by a Deiman gladiator-and to depose Ignitus, whom she blames for Char’s death and Kula’s poverty. Madoc, hoping to earn enough money in combat to buy his adopted sister’s freedom from indentured servitude, doesn’t reveal that his abilities don’t stem from Geoxus, which would render him ineligible. After earth god Geoxus, the ruler of “the western country of Deimos,” declares war on fire god Ignitus, the ruler of Kula, their descendants-Madoc Aurelius, 18, an olive-skinned Deiman laborer, and Ash Nikau, 18, a brown-skinned Kulan dancer, respectively-volunteer for the arena. Only those who have inherited their progenitor’s magic can serve as that deity’s champion. ![]() In this Greco-Roman-inspired duology opener from Raasch (the Stream Raiders series) and Simmons (the Vale Hall series), disputes between the six gods are settled gladiator-style by their human offspring. ![]()
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