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The Thieves of Blood (The Blade of the Flame Book 1) by [Tim Waggoner]

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Tim Waggoner

The Thieves of Blood (The Blade of the Flame Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Tim Waggoner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

38 ratings

Book 1 of 3: The Blade of the Flame

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Discover the dark world of Eberron as one assassin-turned-cleric searches for peace in a land that knows only blood

Diran Bastiaan was once one of the most feared assassins in the land—one of the best money could buy. But after a life-altering spiritual experience, he has turned his back on murder, seeking the life of a wandering priest of the Silver Flame. All he wants is peace. But in a rough port town on the edge of the world, his past is about to catch up to him—and killing may be his only hope.

When raiders known as the Black Fleet hit the town, capturing Diran’s former lover, he must risk everything to save her. Accompanied by a half-orc fighter named Ghaji, he races against the clock, knowing time is quickly running out. For these are no ordinary pirates bent on plunder, but minions of Erdis Cai, a warlord and servant of the Blood of Vol . . .

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Wizards of the Coast
Publication date

April 12, 2010
File size

3366 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0036S4AYU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wizards of the Coast (April 12, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 12, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3366 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #835,168 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4,111 in Metaphysical Fantasy eBooks
- #5,741 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #7,338 in Fantasy Adventure Fiction

Customer Reviews:
38 ratings

About the author

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Tim Waggoner

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Tim Waggoner’s first novel came out in 2001, and he’s published close to fifty novels and seven collections of short stories since. He writes original fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. His novels include Like Death, considered a modern classic in the genre, and the popular Nekropolis series of urban fantasy novels. He’s written tie-in fiction for Supernatural, Alien, Grimm, the X-Files, Doctor Who, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Transformers, among others. His articles on writing have appeared in Writer’s Digest, Writer’s Journal, and Writer’s Workshop of Horror. He’s won the Bram Stoker Award and been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Scribe Award, and the Splatterpunk Award. In addition to writing, Tim is also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College.

Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		24%
3 star		11%
2 star		2%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Paul Genesse

Bloody Great Book!

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2007

Verified Purchase

I just finished reading Thieves of Blood. Great ending! Wow, that was very well done. I was quite impressed and it was so nasty. I love the main character, Diran. He's such a great character. I love that he was an assassin and now he's a priest. His backstory is awesome. I love Makala too. Oh, poor Makala and Diran. Wow.

I like how it ended though. There's a part with ghouls under a floor that was just totally horrifying. There were a lot of clever moments in the final battle also. Diran made such a clever use of his holy symbol. Being a priest of the Silver Flame has its definite advantages.

Anyway, it was a very well-written book with exciting scenes and great characters. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Diran and Ghaji are a good team and I look forward to seeing their further adventures.

The creator of Eberron, Keith Baker would be proud of this one.

Paul Genesse

[...]
[...]

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

2 people found this helpful

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Tom

amazing

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2022

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I read this in highschool and just finished it again. Truly one of my favorites. Time for the second book.

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Garry

True Dungeons and Dragons style action adventure.

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2013

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Tim Waggoner writes an easy to follow engaging an enjoyable adventure. Non stop action and fun to read. If you like swords and sorcery novels with a touch of humor you will like this. I would also recommend Waggoner's series of Zombie Detective books. I am looking forward to further books in "The Blade of the Flame" series.

One person found this helpful

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John Christian Lasater

Awesome!!

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

Just enough of everything you love to keep you reading! I could not put this book down! Short, but oh so sweet!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2012

Thieves of Blood is about vampires that... uh... they kidnap people and... steal their blood. That's about as deep as it gets.

As a die hard Eberron fan, I found that the book lacked the noir-mystery feel, the intrigue, or the "shades-of-gray" that Keith Baker envisioned when he created the setting. The protagonist, Diran, is a tired cliche of an assassin-turned-holy man that dispenses stabby justice while running from his inner demons. His sidekick, a half-orc brawler, was never accepted by orcs or humans, so he's carrying that baggage. Neither are particularly original or riveting, but oh they are a force to be reckoned with in battle. What problem cannot be solved by stabbing it?

The plot was pretty thin and while the author attempted to flesh out the characters, they just felt two-dimensional and very predictable. The book mentions a few staples from the Eberron setting, but it feels obligatory. The editor could have easily taken the story from any other setting and just pasted in a few mentions of elemental galleons and the Silver Flame. If there are any mentions of the Last War or any of the conflicts or political tensions that set Eberron apart from other campaign settings, they are lost in the noise.

If you're looking for a good Eberron adventure, I'd suggest checking out the Thorn of Breland series. I prefer Keith Baker's version of the shadowy assassin with the mysterious past to anything this novel has to offer. If you're just picking this one up and you aren't familiar with Eberron, you may have a different opinion. To me, it just felt like a tired, uninspired Friday night gaming session that I probably wouldn't show up to again.

5 people found this helpful

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Steven Wilber

fun, exciting fantasy tale (3.5 stars)

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2006

Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed this novel. While the start of a new series it can also be read as a stand-alone. The basic story-line of the novel is fairly straightforward but interesting and well-written. Diran, an ex-assassin who is now a priest of the silver flame, and his companion, the half-orc Ghaji are travelling the land fighting demons and other aberrations as part of Diran's service to the flame. Along the way they encounter Diran's ex-lover, Makala, who is also an ex-assassin. She is then kidnapped by a strange group of raiders (led by a vampire). Diran and Ghaji set off on a quest to rescue Makala and the others.

While the novel started a little slowly in my opinion, it really improved as it went along. In particular, the characters were well-written and had interesting back-stories, which the author did a nice job of laying out using dreams and flashbacks. The issues and emotions faced by the characters felt 'right' in that I could believe they would react in that way. The inner conflicts faced by the characters were another plus.

My only complaint is I would have liked the 'good guys' to be a little less straight-forward and a little more grey (i.e., not always act like the good guys - one is an ex-assassin after all).

In addition to Diran and Ghaji, I thought the villains of the tale were well done. While a little clichéd at times they were still interesting and well-written. At points you really wonder how Diran and co will overcome these foes.

Plus, while the plot is fairly straight-forward, the author executes it very well. He managed to keep me interested and curious about what would happen next. And to me that is what is important. Can the author keep me vested in the characters and their plight? In this case the answer was yes. The book left me wanting to know more about the characters and in particular what happens next.

My only complaint with the book is that a few scenes seemed unnecessary and contrived. One scene has the heroes rescuing a sailor (actually a pirate) from "The Mire". The scene just didn't seem to fit with the story, except to add a new character who in my opinion was not really necessary. Also there were a few scenes where the characters actions didn't make much sense to me. Such as the opening scene where Diran attacks a shapeshifter who he seems to think is a powerful demon which he would have no hope of defeating.

But, as I said, this book got better as it went along and I actually think the ending was just right. In fact I thought it really made the book. The last several chapters are fast-paced and exciting. The author does an excellent job of putting the reader into the action and letting us know what the characters are thinking and feeling. I don't want to give the ending away, but I really liked it and thought it provided a great insight into what type of person Diran is and how far he has come.

I am looking forward to book 2 in this series and would recommend "Thieves of Blood" to anyone looking for a fun, exciting fantasy tale with lots of action.

5 people found this helpful

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Sir Wane

One Star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

could not get into it. will ignore this author from now on.

Nolghan

Irgendwie nicht Eberron

Reviewed in Germany on May 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

Ich hab mittlerweile einige Eberron Romane gelesen und muss sagen, dass bei diesem hier kein Eberron Flair aufkam. Die Hauptakteure wirken für mich wie Charaktere die ich bei D&D mit 16 gespielt hab. Der Schreibstil ist auch nicht meins und die ganze Zeit hat man das Gefühl man liest einen 0815 Fantasy Groschen Roman vom Grabbeltisch am Bahnhofskiosk und der Autor hat einfach Eberron Namen mit eingebaut um mehr Kunden anzulocken. „Hat funktioniert Tim Waggoner, aber nur einmal, den Rest kannst du behalten.“
Für Spielleiter die Eberron Romane Lesen um die Welt besser kennen zu lernen empfehle ich die Bücher von Keith Baker, Rich Wulf und James Wyatt.

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