Reviewed by Becca
TITL
E: Sword Dance
SERIES: Sword Dance Trilogy #1
AUTHOR: AJ Demas
PUBLISHER: Sexton’s College
LENGTH: 265 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2019
BLURB:
Five years ago, Damiskos’s brilliant military career was cut short, leaving him with a permanent disability and scars that are not all physical. Adrift and still grieving, he tries to find meaning in an unsatisfying job.
Work takes him to the remote seaside villa of an old friend, where, among an odd assortment of guests, he meets the eunuch sword-dancer Varazda. Enigmatic and beautiful but distinctly prickly, Varazda is the antithesis of the straightforward and serious Damiskos. Yet as they keep getting in each other’s way at the villa, their mutual dislike is complicated by a spark of undeniable attraction.
Then the villa’s guests begin to reveal their true characters and motives—no one here is what they seem—and Damiskos finds himself at the centre of a bizarre web of espionage, theft, and assassination. Varazda may need Damiskos’s help, but not as much as Damiskos, finally awakening to a new sense of life and purpose, needs Varazda.
Sword Dance is the first book in the Sword Dance trilogy, an m/m romance set in an imaginary ancient world, with murderous philosophy students, sex acts named after fruit, and love blossoming in the midst of mayhem.
REVIEW:
This was actually a pretty good book and the way it left off was kind of a cliffhanger, which I hate, but it definitely left me wanting to see what happens next. The main problem I had with the book was at times it was…..slow. So sometimes it was hard to keep my attention. However, once you start getting into it, it’s a tale of espionage, betrayals, murder, and idiots who are trying to start war to make the ‘world’ more pure and perfect.
Damiskos went to his old friend’s Villa, on a job for his boss. His military career long over, because of an injury, he didn’t want to sit back and collect a pension. He wanted to be busy. Although this job is a bit much. Stupid really, but oh well. While he is a bit later than expected, he joins in the conversation and drinks and immediately notices some things are way off. One being the eunuch slave sitting at a man’s feet. The other were the conversations going on around him. The ideas coming out of some of the students mouths were horrible. He runs into the eunuch, Varazda, off and on and they end up striking a friendship. One born of secrets after the man Varazda was will disappears. Little by little, their relationship turns into more, but it’s hard to keep it going with all the stuff going on around them. The students are basically starting war. They’ve stolen scrolls, murdered officials and other stuff all in trying to rid the world of those not like them. They’ve taken hostages and taken over the villa, forcing most to flee. And now it’s up to Demi and Varazda to try to make things right. And hopefully before they die themselves. Because they’ve had a few close calls already.
I think the person who impressed me the most in this book was Varazda. I can’t go into too much detail or I’ll give it away, but he was born in a world where he was made a eunuch and a slave. But he turned his life around. You have to read to find out how, but it’s truly impressive. And Demi is the same. Just because he had a disability now, doesn’t mean he can’t do anything. He wants to work. To make his way in life instead of just being there. And admirable trait in both. These two make this story. The battles they fight, the way they do it covertly. It’s a good tale. I’m ready to see what’s next.
RATING: 
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