Book Review - A Warrior's Redemption

A Warrior's Redemption

by Guy S. Stanton, III

Rating *** (3 stars)

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


A Warrior's Redemption is a Christian fantasy gladiator novel. The setting is a distant world that was settled by humans that had left Earth before the flood. While the original explorers were devote Christians over times the world had split into different fractions. One fraction is sinful and bent on not only world domination, but potential domination of Earth as well.

The main character, Roric, is the son of two devote Christians who live off in the country. Shortly after the novel begins Roric's family is slaughtered because his father refused to have sex with a high priestess. Roric alone is saved, if you consider being sold as a slave to become a gladiator saved. While in the slave auctions Roric sees a beautiful young women who he gives a permeant scar to keep her from being sold as a prostitute.

This novel is unique in its conception. It beautifully combines christian literature, fantasy, and historical war to create an epic love story. The plot of the story is engrossing and the characters have the potential to be amazing.

The story starts of slow. The epilogue is a brief historical background that is better told later in the novel. The writing of the first forth of the novel is a bit choppy and hesitant. It screams of the possibility of potential, yet does not quite deliver. As the novel continues the writing continues to improve. The reader is able to begin to look past the words on the page and be delivered into this new world. Yet, it never completely lets the reader leave the words behind.

Arguably, the biggest limitation of this novel is the misfortune of being written in first person. Throughout the entire novel it creates a gap between the characters and the reader. In the first part of the novel it makes it extremely awkward when the character is telling the backstory to the action. By the end of the novel the tense is almost abandoned going between characters. If the story was written in third person limited the novel would be extremely good. As it stands the novel is good. It is worth the time to read it, specifically if you are interested Christian fiction. However, you will have to be willing to devote the time to read past the awkward beginning.