Five Broken Blades (Book Review)

By Mai Corland . Release Date: May 7th, 2024

Please Note: This is an assignment that was written for my Reviewing Culture course. It was originally written in MLA style. This was not actually sent to Kirkus Reviews and was written for the purposes of this assignment only. The word count is over what you would typically find in a Kirkus review, but there was a word count I had to reach for the purposes of this assignment.

Word Count: 669

My “submission” for Kirkus Review:

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland is about six individuals who are all on a mission to kill the tyrant king that rules their kingdom. This can be compared to the likes of Six of Crows if it were inspired by Korean folklore and did not come from Eastern European/Dutch influences. 

Each of the characters has definite reasoning as to why they want to kill King Joon. He in some way has allowed for the downfall and misfortune of each of the characters. Some reasons, however, are more direct than others. 

For example, Prince Euyn who is twenty-years his brother Joon’s junior was exiled and left for dead in the desert. One might say that is plenty of reason enough to want his brother dead. Moreover, he would become king if his brother died. Then there is Mikhail who is in fact Joon’s spymaster. But he’s harbouring a secret from the king himself and his lover Prince Euyn.

We also have a broken-hearted strongman named Royo. A man of very few words but is full of emotional turmoil that he is able to hide from the world, mainly with violence. He is the epitome and personification of the lengths that one has to go through in the kingdom of Yusan in order to build themselves up after loss. The antithesis of his character is Aeri, a thief with many secrets of her own, who of course has an unmatched ability to take what does not belong to her. But despite this dark career, she has a very bubbly personality that provides comic relief throughout the story. 

Then there is Sora who is known to very little, but has certainly managed to leave her mark on the world around her. At a very young age she is sold to one of the counts of Yusan where she is trained to be one of his poison maidens. She was one of few to survive the training that involved becoming immune to the most deadliest poisons in the realm. Her counterpart in this story is Tiyung, the son of the count who bought her. For obvious reasons there is a natural distrust between the two of them, mostly on Sora’s end. 

This story takes into consideration its predecessors in the “band of misfits and strangers travelling together in order to achieve a common goal” trope. As it was briefly mentioned earlier, Six of Crows is one of the more notable titles in this category. But Five Broken Blades is able to bring its own truth and lore to the table that has not been seen in a while. It seamlessly blends the folklore that inspired the world without making it too overt.

Another notable aspect of the story is right at the beginning when you are immediately thrust into the action. There is no waiting which is not very common with fantasy stories. The world-building is done through the actions of the characters and the events that take place within the story. Combined with the novel’s shorter chapters, it allows the reader to get through the story rather efficiently. But the quality of the storytelling and the prose does not suffer in the slightest.

This book is recommended to anyone who has a want or need to dive right into a fantasy world head first. For individuals who enjoy character driven stories with immersive prose, will find an abundance of morally gray but still loveable people to follow along in their journey. Not only that, but these readers will certainly find a new favourite read. As much as it can be compared to the likes of Six of Crows, the novel Five Broken Blade certainly stands on its own. 

When there is betrayal, love and bonds formed, the reader feels it all, right alongside these characters. With a story told from first person point of view, from six different characters, Cortland is able to craft a novel of wondrous adventure and devotion that is downright addicting. 

Works Cited:

Cortland, Mai. Five Broken Blades. Red Tower, 2024.