Born of Broken Chains by Sam Larson

Brilliant. Just brilliant! I was hooked from page one, and although Born of Broken Chains is marketed as YA, I honestly think it could appeal to fantasy readers of any age.

The fantasy elements are fairly light, and Soren is not presented as some enormously powerful chosen one. He is simply a seventeen-year-old boy who wants to free his people.

Soren begins the novel as a slave in Kailen-Dur. He is also a fighting slave, marked as such by the symbol above his slave tattoo and given extra rations for fighting other slaves. One thing I noticed early on is that his desire to fight and win, regardless of the cost, gives him genuine flaws. His thoughts often compete with one another, written in italics almost like two voices sitting on his shoulders: one urging him toward the thrill and glory of fighting, the other recognising that desire as something compulsive.

As the story progresses, the guilt surrounding some of his earlier choices begins to weigh more heavily on him. He never becomes completely self-aware, though, and there are still moments of stubbornness and self-righteousness that keep him feeling believable. He is not a perfect hero, and that makes him far more interesting.

The wider conflict centres on the Belgarans and their god-king, Fallahad. Interestingly, we never actually meet Fallahad, yet his presence hangs over the entire story through his commands, his reputation, and the fear he inspires. He is believed to possess powers that extend his life and strength, and the Belgarans hold much of Mosonia in his name. He reminded me a little of Emhyr var Emreis in The Witcher: a ruler willing to spend other people's lives in order to advance his own designs.

The other major POV character is Allia, also seventeen, whose father has been entrusted with a mysterious book that resistance agents have already died protecting. Her search for her missing brother eventually intersects with Soren's growing involvement in the resistance, bringing their two stories together.

Allia's story, and particularly her ability, is where the fantasy elements become more prominent. The prophecy surrounding the Children of the Stone, the ending of the current Cycle, and the beginning of a new Gifted Era are tied largely to her. There is a clear sense that these mysteries are only beginning to unfold, leaving plenty for future books to explore.

Another standout for me was Zade. He is Soren's mentor, an extraordinarily skilled fighter whose speed and strength seem almost impossible to match. I loved their mentor-student relationship, which occasionally reminded me of The Karate Kid, particularly the training exercises Soren must endure in order to prove that he is worth teaching.

Their bond gradually becomes something closer to that of father and son, and when Soren leaves to find his own path, I missed Zade badly and kept hoping he would re-enter the story. That, more than anything, shows how well the characters are written. The author gives us enough to care about them without revealing everything immediately.

Each character carries something private: a regret, a fear, a secret, or something that might make others distrust them or turn away. Those histories surface gradually, often during the quieter stretches between the action. Those moments are important because this is a book with a lot happening. There are fights, escapes, raids, chases, and rescues, but none of them feels like filler. Each one moves the story somewhere it has not already been.

It is not only a story about good versus evil, although that is certainly present. It is largely about being human, with everything that entails, and about choosing to be brave, trying to do the right thing, and learning from one another.

Some of Soren's decisions are risky and do not lead to clean results. A few lead to catastrophe. I kept hoping he would rein himself in, yet I also understood why he acted as he did. None of us can see what waits around the corner. We can only move toward it.

There is also a hint of romance that leaves plenty of room for development in later books, along with visions of the future, prophecy, a mysterious book that still needs translating, and several factions whose paths appear likely to diverge as the series continues.

I read that the author is Jewish, and I could certainly see echoes of the Exodus story beneath the novel: an enslaved people forced to quarry stone and build cities and monuments for those who oppress them. At times it reminded me strongly of The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, with a little Gladiator and David and Goliath thrown in.

But the themes are broad enough to stand beyond any one history or religion. Allia herself asks why different groups cannot simply live together in peace without so much bloodshed, and ultimately this felt like a story about everyday people resisting a power-hungry ruler who governs through fear and oppression.

It is a theme that reaches far beyond the novel, and one that can easily be applied to leaders today who manufacture conflict, manipulate the truth, and build almost godlike personas around themselves in order to maintain power.

Born of Broken Chains is extremely well written, full of compelling characters, action, mystery, rebellion, friendship, prophecy, and just enough fantasy to make the world feel larger than what we have seen so far.

I enjoyed it immensely and cannot wait to see where the series goes next.