A Ballad of Vengeance
After decades of self-exile in the Nordlands, Aqen decides to return to his homeland, not only to settle a score with a Kemetian titan, but also to end a threat to his family, once and for all. Knowing that he is not the same warrior he used to be, Aqen is fully aware that this might be his final fight ever.
Birna, the sorceress who believes that her husband is marching to his own demise, heads far north alongside her children to seek help for their father. But her quest might provoke the titans of the Nordlands. And the last thing Birna and her family need right now is the enmity of more titans.
As the odds don't look that good for the mortal couple, Aqen and his family will have to overcome fear and doubt with fury and valor. No matter the outcome of the upcoming clash, the folks in Kemet and the Nordlands will forever sing of their heroics.
They will forever sing the ballad of vengeance.
-Goodreads
Title: A Ballad of Vengeance
Series: A Ballad of Vengeance #1
Author: Karim Soliman
Page Count: 402
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Date Read: January 24th, 2025
Opening
I've been following the works of Karim Soliman now for a couple of years. My first exposure was to his War of the Last Day series which if I'm not mistaken hit my radar due to book one Army of the Cursed being an entry in the SPFBO competition. I've completed that series as well as his contribution to the Advent of Winter Anthology which came out at the end of 2023.
I've also kept up with what he has going on through his newsletter which has been great whether he's updating us on his writing and release progress or even just touching base letting use know what fun adventures he and his family might be up to. This is where I found out he was about to release his next series beginning with A Ballad of Vengeance. Karim was kind enough to provide me with a digital ARC to dive into.
The theme and timing of this could not have been better for me. I truly had no doubts Karim would provide an exciting story to follow along with but the fact this tale includes a lot of both Norse and Egyptian mythology was great! The reason I say the timing couldn't have been better was due to the fact I had just finishing putting together and playing a tabletop wargame with my Mummified Undead army and was beginning to transition into my newest army which are going to be Vikings. This really allowed me to connect two of my favorite hobbies to start 2025.
Pacing
The pacing in A Ballad of Vengeance seemed very balanced to me. As exciting as the fight scenes are there is plenty of build up between these moments allowing us to get to know the world, it's characters and what is making these characters do the things they are. This is by no means a long book either coming in right around the 400 page mark. This made the read seem a bit more on the faster side just due to the fact it was a shorter read than a lot of books I've been getting into the last few months.
There are some unique character names that took me a little time to get used to. I even went so far as to try and look up how to pronounce a name or two and though it may or may not have been right, it's what I settled into for the long haul ahead. Even with the copy I had being an ARC I didn't notice any real editing issues to speak of either which certainly helps the reading flow.
World Building
The world building was so much fun for me! I already mentioned the timing but I've always been interested or fascinated even as it relates to Norse mythology and even though I used to be more interested in Egyptian than I have in recent years, this was a really nice return for me. I'd be a liar if I said this read didn't have me doing some extra google searches looking up some of these deities for both cultures.
Beyond the general themes there is rich magic, those exciting fight scenes, political intrigue that goes beyond our own mortal beings into the deities as well. All of this is presented to us in just the right amount of detail to keep the story moving along at a good pace but allow the reader to picture these scenes and environments.
Character Development
The character development was also very strong in A Ballad of Vengeance. The family dynamic between Aqen, Birna and the kids was a pleasure to see. As fantastical as their adventure was, their relationship still seemed so normal at times. One moment I wanted to mention was the fact that I lost track of the kids ages for awhile and Karim did a nice job in reminding me that Sigrun was old enough to have her own new family waiting for her to return during all of this. I actually made a note about this moment.
This normalcy even extended to the various deities and their dynamics between each other. There are several moments that not only do our characters but as a readers are given glimpses that even if these are gods and demigods, they still have very human or mortal tendencies at times.
Closing
I still have a couple of older series by Karim Soliman that I want to get to which are Bermuda and Tales of Gorania. The later being higher on my list but I still want to get to both eventually.
If you haven't checked out anything from Karim yet, I would highly recommend War of the Last Day while you wait for A Ballad of Vengeance to release or after you read book one once its in the wild waiting for the next.
A Ballad of Vengeance provides readers an exciting world where two very different cultures provide deities and titans who even though are restricted from contact with mortals, still find ways to have such contact which almost always ends with chaos sooner or later.
Scoring
Pacing 4.5 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 4.5 / 5.0
Character Development 4.5 / 5.0
