Book Review: Sword Dance (Sword Dance Book 1) by A.J. Demas

 
 
Damiskos, disabled from his time in the military, is at a seaside villa when he meets and is drawn to the slave Varazda. But there's more going on among the guests than it first seems---espionage and intrigue---and definitely more to Varazda, which Damiskos uncovers as he helps him and grows closer to him.

Book Cover - Sword Dance by A.J. Demas
Title: Sword Dance
Author:
Series:
Book Number: Book 1
Pages: 305
My Rating: 4 Stars
More Info: Goodreads // Amazon
 

Review:

I really enjoyed this! The characters, the romance, the story, all of it.

Damiskos was kind and understanding and serious and always trying to be a good person. But he was struggling with his own self-image and grief since becoming disabled and going through the traumatic experience he went through and having the course of his life altered. Varazda was one of those people who sparkled. Confident but coy. Perceptive and smart. Compassionate. As the description says, prickly sometimes, but only because of his own struggles and insecurities.

And what a lovely romance this was! Or still is. This was only the start of it. But what we’ve had so far has been beautiful, full of respect and admiration and vulnerability and trying to understand each other.

The fact that one character was castrated (when he was younger) seemed to be handled with care. There were some words used that were maybe not ideal, but it’s fair that characters would use those words. And it wasn’t just tossed in, it was something that had a big effect on the character and his life.

And I loved the nonbinary rep! I could actually relate to a lot of Varazda’s feelings. I don’t think this world has words like “nonbinary,” but Varazda presented himself with both typically masculine and feminine features, styles, etc. And he talked about how he didn’t really feel like a man but was happy for others to see him that way, and how he also liked to feel more like a woman sometimes, that it gave him a balance. I also liked that he wasn’t nonbinary just because of what was done to his body. He felt like he would’ve had the same feelings about gender regardless.

Varazda’s past experience of rape / sexual assault, since he’d been a slave, was also handled with care, especially by Damiskos. Damiskos was always so understanding and patient in sexual situations, letting Varazda make the choices, offering ideas he thought they both might enjoy but making sure Varazda knew he could say no, etc. Damiskos just wanted to give Varazda the pleasure and enjoyment he didn’t even know sex could have. Whatever they were doing, Damiskos could still enjoy himself and the intimacy. And oh, what lovely sex scenes they were.

The plot was interesting. Espionage, intrigue, mystery, murder, and a bit of action. I would say it’s a slow-paced book, but not a slow-feeling one. It never dragged. I was firmly hooked.

There was disability rep, both physical and mental. Damiskos has a bad leg and a limp from a previous injury. Both main characters seem to have PTSD.

This is high fantasy, set in an imaginary world based on the Ancient Mediterranean, but there’s no magic or supernatural.

Overall, this was a lovely book with a bit of action and intrigue, but it was really the two main characters and the beauty of their forming relationship that drew me in, and I’m looking forward to reading more about them!

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2023 // Format: Ebook via TTS*

 

Book Tags:

Basic Info

Book Author:
Publisher:
Series:
Genre: , , ,
My Rating:
Series/Standalone:

More Info (Possible Spoilers)

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Have you read Sword Dance by A.J. Demas?
Do you like fantasy worlds without magic?

 
 
[shared_counts]
 
 
 

Your Thoughts

 

4 thoughts on “Book Review: Sword Dance (Sword Dance Book 1) by A.J. Demas

I'd love if you'd share your thoughts, too!

 

Reading your comments makes me a very happy blogger!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 
  1. Becky@ A Fool's Ingenuity

    Wow, when I saw in your review the mention of a castrated character I was thinking the book seemed to have taken a dark turn considering the tone of your review but reading further it sounds like it really was handled very well. The book just seems so unique, it’s the kind of book I would never come across normally and actually seems to have good representation without having to explicitly say a character is non binary but instead make it obvious through the book that they would be considered that way anyway.

    1. Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight)

      Not dark at all! I mean, obviously they’ve both got some trauma from their past, but overall it’s sweet. The castration happened when he was younger, I’m realizing now that my review, without the author’s description of the book, doesn’t quite make that clear. Anyway, I already know this is one of my favorite series this year, I loved it!