5-Star Review: The Sword’s Secret by Chris Cole
This is the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series of book reviews. Rather than reviewing all the books I read, I will only focus on recommending books I like. All reviews will be spoiler-free. Happy reading, y’all.
I thoroughly enjoyed THE SWORD’S SECRET, the first book of the Ancient Wonders series by Chris Cole. The quick pace, engaging characters, and absolutely fun Indiana-Jones-meets-Arthurian-legends action-adventure make this a must-read for all fans of fantasy, urban fantasy, and queer (M/M) romantasy.
The Plot:
Absolute five stars for the plot. Seriously, how can one resist the idea of a mild-mannered mythologist who is given a quest to find Excalibur, King Arthur’s sword?!? First off, I absolutely love the term “mythologist,” and that title immediately gave me all the good fantasy vibes. And you get into the book, you can almost see the Indiana-Jones-style graphics in your mind as the globe-trotting adventure unfolds, with each step bringing our hero one step closer to his goal, but also one step closer to dangers, both known and unknown. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I can’t go into detail. But trust me — it is A BLAST.
The Characters:
It’s hard not to fall in love with Dr. Rhys Wilder, our hero protagonist. Wilder is perfectly cast for the ‘unlikely hero’ trope — a low-key mythologist who wants to study and explore for the sake of knowledge, but is soon caught up in a whirlwind of adventure, deceit, danger, and political intrigue. Throughout the book, he never loses his charm, even as he adapts to new surroundings and a wide-ranging cast of characters that flesh out the novel.
And I must say — the cast of characters are superb. They are fun, hilarious, dangerous, and interesting in all the best ways. Of note: Cole does a magnificent job of centering queer characters throughout the book. As a cis straight white male, perhaps I am not the best positioned to opine on Cole’s depiction of bi, trans, nonbinary, and other queer characters. Yet I will anyway, so take it for what it’s worth: From my perspective, I enjoyed them all, and felt they were all fully-developed characters rather than one-dimensional characters added for the sake of making the book queer-friendly. These are all characters I could just as easily see at my local bar as at a Pride parade.
My favorite character was probably Shaw. I loved his gruff demeanor and his willingness to say whatever he wanted. He added fresh, sometimes eyebrow-raising, dialogue to a great story. Definitely a character I want to see more of.
The Tidbits:
I am not a romance writer or reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed the slow-burn romance in this book. There was enough to keep me interested, but a great balance between the slower, more romantic scenes and the frantic action-adventure-ness of the broader story. I am always impressed at the ability of authors to pull this off, and Cole does it so well.
Every book, even five-star ones, has something that doesn’t hit right. For me, it was the cover. Not that the cover is bad, mind you. But I thought the story was a little more gritty than the impression I got from the cover. There’s almost a YA feel to the cover, yet the book is very much an adult urban romantasy.
The Conclusion:
Let’s level set for a moment. I am a fantasy author and have been a huge fan of fantasy novels since middle school. My preferences lean towards epic, second-world fantasies — think Lord of the Rings, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, and more recent authors like Brian McClellan and Sabaa Tahir. So jumping into an urban fantasy, let alone a queer urban romantasy, was a bit of a detour for me. But a detour that was well worth it! I say go buy The Sword’s Secret today, and join me in anticipation of the next book in the series.
The Details & Disclaimers:
The Sword’s Secret: Ancient Wonders (Book 1) by Chris Cole. Published in 2024 by Gold Dust Publishing. (Disclaimer: Yes, Gold Dust is also my publisher.) I bought and read the paperback edition of the book, and was neither asked to write nor compensated for this review.
Buy the book here, or anywhere books are sold.
