Blood and Sand by C.V Wyk is the book that I received in my Rise up Illumicrate box.
Attia was destined to be the queen of Thrace, a race of warriors that rival spartan until the Rome republic destroyed her people and took her as a slave. She is given to the Champion of Rome a gladiator called Xanthus, Xanthus has been enslaved since a child and made to fight for the entertainment of the Romans.
Attia and Xanthus form a bond that helps them deal with their enslavement, the bond will help spark a change which will change the face of Rome forever and give rise the legend of Spartacus.
This book is truly an epic, Blood and Sand transports us back to Rome and sucks me into this brutal world. I loved the mixture of history fact mixed with historical fiction, it makes for a really interesting read.
I adored Attia as a character, she is a strong kick ass female character which we get to see from the being of the books. As the book progresses we get to see several different sides of Attia, the main one is how caring she is. I love her relationship with Rory it shows that you can kill but it doesn’t take away her humanity.
Xanthus is another interesting character, he is a Gladiator that hates killing. He has kept his honor, though everything that he has made to do. At the beginning of the book Xanthus has had enough of the killing, but you can see the change in him as he realise that he has something to live for. I really enjoyed the banter between Xanthus and the other Gladiator it really does show a brotherhood, and helps breaks up the brutal deaths.
This book is full of action, romance and intrigue that keep my hooked till the end. The next book is called Fire and Ash it comes out in 2019 and it’s already on my tbr wish list.
I give this book 4.7 out of 5.
