Infinity Blade Awakening

My latest read from author Brandon Sanderson was his novella Infinity Blade Awakening. This story was borne out of a video game and its narrative definitely carries that sort of feel to it. Kind of like an adventure in the vein of The Legend of Zelda. The story follows Siris, a young man whose entire life has been set out for him by his people. He was raised to be "the sacrifice", a warrior who was destined when he came of age to go and fight the God King, just as all of the men of his lineage had done for centuries. Although the God King was immortal and presumable all-powerful, the men in Siris' line still went off to fight in an attempt to win the freedom of their people. The God King had a long history of oppressing the people and requiring them to pay exhorbitant taxes. This rite of raising a sacrifice to go off and battle the God King was the one act of rebellion of the people that was within their power.

Siris trains his entire life and goes off to fulfill his destiny. To battle the God King valiantly and to die. However, when the fated battle comes, he does not fall, and instead slays the God King. When he claims the Infinity Blade and returns to his people, he is stunned not to be welcomed as a hero. Instead he is shunned and forced to leave the village. The people are terrified that the other Deathless of the land will seek out Siris and exact their revenge.

As Siris wanders the land trying to figure out what to do next, he meets up with a beautiful lady named Ida. Ultimately Ida turns out to be an assassin after the prized Infinity Blade. She knows something about its power and something about who Siris truly is. Siris thwarts Ida's plan and they become oddly paired allies. Siris comes to develop a plan to find the legendary forger of the Infinity Blade, a weapon designed to kill the Deathless and free the people. However, before he gets too far in his quest he finds out that the God King isn't as dead as he had thought. Ida's plan to save Siris from the clutches of the God King is to put a crossbow bolt through his forehead. Strangely enough, her plot works and sets Siris free to continue his quest.

A fun story to dive into. Now onto part two, Infinity Blade Redemption.