Warrior Born - Kathrine Leannan

In Kathrine Leannan's Warrior Born we are first introduced to Yokami Sukani, Imperial Leader of the celestial Samurai Warriors. Yokami is in the Scottish Highlands to hide the destructive Sword of War safely in the past. While there he is met by Epona, the Scottish goddess of horses, dogs, healing springs, and crops. Their paths are crossed by Marie MacDonald, and Yokami is forced to relay a prophesy to Epona. A deal is struck at the revelation that is mutually beneficial to both Gods: Marie MacDonald and her families lives are spared. In exchange, Epona will keep the Blade hidden. Additionally, the daughter of Marie and Angus will be both a child of the Friesian Horsemen and the next Daughter of the Sword. Transported to modern day Australia, Connor MacDonald is born and gifted with the Sight.

Years later after a violent crime is committed against Connor, she is trained by Yokami in the skill of the Katana—the sword—and earns her place among both the Samurai and Highland masters. She lives a life as a normal girl, getting tattooed, becoming a skilled equestrian, and marrying the love of her life, Craig. Through all this, lurking in the shadows and plaguing her life with heartache is Bishamon, who is relentless in his search for the Sword.

Kathrine Leannan's Warrior Born is an adventure that spans through the past and present, bringing together the worlds of earth and the heavens. The characters are well developed, diverse, and skillfully depicted. Scotland, the Imperial Kingdom, and modern day Australia are so well rendered, it is easy for a reader to find themselves there, engrossed in the story. The story itself is unique and interesting, wonderfully inventive in the combining of two cultures completely alien to each other.

There were two things that severely hampered the flow of the story. The first is dialogue and the second is words not used in context. Heavy accents throughout the dialogue often forced the rereading of sentences while trying to decipher them. It did more to distract me from an otherwise consuming story than any value they may have added to it. There were also multiple instances where words were used where they simply did not belong. It strained the flow and felt like a thesaurus had been overly and incorrectly used. Both these aside, Kathrine Leannan's Warrior Born is a spectacular story, full of adventure and fully encompassing the human experience—even through a daughter born of the Gods.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

FOUR STARS

Amazon Link: Warrior Born (The Katana Series Book 1)

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