Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland is sort of Oceans Eleven meets Lord of the Rings, but instead of a bank heist, it’s an assassination of a King and, instead of a ring, it’s a crown that grants the wearer immortality. Best described by Aeri, one of the main characters, “A thief, a strongman, a spy, an assassin, a nobleman, and an exiled prince add up to a ring of liars. Trust is a surefire way to wind up with a blade in your back.” Just as you think you understand what’s going on, the web of deception reveals itself, and you realize that there’s so much more to the story.
Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland is first-person, six person POV, which I’m convinced that Mai did on purpose to increase the confusion factor and keep us readers twisted in the web. The beginning of the book is dedicated to introducing us to Aeri, Royo, Sora, Tiyung, Mikail, and Euyn.
The plan to steal the crown is devised by Mikail, the Royal Spymaster for King Joon, so right from jump, we know we’re dealing with double crossing. He tracks down Euyn, the exiled Prince of Yusan and King Joon’s son. Years ago, Euyn was sentenced to death; brought to the desert to die. By some miracle, he survives the desert, makes it to the closest village, changes his identify, and hides in plain sight. Prior to his exile, he was in a relationship with Mikail. Once they reunite, they grapple with their mutual, lingering love, which is at odds with Mikail’s mission to force Euyn to come out of hiding and become a pawn in his plan.
Mikail hires Aeri, the best thief ever known, to join the team. It’s a long, dangerous, journey to the meeting point, so Aeri hires Royo. Royo works as a strongman; a muscle for hire, similar to an assassin, only he beats people up and leaves them to die rather than shooting them.
Sora is one of the few women to survive Count Seok’s (Southern Count) secret poison school, where indentured women are forced to ingest potent poisons, until they build up tolerance. Once they have achieved the high tolerance, Count Seok sends them on missions to assassinate high profile men. Due to her unique skill, she can infiltrate places that search for weapons – all she needs is her poison infused lipstick and one kiss. The catch is that Sora’s younger sister, Daysum, has also been indentured. She’s the leverage Count Seok uses to keep Sora chained to service. He offers to free Sora and her sister if she steals the crown and brings it back to him. To ensure that this happens, Count Seok’s son, Tiyung, will escort Sora.
Make sure to keep the map handy whilst reading because it’s helpful to understand where the characters begin their journeys, where they come together, and how they traverse the land together. Backstories mention areas where characters hail from, which seems…important? Have you ever done an escape room? You know how in an escape room, there’s tons of clues, some essential, some red herrings. Five Broken Blades has a lot of that. You’re not sure who to trust, what information is critical, and what the heck is going to happen next. It’s an exciting ride from start to finish and, gird your loins, it’s just begun; Five Broken Blades is just book one of a trilogy. Book two, Four Ruined Realms, just released, but we’ll have to wait until July 2025 for the final book, Three Shattered Souls.
Let’s talk tropes, shall we? First and foremost, it’s a road trip, which is one of my favorites. Each couple begins their journey from different points of the land and then, as I mentioned above, they come together in the middle and continue to journey to their destination together. Each couple represents their own relationship trope: Royo and Aeri are grumpy/sunshine, Sora and Tiyung are enemies to lovers, and Euyn and Mikail (of course my favorite) are second chance. There’s touch-her-and-die, unlikely allies, hero(ine)’s journey, and great sacrifice. All of the delicious plot devices that we all love. As for spice, it tows the line of fade to black or closed door, with minor use of terms and descriptors, but there’s so much plot to consume that the addition of spice would only deter from all of the information you need to remember and the mystery you need to figure out.
As far as I can tell from my google search, Five Broken Blades is Mai Corland’s debut. For a debut, I’d say that she did a fantastic job. The voice she gave to Aeri and Royo didn’t quite align with the fantasy elements; much of it is modern slang, on the part of Aeri, and misused words to depict education level, on the part of Royo. However, the plot twist at the end more than makes up for it and by the next book, Four Ruined Realms, you don’t really notice it. There’s tons of action, intrigue, and surprise to keep you up late, wanting to just find out what’s going to happen!
Mai Corland doesn’t have a website, but, if you want to know more, you can follow her on Instagram. Let me know if you’ve read Five Broken Blades and, if so, what you thought about it.
Book Details
Title: Five Broken Blades
Author: Mai Corland
Categories: Epic Fantasy, Romantasy
Series: The Broken Blades Trilogy
Author Contact:
Purchase Links: (Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, and eBook. Available on Kindle Unlimited. The deluxe version of the hardcover is preeeetttyyyy…)
Swoon 
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