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Michael R Underwood
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Arrivals (Born to the Blade Season 1 Episode 1) Kindle Edition

by Michael Underwood (Author), Marie Brennan (Author), Cassandra Khaw (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 48 ratings
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This is the 1st episode in the first season of Born to the Blade, an 11-episode serial from Serial Box. This episode written by Michael R. Underwood.

For centuries the Warders' Circle on the neutral islands of Twaa-Fei has given the countries of the sky a way to avoid war, settling their disputes through formal, magical duels. But the Circle's ability to maintain peace is fading: the Mertikan Empire is preparing for conquest and the trade nation of Quloo is sinking, stripped of the aerstone that keeps both ships and island a-sky. When upstart Kris Denn tries to win their island a seat in the Warder’s Circle and colonial subject Oda no Michiko discovers that her conquered nation's past is not what she's been told, they upset the balance of power. The storm they bring will bind all the peoples of the sky together…or tear them apart.
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  1. Book 1 of 1
    Born to the Blade
  2. Print length
    51 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Serial Box
  6. Publication date
    April 18, 2018
  7. File size
    387 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07HZ2Z12J
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Serial Box (April 18, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 18, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 387 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 51 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 48 ratings

About the author

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Michael R Underwood

Michael R Underwood

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Mike grew up reading comics, playing games, and trying to figure out how to make being a geek into a job. Now he's living the dream telling stories for a living.

Mike's books are known for their fun action/adventure vibes with inclusive casting and inventive worldbuilding. He is the author of over a dozen books, including found-family space opera ANNIHILATION ARIA, the Ree Reyes Geekomancy series (GEEKOMANCY, CELEBROMANCY, ATTACK THE GEEK, HEXOMANCY), collaboratively-written epic fantasy serial BORN TO THE BLADE, and the r/Fantasy "Stabby" Award-finalist GENRENAUTS series.

Mike is a game designer on the forthcoming Daggerheart RPG and is working on a ttrpg based on Generenauts.

Mike has been a game store clerk, a bookseller/barista, a sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books. Mike lives in Baltimore with his wife, their dog, and an ever-growing library.

Previously, Mike was a co-host of actual play show Speculate and a guest host on the Hugo Award-finalist The Skiffy and Fanty Show.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
48 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Nathan G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to a new story
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is my first experience with a Serial Box production. I think the best comparison is the one SB gives on their site: if a novel is a movie, Serial Box gives you seasons of a TV show. This is the pilot for Born to the Blade, and it's an excellent start.

This episode hits all the points it should to introduce a wonderful series. We meet our protagonists, who are from very different lands and have their own motivations. We get introduced to the world, which is a very unique one I look forward to learning more about.

I have this story a chance because of my previous experience with stories from Michael Underwood and Malka Older. Because of how we this story had been written, Marie Brennan and Cassandra Khaw have been added to my TBR list.

Check this story out; you won't be disappointed.
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The Irresponsible Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars The Start of a Promising Series
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Publisher's Blurb:

For centuries the Warders' Circle on the neutral islands of Twaa-Fei has given the countries of the sky a way to avoid war, settling their disputes through formal, magical duels. But the Circle's ability to maintain peace is fading: the Mertikan Empire is preparing for conquest and the trade nation of Quloo is sinking, stripped of the aerstone that keeps both ships and island a-sky. When upstart Kris Denn tries to win their island a seat in the Warder’s Circle and colonial subject Oda no Michiko discovers that her conquered nation's past is not what she's been told, they upset the balance of power. The storm they bring will bind all the peoples of the sky together…or tear them apart.

So there's the setup for this "season" of 11 novella-length episodes, releasing weekly. Episode 1 -- Arrivals is very much a pilot episode. After an action-packed opening, the story settles into introducing the pretty large cast of characters and the world the inhabit.

I found most of what follows pretty dry, and I had a hard time maintaining interest. It reminded me of the Game of Thrones pilot -- at least for those of us who hadn't read the book -- so many names and places to learn that it was hard to pay attention to any story. It's a rich world and most of the characters seem well-developed and complex -- I just don't care about any of it yet.

It is not the most accessible world, with a specialized vocabulary, and political and magic systems that the reader has to dig in to really understand. This isn't a complaint -- it's just something to know going in. There's no real pay off for the effort now, but you can assume it's coming.

But those last couple of pages? Hoo-boy, there's the hook -- I might have had to wait longer than I wanted to just to get to this point, but it was worth the wait. I think that gave me enough motivation to read at least a couple more episodes. Given the strength of the list of authors involved in this one -- Michael R. Underwood (the author of this installment), in particular -- I'm confident that I'll be singing the praises of Born to the Blade soon. You might want to jump on board now and enjoy the progress.
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PrimmLife
4.0 out of 5 stars Arrivals is a promising start to Serial Box’s Born to the Blade series. Recommended.
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2018
Serialized stories are not new. Magazines published novels and stories in parts, but this form of storytelling fell out of popularity as audiences wanted complete storylines. Novellas and novelettes also declined in popularity, but in the past few years, the form has gotten renewed interest. So, why not serialized stories? Serial Box is answering that question with high quality episodic tales. With The Witch Who Came in from the Cold and Bookburners, I’ve been interested in Serial Box’s offerings, but I haven’t yet had the Serial Box experience. Arrivals, episode one of Born to the Blade, piqued my curiosity. Formal, magical duels won me over, and I’m happy it did. This first episode lays a lot of groundwork down without overburdening the reader with world building. If you’re interested in sword fighting and sigil magic, there’s a whole lot more here for you.

Arrivals

Exploring the Serial Box website, you see that they organize their series by season and episode, which makes the comparison to television series unavoidable. The site lists eleven episodes for season one of Born to the Blade, and if each episode builds off this one, this will be an excellent story. On the website, Serial Box is listing four authors for this project: Michael R. Underwood, Malka Older, Marie Brennan, and Cassandra Khaw; all of these authors are well regarded and on my new writer (to me) watchlist.

Mr. Underwood wrote episode one, which introduces us to various countries of the sky. This action packed prologue gives us our first taste of the magic system, which at the moment is connected to the blade. I’m interested to know if the sigil requires only a sword or can other tools/weapons act as a substitute. The sky society revolves around swords; the magic system, even the government, is sword based; so, I’m guessing that magic is only capable with the sword. Dueling is an integral part of the society, and I look forward to seeing how its explored in future episodes. I liked how Mr. Underwood weaved the sigil magic in with the sword fighting; it worked. The worry about any magic system is always if magic exists, what are the limits on it? We see that even though magic exists in this world, Mr. Underwood shows that it’s not ominpotent, but the system is modifiable enough that the authors have freedom to expand. It reminded me of living card games, where you can add boosts to your characters, but Mr. Underwood did a better job with it than my description.

Writing

Episode one carries a large burden. It has to introduce us to the world, set up future conflict, maintain our interest in the story enough to continue, and be readable through action and tension. Arrivals pulls it all off. Many themes exist in this first portion; imperialism, cultural clash, the effects of propaganda, and political flexibility. With each chapter, the world of Born to the Blade deepened as the story flew through the sky. Mr. Underwood set the stage for adventure.

Serial Format

As I said, Arrivals is my first dip into the Serial Box offerings, and I liked it. The story is short, but Serial Box prices the episodes affordably. Though it ends with a major revelation, it didn’t end on a cliffhanger, which was my fear. It has a beginning, middle, and end. I wasn’t sure that I’d enjoy it knowing I wouldn’t have the whole story, but when I read the last word, I had finished a whole story that is also a puzzle piece for a larger story. After years of being programmed by reading large, door-stopping epics that sort of, kind of end but not really, I enjoyed that the story had an arc, not just a cliffhanger. In a way, it felt closer to television in that the episode had its own arc that fits into the overall arc. It seems likely this is a feature of the pilot episode and further into the story cliffhangers might be required. In short, though a quick story, Arrivals satisfied.

Conclusion

Arrivals starts off the Born to the Blade series in a fun, magic packed story. This opening teases at a larger, complex world where politics involves duels and airborne islands. Recommended.

7 out of 10
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Valerian
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic start to a new Serial Box Serial
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2018
You will like Born to the Blade if you like:

Intriguing characters
FLOATING ISLANDS IN THE SKY
Swordplay
Magic
Diplomacy
Did I mention the Floating Islands?

Written by a crackerjack team, Born to the Blade may be the best serial yet from serial box, and a full on dive into epic fantasy goodness.
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Top reviews from other countries

Joyce
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2018
Verified Purchase
Good
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