Review: The Honor of Duty

Title:  The Honor of Duty

 

Author:  A. R. Rend

Rating:  4.25/5

 

Comments:  This is a new pseudonym for William D. Arand, and he started it with the intention that he’d drop books here that don’t fit his usual audience.  He then promptly told his Patreon about it and everyone knew about it for months in advance and his usual audience grabbed it up.

 

I am typically a beta reader for Will, but I was not for this book.  He was concerned I wouldn’t like it because it is so far outside his normal  stories, so I read it when it was released like everyone else.

 

I’m not going to rehash what the story is about, because I don’t do that.   What the story  IS, is a very typical William D. Arand story, in a very atypical world (not part of the Sovereign-verse, or Veil-verse) where many of the social roles are reversed.  Women are soldiers, shop keepers, artisans, and such, while men manage the house, raise the children, and such.  As is typical, he works the story together well, and has interesting characters to whom he does horrible and  wonderful things. All while giving us the bare minimum of details needed to move the story along.

 

All that being said, I am not sure I can say I like it.  I enjoy books where I can form some sort of rapport or feel some kind of connection via a shared experience or common thread.  I’m not sure I ever found that thread with Phillip.  I guess Will was correct to be concerned I wouldn’t like it.  It’s not the first book of his I haven’t enjoyed but I can acknowledge that it’s a good story without liking it.

 

Bedroom Activities:  FTB