First Lines Friday – 30/05/2025

I’ve had a good few days off blogging to catch up on some reading. It’s been fun. However, today I’m back with my next First Lines Friday instalment.

When I shared my Sunday Summary last week, I advised there was no challenge element to this post in the spirit of keeping things easy. That’s still somewhat true. When I was deciding what to look for when drafting this post, I figured that I tend to look forward to upcoming books as opposed to featuring what I’ve already read and enjoyed. So, with this in mind, I set out for one of these books.

Can you guess the book from the introduction?

I walked into the tavern in search of the most important thing in the world. A story. And I ended up swept into the most dangerous one of all.

The worst sort of prison held the Three Tales Tavern.

An emptiness.

A stillness.

And that is always meant to be broken.

It hung like a cord gone taut, quivering and waiting to snap. It was the quiet of held breaths, wanting for a voice, but ready to bite at any that dare make noise. It was the soundlessness of men too tired to speak and with an ear to hear even less. And all the stillness of an audience waiting for the play to begin.

The perfect stage for me. And I had just the thing to rouse them—ensnare them. But all good performances need one thing, and mine required a drink.

The First Binding – R. R. Virdi

Genre: Eastern Fantasy

Pages: 821

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication Date: 18 Aug 2022

Goodreads – The First Binding

 

All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.

I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I’ve stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I’ve called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.

My name is Ari.

And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.

Thus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren’t forgotten, and neither are their enemies. Their old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost them the entire world. No one can escape their pasts and all stories must have an ending.

My Thoughts…

The First Binding is the first book of an Eastern Silk Road fantasy series. It was a book I received a copy of to review as part of the publication blog tour. Admittedly, I don’t do many of these anymore, but I did enjoy reading this one even with the page count and deadline!

Of course, if you want to read my full review, you can find that here.

If you’d like a summary version, the way in which the story is told really appealed to me. The style is much like Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind or Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire. From the perspective of older and wiser characters, they narrate the events of the books, warts and all. It does raise the question of bias and whether we can unquestioningly believe all we are told at face value. I enjoy digging into that side of things though.

Featuring this book today has also been a great prompt for me. Last year, the author R. R. Virdi published the sequel to this book, called The Doors of Midnight. No prizes for guessing that it’s just gone onto my TBR, right?

Thanks for reading today’s First Lines Friday. Have you read The First Binding?

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