Sos the Rope

Sos the Rope by Piers Anthony
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sos joins up with Sol of all weapons and helps him build an empire. But what will happen when Sos challenges Sol in the Battle Circle for his woman and the child she carries?

Planet Stories has dug up an odd story in this offering, Sos the Rope. Fantasy with a post-apocalyptic vibe has long been a favorite sub-genre of mine and this is one of the better ones.

After the Blast, the earth is populated by nomadic warriors and the crazies, men and women who study the ancient ways. Matters among the nomads are settled in the battle circle. Sos, called Sol at the beginning, loses his name and weapon to Sol. The main conflict of the book is Sos struggling with his friendship with Sol and his affair with Sol's wife, Sola. And of course there's a fair bit of gore but that's to be expected when there are trials by combat every day or so.

The book really takes an odd turn when Sos goes to the Mountain. That's when the book went from a 4 to a 3 for me. I didn't buy Sos's love for Sosa and didn't really care for what happened after that.

Sos the Rope is a good quick read and not like all the other fantasy novels out there. It's pretty original and definitely worth a few hours of your time.

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