White Sands, Red Steel

By: Keith C. Blackmore

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mad. Brutal. Unpredictable. And those are their good points.

Vicious. Hateful. Foul-mouthed and bad tempered...He-Dog and Balless are all of these and more. And as mercenaries go, they have a stubborn sense of honor. A sense of honor that has once again landed them into a cauldron of mayhem. After an unfit night of drinking, which might have involved firewater, He-Dog and Balless accept a mission that no one wanted. To travel for days through a scorching desert to the glittering city of Foust and deliver a message scroll to the city’s ruler. 

At the time, word was the war there would be over. 

At the time, the coin was too good to refuse. 

At the time, He-Dog was so pickled he would’ve right and proper agreed to just about anything. 

Trouble is, one eventually sobers, and when He-Dog and Balless and their companions finally do and journey to the outskirts of Foust’s besieged walls, they discover the war’s nowhere near over. In fact, it’s only just beginning. 

A vicious, seething army of beastmen surround the towering city walls, their intent to sack the fabled city and feast upon every last citizen within. 

Still, coin was paid, and their unfit sense of honor will not allow them to turn back. 

No one in their right mind would try to get past an army of beastmen. He-Dog, Balless, and their companions, however, aren’t in their right minds. 

And a job’s a job. 

He-Dog and company will soon realize that while getting into Foust is unfit madness....

Getting back out will get them killed. 

Contains violence and hard language. 

©2012 Keith C. Blackmore (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Took 30 minutes for me to get hooked...

This book started a bit slow, coming in my lineup after the 131 days series; But it got there. Listed for about an hour a day during my walks, and what a story! Fishooked me good and proper, dying Seddon above! I've read every other book by Keith, and this was no exception to my previous high praises.

It ended as a stand alone, but the story will hopefully go on. Looking forward to book 6 of 131 days, and the sequel to this one.

Narration was as always, incredibly done by John Lee.

Where did the high ratings come from?

I was totally ready for a great adventure. The 5 star ratings had me excited. I can’t even get past chapter 3, nothing I’ve listened to is remotely interesting. There’s nothing that grabs you from start to finish like one reviewer stated. I’m really upset the book turned out to be one the worst I’ve read. Books are supposed to grab you, this one bumped me into the river.

A Fun Hack N Slash

I really enjoyed the dialogue between the three primary heros. Reminded me of a happy dysfunctional family; just with swords, clubs and murderous monsters.

Come for the beginning, stay for the end.

Seriously, you get your money's worth right off the bat. Significant replay value for me as a fan of Grimdark with iconic narration that I would put on par with Abercrombie and Pacey (which is about the highest praise I am capable of giving in terms of narration). Blackmore and Lee just click and the world is a better place for it.

I'll wager there are elements of this book you'll remember for the rest of your life. I'm done here.

Loved every minute of it

This is definaitly adult content with violence and good amount of blood and guts but it was absolutely awesome!

Excellent Excellent Excellent

Loved the story from the first word. This guy can write, great imagination and keeps you wanting more. John Lee makes the story come alive and listening is enjoyable Great story , Great Narration

Absolutely loved it!

I let this sit in my wish list for entirely too long! Enthralling from start to finish.

great book

was a really great book and read very well, I stayed interested throughout the hole story, never a moment of thinking I should fast forward.

Vivid 🖤

Harsh, horrorible, humorous and a dash of valorous kindness.
White Sands, Red Steel is truly one graphic tale.
Narration was excellent.

Don't let this be the end!

One of the best listens I've experienced in five years. If I could afford it, I would commission Blackmore to continue this story for many more books. Just awesome.

Another Blackmore Bloodbath!

Anyone who has enjoyed Blackmore's "131 Days" series will feel immediately at home with this as the author dips into his back catalogue to bring us more vicious, nasty but somehow still honourable mercenaries. He-Dog and Balless are not the kind of people you would want within about fifty miles of you unless you were in an incredibly tight spot and of course had the gold coin to pay them!

They really are thoroughly dislikeable by pretty much any standard and yet the skill of the author is that you still end up cheering them on to the end. They have standards you see, not about much, and not great standards but they have a pseudo moral code and a thuggish likeability that is often Blackmore's forte.

As you would expect from Blackmore in this mode there is more bloody violence than is good for anyone and a body count to match most minor wars.

It's not for the faint-hearted or those that need to have likeable characters butit is a good old-fashioned ballsy knees-up of a tale that never relents or holds its punches.

Terrific grimdark story

Another gem from Mr Blackmore. Big,bold and bloody. Mr B brings us a gritty tale of a group of mercenaries. If you have enjoyed any of his previous books be sure to check this one out.
Think this is one of his earlier works, and hopefully he has plans on bringing us more from these characters, as one story just ain't enough :). Narration was also top notch breathed life into the motley crew. Thank you for an enjoyable listen

awful

this book was truly awful and disappointing. terrible character descriptions and everything in. story has been done many times before.

Fantastic listen

I'll start by saying I'm a fan of both Mr Blackmore and Mr Lee so I could be biased, however it's a fantastic story and the narration is spot on as always.