To Live and Die Among Immortals is listed as Science Fiction Fantasy – Sword and Sorcery. The Sword and Sorcery part I got, the Science Fiction part I would replace with Fairy Tale.
There really is not a lot to the plot; which is just one of the issues I had with the book.
The story centers around Selvias, who is rescued as a small boy and is taken in by Rangool, the leader of the Corgire tribe. The Corgire are a nomadic but peaceful tribe, and we soon learn that Selvias is destined to become a warrior and thus, has no place in the tribe.
So, Rangool raises Selvias until the age of seven, when she turns him over to Loralen, a warrior of great power who is basically a mercenary. Loralen trains Selvias, who eventually joins her as a sword-for-hire and he becomes even more feared than she is. Together, the two wreak havoc as they fight for any kingdom that has hired them.
As kingdoms come and go, Loralen eventually is asked to take Rangools’ place when she dies. At the same time, Selvias falls in love with a half immortal fairy, but doesn’t understand his feelings and so lets her go as both mortals and immortals demand his services. (Sorry, just no time for an affair right now.)
Unbeknown to him, the immortal queens (four of them) are watching him with plans of their own. And it is here I’ll leave the plot to you to discover.
I honestly hope I have not given away anything but, since I’m really not sure what the point of the story is, I can’t be sure.
So, the first two strikes are: A shallow plot and not sure what the point of the story is. The fairy tale part comes in because the author has borrowed every fairytale creature and magical skill I can think of to put in the story.
We have: Warriors, Warrior Trainers, Kings and Queens (both mortal and immortal), dancing fairies and pixies, minions, kingdoms and villages, spells, enchantments, possessions and, let’s not forget about incantations; which appear in almost every sentence. In short, nothing original and nothing that wasn’t pulled from every fairy tale ever written. (Oops, I forgot the Marsh Leopards. Which I never heard of so, I guess they’re original.)
Out of fairness, I am not a fan of fantasy; even more so now. I’ll also stop here because I think I’ve bashed the poor author enough.
In summary, unoriginal, uninspiring and not worth reading.