The Sunset Warrior
by Eric Lustbader

1995, 256 pp., $19
ISBN-10: 0345466780
ISBN-13: 978-0345466785

In The Sunset Warrior, you follow in the footsteps of the finest swordsman in the Freehold, Ronin. The Freehold is  giant underground city. They made the underground city because everything on the surface is supposedly frozen. In the book there are several large groups of people, and for each one there is a leader. But Ronin calls no one master. Ronin finds out about a secret hatch to the surface, and that that area is not frozen. But Ronin must go deep down to get to the hatch, and in Freehold, the farther you go down the scarier it is. And another problem for Ronin is that there is a sorcerer and his assistant who don’t want Ronin to leave the Freehold, and nothing is going to get in their way. Ronimust go through many dangers to leave the Freehold.

Eric V. Lustbader makes you feel like you are Ronin, and that you go through every thing with him. I love the balance of character types. Some of the characters are almost Emo, while some are “ happy happy happy” and everything in between. I think the book is about deceit, bravery, and the pursuit of happiness. Lustbader He also doesn’t incorporate to many characters in to the book. Because there is only about 6-7 main characters Lustbader will thrill you with the detail he uses to describe the happenings in the book. Like the time Ronin fought two “demon dogs”. He also does not degrade women in the book. In fact one of the best fighters is a girl. Another thing about this book is that Lustbader loves to incorporate lots of fight into the book.  

I really loved this book and I recommend it to 13 and up fantasy lovers. The reason irecomend it to 13 up is because some parts are very gruesome.  I also recommend it to action lovers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

~ reviewed by Chris T.