Ballad of the Blade
A Serenade of Smoke #1 Andrew P. Meritt Publisher: Self-Published Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2025 Genre: Epic Grimdark Fantasy Synopsis: Magic is dead. The Order made sure of that. They gathered it up, and what they couldn’t destroy, they hid. Now, noble houses squabble over the realm, civil unrest smolders in the east, slavery and injustice run rampant, all while mankind hides behind their two-faced gods. However, the truth is, magic isn’t dead. It’s just been sleeping, and I intend to wake it. Under the light of a sinister moon: A promising initiate struggles to conform in an organization that wants to exterminate the very magic running in his blood. A hired assassin fights to stay one step ahead of shadows, betrayals, and past mistakes. A musician in over his head tries desperately to trade debt from one group of killers to another. A slave of blood and sand claws his way toward freedom, one corpse at a time. An irreverent Justiseer struggles with a particularly obstinate severed head. A man wakes with no memory, only to discover a community with problems far greater than his amnesia. Each of them is forced to question if magic truly is dead and wonder… Should it be? Content Warning: The language and imagery depicted in this novel are graphic in nature. If you have any triggers related to violent imagery or explicit language, please proceed with caution.
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'Ballad of the Blade' is a debut novel from author Andrew P. Meritt. The first book in the 'A Serenade of Smoke' series, it's a grimdark epic fantasy told in a multi-pov narrative.
The gist is this.. "Magic is dead".. or so the powers that be would like the people to believe. An enigmatic group known as The Order, has done their best to destroy as much of it as possible and hidden anything they couldn't. What remains is not so unfamiliar to us.. noble houses largely ruling the lands indiscriminately, civil unrest, slavery, injustice, general mercenary behaviors, and so on. While familiar of social structure, however.. the author at once paints the picture of a truly foreign world and reminds us periodically using mentions of its moons and other unusual natural phenomenon in the regions that we shouldn't believe we know what to expect. There is no solitary lead to follow, but rather several fascinating characters.. some of whom have diverging paths ahead and while others never run across each other directly. I've said it before and I'll say it again here. It's incredibly difficult to pull off a multi-pov properly. Typically, authors seem to struggle with the identifying 'voice' of the characters. They either all end up sounding alike or so much effort is put into their intrinsic differences, that they come across more as ridiculous caricatures. That is not the case here. Each of the several characters featured at times across this story is fully fleshed out and maintains a unique, clear identity.. not through overly complicated or gimmicky accents.. but in cadence, approach to situations, formality, emotional and psychological stylings, and many other tiny things we experience in everyday interactions. I'm actually going to go out on a limb here and say.. I would not be surprised to find the author is a D&D hobbyist.. for various personal reasons, but this finely-honed skill in a DEBUT author is one of them. I do feel however, that the way this cast was introduced caused me to struggle at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, every new character's opening scene was brilliantly written. I was engaged by them all. It's the pace of the introductions that threw me off, as I'd get through one chapter.. just getting to that point of real investment in the character.. and we'd start fresh. Now if that's happening one, two, even three times.. it's not bad. But we're talking I think it was six or seven? That is largely a 'me' issue due to my schedule and personal challenges, though I wouldn't call it a flaw.. it just wasn't ideal. Ultimately, I don't fault Meritt here. I believe it was intentional and ambitious. I just feel that as much depth as these characters have from the get-go, that the story called for a more staggered approach. I would find myself having to put the book down and each time I picked it back up, it felt like a fresh read. Since I had committed myself to reading 'Ballad of the Blade' first this year, that meant it took me months to finish my first read of 2026. Largely because I ended up having to restart the read more than once. It was worth it. Once the introductions were behind us, I settled in. The story is beautifully cohesive, the movement is precise, the characters are wonderfully disarming at times, and though it is grimdark.. Meritt does not sidestep emotional exposition. He does not info dump. Every important piece of information.. be it character or story driven.. is placed perfectly. Likewise, the interactions between the characters is impeccable. Particularly the banter between a certain trio. I absolutely came away from this read with favorites. The musician is the funniest, warmest, most clever of them in my opinion.. as is expected. I caught myself laughing or smiling randomly, every time he appeared. But they are all so good, so easy to care about, and you desperately want to see them all succeed, while simultaneously expecting that can't be how things work. They are at once both deeply flawed and still charming. The action is well-placed, well-choreographed, and detailed enough that you can visualize exactly what you need to, without over-explaining it so much that you don't care or start to question if something's even possible. And it is an incredibly visual read. From my perspective, I do think there are two things I could have liked better. One.. let's call it a sort of reconciliation of two minds. I actually enjoyed the story centered around one of these characters much more before this plot point hit. It felt like a somewhat forced recalibration and for me, it was a rough transition that never smoothed out. Also, there's a very specific inciting incident that seems to cause this that made me side-eye a little bit, but it's fine. It's fantasy and a pov can come from anywhere. Second, the final pages. To be frank, I understand that the author was trying to leave the reader in a place he felt was a good lead-in to book two. I just think it was unnecessary. The conclusion of book one had been clearly wrapped up, already deftly leaving us with something to worry about and at least one question that was never really answered. However, the result of the closing scene was a strange, slightly clunky segment that felt out of place and amorphous, but likely not in the way intended. Nonetheless, the above mentioned issues are minor in the scope of things. After a bit of research, I verified that this book is wholly self-published, by a debut author nonetheless, managing a complex cast, and an expansive epic storyline. He made the right decision in employing experienced editors, a phenomenal cover artist, and really taking his craft seriously before releasing the title into the wild. It could absolutely go toe-to-toe with anything I've read from major publishing houses in recent years. I rate very, very few titles with top marks. Every title that I have, has still had a handful of things I've felt should have been handled differently. Arguably, there are less in this debut novel than 99% of them. If you're a fan of epic fantasy, especially of the grimdark variety.. I highly recommend picking up 'Ballad of the Blade' and giving it a read. From what I've seen, book two is already in the works.. and you may as well get in now.. because Meritt is an author to watch. He's highly skilled and wildly talented. If this is his freshman release, I cannot wait to see what the future brings. 
About the Author:
Andrew Meritt grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he began telling stories around the campfire. Work has taken him from Alaska to Minnesota, Ohio, and California. He is now settled in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Annika, and their two dogs, Zagreus and Alyeska. He spends his free time rock climbing, snowboarding, and woodworking. Ballad of the Blade is his debut novel.
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