Pain is, frankly, something that I prefer not to experience for myself, if I can avoid it. But when I’m safely ensconced in a comfy reading spot I seem to have no problem with it being inflicted on other people…!

Tom Yamada, central character of new series The 5 Lords of Pain (published by Barrington Stoke) has a truly brutal ordeal ahead of him. Once a generation, men in his family have to fight the Contest – a series of one-to-one duels with demons with the fate of the world hanging on the outcome. But (though not for Tom-!) it gets even better. Not content with waiting until Tom is full grown, the demons have decided to start the Contest now, when Tom is only seven years into his training and he’s just fifteen years old…

I’ve had my eye on this series since reading this awesome interview with its author James Lovegrove in which he talks about Barrington Stoke, their editing process and exactly what makes their books so special. I read the series opener The Lord of the Mountain over the weekend and it was a blast: like Tom, this story’s fast on its feet with the potential to be utterly deadly. Follow-up The Lord of the Void is out now. I can hardly wait to lay my hands on a copy. Click through to The 5 Lords of Pain website if you’d like to know more.

Sam

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