The Return of the Knights by Gregory Kontaxis is a promising epic fantasy debut!

If you like the classic style fantasy, with a big cast, scope and world, this is definitely worth a look!

While I was well entertained, I also had some gripes with the book, especially the sort of type you often find in debuts.
The chosen one trope is strong with this book, and while I can enjoy a book featuring that, it was just a tad over the top for me. He's young, bust the best fighter ever (even after having an expectational training, it just felt too much), and if that's not enough, everyone trusts him instantly and he gets super important quests.

There are also quite a lot of explaining, especially at the end of the book. I wouldn't have needed all that info dumped into the dialogue, most if it was obvious throughout the story, if you just paid attention.

There's also the obligatory bathing scene, with breasts being caressed by the water, however, later on in the book we get a similar scene with a male character, so it's less a "male gaze" thing, but more of a more sensory writing style it seems.

The last of my problems was the villain, who was just the worst baddy there ever was, for no real obvious reason, other than him being a very horrible person, and very overpowered as well.

I did however really love the big world to explore, the politics and scheming and interweaving plot strands. It's a good foundation for a series that could grow into something like A Song of Ice and Fire!

There's different mythologies and cultures involved as well, which made the world feel fresher and more nuanced.

The action scenes were well written and gripping, even if I would have liked our hero knocked down notch or 10. Fight scenes are often hit or miss for me, so I really enjoyed that part!

So all in all this wasn't a perfect book, but definitely a very promising start!