Brann has come a long way since his days as a galley slave. At Lord Einarr’s side, he journeys to the capital of the Empire to warn the Emperor about Loku and his depraved cult. But Loku already has the Emperor in his thrall, and his scheming ensures that Brann is enslaved once more. He is put to work in the fighting pits deep below the city, where a man might escape with his life, but not his soul. Brann emerges bent on revenge, determined to stop Loku. But first he must fight to recover the man that he once was, to become the hero he is meant to be. Last year I read the debut novel from Andy Livingstone, a rather wonderful historical fantasy called Hero Born. The sequel, Hero Grown, has just been released and the good news is that it’s the perfect companion to its predecessor. Hero Grown achieves exactly what I would hope it would do. It continues Brann’s journey and successfully explores his character in more depth. We get to watch as our erstwhile protagonist evolves from being merely a pawn to being a player. All around him the politics of an empire continues to...