Fantasy Book Critic: Announcing Combat Codes: The Mystery of the Island by Alexander Darwin

The Island is a prominent setting in The Combat Codes. It is a picturesque place: black sand beaches, emerald waters, wind-swept cliffs, bamboo forests. Cego and his brothers grow up on the Island, where they train martial arts under the tutelage of the Old Master. The brothers spend their days sprinting across the beach, carrying boulders beneath the waves, scaling the cliffs, and sparring with each other until they are left panting and bloody on the beach.

But one question begins to haunt Cego and his brothers: what are they training for? Why are they here? When they question the Old Master, he always responds with the same, methodical answer: "we fight so the rest shall not have to."

Find out what the Island truly is and why the brothers are training there on June 13th, when The Combat Codes is out from Orbit Books (pre-order today!)

"That rare book that fully satisfies me as an action fan" - Fonda Lee, author of Jade City

"A book about warriors written by a master of the martial arts, and the mastery shows." – Evan Winter, author of The Rage of Dragons

Official Book Blurb: In a world where battle-hardened warriors determine the fate of empires, war-ravaged nations seek out a new champion in the first book of a thrilling science fantasy trilogy: "that rare book that fully satisfies me as an action fan" (Fonda Lee, author of Jade City).

In a world long ago ravaged by war, the nations have sworn an armistice never to use weapons of mass destruction again. Instead, highly-skilled warriors known as Grievar Knights represent their nations’ interests in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

Murray Pearson was once a famed Knight until he suffered a loss that crippled his homeland — but now he’s on the hunt to discover the next champion.

In underground and ruthless combat rings, an orphaned boy called Cego is making a name for himself. Murray believes Cego has what it takes to thrive in the world's most prestigious combat academy – but first, Cego must prove himself in the vicious arenas of the underworld. And survival isn’t guaranteed.