An extremely impressive first novel! Shawn Cosby sure knows his way around a sword fight. His battle scenes bring to mind classic martial arts films like 7 Grandmasters, except everyone is equipped with a family heirloom quality blade for extra serious slayage. Gritty and raunchy, this is NOT your little brother’s Urban Fantasy, even though there is enough for a fantasy novel (the Judges’ summons appear in a mysterious black box) and enough clever martial arts (the battles against the Men of First Chaos defy the laws of gravity and physics), this story is grounded in very real danger, bloodshed and other adult themes. Namely the theme of sex and the theme of drugs. These two combine to make for a PG-13 through R rated novel.Although I think the book would have benefitted from one final editing run through as there are strange double periods that should have been picked up by the editor, the story Mr. Cosby weaves is well worth looking past that small distraction. His characters, from the amazingly upstanding and uptight Pretlow to the sleazy drug addled Carcine to the terrifyingly carnal Vivian, have believable backstories and are detailed with care. The various swords and armaments are described in a manner that allows the reader to fully appreciate a particular fighting style. The scenes involving assassins sent to ‘take out’ individual clans are choreographed with such precision that they come alive on the page with the action unfolding clearly as you read. Very few first time indie authors are able to pull this off with such flair.At the heart of the novel, though, is the relationship between Catlow and Pretlow Creedence and their story elevates this tale head and shoulders above the usual Urban Fantasy Swashbuckler (I made that genre up) fare.Not for the faint of heart and with no elves in sight, Brotherhood of the Blade is an urban fantasy novel for those who love flashy fight scenes and expertly drawn characters in a multilevel, but straightforward storytelling style.