BLOOD SONG RATING FREEI'm glad that Ryan persisted in his quest to be published.The sneaker man does not want you so free that you stop wanting sneakers. Really an exceptionally compelling character. It's not groundbreaking Fantasy but as you live the story of Vaelin right alongside him, and I really mean live it. BLOOD SONG RATING SERIESI'm convinced that with a first book in a series as strong as this one, the Raven's Shadow is worth keeping an eye on. I refer here to the blood song and the mysterious helpers giving Vaelin some warnings.īlood Song is a great debut. Some part of it are nebulous and connected to that specter of prophecy that I talked about but it serves its purpose well even if there is some occurrences of the dreaded (for me at least) "intrinsic use of uncertain powers that saves the day". Magic is also growing up alongside Vaelin. You can never go wrong with a good pace and plenty of action as is the case with this novel. it's hard to say), the flow of the narrative always feel right. That world is not the most original setting of Epic Fantasy you can find but with the right amount of description and a writing that feels natural (with much editing?. However, it's sad to say that it's almost solely a man's world and the women in the book deserve more presence and dedication. The author's story leaves a couple of open threads for the follow-ups and judging by the way he resolved most of the storylines he tackled in this first opus, with more than enough unexpected resolutions, we should be in for a treat.Įven if the focus of Blood Song is Vaelin, his brothers and the various protagonists he encounters in his journeys don't lack development. It's relatively simple to create expectations like this right from the start but it's another feat to deliver throughout the book. Ryan accomplished something that could fall flat easily. Vaelin's story is told with some perspective from hindsight, it's the recounting of his life where we already believe that he made incredible but awful things. There's a specter of prophecy surrounding him, within and without his Order, which becomes solely the mean to hone him as a weapon as he eventually grasp the ins and outs of the world. It's the story of the coming of age of a legend, a dangerous man whose actions will change the world. The world in which the young man tries to take his place is a grim one, reminiscent of the darkest period of the Middle Ages, but, even within the confines of his Order, he will find ways to prove himself. Within the Sixth Order, right from the start of the book but after an introduction with his future self, we find ourselves following the exploits, failures, hardships and joy of the larger than life Vaelin Al Sorna. In comparison with the first two novels I enumerated, Blood Song succeeds phenomenally. Sounds familiar enough? If you have read books like Paul Hoffman's The Left Hand of God, Elspeth Cooper's Songs of the Earth or more recently The Emperor's Blade by Brian Staveley, it should. Usually, while being related to some kind of religion (war is often an aspect of Gods found in Fantasy) these orders were put in place to educate youngsters in the art of fighting in various forms with some entity behind it all, a religious organisation, an Empire or a rich patron. They have been part of many Fantasy stories, even more so when their members are young men or women (for the latter it's less frequent.) dumped by their parents, beggar children or vagrants in need of a home or thieves in need of redemption.
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