The Bloodbound by Erin Lindsey
The Bloodbound is one of my backburn books. I’ve had it waiting for quite some time after picking up a copy following glowing reviews. Why I waited so long remains a mystery but I’m very pleased to have finally started this series. How would I describe Bloodbound – I would say it’s the perfect beach read for fantasy lovers! There’s action, blood magic and romance and, yes, I would say that the romance does play a fairly central role but I enjoyed it.
The Bloodbound gets off to a fairly intense start. We begin the book as a bloody battle rages. Alix is a scout. At the start of the story she watches the battle from afar and realises with horror that her King (Eric) has been betrayed on the war field. The aid he is expecting is not going to arrive and he stands on the brink of massacre. Completely disobeying orders Alix rushes to King Eric’s aid dragging along with her Liam, another scout. What you must remember is that these are scouts and don’t normally make up part of the fighting contingent but Alix is bloodbound to her blade which does help to give her ferocious
precision with the sword. Unwittingly, Alix becomes the saviour of the moment and although she’s never sought any particular attention or regard finds herself newly elected to the position of bodyguard to the King. Eric has been betrayed by his own brother, who, expecting that Eric is dead has returned home to claim the crown effectively making Eric an exile. In order to regain that which is his right he must bide his time and form a plan, all the while trying to keep the enemy at his door from swooping through his kingdom and massacring everyone.
That’s all I’m going to go with in terms of plot.
World and characters. The world has an Arthurian feel to it almost. Knights in armour, heavy warhorses and swords. The difference here is that women go to war in this kingdom as well as the men. In terms of the fantasy elements these are fairly thin on the ground and are mainly related to the blood magic that binds weapons to their owners. This also plays a huge part in the dark magic that is used by the enemies in the story.
The main characters are of course Alix, Eric and Liam with a few peripheral figures that make up the King’s advisors and such like. Alix is a very easy character to like. She stands behind her own beliefs and isn’t afraid to speak up and make her thoughts known. She’s certainly not perfect and very capable of making mistakes – particularly where her love life is concerned! What I particularly like about the way Alix is written though is that she isn’t dainty or meek and mild (and let’s face it – it wouldn’t do to be so when fighting on a battlefield). She’s tall and strong and has a fiery character that matches her hair. Eric is also a character that I found easy to like – in fact truth be told I probably felt a little bit sad for him in more ways than one. And then we have Liam, who yes, makes up the love triangle that develops. Liam and Alix have a strong friendship developed over time that has forged something strong between them. They’re in a little bit of denial about their own feelings at the start but things are beginning to change.
Now, I’m not usually for love triangles but I do think that this story is well executed. I think my biggest problem with love triangles is that it makes me all judgemental (sorry but it’s true) about the person who is stuck in the middle. I confess I don’t like it, probably because I wouldn’t want to be played like that. That’s not to say that I don’t have sympathy for how the situation could occur it just tends to make me cross at the pinnacle character (that being Alix) and sad for the eventual character that will be left out in the cold. (And, can I just say, I would have chosen differently than Alix – there, I said it!)
All that being said though, it would be difficult to not like Alix and like her I did. It’s great to have such a tough female character who isn’t weak, can stick up for herself and isn’t afraid to play her part – even if it could mean a one way ticket to a tea party with the grim reaper.
So, in summary. This is a fast paced, fun read with plenty of action tempered with a little romance. I very much look forward to No.2.
This counts as one of my backburn books. This is a theme run by Lisa at Tenacious Reader. The idea being to try and read and review some of those books that you’ve let sit around looking all sad and gathering dust. Time to show them some love.
Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey readalong week No.6
6 September 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Chosen, Readalong week No.6
Today is week No.6 of our readalong for Kushiel’s Chosen. I am hosting this week so naturally everything has gone a bit pear shaped!! Anyway, the chapters this week were great! As you would expect – spoilers lurk below – so beware. All welcome, if you want to join the readalong or jump in with comments then please do so (here is the SCHEDULE). This week’s questions and answers below:
1. We had a bit of a discussion about Kazan in the previous week’s questions, about his nature, double crossing, etc, and whether Phedre was right to save him. What are your thoughts on Kazan now given these most recent additions. Also, I think we should include his mother in that discussion – it was interesting to finally see her I thought. And, in fact his whole homecoming.
I really enjoyed the change in Kazan this week. I mean, he’s been through the cleansing – and let’s face it, he’s not a changed man, as Phedre pointed out – he’s simply going to continue as previously but now with a clean slate. But I really liked that he confessed into having put Phedre into an impossible situation to force her hand into sleeping with him. I also thought it was good that he recognised that they could have probably saved some trouble if they’d both been a bit more honest and I liked the fact that he recognised that Phedre had saved him more than once and he was now going to stand by her. I thought his homecoming was very touching really and brought home how much his banishment had affected him. I was also thinking about his mum and how she’d cursed him in anger and then probably regretted it very much because she then, in effect, lost both sons. It was good to see that she was so happy to see him – I hope nothing happens to him and he gets to return home.
2. What did you think of the whole ‘tribute’ ship idea – is that your idea of a good plan or your worst nightmare??
I must admit I don’t think I’d like to spend all that time in that confined space – I probably wouldn’t be able to move by the time I was released. The one thing that really occured to me was that if anything had happened to the ship, bad weather or potential sinking Phedre would have remained trapped in there because she’d be the last person on everyone’s minds. Not my idea of fun to be honest but a good idea that put me a bit in mind of a Trojan horse.
3. Let’s just talk about the reunion with Joscelin and Phedre. Oh my word! More to the point the changes in both of them and how you think their relationship will now move forward.
This week was so touching – I practically had tears in my eyes. The reunion with Phedre and Joscelin was so sweet. And Ti-Phillipe as well. I think that Phedre and Joscelin have been through such a lot together, they share such a lot of meaningful experiences but I think the experience of Phedre with the cleansing and Joscelin thinking that he’d lost Phedre forever has changed them both – and for the better really. It’s sort of put things in perspective hasn’t it. Joscelin was so annoyed with Phedre that he left her – probably safe in the knowledge that he could see her again anyway, Being faced with the possibility that he couldn’t just walk back into her life was so much more final and finally made him see things differently (not to mention that he was probably feeling terribly guilty). On the other hand, Phedre actually admitted that she’d treated him badly which I think was a big change because to be honest she doesn’t usually come over in that way.
4. Lastly, what do you think Phedre’s plan is – it’s in a temple, she spoke about making retribution in earlier chapters and yet her latest plan seems to have caused gasps of surprise. What do you think we have in store.
I actually haven’t read further on so I really don’t know what to expect here. I’m guessing that by the gasps it involves something a bit shocking and I was thinking as they were using the secret tunnels to appear in the temple that maybe there was going to be some pretense of being a ‘God’ maybe – you know, making a dramatic appearance to distract everyone. But what do I know. I have a strong suspicion that things will get a lot worse before they get better!
I’m excited to be oton the final chapters. I think this has been a great read so far – I admit that I’ve missed Joscelin and I like it better when he steps back into the picture, but, I really do enjoy Carey’s writing and world building. She pays such a lot of attention to detail.
Other participants:
Allie at Tethyan Books
Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow
Grace at Books Without Any Pictures
Nancy at FaeStruck’s Reviews & More
James at James T. Witherspoon
Emily at Emma Wolf
Susan at Dab of Darkness
The Dragon Engine by Andy Remic
Just finished reading The Dragon Engine by Andy Remic. Dragon Engine is your basic quest adventure. A bunch of rough and surly characters head off on an adventure seeking gold and immortality. In fact it has a very Tolkien(ish) feel to it really – well, in that there’s a fellowship type of feel to the start of the story followed by a whole bunch of dwarves and dragons. That’s kind of where the similarity ends though because these dwarves are downright nasty.
In Dragon Engine we have a band of characters who have fought in wars together. They’re maybe getting a little long(er) in the tooth nowadays or perhaps have a bit more girth around their middle, in fact all things being equal, you could say they’re comfortable in life. There is no need for any more adventure. They’ve had their fill of blood and guts and they can now enjoy the rest of their years in comfort. And yet, at the start of the story, getting together for a raucous gathering, they agree to embark on a treasure hunt to the Aramakkos in search of the Five Havens. The promise of gold, a map to lead the way, the potential for healing powers and immortality and all this booty lying beneath the mountains where the dragons and dwarves are now extinct – what more could you ask for really?
The world. We have the usual sword wielding, axe swinging faux mediaeval set up. Horses are the main mode up transport. Crossbows the weapon of choice for the would-be assassin. The time of men seems to be one of peace – or at least I didn’t detect any wars or political intrigue but that being said the King (Yoon) seems to be a piece of work and his nephew a bit of a snivelling trouble causer (but I’m getting ahead of myself).
The main characters are Beetrax, who seems to be the self appointed leader of this adventure and is a huge, bearded, mammoth of a man, Lillith a peaceful woman who joins the journey in search of medical knowledge, Sakora a rather kick ass woman who seems to be fluent in the ways of martial arts, Jonti and Dake are a couple very much in love and who join this quest with much at stake and finally Talon who is a rather dab hand with his bow and arrows and joins the party for personal reasons.
And the plot. Well, as you can imagine this simple adventure is going to end up being anything but simple. The heros of the piece are perhaps a little bit over confident when they embark on their journey and are about to pay a rich price for their complacency. Basically, and I don’t think this is really a spoiler. The dwarves are alive and kicking and the dragons – well they appear to be captive, contained and servile, maybe sleeping – or perhaps just waiting.
I think Remic does a great job with both the characters and the action scenes. The first half of the book is probably a little bit more of a gentle introduction – but when I say gentle just let me be perfectly clear, this is not a book for the faint hearted. In fact this is a story that really tests the phrase grimdark. Even the start of the story which has a lighter feel is still fairly liberally splattered with nasty – particularly those alternating chapters that take us into the mines of the dwarves and bring to us the rather brutal character of Skalg, First Cardinal to the Church of Hate. Here is one twisted individual who doesn’t take prisoners and isn’t shy of murder, torture or rape. Things below ground are a little more heated than things above (in more ways than one).
This is a story that definitely puts the grim into grimdark. There is violence and bloodshed, bones get crunched, viscera is sprayed willy nilly, profanity, torture, rape, sex. It’s all here and I’m just going to be blunt and say it gets to a point almost bordering on uncomfortable. But, whilst Remic doesn’t balk at telling things as they really are he does draw a line in the sand. He walks you right up to the line and then he leaves you there, teetering on the edge, to imagine what lies beyond. So, whilst we do have some fairly detailed and bloody fights, the scenes in which torture and rape occur, well, you’re told what’s going to happen and then you’re left to your own imagination knowing that horrible things are taking place.
What Remic does manage to do, particularly using the earlier chapters in the story where you gain a sense of the long friendship between the heroes of the piece and take part a little more in their banter, is make you care for the characters. I also think he does a great job of portraying the mines and the scenes of captivity. The darkness, the claustrophobia, the sheer magnitude of the place. On top of that, and don’t get me wrong because this book isn’t just a set up for the next in series, but it does end on a note that gives you an idea of what is yet to come and it promises to be very good.
I enjoyed this. Like I said above, it may not be for everyone. It is undoubtedly violent and ugly in places and the author doesn’t give you a spoonful of sugar to make the brutal any more palatable. But, if you really do like your grimdark then here it is in spades. I don’t want to overdo it though, don’t go away from this thinking that it’s all doom and gloom because it isn’t. There is a great feeling of camaraderie, there are moments of pure heroics and skillful sword fighting plus daring escapes and a feel good type of ending – well as ‘feel good’ as it can be when tempered with the knowledge of what’s about to come.
I received a copy of this courtesy of the publishers through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Hear all about it, hear all about it!!!
3 September 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Over the Effing Rainbow, Rinn Reads, RIP (Readers Imbibing Peril), Sci Fi November 2015, Stainless Steel Droppings, The Estella Society
Two great events. (You’re welcome :D)
Darkness falls across the land The midnight hour is close at hand Creatures crawl in search of blood To terrorize your neighborhood And whosoever shall be found Without a book or kindle in hand Must stand and face the hounds of hell And rot inside a corpse’s shell…..
RIP (Readers Imbibing Peril) – this is the brainchild of Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings. This year The Estella Society will be hosting the event. Details here. This is NOT a challenge – it is an event and the accent is purely on fun. Choose as many books as you want, enter a readalong, whatever. Dark fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller, chiller – it’s the right time of year to give yourself the goosebumps. And there’s lovely artwork:
Image by the very talented Abigail Larson
Sci Fi Month 2015: November
Sci fi Month 2015
It’s not rocket science …. (pun intended)
It’s all about great sci fi…
little green men and spaceships! (or whatever floats your ship)
Check out the details. Hosted by Rinn Reids and Over the Effing Rainbow.
Details here.
I ain’t been droppin’ no eaves sir, honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you’ll follow me…
Samwise Gamgee – from the animated film version
Sam is a perfect choice of the unsuspecting bystander reluctantly dragged into all sorts of adventure. He starts the story as a gardener and ends up tackling a huge spider, briefly becoming the ring bearer and eventually carrying the ring bearer!
Every Thursday Nathan from the Fantasy Review Barn takes us tough travelling through the tropes of fantasy. This week’s topic for discussion: LABORERS
Not everyone can be a Prince. There is only room for one Queen. A few spoiled nobles can sit around and play cards. But fantasyland can’t build its own castles and roads, nor can it plow its own fields, nor cook its meals. Someone has to do the hard work. And often, as a reward of course, these laborers get pulled from their hard but simple life into a bigger plan.
Darrow from Pierce Brown’s Red Rising – Darrow starts off life as one of the Red’s, the miners who live harsh lives. He then undergoes a transformation to become one of the elite Golds – he definitely gets pulled into a bigger plan.
Ceda from Twelve Kings by Bradley P Beaulieu – Ceda is a fantastic character. An orphan, seeking revenge for her mother’s murder, Ceda has lived on the streets and fought in the pits – until she… (well, I can’t say because it would be a spoiler – she definitely becomes part of something else!)
Jax from The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis. Jax is a mechanical slave who becomes involved, by chance, in smuggling secret knowledge half way across the country. Jax is such a great character, he’s a machine but frankly that doesn’t stop you feeling for him.
Phedre from Kushiel’s Dart. Bear with me with this one – Phedre is cursed with an ill luck name and a scarlet mote in one of her eyes which marks her out as an anguisette. She is given into the House of Night by her parents when she’s only a young child but her fortunes change when her marque is bought by a nobleman named Delauney. From here Phedre becomes familiar with the ways of a spy! Taught languages and history she becomes deeply involved in a threat to overthrow the throne.
Finally:
Wart – or Arthur – a very lowly squire until he pulls that pesky sword out of the stone:
