For those who don’t know about SPFBO (the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off) – this is a competition created and run by Mark Lawrence.  The competition is now in its tenth year and you can find out more about all the other entrants and judges over on Mark Lawrence’s blog.

I have now completed all my reading for the first phase of SPFBO X.  Over the next few days I hope to publish reviews for the three books chosen by the Critiquing Chemist followed by a post in which we will announce our finalist.

Today’s review is for a high fantasy story called Through Blood and Dragons by RM Schultz.

If you love stories with dragons then this will surely appeal.  Dragons are integral to the story.  They are used by warring nations and in fact can tip the balance of whether you win or lose.  They share a bond with their rider and there is a dragon realm that will hopefully be explored more in future editions.

This is the land of Cimeren, torn by a history of war between the north and south there is an uneasy peace which rests on a knife edge.  Instability threatens to once again push the nation into war and so when a terrible event leads to the death of the King of Murgare and his Queen being taken hostage the infamous Dragon Queen of the north decides to take action.  And so the scene is set for these two nations to once again go to war.

However, here is so much more to this story than the simple overview above.  This is a story with intrigue and mystery, corruption and bravery.

The landscape of this world has largely helped to prevent the constant outbreaks of war that are always looming.  The two are separated by a dark forest and a huge lake.  Both of these are obstacles to war when your main threat comes from a host of dragons.  The forest gives little chance of respite for the larger dragons to rest as does the lake, and so nature helps to keep these warring nations apart.  They are, of course, constantly trying to keep ahead in terms of recruiting more dragons – a kind of arms war if you will.  There are many types of dragons, the larger of which wear armaments and carry warriors into the fray. The author has clearly thought this through in depth with different breeds and abilities.

As the story begins we meet Cyran Orendain, a squire at an outpost called Nevergrace.  Cyran is an easy to like character, he’s good natured and friendly, he cares about the dragons, he dreams of better things, he has a secret fancy for one of the young women from the outpost and he has a strong sense of duty.  We follow Cyran for much of the story taking us back and forth into the large city of Belvenguard where the plot thickens and back to the outpost where war has raised its bloody head.  There are of course other characters and Cyran’s sister, Jaslin, is definitely one to watch.

The world building is impressive and there are plenty of unexpected elements to the story to hold your attention.  I was surprised by how ruthless the author was in terms of not only the characters but also the dragons.

I mentioned intrigue.  Not all of the story elements are concluded by the end of the story.  Clearly, there is more to this war than at first meets the eye.  Of course there is the natural enmity between the north and south given their history, however, other forces are at play and maybe the start of this war is not as straightforward as it first appears.  Certain members of the King’s court come across as decidedly suspicious, someone is sending out secret messages to a number of the key players warning them to be careful and on top of this the dark forests seem to be coming alive with death and mystery, strange magic, enchanted music and unusual artefacts.

In terms of criticisms.  I didn’t have anything that spoiled the story for me.  There are a number of threads, some of which are ongoing at the conclusion of the tale and there is a lot to take on board but this feels natural for epic fantasy of this scope.  In that respect it has a typical start to a series feel. there are many characters to become familiar with, plus the layout and backstory which can slow the story down a little at points but not to the point that I wasn’t enjoying the read.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Through Blood and Dragons, it’s a great start to a promising series.

I received a copy courtesy of the author, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.