The Fantasy Review’s review of Blood Song by Anthony Ryan, book 1 in the Raven’s Shadow trilogy.
Blood Song is one of those rare fantasy books that has all the tropes you expect to see, with few twists on what’s expected, but is an absolute gem. This first book in the Raven’s Shadow trilogy by Anthony Ryan is a tale that moves from the classic assassin school setting into an epic fantasy plot.
For fans of: The Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan; The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss; and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.
Spoiler-Free Review of Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
The first half of Blood Song is exactly what you would want from a magic school/assassin training school story. The mysteries that set up the rest of the book (and trilogy) build slowly, gradually, in the background while this section focuses heavily on developing the main group of characters we will follow.
With this groundwork laid, Blood Song emerges from the chrysalis and sets upon an epic, adventurous tale of war, loss, and love.
The plot in the second half of the novel is full of political maneuvering, however it chooses to focus more on the military campaigns and the mystery of the magic in the world. There is little that can be said here without spoilers, however I can admit to reading this book well into the night, addicted to the mystery, addicted to the characters.
My only complaint might be the final 15% or so, and this is all to do with pacing. If we back up for a moment – Blood Song is split into “Parts” and each has a gradual, building tension with expected beats for pacing, making for a solid, uninterrupted reading experience.
The final section, however, is not as fast paced as the rest of the book, which is odd. We, as readers, are used to the majority of the book building to a final crescendo of amazing speed, but there is none.
Of course, there are reveals, but I feel they fall a little flat. The final scenes of the book do more to set up future novels instead of completing this one.
I worry about the scope of the trilogy. I worry the world building for the rest of the fantasy world has not had much foundation given to it, with most of what we know based in the Sixth Order (the faith-based military group our protagonist is a part of), rather than the continents and islands we may visit in the future books.
I’m left feeling like Blood Song was a triumph of a novel – for the most part – but where it goes from here is a mystery. We shall see.
