In the court of every city in the lands of Ro, a sorceress sits. And in the minds of that city’s people, each sorceress weaves a song.
She and her sisters sing of the liberation of the land, the taming of the highland tribes, and the birth of a precious new race: the children of a dead god.
Of course, they do not sing of the death of young Prince Christophe at the hands of that god. Particularly as his replacement dances so well to their tune. Yet all songs have an end. An ending speeded when the assassin Rham Jas Rami accepts a commission from Bromvy Black Guard, traitor duke of Canarn.
The rebellion of Ro has begun.
Source | Format | Pages | Publisher | Publication Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon | ebook | 513 | Head of Zeus | July 3rd, 2014 |
Note– The Dark Blood is book #2 in The Long War series by A.J. Smith. Book #1, The Black Guard [my review] is where you’ll want to start reading this series and just a word of warning here- you’ll be hooked, the series is out fully (4 books), so prepare wisely, take some time off work and have an epic reading marathon! Warning #2- this series is not about princes and princesses and swooning and romance. It’s about fighting axe-wielding men, assassins, trolls, and dirty bastards. Are you ready for it?
The Dark Blood continues on a strong streak and I am ever so grateful for being introduced to the series because I am just, simply put, loving this!
However, if you expect a summary of book #2, you’ve come to the wrong place because I couldn’t even begin to give you a brief overview even though , as I said in my review for book #1- everything is simple and easy to grasp in this character loaded series. I fail in trying to summarize the plot because there’s so much happening, in so many places and I’d rather you just read the book for the real deal. Fact of the matter is- the fullness of the plot works for the series not against it.
This is the Long War and battles on many fronts is what you shall receive! And you know what the beauty of this book is? It delivers all of the battles and fight scenes in the most gripping, visual and easy to follow manner. Have you ever read an action scene in a book and felt completely lost, thinking, who’s kicking who again, and sorry-what-what? Simple is best and Smith executes on setting the scenes to a T. Often I found myself admiring a sentence here and there, that just put the cherry on top of the whole delivery. Logical, yet unexpected little touches added to character behaviors that made a setting just perfect. It was beautiful, says she with a tear in her eye! I see gems of genius in this writing and if I was a cat I would be purring my content during reading.
‘Don’t run,’ growled Oleff, ‘we wanna be friends.’ He punctuated the last word by burying his axe in the skull of one of the feeling men.
That’s right! In this fantasy book (series) men don’t fight by waving magic wands, they fight with axes and swords and fists. OK, maybe there is a bit of ‘magic’ but it’s mostly close combat and when you’ve come to care about the characters, you’re standing there with them, splitting heads and roaring defiance, rebel and loyalty to their land and people. So much blood was spilled and so many battles were had and, here’s another great thing about this book, NONE of what happened felt like it wasn’t necessary in the plot. None. It was all necessary, following the logical progress of the Long War and I got to go to new places and meet some new characters.
Anywhooo… now that the cat is out of the bag as to what the Seven Sisters are planning, our main characters find themselves separated across the lands fighting different forces towards the same goal. The outlook is bleak to say the least- the Seven Sisters are really good at doing what they do. I mean, they have kings and clerics drooling at their feet like hungry puppies. Luckily though, some of my favorite characters are meant for bigger things. They are exemplars. They are unique and they have a role to play in the Long War. And I’ll be damned if some of them die in this series, I’ll be major pissed! hehehe…
The Dark Blood will have you fight side by side with Utha the Ghost, Al Hasim and the Wraiths, admire the resilience and certain powers of Rham Jas, feel loyalty towards Halla the Summer Wolf. The book will make you feel victorious and saddened, it will make you want to ‘high five’ Fallon and Vladimir. It will make you wish you were Alahan as he witnesses Timon the berserker ‘communicate’ with trolls. The Dokkalfar, forest-dwellers, culture is expanded on nicely as well and I still find them so completely fascinating. So, basically, you’ll not only get an action-packed, fully gripping tale, you’ll also get different cultures, people and beliefs. Any fantasy fan could appreciate that.
Throughout the war and death and hardships, The Dark Blood doesn’t forget that it needs to give more than just testosterone-filled pissing contests and, you know, fighting the evil. The companionships and banter in between our most loved characters continue.
‘Okay, I’m still afraid of you,’ the forger reluctantly conceded.
‘Excellent,’ said Rham Jas, with a wide grin. ‘All is right in the world again.’
‘Fuck you, Rham Jas,’ spat the man of Leith. ‘I’m going to sleep. Wake me up when you’re less of an arsehole.’
‘You’ll be an old man, Kale,’ replied Rham Jas, with a boyish chuckle.
What really made me happy was the fact that some character development saw a few of the men truly question the foundations of their beliefs. Sure, it plays into progressing the plot, but when twists are delivered at the right time, they hardly seem like the author is trying to ‘save where this is going‘.
And- you know how we love characters and we hate characters? It took me reading The Dark Blood to realize that love&hate have been such shallow feelings I have felt for characters in the past. Reading this book opened me to a new feeling I can have towards a character: respect.
It’s easy to dole out love with sympathy. It’s easy to feel hate and disgust. But respect? Like in real life, it has to be earned and somehow, Smith managed to get it just right. Maybe it’s the consistency that shows in the characters, or maybe it’s the fact that there’s no ‘yeah, but- no, but‘ easy way out when it came to making decisions… I know that Rham Jas is a cheeky fecker, I know that Utha can be a grumpy pain, but they had principles! And, if there is one thing I value most, it’s bloody principles.
Randall could just make out the bastards laughing as they hurriedly left the roadway, but the last sound he heard before he passed out was Utha saying, ‘You die when I die, not a second before.’
Overall– the ugliness of war is in full swing in this book, with the customary gruesome acts. It’s tough and it’ll grate against the nerve but a thousand something pages into the series, one could say, I have taken residence in this world and intend to stick it with the characters until the end. Oh… just stop, like, I’m shivering here trying to imagine how book #3 is going to deliver. All those new little storylines breaking fresh glimpses into lands yet unexplored while at the same time challenging beliefs and solidly helping along with some character development. Excitement times infinity would be an understatement.
Awesome review! Can’t really say much else about it! I’m so glad that you’re loving it, whoever put you onto the series deserves some massive praise!😉
Not many people seem to know about, bother with or have even read this series, sad really that it doesn’t get more recognition and seems to go under a lot of fantasy fans radars as it truly is awesome!
Lol, at ‘ I know that Rham Jas is a cheeky fecker, I know that Utha can be a grumpy pain’ so true! All the characters are great though in their own way, poor Randall certainly gets it hanging with Utha! Have you met Ruth yet?😀🕸️🕷️
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Yes, Drew… all the praise to you! 😀 hahaha
This is a really good series… so good like the best of wines, eventho I don’t drink fancy wine…
Yes, Ruth! That was a neat surprise there and I couldn’t help but laugh that she ends up in the company of Utha and Randall! This will defo make some great reading in Book #3! Can’t wait! 🙂
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Randall and Ruth are epic in the next book!😂
Oh, very true, definitely some great reading in the next book, some awesome moments.😀
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Awesome review, I’m happy he earned your respect and this one ticked all the boxes, even though this fantasy novel was more of a combat novel it seems. I could really tell you enjoyed this one!
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Thank you!
I appreciate you reading through my fantasy reviews as I know they’re not your general deal. You rock and thanks for the support! ☺
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No but I love how entertaining your writing is, every single time 😋
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Awh, thank you, truly, it means a lot! 👊😎😘
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Great review. I’ve been reading reviews about this series for a while, but now I’m going to move it further up the t-b-r list.
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Thank you! ☺
I hope your enjoy the series, I’ve seen some readers complain about cliches and pace and being bored… well, I can’t agree with them personally so I do hope you find it entertaining as well! Look forward to reading your thoughts! ☺
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Wow these are some pricey novels , oh well i guess i can live without unnecessary spendings like food for a few weeks .
I am hyped by your review , will be looking forward to buying and reading this as soon as i can
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Aye, but I think you’ll get plenty of bang for your buck. However, don’t starve yourself 😂
Get The Black Guard, book 1 on its own rather than going all out on a bundle and test the tune and tone of the series out… hells, do you usually do previews? Goodreads may even have a preview for book 1 going… Drew liked the series as well and he’s the Grimdark/Dark Fantasy Godfather so I have a feeling you can’t go wrong with his seal of approval on books ☺
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oh yeah , Drew is like Father Fantasy , and with his seal of approval I think I might well go all out on it , when I find time from my book schedule
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Mighty, I hope you enjoy! 😊☺
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I had fully intended to read The Black Guard when it came out. It is my type of book by appearances. I just never got to it and at some point it became confused in my mind with The Grim Company.
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I think you could really enjoy the series… hmm.. and I gotta check out The Grim Company!!!
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You had me at dirty bastards, haha! But I found that I tend to skim over battles in fantasy books, which is not a good thing. It takes a lot to keep me interested in fighting! I guess it comes from a couple of those “who’s doing what????” scenes you referred to. They acted as a turnoff. It reminds me of sex scenes when arms are suddenly everywhere and hands do things they shouldn’t possible be doing.. But I’m glad it’s not the case here! I love the sound if it being full of more than just fists and blood, though! You make it sound so so good and full in terms all everything you need to fill a story with to create a whole interesting world. The key world being interesting! 🙂 Fab review!
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Hahahaha… dirty bastards are just so much fun!
Yeah, the execution of action scenes is just soooo important… I’ve glazed over quite a few myself because it was just… not that effective… but in this case… beautiful! bloody, but beautiful! XD
hahaha @ sex scenes… yeah… it’s like- hang on, who was blowing who again? XD
Thank you for reading my review… 😉
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Ahh wow this does sound exciting- I remember your review of book one, so I am so excited that the second one was so good!!! Definitely (still) need to pick this up at some point!!
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Cheers… yeah… so much fantasy goodness! 🙂
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🙂
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Oh man, love the sound of characters getting down and dirty, having everything so mano to mano. With the addition of brilliant writing, I can’t imagine how epic this actually is. Really glad to read how much you loved this. Really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the next two books. I think once you confirm the perfection of the series I’ll probably end up giving this series a shot! Fantastic review, Liz! 😀
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Thanks!!! 🙂
No problem… I have full faith the series continues on the strong streak as Drew loved all of the 4 books himself.. soooo… make room on your TBR pile! XD
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This series seems to be getting better with each book! I’m so glad you pointed out that the final book comes out this year. I might actually read this series, then! That’s a MUST for me with fantasy– the whole series must be out already. Otherwise, I can’t remember a damn thing by the end.
It sounds like AJ Smith has really fleshed out a full and realistic world here. I look forward to eventually reading this– even if it is a bit on the graphic side. 😉
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The series is actually out in full 🙂 It’s very good and if you read it I hope you enjoy as well… 🙂
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