The second volume in Brian Ruckley‘s Godless World trilogy significantly ups the stakes, and anyone who enjoyed the first volume, Winterbirth, will not want to miss out. The rank used as the title, Bloodheir, alludes to the young successors to the various Thanes whose fiefdoms are at the centre of the story – Orisian, who came to be the Thane of the Lannis Blood at the end of Winterbirth following the deaths of his uncle and cousin; Roaric, intemperate heir of the Kilkry Blood; Aewult, Bloodheir to the Thane of Thanes, general of the army intended to throw back the marauding armies of the Black Road; and lastly, Kanin, until recently Bloodheir of the Gyre Blood, now Thane. These young men face significant peril in navigating a world thrown in to chaos and facing the spectre of forces none of them are really prepared for – some of them will acquit themselves better than others.

Ruckley significantly ramps up the magical elements in this volume – the hybrid Aeglyss, having survived the attempt to crucify him on the Breaking Stone at the end of the previous volume, has acquired power in the Shared not seen for generations. Aeglyss can now mesmerise humans and Kyrinin (‘elves’), occupy the bodies of others and inspire a level of devotion that is positively unhealthy. Kanin increasingly has to recognise that the invasion he started in to the lands of the True Bloods has been hijacked by this charismatic intruder, and it starts to acquire the character of a crusade as more and more Black Road followers flock to follow him, bolstered by the deadly warriors of the Battle Inkall. Kanin also has a personal motive to hate Aeglyss – his sister, Wain, is one of the first to see the power in him, and eventually pays the price.

Meanwhile, the True Bloods are in a state of discord – Lannis has been occupied by the Black Road, Kilkry is threatened and the army that rides to their rescue is led by the supremely arrogant Bloodheir, Aewult. The politics and tensions are well drawn, and the Chancellor to the Haig Blood, Mordyn Jerain, is an interesting character – despite his deviousness, and ruthlessness, he is hard to dislike as he tries to rein in Aewult and ends up exposed to more danger than he was counting on. You sense his story still has some way to go.

Perhaps the least satisfying aspect of the book is Orisian’s quest in pursuit of knowledge about Aeglyss and his power – he, almost alone, recognises that the hybrid is a more serious threat to all the Bloods than the war they are currently fighting, and sets off with a retinue of soldiers to try and discover more. The object of his pursuit, a woman who has a strong connection to Aeglyss, leads him a merry dance, but her capture is something of an anti-climax, achieved at the cost of many lives, and sometimes I just wanted it to be over. Perhaps the significance will become clear in the concluding volume.

By the end of the book, it is obvious that many of the characters are meddling with forces they can neither understand nor control, not least because Aeglyss has aroused the ire of the powerful beings known as the Anain. Though it’s not clear exactly what manner of creatures they are, it is certain that when they show themselves, the fight between the Bloods is going to pale in to insignificance and battle-lines may be quickly redrawn in the face of an implacable and perhaps invulnerable foe.

Bloodheir has much to recommend it – as a fantasy, and as a gritty epic with lots of battles and sword-fights. If you can get through the occasional lulls of Orisian’s questing, it’s a very satisfying book, and I look forward to finding out what becomes of the Bloods in the concluding volume, Fall of Thanes (a bit of a clue in the title – but which ones will fall?).

Bookmark to