The Kencyrath are the three people forged into one weapon: Highborn, to lead; Kendar, to fight; Arrin-Ken, to judge.  From the Kencyrath, from their ruling house, the Knorth, will come the Tyr-ridan, the three sides of their absent god: Torrigon, That-Which-Creates; Argentiel, That-Which-Preserves, and  Regonereth, That-Which-Destroys. There are only three pure-bred Knorth left in Rathillien now: Torison, the Highlord, Kindrie, the Healer, and Jame, the destroyer of cities, keeps, and secrets. The Kencyrath are quickly hurtling towards a final battle, and the Tyr-ridan towards manifestation, but questions remain–and uncertainty could mean the death of the entire Kencyrath and the doom of the world of Rathillien.

Bound in Blood, the fifth novel in P.C. Hodgell’s Kencyrath series, quickly joins the Knorth twins, Jame and Tori, doing their duty as the leaders of the Knorth and honouring the tapestries of their dead.  Standing in a cold hall, surrounded by banners woven from blood and memories, they evoke the names of their ancestors to honour both them and the history they represent. The history of the Kencryath is one long defeat after another, a long and bloody fight against a great evil, and Rathillien is their last stand. Cut off from the Three-Faced-God that tasked them with the destruction of Perimal Darkling, they have spent their more recent history fighting amongst themselves and weakening the bonds that hold the three peoples so tenuously together. Reliant on the memories of the living to honour and remember the valour and purpose of the dead, the Kencyrath are quickly losing their sense of direction, even as Jame uncovers mystery after mystery that challenges deeply held traditions.

Jame is the one of the three, the destroyer, the nemesis, who has come most quickly into her heritage. Armed with the Shanir traits of That-Which-Destorys, she uses claws and wit to tear out corruption and destroy that which might weaken the Kencyrath in the coming battle.  But until she is balanced, until the creator and the preserver come into their powers, she is an incomplete nemesis:

Whatever she did was complicated, and a constant struggle against her urge to break anything that got in her way. Was it any easier for Creation and Preservation? Probably not, especially not since neither yet knew what they might one day become.

And how will we three react then, to events, to each other?

Jame is still at Tentir, the randon college. Still her brother’s heir, still desperately trying to learn to be a leader and commander of the forces of her house. Now interwoven with the religious rites of Rathillien and realizing how deep the bonds of blood and kinship run in her people, she looks to a future that includes the final battle with darkness itself.  Torison is still weaving tenuous alliances between the other houses of the Highborn, still haunted by his childhood and the ghost of his father, still leery of the thought of being Shanir. Now feeling his place and his duties as the leader of his people, he is beginning to see that both he and his sister may have greater purpose, and stronger powers, than he ever realized. Kindrie is still searching for somewhere to belong, still coming to terms with the loss of his mother and the identity of his father, still learning the extent of his powers as a healer. Now with a new awareness of what it means to truly heal, he searches for ways to strengthen the Kencyrath as a whole and its Highlord as a leader.  All three are slowly moving towards greater power and greater control, but the dangers they face are multiplying as well, and the future is far from certain.

P.C. Hodgell consistently delivers some of the best work in fantasy. She is master of the perfect detail and these details add to the feeling that Rathillien is populated by living, breathing, fascinating beings, even if we haven’t had a chance to meet them yet. The world she has created is peopled with characters (both main, secondary, tertiary and on) that are both complete and compelling, demanding the attention of the reader, and deserving the effort of tracking down this and the rest of the books in the series.  All of the books are now available in omnibus editions from Baen, and there are a few free sample chapters available on the website.

This series has been garnering critical praise and a loyal fan-base for over twenty years.  Bound in Blood is strong enough to stand alone, but nothing compares to following the full sweep of the story (and the complete destruction of many of the towns Jame visits) by starting at the beginning. If not for the unable to resist temptation to write about the story itself, this review could have consisted of three words: Go, read, enjoy.

Bookmark to