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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Blood of Heirs is book 1 in the Coraidic Sagas by Alicia Wanstall-Burke, and you can find my full video review here: https://youtu.be/zXd_k01c06Y
Blood of Heirs follows two main characters in very different settings. Lidan Tolak is the oldest child of the Tolak clan chief, and with no brothers, she just wants to follow in her father’s footsteps by being a ranger, to earn the respect of her people and to be named as heir.
Ranoth (Ran) Olseta is heir to the Dukedom of Orthia and is fighting on the front line against the Woaden Empire. Ran finds himself alone in the wilderness battling the elements as he tries to evade the people hunting him down.
The character work here really is great – Lidan in particular follows a path of character development in the book, whereas Ran’s plot is a bit more story driven. The change in both characters though, as they face and look to overcome the various challenges thrown into their paths, is very well handled.
Coraidin is an intriguing world with a depth of history subtly peeking through the pages as you read. It’s interesting to see the two different settings of our storylines both feeling the tendrils of the same challenges, so you know there’s a proximity between the two even if the characters don’t yet cross paths.
The overall writing, including both character- and action-driven scenes is of a high quality and although I found myself wanting more from this book, I really like the direction it heads in and look forward to reading book 2, Legacy of Ghosts. Book 3, Empire of Shadows, is out on January 25th 2022, so there’s no better time to pick up this series.
Blood of Heirs follows two main characters in very different settings. Lidan Tolak is the oldest child of the Tolak clan chief, and with no brothers, she just wants to follow in her father’s footsteps by being a ranger, to earn the respect of her people and to be named as heir.
Ranoth (Ran) Olseta is heir to the Dukedom of Orthia and is fighting on the front line against the Woaden Empire. Ran finds himself alone in the wilderness battling the elements as he tries to evade the people hunting him down.
The character work here really is great – Lidan in particular follows a path of character development in the book, whereas Ran’s plot is a bit more story driven. The change in both characters though, as they face and look to overcome the various challenges thrown into their paths, is very well handled.
Coraidin is an intriguing world with a depth of history subtly peeking through the pages as you read. It’s interesting to see the two different settings of our storylines both feeling the tendrils of the same challenges, so you know there’s a proximity between the two even if the characters don’t yet cross paths.
The overall writing, including both character- and action-driven scenes is of a high quality and although I found myself wanting more from this book, I really like the direction it heads in and look forward to reading book 2, Legacy of Ghosts. Book 3, Empire of Shadows, is out on January 25th 2022, so there’s no better time to pick up this series.
For my full review see Grimdark Magazine or Adrian's review.
Blood of Heirs is an ambitious and promising debut novel by Australian author, Alicia Wanstall-Burke. I wasn't as amazed by it as others seem to be, but it's definitely worth your time. This is mainly because this book felt like a building up for the next book, the first leg of a really long journey. Enjoyable, but I couldn’t help but ask, “Are we there yet?” While getting to know the characters is important–and I really can’t say this book was dragging at any point–I just didn’t feel it. However, I can see many reasons why people will love this one. It is weird because there is hardly a thing I can criticise otherwise. In the last 20% things quickly escalate and events happen at neck breaking speed, where I was unable to put the book down.
Blood of Heirs is a promising debut fantasy novel by Alicia Wanstall-Burke which will appeal readers who like character-driven fantasy, a long journey full of danger and gritty fighting scenes.
Blood of Heirs is an ambitious and promising debut novel by Australian author, Alicia Wanstall-Burke. I wasn't as amazed by it as others seem to be, but it's definitely worth your time. This is mainly because this book felt like a building up for the next book, the first leg of a really long journey. Enjoyable, but I couldn’t help but ask, “Are we there yet?” While getting to know the characters is important–and I really can’t say this book was dragging at any point–I just didn’t feel it. However, I can see many reasons why people will love this one. It is weird because there is hardly a thing I can criticise otherwise. In the last 20% things quickly escalate and events happen at neck breaking speed, where I was unable to put the book down.
Blood of Heirs is a promising debut fantasy novel by Alicia Wanstall-Burke which will appeal readers who like character-driven fantasy, a long journey full of danger and gritty fighting scenes.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
In her debut, Alicia Wanstall-Burke forgoes creating epic conflicts and sprawling wars fought to defeat a dark lord and instead focuses on two young characters, their immediate family, and the social structures they live in. Despite the relatively small scope, Wanstall-Burke creates an exceptional emotional impact through her powerful characters and manages to capture the reader’s imagination from the very first chapter...
Full review is up at Three Crows Magazine.
Full review is up at Three Crows Magazine.
3.5/5 - It took me about 2/3 of the story to get into this book - reflected in my rating. This, despite the characters being well fleshed out. The writing was good, but it just didn’t ignite my imagination. The latter portion of the book was quite good and worth the wait. It was suspenseful and interesting, though ending rather abruptly. I was happy to learn the second instalment of this tale is already out and am looking forward to seeing what happens next!
adventurous
medium-paced
Fantastic introduction to this series. I cannot wait for more.
Full review: https://thelittlebookowl.com/2019/02/01/blood-of-heirs-alicia-wanstall-burke/
Full review: https://thelittlebookowl.com/2019/02/01/blood-of-heirs-alicia-wanstall-burke/
The Blood of Heirs is the first in the The Coraidic Sagas and tells the story of two teens from very different backgrounds. Lidan Tolak is the strong willed first daughter of Daari Erlon Tolak, whose clan lives in the village of Hummel. The other is Ranoth Olseta, son of the Duke of Orthia.
With these characters comes two very different worlds. Lidan comes from a horse riding stone age culture, which appears to be similar in some respects to a kind of Celtic/Aboriginal background, whilst Ranoth comes from a medieval background full of castles and keeps, and more culturally advanced, particularly with the weaponry that is used.
This separation of the characters, both environmentally and culturally also remains a factor with the structure of the storytelling in that it is told from two different viewpoints, with the narrative alternating at regular points to focus on each of the characters for a period of time.
Lidan’s story begins quite innocently. She is an adventurous girl who wants nothing more than to be a ranger, which goes against everything that her mother, Selen, the First wife of the clan has planned for her daughter, the heir of the Tolak Clan. She steadfastly refuses to let her daughter participate in any of the activities that she needs to do to train as a ranger, and continuously badgers and berates her throughout the whole of the book.
Ran’s story is quite different! He is the heir to the Orthian throne, which is engaged in an endless war with the Woadans in a place called the Dispute Territories. During his first battle, he is put in charge of a regiment of soldiers. However, instead of taking the usual turn and showing how brilliant Ran is at military strategy and being the leader that he is meat to be, Alicia Wanstall – Burke completely takes an about turn and the battle is a mitigated disaster, subsequently leaving the Orthian Army no other choice than a quick retreat, and the loss of a key position o n the battlefield. Ran is subsequently told to return to the city of Orthia, in the company of Britt Doone. Whilst travelling, they come upon a mysterious cottage which is inhabited with a strange ghost. This encounter with the ghost is crushing and changes Ran’s Life forever.
Similarly, with Lidan, there is a parallel event in which a climactic encounter with a strange beast called a Ngaru leads to a change in her life and recognising her ambitions.
Both these events in the character’s lives set the narrative up to tell the story of our two main protagonists, and whilst they are both different there are parallel themes running through each of their fates.
The Blood of Heirs is a character driven tale that moves along at a really good pace. One of the things that I found when I was reading this book was that I could not help but compare the two points of views and which one that I enjoyed the most. I have to say that whilst I enjoyed both of the storylines immensely, Lidan’s was the one that stood out as being my favourite and I could not wait to return to her each time. She is just so well defined that she seems to walk off the page. It is not that I did not like Ranoth’s story, quite the opposite in fact. His storyline was equally as immersive and there were a number of things that I wanted to find out, like why was the ghost from the cottage haunting him, and would he survive the events that were happening to him. It’s just that I wanted to discover the next part of Lidan’s narrative that little bit more.
There are many things to like in this book, which totally took me by surprise. Alicia Wanstall – Burke writes fantastic prose that immediately hooked me into the story. Her descriptions of the worlds that she has set the story in instantly transported me to the world that the characters inhabit, and at once I felt at home in the environments that Lidan and Ran live. In addition to this, Alicia Wanstall – Burke seamlessly moves between the two different settings, and never once did this cause any conflict with the narrative. As well as these aspects of the prose, Alicia Wanstall Burke writes some terrific action scenes, with the standout being the battle between the Woadan and the Orthians when they attack the city. I literally could not stop turning the pages until it was done.
Furthermore, she writes such brilliant characters. Not only are both Lidan and Ran full of life, but I was instantly invested in their respective stories and the development of each of the protagonists.
However, not only are there good, solid protagonists, but the supporting characters are really well developed too. And I think that this is one of the reasons that I enjoyed Lidan’s story a little more than Ranoths. Lidan’s story, for me had more of a supporting cast that fleshed out her story. Particularly Selen, who is one of the best villains that I have read in a story. She is vicious, vindictive and ambitious. She will happily do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, effectively transferring her ambitions to her daughter. There is such a toxic relationship between mother and daughter that whenever Lidan and Selen meet, sparks fly off the page. I have got to say, each time Selen entered into the story (stage right) I wanted to boo and hiss at her, as she is just so bloody evil!
On the other hand, Ran has a ghost that haunts him, which he met in the cottage. And whilst she doesn’t have the same solidness as Selen, this does provide us with a certain amount of conflict and mystery as to why she is haunting him.
Throughout the book there are monsters, ghosts, witches and curses which have an impact on the story, particularly the Ngaru, which connect both plots as they feature heavily in both Lidan’s story and in Ranoth’s
Whilst the story is mainly character driven, the plot did not lag in any way. It was pretty even throughout, with good development for each of the characters and significant events having an impact on each protagonist respectively. Now again, you have to admire the structure of the book in that there are two parallel plots, that whilst distinctive, have an impact in each aspect of the two stories.
There is magic in this world, an it is interesting how it inter-plays with the world. In Lidan’s story, magic does play a back seat to the story and only interjects itself very briefly on the world, whereas in Ranoth’s story, magic is an integral part of the story and has a significant impact. Throughout the land of Orthis, magic is feared and reviled. It is the primary antagonist in Ranoth’s story and when he meets a Woadan mage, things take a dramatic scene.
However, one thing that I have to mention that, for me, there were times where I did not know where the story was going and how the two stories would come together, or if they even would!
As a final note, I have had this on my Kindle for ages and it has been languishing on my TBR for I don’t know how long. However, this book seemed to be raising its head above the parapet with a life of its own and telling me to read it. My interest was piqued when I saw a recent review by another book blogger/book tuber that I follow giving it a favourable review, and I thought “Hang on a minute, I have got that on my Kindle!”. And then purely by coincidence, I was contacted by the author on Instagram asking if I would be interested in reading it, so I felt that it was about time that I did. I ended up also getting it on audio as well, so that I could continue with the story whilst I was out and about – that’s how much it got me!
Blood of the Heirs is a brilliant fantasy debut, and one that will have you hooked from the beginning. It is full of brilliantly realised characters and an interesting parallel dynamic of two differently similar stories (yes, I know that this is a complete oxymoron!) and I cannot wait to see how the story develops.
If you enjoyed this review, you will find lots of others on www.fantasybooknerd.com
With these characters comes two very different worlds. Lidan comes from a horse riding stone age culture, which appears to be similar in some respects to a kind of Celtic/Aboriginal background, whilst Ranoth comes from a medieval background full of castles and keeps, and more culturally advanced, particularly with the weaponry that is used.
This separation of the characters, both environmentally and culturally also remains a factor with the structure of the storytelling in that it is told from two different viewpoints, with the narrative alternating at regular points to focus on each of the characters for a period of time.
Lidan’s story begins quite innocently. She is an adventurous girl who wants nothing more than to be a ranger, which goes against everything that her mother, Selen, the First wife of the clan has planned for her daughter, the heir of the Tolak Clan. She steadfastly refuses to let her daughter participate in any of the activities that she needs to do to train as a ranger, and continuously badgers and berates her throughout the whole of the book.
Ran’s story is quite different! He is the heir to the Orthian throne, which is engaged in an endless war with the Woadans in a place called the Dispute Territories. During his first battle, he is put in charge of a regiment of soldiers. However, instead of taking the usual turn and showing how brilliant Ran is at military strategy and being the leader that he is meat to be, Alicia Wanstall – Burke completely takes an about turn and the battle is a mitigated disaster, subsequently leaving the Orthian Army no other choice than a quick retreat, and the loss of a key position o n the battlefield. Ran is subsequently told to return to the city of Orthia, in the company of Britt Doone. Whilst travelling, they come upon a mysterious cottage which is inhabited with a strange ghost. This encounter with the ghost is crushing and changes Ran’s Life forever.
Similarly, with Lidan, there is a parallel event in which a climactic encounter with a strange beast called a Ngaru leads to a change in her life and recognising her ambitions.
Both these events in the character’s lives set the narrative up to tell the story of our two main protagonists, and whilst they are both different there are parallel themes running through each of their fates.
The Blood of Heirs is a character driven tale that moves along at a really good pace. One of the things that I found when I was reading this book was that I could not help but compare the two points of views and which one that I enjoyed the most. I have to say that whilst I enjoyed both of the storylines immensely, Lidan’s was the one that stood out as being my favourite and I could not wait to return to her each time. She is just so well defined that she seems to walk off the page. It is not that I did not like Ranoth’s story, quite the opposite in fact. His storyline was equally as immersive and there were a number of things that I wanted to find out, like why was the ghost from the cottage haunting him, and would he survive the events that were happening to him. It’s just that I wanted to discover the next part of Lidan’s narrative that little bit more.
There are many things to like in this book, which totally took me by surprise. Alicia Wanstall – Burke writes fantastic prose that immediately hooked me into the story. Her descriptions of the worlds that she has set the story in instantly transported me to the world that the characters inhabit, and at once I felt at home in the environments that Lidan and Ran live. In addition to this, Alicia Wanstall – Burke seamlessly moves between the two different settings, and never once did this cause any conflict with the narrative. As well as these aspects of the prose, Alicia Wanstall Burke writes some terrific action scenes, with the standout being the battle between the Woadan and the Orthians when they attack the city. I literally could not stop turning the pages until it was done.
Furthermore, she writes such brilliant characters. Not only are both Lidan and Ran full of life, but I was instantly invested in their respective stories and the development of each of the protagonists.
However, not only are there good, solid protagonists, but the supporting characters are really well developed too. And I think that this is one of the reasons that I enjoyed Lidan’s story a little more than Ranoths. Lidan’s story, for me had more of a supporting cast that fleshed out her story. Particularly Selen, who is one of the best villains that I have read in a story. She is vicious, vindictive and ambitious. She will happily do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, effectively transferring her ambitions to her daughter. There is such a toxic relationship between mother and daughter that whenever Lidan and Selen meet, sparks fly off the page. I have got to say, each time Selen entered into the story (stage right) I wanted to boo and hiss at her, as she is just so bloody evil!
On the other hand, Ran has a ghost that haunts him, which he met in the cottage. And whilst she doesn’t have the same solidness as Selen, this does provide us with a certain amount of conflict and mystery as to why she is haunting him.
Throughout the book there are monsters, ghosts, witches and curses which have an impact on the story, particularly the Ngaru, which connect both plots as they feature heavily in both Lidan’s story and in Ranoth’s
Whilst the story is mainly character driven, the plot did not lag in any way. It was pretty even throughout, with good development for each of the characters and significant events having an impact on each protagonist respectively. Now again, you have to admire the structure of the book in that there are two parallel plots, that whilst distinctive, have an impact in each aspect of the two stories.
There is magic in this world, an it is interesting how it inter-plays with the world. In Lidan’s story, magic does play a back seat to the story and only interjects itself very briefly on the world, whereas in Ranoth’s story, magic is an integral part of the story and has a significant impact. Throughout the land of Orthis, magic is feared and reviled. It is the primary antagonist in Ranoth’s story and when he meets a Woadan mage, things take a dramatic scene.
However, one thing that I have to mention that, for me, there were times where I did not know where the story was going and how the two stories would come together, or if they even would!
As a final note, I have had this on my Kindle for ages and it has been languishing on my TBR for I don’t know how long. However, this book seemed to be raising its head above the parapet with a life of its own and telling me to read it. My interest was piqued when I saw a recent review by another book blogger/book tuber that I follow giving it a favourable review, and I thought “Hang on a minute, I have got that on my Kindle!”. And then purely by coincidence, I was contacted by the author on Instagram asking if I would be interested in reading it, so I felt that it was about time that I did. I ended up also getting it on audio as well, so that I could continue with the story whilst I was out and about – that’s how much it got me!
Blood of the Heirs is a brilliant fantasy debut, and one that will have you hooked from the beginning. It is full of brilliantly realised characters and an interesting parallel dynamic of two differently similar stories (yes, I know that this is a complete oxymoron!) and I cannot wait to see how the story develops.
If you enjoyed this review, you will find lots of others on www.fantasybooknerd.com
Blood of Heirs follows the parallel tales of Lidan Tolak and Ranoth Olseta, two teenagers whose lives don’t go as planned.
Lidan, the eldest of her father’s ten daughters, should become an heir. The only problem - she lives in a patriarchal society that disregards women. Lidan’s father wants a son, and one of his wives may finally fulfil his wish. Lidan’s mother is a maniac willing to do whatever she has to to preserve her daughter’s position.
Ranoth wants to impress his father, the duke, but everything ends in disaster. When his latent magical abilities are triggered, his dad has no choice but to sentence him to death. Ran escapes his home with unexpected help, but his father’s soldiers pursue him wherever he runs.
It took me some time to relate to the characters. Lidan is confident, but she struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. Ran is scared and lonely and he’s doing his best not to die. Both are naïve and angsty and it usually tires me. They don’t lack complexity, but I don’t find them particularly interesting. But I want to see what happens to them next.
The pacing feels uneven, but it rarely drags. Near the end, it becomes relentless. The ending is strong and opens many possibilities for the sequel.
With its strong sense of character, solid world-building, and many plot twists and turns, Blood of Heirs should satisfy most dark fantasy fans. The well-developed cast of characters is an obvious strength; all are involved in their own respective journeys of self-discovery.
Lidan, the eldest of her father’s ten daughters, should become an heir. The only problem - she lives in a patriarchal society that disregards women. Lidan’s father wants a son, and one of his wives may finally fulfil his wish. Lidan’s mother is a maniac willing to do whatever she has to to preserve her daughter’s position.
Ranoth wants to impress his father, the duke, but everything ends in disaster. When his latent magical abilities are triggered, his dad has no choice but to sentence him to death. Ran escapes his home with unexpected help, but his father’s soldiers pursue him wherever he runs.
It took me some time to relate to the characters. Lidan is confident, but she struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. Ran is scared and lonely and he’s doing his best not to die. Both are naïve and angsty and it usually tires me. They don’t lack complexity, but I don’t find them particularly interesting. But I want to see what happens to them next.
The pacing feels uneven, but it rarely drags. Near the end, it becomes relentless. The ending is strong and opens many possibilities for the sequel.
With its strong sense of character, solid world-building, and many plot twists and turns, Blood of Heirs should satisfy most dark fantasy fans. The well-developed cast of characters is an obvious strength; all are involved in their own respective journeys of self-discovery.