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pradhyumnan 's review for:
Blood Song
by Anthony Ryan
Blood Song is the legend of a flawless man. The brilliant and often poignant narration must be applauded, and in my reckoning is the best feature of this book. The plot however is plodding and never kicks into the next gear. The audiobook narrator did a great job in helping the slow unimportant bits move along.
The narration is confusing at times. The first person POV is that of a Chronicler, and the third person POV is of Vaelin. At first this looks to be how the chronicler is presenting Al Sorna's story, however later on it is made clear to not be the case. In hindsight the Imperial Chronicler seems rather unimportant to the plot.
So the bulk of the book must be Vaelin's own ruminations and yet, we see no flaw in our protagonist. Completely heroic, honorable, excellent at everything he does and not a single vice to mar his character. Not only is he Mary Sue, but he is Mary Sue with Spidey Sense. It's a shame that there is barely any discernible difference between young Vaelin and his older self. I'm taken out of the book when a ten year old boy acts and behaves like an adult and has none of the endeering childish innocence.
The blurb focused heavily on Vaelin's family, which barely had any bearing on the book. The novel was touted to be about interesting characters and yet, even the protagonist turned out to be a bland superhero. But despite this, the author evoked a profound sadness at certain points in the book and must be commended for his narrative prowess. Ultimately, Blood Song is a book that had great potential in what could have been a suspenseful plot with arcane intrigue, but failed to deliver.
The narration is confusing at times. The first person POV is that of a Chronicler, and the third person POV is of Vaelin. At first this looks to be how the chronicler is presenting Al Sorna's story, however later on it is made clear to not be the case. In hindsight the Imperial Chronicler seems rather unimportant to the plot.
So the bulk of the book must be Vaelin's own ruminations and yet, we see no flaw in our protagonist. Completely heroic, honorable, excellent at everything he does and not a single vice to mar his character. Not only is he Mary Sue, but he is Mary Sue with Spidey Sense. It's a shame that there is barely any discernible difference between young Vaelin and his older self. I'm taken out of the book when a ten year old boy acts and behaves like an adult and has none of the endeering childish innocence.
The blurb focused heavily on Vaelin's family, which barely had any bearing on the book. The novel was touted to be about interesting characters and yet, even the protagonist turned out to be a bland superhero. But despite this, the author evoked a profound sadness at certain points in the book and must be commended for his narrative prowess. Ultimately, Blood Song is a book that had great potential in what could have been a suspenseful plot with arcane intrigue, but failed to deliver.