BOOK REVIEW: In Blood and Duty Bound

Erin Bales and I attended the same grad program, although we weren’t in the same cohort. However, Erin was in my very first workshop, where I got to read ten early pages of this manuscript. I don’t even remember what the pages were about, but I know I liked them a lot. What I do remember is telling her that I trusted her as a writer, and that still holds true. Throughout the read, I wasn’t always sure where plotlines were going, but I was happy to be along for the ride.

In Blood and Duty Bound features multiple points of view and storylines. Renn, one of the main characters, is the youngest princess in the Morovide royal family and the fourth in line for the throne of Ombratos behind her mother and her three older sisters. She’s overlooked by her mother, the queen, and in love with Dallan, who’s engaged to her oldest sister, Solena. We spend a bit of time seeing Renn’s typical life before the plot kicks in and she’s tested as a princess and as an individual.

Parneo, her twin, is gifted in alchemy, which is the world’s main magic system and based on blood. The Morovides are literally bound to the Ombratos throne via their blood. Healing charms and the like are activated with a drop of blood accompanied by an incantation. Like all the other male twins in his family line, Parneo, because of his talent with alchemy, is prone to the madness that tends to accompany it. This plays a minor part in the story with some major implications.

Getha, my favorite main character, is a royal guard training for the varo, the elite force who protect the members of the royal family. She’s a very straightforward person with tunnel vision toward her goal. It’s always interesting to me when characters like this are forced to pivot when something unexpected demands their attention. Since this is the first book in a series, I’m very much looking forward to how she develops as a character.

Helenia provides the third main point of view and easily the most morally questionable and interesting. While Renn and Getha are youngish and idealistic, Helenia has more experience with life, specifically its disappointments. Dallan’s aunt, she’s from the island nation of Tithen, which has a revolutionary history. Especially intriguing is her relationship with Mayve, her sister-in-law and former wife of the ruler of Tithen.

Which brings me to two of the things I find most effective and refreshing about In Blood and Duty Bound—its female characters and their relationships with each other and with other people. Until we get to a point in the fantasy genre where having a majority female cast is as normal as having a majority male cast, I think it’s worth drawing attention to that. Renn, Getha, and Helenia are all complex people with clear motives, strengths, and flaws, and their relationships shape who they are and affect their actions. The book is at its strongest when Getha and Renn are together. In the interest of not spoiling anything, all I’ll say is that I look forward to seeing where the story takes them.

Like many epic fantasies (including my own!), there’s some pretty intense world-building in the first hundred or so pages. Consequently, I found the book a little slow to start, but I find a lot of books slow to start, so take from that what you will! That said, the world-building pays off, and the intertwining of all the storylines near the end is satisfying.

Ultimately, this has a ton of what I like to see in the genre and some surprises to boot. I’d recommend this for any reader who likes fantasy, especially epic fantasy, and for readers who enjoy books with female main characters. This was one of my favorite reads of the year so far, and I’m very much looking forward to the second book in The Final Queen of Ombratos series.

REVIEW: Whispers at the Altar, Allan C.R. Cornelius

Obviously, I'm a lover of fantasy fiction. I've particularly loved epic fantasy, but the more I read of it, the less excited I was about it. Although I still love the atmosphere of the genre, all the stories were beginning to feel the same. So, I was pleasantly surprised with Whispers at the Altar. In this first book of The Altar Trilogy, Allan C. R. Cornelius combines the best aspects of the genre with fascinating characters in order to tell a fresh, exciting tale.

Christa is half-elf and half-human in a world where the elves and humans live in separate spheres. Through her story, Cornelius explores the ramifications of such a separation on individuals and on society as a whole. When Christa is accepted at a school for magically gifted elves, she has to fight for respect from both professors and classmates. It's at this school that the story is at its most compelling--not only for Christa's internal journey, but because of the supporting cast. Too often, friendships among girls are depicted as trivial or unnecessarily catty, but here, Christa's relationships with Sinna, Westrel, and even Vaniel are formative and given the opportunity to change and grow.

In a book world that gets hung up on the "likeability" of female characters, Cornelius is unafraid in his portrayal of his young heroine. A far cry from the perfect heroes of the genre, she's headstrong and eager to prove herself and in doing so, makes mistakes. It's that exploration of Christa's character--who she is, what she wants, and what she's willing to do to get what she wants--that is the book's core strength.

While Christa is the book's main focus, Steven provides a perspective of what's going on in the world outside the school and broadens the novel's scope. His relationship with Brogan grounds that story line and lets Cornelius explore the theme of family set against the backdrop of a shifting world. The imagery of Steven's chapters is a particular strength, and the two story lines meet up in a satisfactory way during the climax.

Cornelius's first installment in The Altar Trilogy is a must-read for fantasy fans, especially those who are looking for a fresh take on the genre.

Whispers at the Altar is available for pre-order and will be released in July! Check Allan out on Twitter and on his website.

APPEARANCE: Uniontown Public Library Author Series

UNIONTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY

2017 AUTHOR SERIES

        

Carrie Gessner

“Creating a Fantasy World”

Saturday, January 21, 2017

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Join us for an evening with Carrie Gessner, author of The Dying of the Golden Day. Carrie will discuss how a rich setting built on magic, culture, history, and more can enhance speculative fiction. A Q&A session with the author and book raffle will follow.

Free tickets available at the Main Desk!
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UNIONTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY
2017 AUTHOR SERIES
Throughout 2017, the Uniontown Public Library will showcase the talent of novelists, short story writers, and poets. Each month, a writer will visit the Library to share their experiences as published authors. They will offer a short talk on a subject related to their genre, do a reading from their work, and participate in a question and answer session with the audience. A meet-and-greet and book signing will follow.

These events are free and open to the public — you do not have to be a member of the Uniontown Public Library to attend! Each event will be ticketed, with the free tickets becoming available at the Library’s main desk before each author’s visit. Seats are limited, so we encourage you to get your tickets early.

IYWM Recap

It's been a while since I've blogged! Part of that was burn-out with all the bad news swirling around, so I needed to step back from the internet, and part of that was me keeping busy with other projects. I'll try to update this fairly regularly from now on.

the most photogenic building on campus

First, a recap from last weekend, when I attended the In Your Write Mind convention at Seton Hill University, my first time at IYWM after graduating last year. The best thing about the SHU writing community is the people. I got to catch up with friends, check in with mentors, and basically envelop myself in a creative bubble for a few days. More than half of my graduating cohort was in attendance, and the ones who couldn't make it were there in spirit, especially A.J. Culey, who sent us all wristbands commemorating her latest release, The Trouble with Antlers.

swag from A.J. Culey

Guests this year included two agents, an editor, and an author, all of whom presented seminars. It was great to hear their perspectives, especially during their collective panel. I even got to practice pitching my contemporary fantasy novel. The workshops were interesting overall, but my favorite was Timons Esaias's on Poetry for Writers. I think poetry and prose are seen as separate spheres by many writers, or at least get treated differently, but I feel that learning about one can only enhance my skill at the other.

tools of the trade

Other highlights included Seton Hill's gorgeous campus, especially beautiful in the sultry summer weather, and the town of Greensburg itself. This year's IYWM costume party was held in a restaurant that used to be a train station, which made for a very cool atmosphere.

Of course, my favorite part of going to conferences is always the books! At IYWM, I picked up Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley (courtesy of Diana Pho), Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek by Timons Esaias, and Murder on St. Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson. Can't wait to dig into these.