The Blood King, by Gail Z. Martin

01 July 2009

Tamara Latchford

As a fan of the The Summoner, Book One in Gail Z. Martin's fantasy series The Chronicles of the Necromancer, I was keen to get underway with the second instalment, and when all is said and done I wasn't to be disappointed. Although not as action-packed as its predecessor, The Blood King is rich in detail and provides plenty of opportunity for the characters to develop.

And the ending is absolutely brilliant!

As The Blood King opens, we find Prince Tris still in exile, awaiting a chance to reclaim the throne of Margolan. For the first half of the novel he is essentially in training, developing his skills in preparation for a fight to the death with his evil half-brother Jared. Not only must Tris improve in hand-to-hand combat, he must also come into his full magical ability as a Necromancer. But before he can undertake his ultimate quest to win back the kingdom, his skills will be put to the test in several dangerous ordeals devised by the Sisterhood.

It's a race against time, but the exiled prince’s preparations are hampered by assassination attempts, as well as periods of self-doubt. His friends however are determined to see him succeed and when stories reach him of mass murders and other despicable acts occurring under Jared’s rule, Tris is given even more reason to follow through with his plan. As the story progresses he does become far stronger in his magical abilities; and at the same time romances blossom between Tris and Princess Kiara of Isencroft, and Vahanian and Carina the healer (but don’t worry guys, it's not overly mushy!).

The Blood King answers my one criticism of its predecessor, that some of the secondary characters were not fleshed out enough. Now we gain a much better understanding of Carroway the bard, Soterius the soldier and Gabriel the vayash moru (vampire), although Carroway’s explanation of his background does feel a bit out of place and somewhat contrived. And while the characters are better developed and genuinely likeable, at times I did find them to be just a little bit too good - even Vahanian, who started out as the resident “scoundrel”.

Gail Z. Martin creates a vibrant world for Tris and his friends. As in The Summoner the author’s descriptions of Tris’ sojourns into the Plains of the Spirit where he interacts with the ghosts of the people his half-brother has murdered are made very real to the reader. His introduction to the vampiric Blood Council is also quite interesting and I am keen to see where Martin takes this aspect of the world in Book Three.

Overall, I enjoyed The Blood King, especially the last third of the story which builds to an absolutely brilliant action-packed conclusion (although I won’t ruin it for you by telling you what happens). This novel is quite different to the fantasy books I usually read as I’m not generally into the whole ghost and vampire scene, but Gail Z. Martin presents these elements in a really skilful and entertaining manner.

Stay tuned for my review of the third book in the series, Dark Haven.

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