Blood Song

Raven's Shadow, Book 1

By: Anthony Ryan

Narrated by: Steven Brand

“The Sixth Order wields the sword of justice and smites the enemies of the Faith and the Realm."

Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order—a caste devoted to battle. Vaelin will be trained and hardened to the austere, celibate and dangerous life of a warrior of the Faith. He has no family now save the Order.

Vaelin’s father was Battle Lord to King Janus, ruler of the Unified Realm—and Vaelin’s rage at being deprived of his birthright knows no bounds. Even his cherished memories of his mother are soon challenged by what he learns within the Order.

But one truth overpowers all the rest: Vaelin Al Sorna is destined for a future he has yet to comprehend. A future that will alter not only the Realm, but the world.

Critic reviews

“Ryan is a new fantasy author destined to make his mark on the genre. His debut novel, Blood Song, certainly has it all: great coming-of-age tale, compelling character and a fast-paced plot. If his first book is any indication of things to come, then all fantasy readers should rejoice.”—Michael J. Sullivan, author of the Riyria Revelations series

“Fans of broadscale epic fantasy along the lines of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels should find this debut much to their liking.”—Library Journal

“Just impossible to put down…I had to read it ASAP and to reread it immediately on finishing, as I could not part from the wonderful universe the author created.”—Fantasy Book Critic

“Ryan hits all the high notes of epic fantasy—a gritty setting, ancient magics, ruthless intrigue, divided loyalties and bloody action...[A] promising debut.”—Publishers Weekly

“Deftly and originally executed…A page-turner.”—Booklist

“Ryan’s style is somewhat relaxed and paced extremely well…[Blood Song is] like the love child of Patrick Rothfuss and Joe Abercrombie writing the story of Jon Snow (of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire) in the Night’s Watch...A top contender for most impressive debut of the year. It is a thick, meaty novel of substance…A powerful epic that, while ending with a sense of closure, hints at more to come.”—SFFWorld.com

Complex but could be more compelling

This is a very detailed start to an epic series. The coming of age part is the strongest. I felt that after while the hero became practically superhuman, which made me less interested in him. There certainly were some great scenes and action sequences that kept me listening, but the whole didn't always come together. The narration was also good but not outstanding. It wasn't that easy to tell the various characters apart.

Maybe it's that I'm not as much of fan of military/macho fantasy, preferring some whimsy or humor, and more central female characters. I see there are some sequels coming but I don't feel compelled to listen to them.

Excellent story, mediocre narration

Loved the story! I would definitely recommend this book, however the narration is mediocre at best. Unclear transitions between characters and barely changing in inflection or tone made it difficult to keep track of the flow of conversation and thus, follow along with the story. It wasn't terrible by any means, however it wasn't as good as what I have come to expect from other narrated book series that are similar in genre.

A Wonderful and Sophisticated Story.

I’m an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction, who’s especially partial to novels whose plots and protagonists are valiant, militaristic, humorous, and philosophically nourishing — Blood Song kindly favored my partialities.
Overall, the novel is worthy of a solid 4.5-stars. And even though Steven Brand’s narration is dry and monotonous, it neither distracts nor detracts from Ryan’s well written story; it’s worthy of 4-stars (benchmarks being: RC Bray, Simon Vance, Tim G. Reynolds, et cetera).
I highly recommend Blood Song.
Note: It should be mandatory for every publishing company to place the utmost importance on pairing its talented authors with talented narrators. Too many great novels on Audible have been butchered by substandard narration.

Loved this Listen !!

If you could sum up Blood Song in three words, what would they be?

Very Good Listen!!

What did you like best about this story?

It kept my attention the entire time. I kept thinking it was going to end, and got more and more excited when it kept going. Very Happy with this Listen.

Have you listened to any of Steven Brand’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but will be looking into them.

Not sure if I missed things by getting distracted

But there seemed to be holes or leaps in the story that could only be partially filed in later with context and guesses. Sadly I can't trust myself or my ability to tune out distractions when listening to audiobooks to be sure.