Blood Song (Raven's Shadow 1) by Anthony Ryan

**Cononomous** · October 11th, 2012, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Kazz Wylde

I'm kind of burntout on fantasy, think this would be a good refresher?

Yes. This book is truly one of the most riveting fantasy novels I've ever read. It's the real deal.

**Kazz Wylde** · October 11th, 2012, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Cononomous

Yes. This book is truly one of the most riveting fantasy novels I've ever read. It's the real deal.

Right on, thanks for that, I been in a fantasy slump and been on a scifi kick here lately.

**Cononomous** · October 11th, 2012, 06:56 PM

I was as well, truly. I had stopped reading in favor of writing, but that book re-sparked my interest and I've finished off about seven other novels in the past month. Plus, the Kindle version is only three bucks, so you can't really go wrong.

**Kazz Wylde** · October 11th, 2012, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by Cononomous

I was as well, truly. I had stopped reading in favor of writing, but that book re-sparked my interest and I've finished off about seven other novels in the past month. Plus, the Kindle version is only three bucks, so you can't really go wrong.

I dont have a kindle, I'm old school and prefer a book. Is it in B&N or what?
Seen alot of comparison to A Song of Ice & Fire & Name of the Wind, sounds low on magic too which is good for me, like ASoI&F is.

**Khale** · October 11th, 2012, 09:46 PM

I just finished reading this book and have to say it was just a great and enjoyable read. Definitely a fantastic setup for a very epic series.

**Lordwalker** · December 14th, 2012, 10:50 AM

I've used the wonderful search tool but haven't turned up much about this book I found on Amazon. Blood Song: A Raven's Shadow Novel by Anthony Ryan.

It appears to be independently published and has a blurb from this website announcing it as the "fantasy debut of the year". Along with a staggering 540+ five star reviews.

So what's the scoop? Who has read it? Is it good?

Thanks for your help.

**suciul** · December 14th, 2012, 11:33 AM

fairly extensive discussion here:

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showt...ght=blood+song

Book will be published as a hardcover by Ace in the summer of 2013, for now it is available as an ebook - in the US from Ace superseeding the author's orginal version, in the rest of the world still as the independtly published version

**Lordwalker** · December 14th, 2012, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by suciul

fairly extensive discussion here:

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showt...ght=blood+song

Book will be published as a hardcover by Ace in the summer of 2013, for now it is available as an ebook - in the US from Ace superseeding the author's orginal version, in the rest of the world still as the independtly published version

Thanks for pushing me in this direction. I'm curious? Why wouldn't this post have been at the top of the list, first page when I did searches for Blood Song, or Anthony Ryan?

**suciul** · December 14th, 2012, 04:00 PM

I guess that because Blood, Song etc are common words so if you do not specifically restrict yourself with title keywords and/or use characters for search all not the default search any, you will get tons of results.
I did a title keyword search and I retrieved the thread but of course I knew about it as I started it

**Lordwalker** · December 17th, 2012, 11:06 AM

Thanks again. Continued reading it over the weekend. I believe it's the real deal!

Now if I had a map......

**Darksbane** · December 24th, 2012, 08:48 AM

I've been reading this book given the recommendations in this thread and the comparison to Rothfuss. I've been enjoying it quite a bit, but I do think that it would benefit greatly from a thorough edit. I'm not sure how it is that people think that the book doesn't need help in terms of grammar, especially with commas. I find myself mentally inserting commas every time one is missing, and I've come across it often. There are also a fair few instances where he uses a comma and a period would work better. I do find it a little distracting, but the story more than makes up for it. I'm only about 40 percent of the way through, but it has been a quick read and I'm definitely looking forward to more, especially when he gets hooked up with a good editor.

**Darksbane** · December 26th, 2012, 10:36 PM

So, I just finished reading this book. It was an exceptional read, despite some grammatical issues. I found some parts to be a bit clunky, usually when the story was being told from the present, but in general it was a solid page turner. I don't think that it was better than Rothfuss, but it was close to being on par with him. I'd highly recommend this book to pretty much anyone, it's my top read of the year for sure.

**molybdenum** · December 27th, 2012, 03:08 PM

I'm about 60% of the way through the book, and I concur that it is really, really good. One comparison that I haven't heard yet is to Farseer, which I think it matches up with nicely, both in terms of style and themes. FitzChivalry and Vaelin seem like fairly similar people, though the king in Farseer is overall a lot more likable than this King. The books are similar in quality as well, but I'd give Blood Song the edge as it has a bit more narrative momentum.