A Queen in Blood By Nick Snape

Blurb:

Not all heroes carry swords…

As the invasion of Brandshold begins, the realm is haunted by the Infected ‒ devastated and spirit-poisoned townsfolk who hunger for flesh and souls to salve their pain. When the city of Jense falls to a wave of bloody teeth and foul claws, the Constructor's Emperor strikes, shattering city walls with his newly awakened artifice dragon, and the dreaded Kraken soulship.

Forced to turn to the reviled Unspoken, the queen sends her army to rescue the heretic city of Anvil, while the Seven Houses finally reveal their soul-magic to defend the realm.

For a queen bathed in the blood of her own people, hope lies in the alchemy of the meisters, a traitorous mechanical dragon, and loyal but broken soldiers.

Yet Sura retains faith in Laoch, believing he will return with a weapon like no other, as the final battle for the souls of the realm nears its catastrophic end.

For peace can only be forged by the spirits of the fallen

Review:

I have praised the dark aesthetics of this series before, and in the grand finale Nick has somehow managed to surpass my expectations.

Tarin stood amid the bloody puddles of the pockmarked street. A Scorpion of the vanguard squatted at his left, its tail swaying ominously above the armoured hull.

True to its epic fantasy classification, this is a story with numerous characters and a multitude of plot tangents. In the first two books, we often see glimpses of the lives of certain individuals or fragments of secondary storylines but it is not as obvious why they are important or how they fit into the story as a whole. But I was glad to discover that as the saga approaches its conclusion, the puzzle pieces come together elegantly. So, trust the process. Pretty much everything is there for a reason.

The song celebrated life, while denying she was truly alive. More a living death. A song of life.

The key highlights, for me, were the plot and the innovative world building. 

War has been a long time coming, and now it's finally here. What is fascinating is that nobody gets to face the enemy they expected. We prepared to fight dragons. Instead we get hordes of zombies overrunning the city gates. We get dark ominous spaceships looming on the horizons with corpses dangling from trailing hooks. We get humongous centipede feeders in the sky picking off the souls of the battlefield survivors. The list goes on and on. And of course, the dragons of the veil do not disappoint. 

The dragon spread its wings, flapping once to drive its body to the west as all four legs ripped into the grass plain. Behind, the horde of Infected spirits rolled along like a river of hate and sickness.

I also loved the creative uses of technology by a people who have had all technological advancement suppressed for hundreds of years in the name of faith. In this story, nobody gets a free lunch. Myriad complications keep popping up on every page.

Time is the only currency we trade in.

The author keeps the pacing tight throughout the story, which is particularly admirable given how many sub-plots the story has. The battlescenes are described in vivid detail, though never quite gruesome enough to warrant a comparison with splatterpunk horror. It is also not all grimdark—despite the pervasive ominous ambiance rays of hope do shine through from time to time. 

The tears finally came, forging rivulets in the ash and blood that covered his face as a mass of Infected humanity poured over the smashed walls.

More interesting than the actual action scenes, are the nuanced behind-the-scenes machinations leading up to the conflicts, which are presented in intricate detail. Folks who love morally gray characters and political intrigue—this series is written for you.

But amid the chaos of what was to come, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the one who truly mattered had been left, agonised and alone, in her own throne room.

Among the characters, Queen Erin Wester, as expected from the last book, rises up to her well deserved spotlight and outshines the others. Only one other was equally impressive, but mentioning they are still in the game would be a spoiler. 

Laoch plays the role of disgruntled but reliable experienced soldier very well, as do his companions. I had higher hopes for Keran and the Unspoken, which they didn’t quite live up to. However, a few characters like Panset unexpectedly rise to prominence, which was quite intriguing. 

While Lord Penance does not play as active a role in most of this book, the many layers of sacrifices from his past, being gradually unveiled layer by layer, were incredibly touching.

Refusing to touch his cheek, he let the pain seep in. 

He pushed his God’s touch away when it tried to interfere. 

This is my pain, mine alone.

I loved the many twists and turns in Laoch’s journey through the realms in search of a solution that could save their world. I also loved the subtle messaging around the themes of transfer of power and long-term cost of deceptions.

A lake of blood, and I am drenched in it. Yet my body is clean.

All in all, a fantastic series wrapped up by a solid finale. If you love your fantasy dark, give this series a chance.