Blood Song
Anthony Ryan's debut opens with an aging warrior named Vaelin Al Sorna, called the Hope Killer in the southern Empire that captured him, sitting in a cell and dictating his life story to a chronicler before his execution. The novel that unfolds is a classic monastic-warrior coming-of-age, Vaelin's father abandons him at the gates of the Sixth Order at the age of ten, and the brotherhood spends the next decade beating, training, and indoctrinating him into the realm's most lethal religious militia. As his country's politics curdle into war and a strange voice begins to whisper in his head, Vaelin is forced to weigh the loyalties of brotherhood against an empire he is starting to suspect is built on lies. Tightly written, soaked in atmosphere, and a gateway favorite for readers of Robin Hobb.
Where Blood Song keeps showing up
Five of our editors' lists feature this novel.
What you might want to know about Blood Song
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Vaelin Al Sorna, the empire's most feared soldier, is a prisoner being shipped overseas for a duel he cannot win. He tells a chronicler the long story of how he got there. First in Raven's Shadow.
Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow trilogy has three books: Blood Song, Tower Lord, and Queen of Fire. There is also a follow-up trilogy, Raven's Blade, set in the same world after the original arc.
Blood Song is dense military fantasy with a large cast and detailed worldbuilding. The first book uses a flashback frame that some readers find slow at the start. Most settle in quickly.
Blood Song was written by Anthony Ryan, published in 2014 by Penguin.
Blood Song is 642 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Blood Song takes most readers 10 to 14 hours to finish.
Blood Song is a standalone novel by Anthony Ryan, not part of a series.
Blood Song is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
