---
product_id: 3836750
title: "Blood Song: Raven's Shadow, Book 1"
brand: "anthony ryansteven brandpenguin audio"
price: "$1427"
currency: MXN
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.mx/products/3836750-blood-song-ravens-shadow-book-1
store_origin: MX
region: Mexico
---

# Blood Song: Raven's Shadow, Book 1

**Brand:** anthony ryansteven brandpenguin audio
**Price:** $1427
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

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- **What is this?** Blood Song: Raven's Shadow, Book 1 by anthony ryansteven brandpenguin audio
- **How much does it cost?** $1427 with free shipping
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## Description

Blood Song: Raven's Shadow, Book 1

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Possibly the best book I have read this year
  

*by T***Y on Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2014*

There is no other way to put this than to simply come out and say it, Blood Song by Anthony Ryan is simply one of the best books I have ever read period.  I will go so far as to say that after completing Blood Song, I have to count it among one of my all time favorites.  Surely, that is high praise but it is praise that I feel that this book emphatically deserves.  At the behest of sounding like a literary snob,  I will confess that I have read a fair number of books this year and although I try to , I rarely feel compelled to voice my thoughts on said books once I have completed it.  However, with Blood Song, I feel I have to say something as I truly enjoyed this wonderful book.The beauty of Blood Song is that the concept of the book is borderline simple, and in truth it's basic plot is a well worn cliche/fantasy trope, yet through expert storytelling and characterization , Ryan weaves so much more here. The conceit of the story is simple, boy is young, boy gets dropped off at Warrior academy where he is trained by the most fearsome warriors in his land to be an amazing warrior, boy fights many wars, wins great honor yet discovers secrets about his faith and order than unnerve him. Yada yada, we have all read books like this before, nothing to see here right? Well you would be wrong as wrapped up in this conceit are fully realized characters of amazing depth and a story that strips away all the romantic notions of war that litter most fantasy novels. Intrigue abounds and in place of such notions, the novel is filled with a realism and sadness denoting the destruction brought by war both on the lands that is fought and the soldiers who fight it. Battles are depicted in gruesome detail to further drive home the central theme of the novel that war is hell and those who fight them are irrevocably changed. Our not so merry band of brothers, learn quite quickly that there is no glory to be found on the front lines as they are used and caught up the schemes of a mad king to further his own interest, of which ultimately they are just mere pawns. Yet, out of a sense of honor, and knowing the lies that they are fed, they still fight, knowing that they will die, knowing that the honor that many find in warfare is hollow and from this more than one brother in the novel walks away disillusioned.  The novel speaks of the power of religion and faith both for good and ill, the power to heal and enrich but also the power faith can have to induce violence in and destruction in its name.  The novel speaks how religious fervor can be manipulated by those in power to drive a populace and a kingdom to do things contrary to the tenets of their faith, all to further selfish and evil aims.  All the while the campaigns in the realm are waged , you always get the sense that lurking in the background is an evil that will be revealed at a later date. When the tip of the real conflict is finally revealed, it leaves you wanting more in anticipation for book two.It has been said that Fantasy novels often times sacrifice characterization and development and in exchange focus on world building in an effort to add complexity to a world with shallow and wooden characters.  The strength of Blood Song is that Ryan wisely eschews this motif as the growth in this characters is nothing short of amazing.  The most immediate example is the character of Nortah, a character who at the beginning of the novel , is quite frankly a spoiled rich kid, however, like a skilled stone mason, Ryan is able to chip away this facade and in the end sculpt a well rounded character.  In short, in the hands of Ryan , a character whom the readers immediately detested, transforms into a likable character and by the end of the novel transformed into one of my favorite characters in the book.  All of the brothers of the sixth order speak with a distinct voice and each have their own idiosyncrasies and personalities that give the reader an idea about who they are and how a lifetime of warfare has shaped them.  It is a triumph that every character speaks with a different voice making each unique in their own right and a credit to the writing skill of Ryan that he was able to successfully populate his world with rich and vibrant characters.  From the naïve piousness of Brother Caenis to the cagey King Janus almost every character in this book, no matter how manner simply works.  The scenes in particular with King Janus, are the epitome of a mouse attempting to seeking bargains with an owl.  Great stuff indeed.I have to make a special note about the  women characters in the book as they are strong and well portrayed. Though many are beautiful, you learn quickly that they are not coy damsels in distress but handle themselves with poise,strength and intelligence.  The compassionate aggression of Sister Sherin is wonderfully portrayed and handled in the novel and the shrewd portrayal of Princess Lyrna are highlights of the work.  These women are not mere bystanders in a world filled with hulking predatory men, but they fill the pages with power and presence in their own right.  The scenes between Princess Lyrna and Vaelin are some of the best in the novel , nuff said.  These scenes simply pop of the page, with shrewd dialog full of tension and the mental and verbal jujitsu between the two characters is a wonder to behold.  I would argue that those scenes are only rivaled by the scenes between King Janus and Vaelin in terms of their calculating and manipulative nature as one can feel the game of supremacy between the main character and the king/princess in these scenes.  The growth in Lyrna from casual enemy to guarded ally is also yet another example of character growth in the novel as the change in the relationship between the Princess and Vaelin is both organic and believable.  In short, the women of this novel, from Aspect Elera, Sister Sherin, Princess Lyrna, Lady Emeren and even Veliss are well portrayed.  Novels of all genres would do well to take Ryan's approach to the characterization of woman.The world building, though muted , is done well. One can tell that the focus of this novel is on the characters that inhabit the world rather than on a world that is inhabited by characters.  This story is undoubtedly the story of Vaelin Al Sorna, brother of the Sixth Order, but enough of a groundwork is laid to show the reader that a larger world is out there waiting to be explored by the reader with the author.  The nature of the order and their Aspects/motivations are all superbly handled.This book was amazing and as you can tell I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Awesome high fantasy with minor editing issues
  

*by R***S on Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020*

I really loved this book, and am looking forward to others in the series (and apparently there's a second series featuring the main character that follows the Raven's Shadow trilogy). I give it a huge recommendation for fans of high fantasy.The book begins with ten-year-old Vaelin Al Sorna, son of the Battle Lord of the Unified Realm -- a collection of four former kingdoms now under the sway of a single king -- riding with his father to be dropped off at the chapter house of the Sixth Order, the martial order of the Faith, the official religion of the Realm that eschews devotion to gods in favor of the belief in the Departed souls of the dead to assist the living. Vaelin is confused as to why his father abandons him there, but as the Faith teaches him, the brothers of the Order have no fathers anymore. Vaelin spends years learning from Masters the arts of war -- swords, throwing knives, staves, bows, unarmed combat, riding, tracking, foraging -- as well as the Catechisms of the Faith. Along with his entering class of boys, some of whom die along the way in various Tests during their tutelage, Vaelin grows into an impressive warrior, but also finds himself the target of attempts on his life by unidentified parties. As he graduates from the Order's tutelage seven years later, he little by little learns more about his parents (and others in his family he didn't know about before), about his own strange abilities, and about the political and historical truths of the Realm. He is a leader, both of his class of students and later of regiments of soldiers sent to put down persistent heretics or rebels, and near the end of the novel is a celebrated and famous Sword of the Realm commanding large portions of the armies sent to war on foreign shores at the king's whims, all the while becoming embroiled in politics, magic, Faith, heresy, and lost knowledge.I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Vaelin's character is incredibly well-developed, both in terms of his abilities and his character. He can be a brooding man, but is capable of love for his brothers, his family, and the right woman, and always seems to be able to find the moral center of his increasingly complex situations, but without appearing holier-than-thou. His supporting cast of characters, while definitely secondary to Vaelin himself, also get a great amount of character development, such that the reader feels that as Vaelin grows in strength, knowledge, power, and morality, so do his brothers and those he comes across in his exploits. There were a couple of minor spots that irked me: some of the "secrets = plots" device that I hate, where characters who should be trusting of each other keep secrets for no other reason than that such secrets advance the plot in some way; and certain times when Vaelin, who is more than capable of speaking eloquently and fully, gives less than full effort at important moments (e.g., presenting Alucius with his brother's sword). But overall, the plot was fantastic, and I felt commanded by Vaelin himself to keep reading. I look forward to more in the series.I had some minor problems with the mechanics, many of which are my own personal disputes with the standard British tendency to under-use commas. Ryan, however, takes the comma issues a bit too far, using the standard comma as a catch-all punctuation for all situations, even when semicolons or em dashes or parentheses (or, god forbid, even a new sentence) would be more appropriate. There were also a few examples of clumsy syntax ("in amongst" when "amongst" already implies "in;" "none of them were," when NONE IS ALWAYS SINGULAR; the persistent use of "inclined his head" at all times instead of "nodded;" etc.). I took off one star because of these issues, so it's a 5-star book with a 4-star edit (I'd give this book 4.5 stars if I could), but overall, the writing was enjoyable enough that the handful of grammarian mistakes didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book.I give this a HUGE recommendation for fans of high fantasy. As I'm already a few pages into book 2 in this series, I can see that the stakes are only going to get bigger as the number of players on the world stage expands, so I'm greatly looking forward to the rest of the books in this trilogy and the sequel series.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A belter of a story to sit and read on the cold autumn nights…
  

*by R***8 on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2022*

Having read an average of 150 books per year over the last ten years, I can place this book in the top 5 of 1500 books!I’m late to the game with the author and series. I’m not sure how, but there you go. I knew before I started this first book that I’d read them all, so went ahead and ordered them all at once. I’m now about to go direct to book two and continue this simply superb story.The story is based upon an Order (Military/Faith) who recruit… no, this isn’t quite the word, they have lads donated/gifted to them from a number of sources; Nobles looking to impress the King by sending their Sons there, Families or Single Parents who simply cannot cope with them, or because the circumstances of life prevent them being able to offer a sound life to the lads, and they’ll be better off with the order. The main character was/is gifted.The book has so many layers within layers, metamorphosing into new layers blended with other layers, you feel you are wearing a very special pair of lenses to view the story through. And, believe me, you will ‘get it’, and come to understand the depth of intelligence applied in the writing of this tale. The component parts are in themselves: fascinating in extremis! The wider aspects of the chapters and parts of the book will grow and build and develop and enthral you to the point of being highly impressed and highly satisfied with what you see before you. It becomes an object of fascination to the readers mind. If you like these kinds of books anyway, you’ll want to binge the rest of them soonest. If you’re new to this sort of thing, and find you feel the sorts of feelings about what’s in front you that I’m describing here… you’ll want to binge the rest of them soonest!! The innate cleverness the author has displayed here is so, so.. Crafty! Yes. Crafty, sneaky, my goodness, can you believe this guy? kind-of-thing (in a very good way), you’ll feel like you’ve been ambushed by the author into reading one of the best books you’ve ever read.The concept, the plotting, the delivery is out - standing! The characters grow and develop in a non-linear and highly readable way, and the twists and turns and trickery going on is simply sublime. The book is so very worthy of the time and money.There is a huge amount of scope for this story’s progression I’m very much looking forward to. I can say with a smile on my face - I didn’t see the end of this book, waiting there, like that, dressed as a sheep in lingerie! You’ll be amazed with the whole book, never mind the end that’s not an end that’s not necesarrily the next beginning!Fasten your sword belts. Loosen your breast plates a little for battle, and sit back for a Gold Level reading experience with the Boys/Men of the 6th Order. The Prince of Swords of Fantasy Fiction has delivered an epic for you all to read. Thank you for reading, now; go buy the book…

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