fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsGail Dayton Victorian Blood Magic 1. New BloodNew Blood by Gail Dayton

The blood sorcerers have been exterminated; The last one was killed almost two centuries ago. Her magical servant has spent the intervening years looking for a successor, and finally finds her — a young woman wounded by the world around her — and now has the unlucky task of trying to convince her to take up the forbidden power. As they struggle to make sense of the crumbling world around them, they are forced to draw closer together, and they may find the most magical thing of all: love.

New Blood has an interesting premise and I enjoy paranormal romance novels when they are well written, but the prose just didn’t live up to the promise in this one. I was getting increasingly irritated with the odd writing style, but when I got to the line “The nape of his neck, exposed between his shirt collar and the slight wave of his hair, looked so vulnerable.” (p.17), my eyes literally rolled in my head. (Where else would his nape be located? On his ankle?)

I persevered through the first few chapters of New Blood, but I couldn’t get over the lackluster story and writing. Maybe someone who appreciates romance novels more than I do will find this a worthwhile story, but I am ready to move on to something else.

 

Victorian Blood Magic — (2009-2011) Publisher: In 1636, the last blood sorceress was burned at the stake. More than two hundred years later, her blood servant Jax has found her successor. Amanusa at first turns down the opportunity to learn what she perceives as an evil art. But she craves justice, and innocent blood cries out for justice. When Amanusa looses magic on those who’ve harmed her, she must flee for her life across a devastated Europe with Jax, who is inescapably bound to her by blood and magic. Their journey takes them through zones where everything — including magic — has died, zones populated with strange creatures cobbled together of things left behind by the dead. Needing each other for their very survival, Amanusa and Jax grow ever closer on their journey to discover answers — about magic, blood sorcery, the dead zones, and even love.

fantasy romance Gail Dayton Victorian Blood Magic New Blood 2. Heart's Blood 3.fantasy romance Gail Dayton Victorian Blood Magic New Blood 2. Heart's Blood 3.

Author

  • Ruth Arnell

    RUTH ARNELL (on FanLit's staff January 2009 — August 2013) earned a Ph.D. in political science and is a college professor in Idaho. From a young age she has maxed out her library card the way some people do credit cards. Ruth started reading fantasy with A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — books that still occupy an honored spot on her bookshelf today. Ruth and her husband have a young son, but their house is actually presided over by a flame-point Siamese who answers, sometimes, to the name of Griffon.