Book Review: The blood of the spear by mark timmony
Synopsis
3000 years ago the Summoners were put to rest in an epic power struggle. The Summoners were a dangerous group who could summon deamons into the world creating havoc for entire populations. Millenia later, the infamous deamon hunters are still trying to stamp out the remaining beasts. Rumours are stirring; could the ancient bloodline of the summoners be back among them? The mark of these feared souls appears on the back of ones hand. A place which must be visible when entering a new area. If you’re found with a mark. You will be sentenced to death.
The Review
The reader is dropped into a trial of between Kaiel and Rolan as they race against the other to become a renowned deamon hunter. The reader is Immediately thrown into a world full of monsters, and the stakes are high from page one. Kaiel unfortunately falls victim to foul play, and his dreams of becoming a hunter are shattered.
It becomes apparent that our buddy Kaiel is going to need a plan B, and his brother Darien just so happens to be planning to leave to join the Ciralys; A group of people who can use this worlds magic (the Asai) to wield the light of the eye. Although sceptical about Darien’s knew life path, there is a case of if you can’t beat em, join em. Their departure becomes desperate when rumours of an ancient bloodline begin to surface, rumours focusing on the two brothers, and suddenly they find themselves being hunted. Joining forces with new and old friends, Kaiel and Darrien need to find out what to do next.
This is an action packed, sometimes terrifying travelling adventure, full of intriguing characters that hold their own, daemons who will not quit, and a 3000-year-old battle that has come back to follow these two brothers.
There were a few stand outs for me in Timmony’s work the first being the world building and prose. While it took me a fairly long time to get into the language of the novel, the descriptions and technicalities of the prose bought this world to life. There is obvious inspiration from Wheel of Time, but the author has taken great care into making this world his own. The prose here is not flowery at all, but as a visual reader, I was able to see the daemons as they were described, and there were many of them! Timmony has taken the time to craft a world at every turn of the page, there was not one creature or aspect that I felt was just written for the sake of it.
The world is also explained slowly throughout the book, namely through action and conversation between the characters. The world, the magic and the relationships are all layered and interwoven to give the reader a full view over the course of the book. We aren’t handed the ins and outs of this world on a platter, as a reader this book invites us to pay attention, look closer and piece the larger picture together for ourselves. Now for people like me who love the lore and the world building this is a selling point. For character driven readers, the lore dumps might take away from the reading experience. That is not to say there isn’t character development, because there absolutely is. Our characters run through a series of growth points, and they come out changed from the beginning of the book.
The Characters felt real, for a band of young adults, coming into their own personalities, the interactions were authentic. The way our team interacted helped to move the story forward every step of the way. One thing of note is that Timmony has cleverly built up what seem to be side characters at the beginning of the book to have a much bigger role by the end. I am excited to see where a few of these characters go in later instalments.
If you are someone who likes a creative creature and some monster hunting/fighting aspects in your fantasy. This book has you covered. From the deamon cats (Dycinion) to my personal favourite the Korda’var (large creatures that have grown armour like scales over time, otherwise known as the Tainted), this world is full of intriguing creatures.
I was initially quite nervous to pick this book up as someone who deems themselves fairly new to the genre. There is an epic map and a full glossary of terms in the back. But I am pleased to say that I had a really good time within this world.