Online marketplace Amazon know a thing or two about fantasy books, they list around 170,000 of them, so when they say ‘you need to read this book’ you need to read that book! For this reason their yearly ‘best of fantasy / sci-fi award’ is highly contested because a lot of people do follow their recommendations and pick their chosen book up either for their own Christmas read or as a gift to a loved one. To win the award then the book needs to be the very best example of a modern fantasy/sci-fi novel, have mass appeal and do something a little bit differently or a little bit more special than anything else that has been released that same year.
Well, this year the book that achieved all that, according to Amazon, was Bloodsong by Anthony Ryan. We’ll give you a full blurb in just a second, but essentially this is an epic fantasy about a living legend who lives life by the sword. It has a writing style that sits in-between Patrick Rothfuss and Joe Abercrombie (see why it won now?), a bold plot that feels fresh enough whilst adhering to our favourite epic parts of the fantasy genre, deep characters (and kick-ass pets) and a dark, dangerous atmosphere. All that said, although there are A LOT of battles, A LOT of kicking ass and A LOT of death, there’s also some smirks to be had from the witty dialogue too. Here’s Amazon’s paragraph on the book:
Vaelin Al Sorna’s life changes for ever the day his father abandons him at the gates of the Sixth Order, a secretive military arm of the Faith. Together with his fellow initiates, Vaelin undertakes a brutal training regime–where the price of failure is often death. Under the tutelage of the Order’s masters, he learns how to forge a blade, survive the wilds and kill a man quickly and quietly. Blood Song is a powerful epic fantasy debut.
On having won the award, Orbit books have said that they are: ‘incredibly excited’ that their ‘fantastic debut’ picked up this ‘well deserved accolade’. Anthony, well, he was far more modest and, if excited, hid it well saying that the award ‘happened’ and that it was ‘nice’. Certainly, many of the Fantasy-Faction team agree with Orbit and would like to congratulate Anthony on a reward well-earned; you can read our review of Bloodsong here.
Jennie Ivins
What do you guys think? Best book of 2013?
I’ve come into this a little late because I’ve only just finished the book, but could not leave without commenting. I am a devoted Lynch, Martin, Abercrombie and Rothfuss fan but now, if I could only take one book from a flaming house I take Mr. Ryan fer-sure! (That and the mud map of who’s who with all those names and places.)
I think it’s a great book. One of my favorites of 2012. Is Amazon a year behind?
I actually think this book is slightly overrated, mostly because of the hero’s lack of real hardships and flaws. He’s simply a little too powerful in pretty much every situation, especially for his low age. I also think the writing could be somewhat better, the vague explanations and missing commas made me frustrated sometimes. But for a debut novel it’s definitely a killer!
Personally, I think Emperor of thorns should have won. The trilogy gets an absolutely brilliant ending with it and wraps up this beautifully violent and intriguing story really good!
I totally agree that this book is the best of 2013. Anthony Ryan also sounds like a great guy. The only book that I think even has the slightest chance of topping this book is The Emperor’s Blades, if it comes out this year. Vaelin as Sorna is a great character, and to Rick, will, he does have flaws. I.e. not being the best at every single possible thing (not really a flaw, but nice to see a non-demi god fantasy character), wanting to kill someone he saw as a brother from blind rage, inability to stand against the dark (earlier on), etc. I think it simply seems like he has no real problems because of how fast the book flowed through time. We saw less of his struggles, but without his brothers he would be dead without a shadow of a doubt. I also loved the final sequence, boy was that good. My favourite bit might be “What did you do for five years” He smiled, ” I sang”.
I haven’t read it yet, but it’s pretty high on my list of books that I need to read. Unless it absolutely blows me away, though, I can’t imagine it winning Best Fantasy in my book, since I’ve read some awesome ones this year that provide some seriously high competition.
Still, now I’m more curious about it than ever, to see why it has been held in such high esteem.