By Jason Sanford Oct 8, 2007, 11:24 GMT
Imagine if you so loved your twin sister that after her unjust murder you invited her soul to live in your own body? Imagine if you knew the worst kind of magic--necromancy, or magic using dead bodies--but used it save innocent people? Imagine if the people around you were being massacred by an inhuman race of monsters, but they still saw you as the worst abomination of all?
Welcome to the fascinating world of Blood Magic.
Part sword and sorcery tale, part monster-drenched horror, part personal exploration of pain and loss, Blood Magic is one of those rare novels which refuses to be explained by the sum of its parts. The story follows Kirin, a shy woman who lives in her twin sister's shadow until her twin's murder. Seeking revenge through the dark magic she has learned, Kirin sets herself on a journey in which her yearnings for life and freedom crash against her deep-seated morality and the dark deed she has done.
This fast-paced and well-written novel alternates between past and present, exploring both Kirin's memories and her present-day fight against the invading Mor, a six-legged race whose claws crush armor and whose superheated swords boil blood. But despite Kirin's heroism against the Mor as an army scout, people remain more afraid of her than the monsters.
The reason for this is Kirin's use of necromancy. Kirin can create zombie-esque “sweetlings” from the bodies of dead humans. Since Kirin is isolated from humanity by her past deeds, she views these horrible creatures as her own children. But because everyone else sees the sweetlings as a perversion of life, even when Kirin uses them to save the lives of innocent people, people still fear her. This contrast of a good person using such evil-seeming magic for moral purposes is what gives Blood Magic its potency.
In many ways the setting of Blood Magic--a distant magic kingdom far removed from our own times--is nothing new. However, debut author Matthew Cook stakes out his own terrain with this novel by refusing to merely focus on the world's history or political intrigue, as so many fantasies do. Instead, he keeps the eye on Kirin's highly personal story, causing the reader to fall in love with this woman who continually receives the short end of life's stick, but still refuses to be anyone's victim.
Blood Magic is a must read for any fan of fantasy or horror. However, don't expect a book which simply follows genre conventions. Like Kirin, this novel is far more than it seems. And like Kirin, you'll come away from this story wondering about the price paid for doing dark deeds--even when they are done for the best of reasons.
This review is being featured along side the interview with the author, which can be read here.
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