Sons of the Blood by Robyn Young
| Sons of the Blood by Robyn Young | |
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| Category: Historical Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Luke Marlowe
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| Summary: An astounding feat of historical fiction that breathes new life into a turbulent, exciting, and surprisingly relevant period of history. Crammed full with action, adventure, intrigue, politics and brilliant characters, this is a must read. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 400 | Date: July 2016 |
| Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781444777710 | |
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Bastard son, mercenary soldier, protector of the rightful king and seeker of a treacherous secret, Jack Wynter lives in dangerous times. In England, the Wars of the Roses ended a decade agao, with the victory of King Edward of York. But an uneasy peace is fast broken when the King dies, and feuds old and new are awoken. When Jack is sent from his life in Seville to gloomy and dangerous England, he must uncover the truth behind the secret that he has been guarding, and the reason for his Father's fall. As the new Prince Edward readies himself to be king, his uncle Richard makes a move for the throne - leading him and Jack on paths of intrigue, corruption, mystery and war. The old world is turning. A new world is rising.
Wow. I read a lot of books, and historical fiction is one of my favourite genres. I'm a huge history buff, so anything that mixes books and history is right up my street. And, with the rise of bloody fantasy like Game of Thrones, combined with huge historical successes like the Shardlake series by C.J.Sansom, and Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall books, there is a new drive for historical fiction, so fans like me have plenty to go at.
Little so far, has reached as lofty a height as Robyn Young has in "Sons of the Blood" though. This is one of the most thrilling books I've read in years - a true page-turner that had me staying up late at night, determined to find the fates of characters that I had been made to invest so much in. The fall of the house of York and the rise of the house of Tudor is one that is often ignored - many books choose to focus on the slightly more glamourous Tudors, but in doing so they miss out on a turbulent and truly exciting period of history, where anything could happen.
Historical figures are skillfully blended with Young's new creations, and all are treated with due respect - Richard III is, as is thankfully happening more often these days, not treated as a bad villain sterotype, and the question of the Princes in the Tower is one that becomes a major plot point here, developed in a way that I've never seen before.
In Jack, Robyn Young has created a lead character who fits well into historical ranks whilst forging his own path - his journey throughout the book is astonishing, and he becomes a friend to the reader the more the book goes on. I'm longing to go back to the world of Jack Wynter, the mysteries put in place so great that I'm eager to see to what new horizons where they will take both us and him, and frustrated that there'll be a wait until the next book. For now though, read "Sons of the Blood" - you won't regret it. Huge thanks to the publishers for the copy.
For future reading, I would recommend Requiem - a cracking end to the author's fantastic "Brethren Trilogy".
Sons of the Blood by Robyn Young is in the Top Ten Historical Fiction Books of 2016.
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