Blood Song is the first book in an impressive trilogy Ravens Shadow.    It is the story of a young man, Vaelin al Sorna, who is left at age 10 to be part of the Sixth Order of the Brotherhood, as a warrior for the Faith.   The first half of the book is a coming-of-age story following the 7 years he serves in brutal training to become a master warrior.    Along the way there are assassinations, deadly tests, a deadly plague, pursuit of criminals, encounters with magical forces, and conspiracies and schemes.    Vaelin becomes a battle leader and in wars he slays an important person, earning him the name “Hope Killer.”      As the story evolves he comes to understand he may have some special qualities, the Blood Song.

At the end of the first book he is forced into a deadly duel for his life and we have glimpses of the events to come in future books.   this is a well-told story and an impressive feat of world-building.    Characters are well-developed.    Nations, religions, and cultures are richly integrated into the plot.    This is high fantasy that is action-packed, with twists and turns, and with mysteries to be solved.

Overall, it is a big investment of over 600 pages of reading  or 23+ hours of audiobook time and the series would be 3x that.   There are 5 additional companion books in the Raven’s Shadow world, then 2 more books with Vaelin in the Raven’s Blade series.    Reading all the books would take all year.    Still, I was very pleased to read Blood Song.   Anthony Ryan is a talented author and I will read more of his books in the future.    Recommended – 4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5

An audiobook excerpt: