My Experience with Blood Lust by Garrett Robinson
Instead of continuing to read the Nightblade Underrealm novels, I’ve jumped to another series within Underrealm (as recommended by the author on his website). Blood Lust is the first book in the Tales of the Wanderer series, and the story it tells occurs just after Shadeborn in the Nightblade series.
At the beginning of Shadeborn, there’s a pretty climactic battle—one where we’re led to believe that a certain set of consequences occur, but, instead, something else occurred that our hero was unaware of. Blood Lust is the beginning of that story. And I know that’s pretty vague, but if you haven’t begun your journey into Underrealm, I don’t want to ruin it for you…
You know what? It’s difficult to tip-toe around this. From here on out, you might encounter spoilers. If you don’t want that, stop reading right here. Go back and start reading the Nightblade saga. You’ll catch up after the first four novels. They’re not too long. You’ll be up to speed in no time.
Did you catch up? Are you sure? Because if you keep reading, you might encounter spoilers.
You didn’t read them, did you?
Oh well, I warned you….
Pretty quickly into the story, we learn that Mag and Albern survived the attack at the beginning of Shadeborn. Sten, however, did not. And Mag, the Uncut Lady, wants revenge. Set within the framing device of a post-Nightblade series Underrealm, Albern tells the story of how he and Mag set out to avenge the death of Mag’s husband. The tale not only adds a different spin to the story as we know it but adds new layers of worldbuilding to the lore of Underrealm.
What’s fantastic about this story is its framing device. Albern is giving a first-hand account of his experiences with Mag to a character we haven’t met before. This allows us to experience the story from more than one character’s point of view. In the Nightblade series, we’re limited to Loren’s viewpoint. In this story, we’re allowed a peek into the minds of the enemy, and that’s a welcome change. The framing device also adds an extra layer of mystery and functions to punctuate the narrative with commentary that adds depth and resonance to the story’s arc. Up to this point, Robinson’s epic has been adventure-first. And while I would argue that it is still so, there is a thematic landscape that elevates the story to mean something more than a fun yet simple action-adventure fantasy tale.
And while featuring a character such as Mag could present a terrible problem (she is rather over-powered), Robinson has done us the favor of not letting us know whether or not Mag survived the ordeal, adding a sense of danger. Additionally, his character work is well-sketched, and his prose remains rock-solid.
I would have preferred it if the adventure didn’t wait for 10 chapters to truly begin, however since this is the first book in the series, there was a certain amount of setup that needed to be done for any reader who had not read the first four Nightblade novels. So this will slow seasoned readers of Underrealm, but is ultimately needed for newcomers.
Blood Lust is a fantastic opening to the Tales of the Wanderer series, and I’m excited to continue the saga. Pick it up if you’ve enjoyed the Nightblade saga… which you probably did enjoy if you’ve read this far… I told you to go back and read it!
*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher. I wasn't paid to review this book. It was on my TBR list from before I worked for the publisher.*
