The Blood Knight
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
“[A] sophisticated and intelligent high fantasy epic.”—Publishers Weekly
The legendary Briar King has awakened, spreading madness and destruction across a land devastated by a royal family’s fall from power through treachery and dark magic. Half-remembered prophecies may point to the young princess Anne Dare, rightful heir to the throne of Crotheny, as the world’s only hope. But a mysterious assassin stalks her, so skilled that even Anne’s friend and protector Cazio cannot stand against him, nor can her sworn defender, the young knight Neil MeqVren. Though Anne herself is the conduit of fearsome powers beyond her understanding and control, it is time for girl to become woman, princess to become queen. Anne must stop running and instead march at the head of an army to take back her kingdom . . . or die trying.
Praise for The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone
“A graceful, artful tale . . . a snare ofterse imagery and compelling characters that grips tightly and never lets up.”—Elizabeth Haydon, author of The Assassin King, on The Briar King
“There is adventure and intrigue, swordplay anddark sorcery aplenty.”—Realms of Fantasy, on The Charnel Prince
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of the third book in Keyes's Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series (The Briar King, etc.), princess Anne Dare's father, the king of Crotheny, is dead and her mother, Muriele, is the prisoner of her mad uncle, Robert Dare, who now rules the kingdom. Anne does her best to elude her uncle's clutches as she flees across a well-developed landscape reminiscent of Renaissance northern Italy (rugged terrain and priests who belong to an established church) and medieval Germany (thick forests and ogres). The scenes and viewpoints shift often enough to be somewhat confusing, but the occasional well-handled erotic episode or magic duel can startle with its originality. This volume closes with a climactic grand battle in which Anne's cohorts appear to be victorious. Readers curious about the fate of Robert Dare, who has vanished, must await the fourth and final volume in this sophisticated and intelligent high fantasy epic.
