Lightning in the Blood

March 13, 2017
In Brennan’s second fantasy adventure featuring formidable, vulnerable Ree (after A Cold-Forged Flame), the magic-wielding archon has finished the quest that she was summoned, by sacrifice and blood, to complete. Since then, she’s been traveling and masking her true nature. When she finds herself at the business end of a flintlock pistol, she’s led to a caravan of persecuted people called the Korenat, where she meets a man named Mevreš who sends a shock of lightning through her veins; to her utter surprise, she learns that he is also an archon. She leads the group to Solaike, the land where her old friend Aadet Temini resides, hoping to find sanctuary for the Korenat. Ree then agrees to help fight a group called the Red Leopard that’s bent on unseating the king. Through Mevreš, she learns more about her own origins. Brennan takes the opportunity to deepen Ree’s character and her yearning to find her people and belong. Ree’s hunger for self-realization adds depth to the rich worldbuilding and exciting action sequences.

May 15, 2017

Bound by the chains of prophecy, Ree, a roaming Archeron, appears present in her physical body yet has no recollection of her past. During the seasons since she arrived in Soliake, Ree has continued to explore strange lands, but she never roams too far from her friend Aadet. However, Aadet is heavily involved in his people's lives after the revolution, so Ree heads back into the forests where she encounters a group of Korenat refugees she agrees to accompany to talk to the new king. After meeting Mevres, another Archeron like herself, she realizes she might be clued in about her origins. VERDICT Brennan's follow-up to Cold-Forged Flame continues the saga of one woman's quest for discovery and truth. This immersive fantasy novella proves that brevity does not undermine a story's depth.--KC

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