We Cry for Blood (Reborn Empire, #3)

by Devin Madson

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to Orbit books and Angela Man for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. We Cry for Blood is available now.

The machinations! The backstabbing! The violence! The wit! Author Devin Madson has mastered it all in the latest installment in The Reborn Empire series. There is a lot going on in this book (and I mean a lot), yet it was never disorganized. Instead, I felt that everything is leading toward the sort of conclusion that blows the mind.

We Cry for Blood continues to follow the four characters from previous novels: Dishiva e’Jaroven and Rah e’Torin, Empress Miko Ts’ai, and Cassandra Marius. Each character has their own story arc, which could be confusing in lesser hands than Madson’s, but somehow never is. That is saying something, because I often struggle with keeping larger plotlines straight. In this case, the sheer amount of detail serves to broaden the world and make the story even more compelling. Everything happens on an epic scale, while at the same time feeling incredibly personal.

This is one of those great series where my favorite character seems to change book by book. In We Cry for Blood, Dishiva stood out to me. Her point of view reminded me that, while so much is happening on a grand scale, things are also incredibly important on a smaller, yet no-less-important level. Her challenges seem nearly insurmountable, but the fighting spirit exists all the same. Usually in books with multiple viewpoints, there’s that one that just isn’t interesting to me, but I didn’t have that problem here. Each character was compelling in their own way.

This series continues to completely ignore the usual expectations in a fantasy novel, and I love it! As much as I love the classic fantasy feel, I also really appreciate how broad the spectrum of fantasy is, and seeing it stretched into new and exciting directions is beyond exciting. The Reborn Empire is well on its way to being the sort of fantasy series that readers of the genre “must” read. In fact, I would argue that it is already there.

This is not a series that can be understood if you start in book three. However, I guarantee you’ll want to read the entire series. It is truly excellent.

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