We Are Blood and Thunder

by Kesia Lupo

[Kelly]

Lena Grey is a Cryptling, preparing the deceased for their resting place below the township of Dukes Forest, an isolated community shrouded in a menacing cloudscape of pestilence and destruction. Dukes Forest has been decimated by disease, the Ancestors resting below the township have begun to awaken and as Lena prepares the Duchess for burial, she is accused of being an enchantress and sentenced, her life shall be taken by the ferocious hounds of the Justice. Mages are dangerous and abhorrent, according to the Justice, the authority of Dukes Forest. Lena escapes into the surrounding woodlands and into the unknown.

Lena is a naive and sheltered young woman, an orphan and abandoned by her parents to the underground Cryptling community of the hearing or vision impaired, physically or visibly disabled. An apprentice who prepares the deceased for the afterlife, Lena's only companion is an elderly man who has nurtured the young woman since arriving in Dukes Forest. A Cryptling lives a simple existence without material possessions so when Lena discovers an extraordinary mechanical butterfly within the underground chambers, she begins to imagine a life beyond her veil of darkness.

In an incidental encounter in the forest, Constance discovers Lena escaping capture and guides her towards Emris, a Huntsman and self appointed educator of the the City of Kings. The City of Kings provides refuge to Rogue mages, to control their abilities and pledge their allegiance to one of nine temples throughout the city. Although Emris alludes to being a former lover of Constance, he's enchanted by Lena and abandons all reasoning and purpose to pursue an unknown young woman on her journey.

Constance Rathbone is returning to Dukes Forest, a young woman seeking the essence of the cloudscape incantation threatening to consume her homeland. Upon returning home to reclaim her birthright as Duchess, Constance is confronted with her fathers ailing health and the oppression and cruelty of the Justice. Constance is a mysterious and alluring young woman who is returning home from exile, her father is no longer in governance, the township ravaged by disease and pestilence and her only allies are her brother Winton and childhood companion Lord Irvine, positioned within the guardsmen for the Justice respectfully. Constance is an unreliable narrator, unashamedly boasting of her untruths. Her unexplained absence raising suspicion among her kinfolk, unaware of her abilities and why she has chosen to claim her birthright as heir.

Lena and Constance appear as contrasting characters but their lives are irrevocably entwined as Lena's journey traces the pathway that Constance once paved. It was interesting to compare the similarities between the two morally grey characters. One of my favourite aspects was female independence as neither Lena or Constance depended on male characters as saviours or to define their characters. We Are Blood and Thunder is a wonderful instance of feminist fantasy literature, of independent female characters that celebrate imperfections.

As a standalone debut fantasy novel, We Are Blood and Thunder is beautifully written, intense and captivating.