Blurb: (From Book 1) “The Sixth Order wields the sword of justice and smites the enemies of the Faith and the Realm.”
Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order. The Brothers of the Sixth Order are devoted to battle, and Vaelin will be trained and hardened to the austere, celibate, and dangerous life of a Warrior of the Faith. He has no family now save the Order.
Vaelin’s father was Battle Lord to King Janus, ruler of the unified realm. Vaelin’s rage at being deprived of his birthright and dropped at the doorstep of the Sixth Order like a foundling knows no bounds. He cherishes the memory of his mother, and what he will come to learn of her at the Order will confound him. His father, too, has motives that Vaelin will come to understand. But one truth overpowers all the rest: Vaelin Al Sorna is destined for a future he has yet to comprehend. A future that will alter not only the realm, but the world.
Review: So before reading this I was very heavily warned that the quality of the series drops of a cliff after the first book. After browsing the internet a bit though, because the first installment so frequently popped as a recommendation, I found that a large amount of the 'quality drop' was rather due to a change of style in writing and scope of the story. Nevertheless, I fell guilty of reading too many mixed reviews, which always sours a book for me before I've read it even if I'd probably enjoy it. I couldn't resist the first installment however, and am incredibly glad that I fell to temptation.
The book is an absolute banger, being a great origin story of a boy training through some form of military academy, while consistently keeping callbacks to the present as a prisoner chronicling their early life. I thoroughly enjoyed how brotherhood was managed in these books, and found the fantasy world to have a lot of minor interesting twists. The ending line is absolutely iconic too.
I have no plans to read the larger series due to the relatively self-contained nature of the first book and a worry that my high expectations won't be met, but can absolutely recommend giving blood song a crack.