Swoony Sunday Book Review: "Bloodguard"
Cecy Robson's new romantasy is bloody good fun, with a propulsive plot and lots of steam.
Hello, dear reader! Do you like what you read here at Omnivorous? Do you like reading fun but insightful takes on all things pop culture? Do you like supporting indie writers? If so, then please consider becoming a subscriber and get the newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. There are a number of paid options, but you can also sign up for free! Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading and now, on with the show!
Just a reminder that I’m running a special promotion here at Omnivorous for the whole month of May. If you join as a paid subscriber, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a gift card to The Buzzed Word, a great indie bookshop in Ocean City, MD. Check out this post for the full details!
Warning: Full spoilers for the book follow.
It’s definitely safe to say that romantasy is having a bit of a moment. It’s everywhere you look, whether on social media or in your local bookstore or library. I’m not complaining, mind you. Unlike some others, I actually think that it’s a good thing for both romance and fantasy to team up like this, bringing out the best in one another. And, when it comes down to it, any publishing trend that gets people reading is a positive in my book.
In any case, I’ve been devouring a lot of romantasy lately, including Cecy Robson’s new book, Bloodguard. I first noticed this extraordinary volume while strolling through Walmart, and I knew immediately from both the cover and the blurb that I was going to have to read it. With its shades of Gladiator, its delightfully complex narrators, and its fantastical world, I knew that it was going to be something I would enjoy. Indeed that’s exactly what happened, and I think it’s safe to say that I devoured this book and was left wanting more.
When the novel begins Leith (rhymes with “Keith”) is a gladiator fighting for his family. While engaged in a fight for his life, his eyes meet those of Maeve, an elf who also happens to be the heir to the throne. Soon enough he is drawn into her elaborate plan to claim the throne, which involves him winning enough matches to be declared Bloodguard, which will earn him his freedom as well as a place among the nobility. Unfortunately for both of them, there’s a very long road ahead as they have to contend not only with the vicissitudes of the arena but also with the efforts of several others, including Vitor and his deranged son Soro.
As with much other romantasy there’s not a great deal of elaborate worldbuilding, but what the book lacks in this department it more than makes up for in propulsive action and a steamy romance that will have your toes curling. What’s more, I found myself quite invested in these two characters and their lives and loves. They’re both flawed, of course, but they both want to do what’s best for others. In Leith’s case, he wants to do right by his family in order to save them from the misery of their lives. Maeve, likewise, is fighting for her family–particularly her father, who has been imprisoned under suspicion of having murdered his mother, the late queen–as well as for a better kingdom, one that will be a more just and fairer place for all, both immigrant and native alike.
There are also quite a few devastating twists and turns to this story, particularly when it comes to Leith’s family and Maeve’s involvement with her grandmother’s demise. As it turns out, Leith’s family has been dead the whole time, meaning that all of the sacrifices he’s made and the fighting that he’s done have basically been for nothing. Maeve, meanwhile, finds out that she was the one responsible for her grandmother’s death and, though it was an accident, her actions have caused untold damage to both herself and to the kingdom of Arrow as a whole. Because of her actions, Vitor and Soro are now poised to take over the kingdom and remake it in their own image.
To make matters even more complicated, it turns out that the mighty phoenix known as Aurora has been captured by the royal family of Arrow and has been kept a prisoner. Her absence has resulted in numerous afflictions across the land which, in turn, has led to the immigrant crisis currently affecting Arrow. The solution? Taking said immigrants and using them as blood sacrifices to that same phoenix. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because this vicious circle is very similar to the one that we see everyday unfolding in front of us. For all that romantasy is usually dismissed as mere escapism–even more than its parent genres–Robson shows that this doesn’t have to be the case that, in fact, romantasy has the power to take the world as we experience it and reflect it back to us in all of its ugliness and brutality.
And boy is there some brutality in this book. This is to be expected, of course, since Leith is a gladiator and literally has to fight for his life in numerous parts of the book. There are some wrenching moments of loss and devastation, particularly as Bloodguard works up to its conclusion. Thus, even though we know that these two characters are going to get their happy ever after–or at least we hope so–we also know that it’s not going to be an easy road.
Appropriately enough, the sexual and emotional chemistry between Maeve and Leith is off the charts. Their love does have an insta-love vibe to it, but I don’t see that as a problem. The novel contains some very steamy sex scenes but, as in the best romantasy, these serve a narrative purposes. For these two characters, surrounded as they are by brutality and violence–and marred by their own severe traumas–it makes sense that they would try to find some measure of escape and solace through their bodies and their desires.
By the time that the novel has come to a close, the phoenix has been freed from her imprisonment and Maeve and Leith are on top of the royal hierarchy at last. However, it’s clear that there is a very long road ahead of them and that they have a lot of work to do as they attempt to patch Arrow back together and bring some measure of stability and plenty to this damaged world.
I also want to offer a brief word of praise for the notes of queerness that we get throughout the book. Maeve’s parents are two men, and I love it when an author of fantasy makes it clear that same-sex relationships are just a part of how their worlds work.
While I really enjoyed Bloodguard, I do have a few criticisms. There are some pacing issues here and there that are sometimes quite jarring, and the plot sometimes moves along too quickly for its own good. This is particularly the case when it comes to Maeve’s sudden mastery of combat, which emerges when her household is under attack by Soro and his minions. This would have landed a lot more effectively, I think, if we’d been given more description of how she became so skilled. Far too much action takes place off-screen–especially toward the end–which left me scratching my head as to how things came to be as they are. I honestly think the book needed just a bit more time to cook, and I wouldn’t have been made had it been given another fifty pages or so to fill in some of the narrative gaps in logic. I get that a book only has so much time to get its characters from Point A to Point B, but it’s also important to not confuse your readers too much.
Despite these criticisms, I found myself quite enraptured by Bloodguard. Unlike some romantasy, which tends to tilt the scale in favor of one pole or the other, this one really does a good job balancing its fantastical and romantic elements. The setting of Old Erth clearly has a lot more stories in it, and I’m looking forward to seeing what more is in store for Leith and Maeve as they explore their love and rebuild the kingdom of Arrow.