Did they teach you about Deniers? Erlin asked.

Vaelin frowned, remembering one of his fathers infrequent e !lanations. "t had been the first time he saw the city gate and the bodies rotting in the cages that hung from the wall. Deniers are blas!hemers and heretics. #hose who deny the truth of the $aith. %nd do you know what ha!!ens to Deniers, Vaelin? #hey are killed and hung from the city walls in cages #hey are hung from the walls whilst still ali&e and left star&e to death. #heir tongues are cut out so their screams will not disturb !assers by. #his is done !urely because they follow different faith. This story takes place in the Realm where people can easily kill each other in the name of their faith. Vaelin Al Sorna is a member of the Sixth Order, a religious organi ation sub branch with the sole purpose of killing the enemy of the !aith and the Realm. Vaelin begins his training at the age of "# after his father, a famous $attle %ord and hero of the Realm, left him in front of the Order&s door. 'ue to his superior strength, wit and his !ather&s name he easily becomes the golden child of the Order. %ater, he becomes the (ing&s most fa)orite killing tool, commanding mighty forces to put out rebels and heretics. $ut Vaelin is secretly against killing, e)en in the name of his !aith. *e is cursed with superior ability to easily kill someone with his $lood Song, a magic that makes him able to sense danger in an uncanny way. This time, +t warns him of impending danger unlike anything he has e)er felt before. $lood Song follows the story of Vaelin, a li)ing legend, a harbinger of change, who is cursed with blood and death e)erywhere he goes while e)erything he wishes for is to li)e in peace. + can see why se)eral people might compare this to The ,ame of The -ind. At the beginning of each part, the story of Vaelin is written using the perspecti)e of Verniers, a .hronicler from neighboring kingdom. + found it )ery refreshing because the reader can understand a lot more about the story from Verniers& thoughts and feelings regarding Vaelin, his enemy. Another similar piece is the fact that Vaelin is simply a gifted child. At the age of "# he already has great skills and intelligence befitting the ideal Order member. *e is strong, )ery intelligent and wise beyond his age. $ut +&m glad that the author doesn&t make him the best at e)erything, like ()othe. Vaelin is indeed strong and smart, but his strength lies more in sword skills while his fellow Order friends also ha)e strength on their own, for example .aenis is the smartest, $arkus is the best in hand/in/hand combat, ,ortah is the best rider, etc.

+ like the author&s way of portraying the entire 0 years of Vaelin&s training at the Sixth Order. The reader would understand that Vaelin is the way he is mostly because of his experience during his life in the Order. *e has great sense of loyalty due to his relationship with his friends, each with their own personality and problems. *is brief encounter with Sherin of the !ifth Order is also )ery important in accentuating his own reluctance to kill because Sherin&s gift in healing people is the opposite of Vaelin&s talent in ending people&s li)es. + like it that there are se)eral important things that happen during his training as a member of the Order because it makes the story interesting e)en without clear plotline at first. !or example1 'uring his training he encounters the first runaway heretics that he kindly sa)es, failed assassination attempts directed at him and other order members, his encounter with the (ing who used him as part of the (ing&s political maneu)er, and of course the most important part is Vaelin&s experience in dealing with magic. + ha)e to say that the structure of this book is somewhat uni2ue. 3art one and two deals with Vaelin&s entire 0 years of study, part 4 deals with his first experience of being in)ol)ed in a war against heretics and rebels who are opposed to the (ing&s reign and the !aith. 3art four deals with him leading the in)asion toward the neighboring Alpiran 5mpire, a plot which made him a prisoner of war because he lost the battle. +&m a bit disappointed because his battle with the Shield is somewhat anticlimactic but later + reali ed that this is hardly the point of the story. $ut still, + expected great battle between the Realm&s finest swordsmen )ersus the 6eldenean&s finest Shield. Anyways, part four is the most important story of Vaelin&s life. +n leading the in)asion against Alpiran 5mpire, he manages to learn more about his magic, $lood Song and the truth about the mysterious forces who threaten the Order and the Realm. 3art fi)e only consists of one chapter, a short anticlimactic battle where the readers are supposed to be shocked when they finally find out the truth about the assassins and the mysteries that surround the entire story from the beginning. -ell, let&s 7ust say that +&m disappointed with the ending. + think it&s poorly executed and it poses more 2uestions than answers. + expect better story for the next installation8 $ut hey, o)erall it&s an ama ingly great book8 The story is ama ing9 it makes us ponder about the meaning of tolerance and how to deal with others who ha)e different beliefs than us. The characters are great, complex and richly drawn although + think Vaelin as a person doesn&t really de)elop as main character despite his many up and down life experience. + mean, his personality remains pretty much the same. The world building is good, + don&t really ha)e any complains. +t could ha)e been better if the magic system is more elaborated though, but yes + understand it is remain that way because in the whole story the term magic is synonymous with the dark so its nature remains mysterious hence the lack of explanation. Okay, enough rambling, fi)e stars for this one8