New Blood

I devoured this book, staying up to the early hours of the morning because I needed to see what happened next. I loved the characters, the plot, the world building. Awesome book.

I first heard Gail read from this book at last year's ApolloCon, so I had been on the lookout for it. When I saw it this year I snapped it up at once. This is fantasy at its best, grabbing you and pulling you into a world lush and detailed. It is an alternate history, set in the 1860's in Europe. But it is a world filled with magic -- alchemy, wizardry, conjury...and the long-lost sorcery. All magicians in this new world are male. At least until Jax Grayson, blood servant bound to the long-dead Yvaine -- last blood sorceress -- finds her successor in Amanusa Whitcomb. Amanusa has been living a quiet life in the wilds of Transylvania, tending to the healing of a band of outlaws through no choice of her own, afraid to work even her simple charms for fear of the Inquisition. Jax offers her a vision of a new world...with magic beyond her wildest dreams. There is a hint of steampunk to the world; a dash of adventure; a wealth of fantasy; and a wonderful romance that most can only dream of. And a Crow. I'm always partial to a story with a Crow. :) I know I am gushing, but it is truly a marvelous book. The characters are multi-dimensional and well-rounded. The plot carries you along like a flowing stream. The settings are vividly drawn and detailed. There is a lot of blood in places, but not gratuitous or gory. I don't want to get too detailed -- every reader should have the opportunity to experience the story first hand -- but I will say that I found twists and turns and surprises all through the story. I would think I had something figured out completely, and I would be wrong. I have only one problem with this book. I finished it. I am hoping that there is a sequel, and very soon. I will be watching for it.

I've had a run of rather mundane paranormal romance reads recently and so picked up 'New Blood' without that much enthusiasm. The book summary on the back cover didn't particularly grab me, but I thought I'd give it a go. I'm very glad that I did! 'New Blood' was really good. It had many interesting new elements, the central love story was entirely believable, the situations in which hero and heroine found themselves were well described. Our heroine is Amanusa Whitcomb, a woman who lives quietly by herself in Transylvania carrying out minor healings and attempting to keep herself safe from the band of outlaws who have previously attacked her. She's understandably nervous around men so when a strange man comes to visit her she doesn't know what to make of him. Jax is different to the outlaws and when he reveals that she is really a blood sorceress and that he is to be her blood servant, she tries to send him away. He can't be sent away, however, and soon Amanusa finds herself running away after her quest for justice has dramatic effects; Jax runs with her. As they travel across Europe from Transylvania to Paris they begin to learn more of their bond and how it differs from Jax's bond with his previous sorceress, Yvaine. But they also travel through magical dead areas and their arrival in Paris coincides with investigations into these dead spots. But Amanusa's powers are frightening to many - can she be accepted by the male magicians, conjurers and alchemists, and can she ever overcome her fear of men to find something special with Jax? My one criticism is that Crow, the bird that follows them around at the beginning of the story, rather fades away until he is suddenly needed at the end. It's as if the author forgot about him; I would have liked to know a little more about Crow, is he some kind of magical familiar? But the rest of the book was excellent, and although not all the plot lines were completed, the story reached a satisfying conclusion. I assume there will be more stories in this series and I eagerly await the next. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

Amanusa is a half-English, half-Romanian healer/hedge-witch living in a small cottage in the forest in Transylvania. When she was a child her family was killed by the rebels roaming the hills, rebels who still plague her, demanding she tend to their wounds after she learned her skills from the former local wise-woman. Into her life stumbles Jax, an Englishman and bound servant to the last blood sorceress who, before she was killed in the 1600's, commanded him to search for her apprentice/successor and give her the knowledge she placed in his head. He has been searching for some two centuries. Blood sorcery has a dark reputation, but Jax explains that what most people believe is untrue; it's a magic that works with life and for life, and any blood used is minimal and must be freely given. Amanusa does not trust men, due to her horrific past with the rebels, but she no longer wants to be prey to the same vicious men--and she also wants justice for her murdered family. Together, she and Jax face the rapacious rebels and ruthless Austrian Inquisitors--and the danger of the spreading Dead Zones with their mechanical creatures--and flee to Paris, hoping to claim a position among the Conclave of magic users and help them, despite their hatred of blood sorcerers, to save them all from the Dead Zones. Both Jax and Amanusa grow as characters and their actions and relationship is fascinating and feels authentic. Despite both being damaged, their hearts are good and they both continue to fight for each other and for what is right. Jax's role as a bound servant to blood sorceresses makes for a very different angle than the typical hero. And it is Amanusa who is the focus and the power in their relationship. The secondary characters are all interesting, too, although a few of the villains tend toward the two-dimensional. The world-building is solid, making for a strong fantasy plot that should please those who wish for a more complex story than just the romance. I was extremely happy to have stumbled upon this book in the bookstore. It was a very satisfying read, full of danger and adventure and magic and a few steampunk elements, as well as a good romance. I was happy to learn that a sequel is in the works as I did not want the book to end and because there is clearly much more to explore in the world and the events and between the two main characters and their friends.

New Blood by Gail Dayton has the kind of unforgettable characters that make you sorry to turn the last page. The heroine, Amanusa, is a reluctant successor to the last blood sorceress (who was burned at the stake two hundred years before this story begins). In a world that shuns or even bans blood magic because it is "women's magic," Amanusa finds herself heir to a power that is stronger than most male magicians can wield. A power that has been silent for two centuries. I genuinely liked Amanusa and I didn't expect to, given the amount of blood that becomes an ever-present part of the scenery in the story. I'm not a fan of savage, blood-and-guts mayhem. But Amanusa is no vampire, gruesomely feeding off prey. The blood needed for her sorcery must be given willingly and is usually not enough to harm the giver. Enter the story's older-than-dirt hero, Jax. Handsome, charismatic Jax was bound as a servant to the last blood sorceress and, after two hundred years searching, has finally discovered her successor. And who wouldn't want a hunk willing to shed blood for you whenever you asked? But when Amanusa seeks justice by unleashing her new power against those who destroyed her family, she and Jax are forced to flee across Europe - from Austria to France, through lands where every living thing has died and only perverted mechanical creatures are left hiding in darkness. Even the most powerful magicians can't fight this encroaching annihilation. But without even trying, Amanusa is able to hold back the destruction. That should make her a hero, no? Unfortunately, Amanusa and Jax must battle prejudice as well as truly nasty villains who have no qualms about torture and murder. As they work together, they become more than mistress and servant, more even than a team. They are bound to each other by something that transcends magic - love. Their tentative, reluctant romance wraps around and through the supernatural elements of the story. The disparate ingredients of the plot mix so well that it's hard to say if New Blood is a paranormal romance with scifi elements, or a steampunk adventure with a cool love story. And, in fact, it's being marketed in publications aimed at both of those reader groups. There are lots of loose ends in New Blood but I'm hoping that's because this is only the first part of a terrific series. I want to know more about those twisted machines, and Jax (of course), and what Amanusa will do once she's finally... oops, almost gave the ending away. Yes, I really liked these characters. I didn't want to say good-bye. By the way, although New Blood is set in a recognizably late Victorian timeframe, fans of Dayton's Rose series will find the same imaginative world-building and attention to detail that marks all her work.