Blood Stew
The Windshine Chronicles Book 3
By Todd Sullivan
ISBN 978-1737132028, 323pp, pb, Mocha Memoirs Press
Available from Amazon in paperback and on the Kindle
Nam-Gi raised the scroll before him, his dreams inscribed in flowing black letters on the rolled parchment.
Okay, it’s not as dynamic an opening as those of Hollow Men and There Will Be One, but the words have a potency all their own and let us know that this is very much its own volume, one that the reader has before them because they have enjoyed those first two volumes and is willing to trust the author to entertain them a third time. After all, if you haven’t read and enjoyed those two volumes, why pick this up? (Although, to a large extent, I think a reader new to the series could fully understand events without the necessity of reading them.)
Indeed, not only is the pace of the book different – in a good way! – but, the volume is different because it is longer than the first two volumes combined. Where they were sword and sorcery romps, this is more like a standard fantasy novel, offering more background and development with multiple threads that, eventually, come together in an exciting climax.
The main plot follows the misadventures of a disabled youth, Nam-Gi, who is studying magic under a dark elf, but is made to feel a burden for his family, the meagre income from their failing restaurant being used up in buying the medicine that eases his pain. He attempts to use his nascent skills to assist his family’s fortunes, but things go awry and, not unexpectedly, he finds himself caught up in an adventure – but, not the sort he imagined he might experience…
I must say that, as much as I enjoyed the adventure in the previous two volumes and that which filled the second half of this, Todd Sullivan’s evocative descriptions of the restaurant and Nam-Gi’s family life seized me in a way that fantasy fiction seldom does. I would happily have read more! Adventure is fun, but this added real depth to the world and made me much more invested in Nam-Gi’s story.
Of course, some readers, drawn in by the action in the first two volumes, might feel that life in a failing restaurant doesn’t sound that entertaining and, whilst I would say, give it a try, there’s no need to worry as Nam-Gi’s trials are interspersed with the discovery of a mysterious body in the ocean that leads to unforeseen tragedy and the arrival of a Cloud Elf with a powerful enmity towards the Dark Elves that have settled in South Hanguk.
Now, I will admit that I initially didn’t care much for the Cloud Elf, probably because I was more invested in Nam-Gi, but I think it’s a testament to Sullivan’s writing that such an obnoxious character managed to be repellent without actually damaging my enjoyment of the story. (Like those who might find the restaurant tale tedious, I think I benefited form the fact that events kept switching between the different strand means you don’t have to wait too long before the story moves onto something else.)
Surprisingly, Windshine the Dark Elf only appears in the second half of the volume, when she once more accompanies the young heroes she observes on a quest, this time in a race against those from other districts, including a group observed by Nam-Gi’s mentor, to destroy a monster unleashed in the first half of the volume. Of course, the Cloud Elf intrudes into their affairs, intent on slaying the Dark Elves for the crime of leaving their homeland and infecting the humans of South Hanguk with their ‘evil’, complicating things and leading an epic showdown, as well as revealing a little more about the mysterious Dark Elves.
Blood Stew isn’t quite the same as the earlier volumes, so might not be to everyone’s taste, although I think that everyone who enjoyed Hollow Men and There Will Be One will appreciate the second half, making it well worth reading, even if the first half isn’t quite what they want. However, I do think that the first half will prove to be what most of them want, even if they don’t know it going in!
In many ways, I would say this is a more mature book, the series having come of age, so if you enjoyed the first two volumes but wanted more depth, this will be just right for you. It certainly leaves me thinking that Todd Sullivan has a lot of potential. Personally, I would him explore South Hanguk – or, some other fantasy realm – in the style of his depiction of Nam-Gi’s family’s restaurant.
Like There Will Be One, Blood Stew manages to be both a good sequel and a good stand-alone story. It is an excellent fantasy tale that builds upon being different and, regardless of your view of its individual strands, I am certain you will find that, together, they form a compelling whole. Highly recommended.
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