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checkoutmybookshelf · 1 year

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Sci Fantasy is My New Favorite Thing

Probably the three modes that are best represented on my bookshelf are sword and sorcery, space opera (all the Star Wars) and urban fantasy. I tend not to be a sci fi girl, and any sci fi I do read tends to be extremely soft. So when I saw The Blood Trials described as "sci fantasy" in all the marketing materials, I was intrigued. And then I swallowed Kenna's story in a weekend and thought that the two weeks until the second book came out might kill me. Let's talk The Blood Trials.

UPDATE: Communities of readers are important, because it has been brought to my attention that this book could use some content warnings for gore, violence, and cannibalism. This review doesn't go in detail on those, but please be aware if you read this book! It's adult sci fantasy, not YA, so it gets heavy in places.

I think the first thing we need to do with a book that is explicitly multi-genre is to define some stuff. Depending on who you ask, science fiction is either its own genre of speculative fiction (a category of fiction that literally covers everything that is not the real-world here-and-now) or a subgenre of fantasy. That ambiguity--and the preponderance of internet memes that go "Sci fi is when [Actor] looks like this, and fantasy is when [Same Actor] looks like this"--really highlight the amount of crossover that happens between these genres. Now, if you want to highlight some differences, a pretty simple one is that sci fi deals with science, technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes/multiverses, and aliens, whereas fantasy usually involves magic. And then Arthur C. Clarke pops up with "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and totally muddies the water again. Thanks, Art.

So if the general is all wibbly wobbly timey wimey, let's get specific. What does Sci Fantasy mean for N.E. Davenport's The Blood Trials? I'm going to tell you that it comes down to the fact that the book has both super futuristic technology and a kickass soft magic system. I'd say the sci fi/technology elements are pretty soft in the grand scheme of things too. The preponderance of soft magic and soft sci fi is kind of wild, given how hard and sharp-edged the narrative is. Although that's just this whole book; it carefully balances opposites to create a whirlwind of dynamic forces wrapped in Ikenna's grief and rage and narrative threads.

I also desperately want to describe this book as "dystopian," but I don't want to give you Hunger Games vibes, because that's not the vibe I got with this book, and crucially, Kenna isn't a Katniss analogue. Kenna is in a social position or relative privilege (although that's not a simple statement, and systemic racism in the world makes that privilege less privilegey than it would be for a white character). If this book is dystopian, it is so in the broader sense of dystopian fiction, which offers "fresh perspectives on problematic social and political practices that might otherwise be taken for granted or considered natural and inevitable." Kenna is about to break power structures both within her society and in the broader world.

I'm not sure if there is a specific genre for "trainee endures and survives literally murderous elite supesoldier training," but if there is, The Blood Trials falls into that genre too. These parts of the book are where the most Hunger Games vibes are, but the context is significantly different.

Then we get to the characters. Our cast of characters are just incredible in their range, given that the context is completely elite supersoldiers and trainees. Kenna is out here to get the credential to then burn it all down. Selene is out here to avoid being turned into a socialite brood mare and have just...all the sex, Zayne is almost too sweet to be real in the situation, Chance is objectively a homicidal zealot, and Reed is so clearly traumatized by his life that his survival skills are clashing HARD with his innate compassion. Caiman has a hella interesting character redemption arc, and towards the end of the book, Dannica comes out of left field to be a hard contender for my favorite secondary character.

I don't have enough good things to say about this book, and I cannot wait for The Blood Gift to Release in a couple of weeks!

#ne davenport #the blood trials #sci fi #science fiction #fantasy novel #sci fantasy #books and novels #books #books and reading #books & libraries #books and literature

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kennabeth · 6 months

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I think kell's going to break up with lila

he's done nothing but change to be what she wants while he gets nothing from her in return--they're doing her job, she makes fun of him for the ring and he thinks she threw it away, he wants to be told he's going to be okay through his pain and she just yells at him and leaves him alone, she's molded him into the same kind of fighter she is because she's outwardly acting like there's nothing they can do about his magic anymore, he's begged her to tell him she wants to be around him after swallowing her dismissive attitude for years.

in her head, obviously, she says she loves him and keeps the ring on her at all times, but she's driving him away by pretending like their relationship can just be in her head. I know she's been trained by her childhood to reveal nothing to anyone but she just can't continue living like this if she wants kell to stay in her life. being around rhy and alucard is only going to remind kell of what a healthy relationship can look like.

and if he doesn't leave, he probably should

#im only halfway through dont @ me #like you can see lila thinks everything is good and fine and that he just magically knows how much she loves and values him #but he is so upset like constantly by her behavior #however. i know lila is like. victoria's fave. her power fantasy/dream self-insert and im concerned that lila's static character #is because ve thinks lila is already perfect #and not a significant character flaw that's going to cost her #i adore the two of them together genuinely one of my fave m/f couples #and i want them to end up together #but i think it would be good if they separated for a while until theyre more on the same page about what each of them needs #bc kell is getting so dangerously depressed thinking lila doesnt need or want him #says kenna #kenna reads threads of power #fragile threads of power spoilers #in case anyone specifically is trying to hide this book #is there a more concise tag out there

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