The Blood Knight

The Blood Knight is the third book in the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series by Greg Keyes. This follows up The Briar King and The Charnel Prince. Reportedly he is planning on wrapping this series up in the next novel, tenatively titled The Born Queen.

I really enjoyed the first two novels in this sequence, so I had high expectations for this book. I was not disappointed. I would recommend brushing up on what happened in the previous installments before reading this, as Keyes drops you right in the middle of the action. It took me nearly 100 pages before I found my footing and recalled where The Charnel Prince had left off.

*spoilers for the first two books follow.*

Anne, Austra and Cazio, have met up with Sir Neil, as well as Aspar, Winna, and Stephen, so almost all out protagonists are together, or nearly so. The lone exception is the composer Leoff who has been imprisoned by Robert after the performance of his enchanted concert. Robert also has Queen Murielle imprisoned, and has allied himself with the corrupt church and with Crotheny's ancient enemy Hansa. With the help of her friends Anne must find a way to win the throne. She will have to manage without the full group as Stephen is taken and Aspar and Winna are sent to find him, and help him fufill his destiny.

I've heard Keyes often described as Martin-Lite. The comparison is fairly accurate. Keyes writes in the same POV chapter style, and his strength is characterization. His characters are certainly a bit more cliche than Martin's but they are strong none the less. He also does a nice job of world building. The history of the world is fleshed out a bit more with each novel, and he does manage to throw a few curves to keep the reading guessing as to what side certain supporting characters are on.

Keyes doesn't rate on my top tier of writers of epic fantasy but he sits with some pretty good company on the rung below Martin and Bakker. The Blood Knight is certainly an enjoyable book.
If you are a fan of the series, by all means keep reading. If you haven't read this yet and are looking for something to tide you over until A Dance with Dragons, or the Aspect emperor are release, give Keyes a shot.

7.5 out of 10