Blood of Heirs is an illustration as to why self-publishing is so important. This is a book that based on its description alone probably would not reach out and grab a reader’s attention. Rising above the pack in fantasy these days almost takes an SPFBO-like contest to realize. Blood of Heirs deserves to rise because it is incredibly well-written, engaging, and manages to bring new elements to fantasy that I’ve not seen much of in my time reading about magical worlds.
Strengths

Blood of Heirs tells the parallel stories of Lidan and Ranoth, two teenagers from different nations whose experiences contrast immensely. Lidan’s home is tribal, almost prehistoric in its use of stone tools and hunter/gatherer methods of food production. Ran’s nation is medieval in tone, with castles and steel weapons, Empire’s invading and the like. The closest approximation of this dynamic I can think of is the Aiel in The Wheel of Time compared to the rest of that world. It is not something often seen in fantasy, in my experience, and it is well done in Blood of Heirs.

I like this notion of parallel stories, and it’s something that seems to be happening more of late in the genre. Lidan’s story is particularly powerful largely due to the dynamics of her family. Wanstall-Burke has written very human characters, flawed to an extreme, parents that have a fierce type of love for their children but are also quite abusive in different ways. Ran’s dynamic is similar, though his abuse comes from a father where Lidan’s is mainly from her mother. This further enhances the dichotomy of these two characters journeying on separate tracks. We can begin to form connections between two people who have never met largely due to their experiences, and this is deft storytelling.

Weaknesses

While it is a strength, that dual narrative also comes off as a problem at points. This is wrapped up in several criticisms of Blood of Heirs, so let me start with the structure as a whole. My biggest issue with Blood of Heirs, and it might be one unique to me, is that it does not tell a contained story. For me, series need to be a collection of books with an overarching narrative while also each telling their own beginning-middle-and-end stories. Blood of Heirs does not do this, and it makes the dual journey of its protagonists feel almost meaningless. This is obviously a book designed to be part of a series, and maybe if it were somewhere in the middle of that series I could forgive the lack of any conclusion or even real ending, but it is the first book. I think it needs something to make it feel complete. I’ve said this before in reviews, but books are not television shows. They should not end as though they were in the middle of the story arc. Other readers may feel differently about this, particularly those that tend to read through an entire series without breaking for a different book.

My other issue with the book is the age of its characters. We could call this the Game of Thrones problem. Ran is 15 in the book, and Lidon is 13. I have no problem reading a book about children, even in a dark world such as that depicted in Blood of Heirs. However, I need a reason for them to be portrayed this young. Game of Thrones: HBO had to age its characters because the notion of children getting married and going through such darkness would not have played on screen. I think the same works for the page for the most part. Lidan does things that I don’t even think a 13 year old girl or boy could do - like killing a full-grown warrior or crushing the skull of a slavering beast just by stamping down on it with a boot. These are things that might be difficult for a full grown man to do, let alone a 13-year old child. This is a tricky criticism because I realize that there is always going to be a main character exceptionalism at work in fantasy novels, but there is a point where suspension of disbelief falls through. I don’t think there is a good reason for these two characters to be so young.

If You Liked

From a narrative perspective, I think that Blood of Heirs most reminds me of two books - Kings of Paradise and We Ride the Storm (both incidentally SPFBO contestants last year). These books all have a similar track where they follow multiple protagonists down different paths, with the assumption that these characters will all converge at some point. I like this structure, and I think it works well for the most part in these stories. There are also certainly echoes of The Wheel of Time and even James Islington’s Licanius series - this is largely illustrated in the journeys of these young people into worlds that they never imagined (Ran in particular due to his magical nature).


I also found myself thinking of several video games while reading through Blood of Heirs. Lidan’s tribe and environment reminded me of Horizon: Zero Dawn, a game about a young woman trying to prove herself to a society that doesn’t see her worth. It also gave me some big Bloodborne vibes in its use of malformed humans - people crafted into monsters through magic’s dark side.

Parting Thoughts

This is not my favorite book in this year’s contest, but I liked it immensely. I can see it winning, and I have every intention of reading more of Alicia Wanstall-Burke’s Coraidic Sagas. In technical ways, this book is perfect. I can think of very few books, even in traditional publishing, where I didn’t find some error at some point. Blood of Heirs had none. I read this book quickly, which is not something I do with books too often in these quarantine days (having a plethora of time to savor my entertainment). I think Wanstall-Burke could be a force in fantasy in the years to come if she continues to write this well.