Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings

 

Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings.

Published 7th January 2021 by HQ Young Adult.

From the cover of the book:

A DEADLY OUTCAST...
A DANGEROUS SECRET...
ONE EPIC QUEST FOR THE TRUTH...

Wrongly accused of her brother’s murder, Sonara’s destiny was to die, sentenced to execution by her own mother. 

Punished and left for dead, the shadows have cursed her with a second life as a Shadowblood, cast out and hunted by society for her demon-like powers.

Now known as the Devil of the Deadlands, Sonara survives as a thief on the edge of society, fighting for survival on a quest to uncover what really happened to her brother and whether he is even dead at all…

Blood Metal Bone is the gripping new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lindsay Cummings. This is the perfect adrenaline-packed read for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, The Mandalorian and Sarah J Maas’ Throne of Glass series.

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Blood Metal Bone is a book with more than a few surprising tricks up its sleeve. 

Welcome to the dwarf planet of Dohrsar, a world of legends, warriors, swords and steeds, where prowess on the battlefield and the pursuit of power are all. Young Sonara has always been an outcast, even though she shares blood and a mysterious bond with her crown prince brother Soahm, their mother's favourite child, so she is an easy target when he goes missing. Suspected of his murder, Sonara is sentenced to death, along with her noble steed Duran. 

So far, so good, a rollicking tale of awakening magic and the settling of scores is in the offing, redolent of many a YA  fantasy book. However, Lindsay Cummings absolutely blindsided me with this one, in a good way mind, because what follows next is something rather different to the norm. 

Cut instead to ten years later, where the point of view shifts to the young space travelling human, or Wanderer, Karr. Karr is trying to work out how to get himself off the space ship he is on and back to Beta Earth, well away from the shady mission to Dohrsar that his older brother has involved him in. A shady mission that is about to have grave consequences for the little planet and its people. From this point on, you know you that all bets are off and you are in for something a bit different.

When we meet up again with Sonara, she has been reborn as a Shadowblood, with powers that she often struggles to control, but are these powers a curse or a gift? Along with her reincarnated steed, she is part of an outlaw gang of fellow Shadowbloods who scrape together a living in the wastelands. When one of their escapades goes awry, they find themselves allied with a dark princess, who shares the Shadowblood kinship, and on a mission that takes them towards a fateful meeting with Karr and his fellow Wanderers. 

The story then plays out swapping back and forth between the povs of Sonara and Karr, as they head for a portentous meeting destined to change their fates and on into what happens next... but no spoilers from me!

Blood Metal Bone is a meeting of genres - half fantasy tale, from Sonara's side of the story, and half sci-fi adventure from Karr's side - and the blending of the two works incredibly well. There are echoes of all sorts to be found in these pages, with a heavy dose of the likes of Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series, and little snippets of many sci-fi and adventure books and movies too. I was soon caught up in the tale, and the way Lindsay Cummings kept me on my toes with the little twists, turns and novel changes in context was highly entertaining. Once I had got my head around the fact that this was a completely different kind of beast to the one that I was expecting, it was a leap into the unknown - there was no way to guess what the author was going to throw at you next and this made it a joy to read.

Although this is billed as a YA book, there is actually plenty here to appeal to a very wide audience not just teen readers, especially given the genre crossover nature of the material. I can see some of the die-hard YA fantasy fanhood being put off by the mention of sci-fi content, but I have always considered these natural bedfellows and read both sides of the line quite happily myself. 

This was a fun read as my first fantasy/sci-fi book of 2021. It is full of action and adventure, unexpected twists and turns, and it packs a big punch on the heartfelt stakes too with an enchanting focus on family. I loved it!

Blood Metal Bone  is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, or from Bookshop.org HERE.