This book really surprised me, not only was it full of Fantasy related subjects - but there was an added Sci-Fi twist. Along with the tale of Sonara with her life on the run, full of swords and dangerous powers, we are introduced to Karr who is a space travelling human. The Sci-Fi element adds a certain aspect of adventure which i enjoyed.

I loved the taste of magic in this book. I found it really unique and intriguing. The story line is really strong and i loved the flip between both characters. I would of liked to get to know them more though, and explored their personalities a bit more deeply - right down to the nitty gritty. Sonara was a shining star for me though, very down to earth and relatable.

Adventurous book full of everything you expect in a Fantasy.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me.
The blurb sounded very promising and the book got off to a really good start. The writing was great and the plot was going well, that is until the sci-fi element appeared. It felt like I was reading two completely books from chapter to chapter. I’m not a sci-fi lover so if I had realised Blood Metal Bone was a mix of fantasy & Sci-Fi beforehand, I wouldn’t have requested it. I have read other books with a mix of both genres in the past but this one just didn’t work for me. I’m slightly disappointed because I would have loved to continue reading Sonara’s story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review

It did take me a little while to get used to the shock that it was a mix of fantasy and Sci-Fi, as I went in expecting a total fantasy book (my mistake for not looking at the tags!), but once you get used to it you end up getting into the flow of things and really enjoying the mystery of what is happening and figuring out where, exactly, the book is going.

As you got towards the very ending of the book the writing was just spectacular, and as the MC Sonara was finding her way some of the snippets of her thoughts just stuck with me, her thought process was just beautifully written and, as I've mentioned many a time before, I absolutely adore when we see a MC come into themselves and really become a powerful character. Mix these powerful main characters in with all the information coming together towards the end and you have an absolutely gripping novel that you will want to read again and again.

Sci-Fi and fantasy in one book which should have worked but didn't as it reads more fantasy then sci-fi. Sonata who is the more fantasy character is the easier character to follow then kora who is the sci fi character.

The character growth was a little flat and the plot was a little meh! It had the bones to be something great but missed the mark with me.

A great intergalactic adventure with a very important set of themes.

Focusing on the unloved daughter of a queen, Sonara is rejected, loses her beloved brother who is kidnapped and then put to death by her own mother. Somehow she is brought back to life a shadowblood despised, an outlaw and cursed who finds true friendships with a group of fellow shadowbloods.

Simultaneously we follow Karr on board his brother's starship and dreaming of a life where he is no longer a wanted man and can put down roots and build a home. One last nefarious mission to the planet Dohrsar nd his brother Cade promises he can have exactly that.

Sonara and Karr destined to find each other must find a way to save the planet and maybe each other and those they love.

This may be a slow starter but became a book I didn't want to put down with many twists to the tale. I loved it and was rooting for Sonara and Karr by the end and would love to know what comes next for these characters.

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 battle field 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!

Thank you to HQ for including me on the blog tour and sending me a copy of Blood Metal Bone via Netgalley! I actually went into my local Waterstones when the latest UK Lockdown was announced and saw it in paperback so I grabbed it!

I’m so glad I did, Blood Metal Bone is a treat for fantasy, sci-fi and western lovers alike. Cummings utilises all her skills in delivering a fabulous novel filled with sass, adventure, magic, space, dragons and smuggling. The magic itself is beautifully portrayed - I loved how the book explored clashes between science and nature through life and death. It really is a book that is staying with me and I’ve struggled to write down my thoughts as I keep finding more bits I want to include.

This was my first book by Lindsay Cummings and definitely won’t be my last. Her writing style is smooth with a talent for making topics easy to understand and inclusive. She develops her characters steadily and builds her worlds up efficiently so the reader isn’t left feeling lost. Blood Metal Bone packs a big punch, in the acknowledgements, Cummings says she has been working on it for years and you can tell - everything is researched and developed.

My only drawback is that everything was crammed into one book. It didn’t feel rushed, but I felt like there was room to grow the characters more and develop their relationships in the story. This would have worked well as a duology I think, Cummings refers to past relationships between characters and skims over events so that she can cover a ten year period when I think the reader could benefit from a little more involvement in what happened. I’d definitely be up for reading some short stories to fill in those gaps!
That being said, you do gain an understanding of the characters motives throughout and a few curveballs are thrown which I enjoyed. Sonara is a complex protagonist, with sassy comebacks and a difficult past, Cummings has poured a lot of herself into her - especially her love of horses which shines through right from the start. Karr, one of the Wanderers from space has a lot of hidden depth and I probably connected with him the most. I liked the different perspectives that were included throughout the narrative - I think this style was integral to getting a well rounded story built up.

As I said, I enjoyed the magic system and its links to the planet itself, the western style mixed in with a brilliant planet system worked seamlessly. What completely blew me away was being on a planet one second, getting comfortably into my fantasy grove and then being whisked onto a spaceship - absolutely threw me off but I appreciated how Cummings integrated the differences and made it work! I’ve not really read anything quite like it before!

I’m recommending Blood Metal Bone to anyone who enjoys fantasy and sci-fi or just plain adventure tales! I’ve been slowly upping my rating for this one because I keep finding things I loved about it! Please grab yourselves a copy and let me know how you get on!

Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings is set in a world of magic, where Sonara comes back to life after being sentenced to death by her mother for her brother's disappearance.  She comes back as a Shadowblood, one of those who has shadows for blood and have powers.

Sonara is still hunting for her brother, and so when the object that took him returns, she must find answers.

This is a mix of fantasy and science fiction, and was an enjoyable read.  

 Blood Metal Bone  by Lindsay Cummings was published on 7th January 2021, and is available to buy from  Amazon,   Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

You can follow Lindsay Cummings on  Instagram ,  Twitter ,  Facebook  and her  website .

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  HQ .

I loved the blurb for this, sounds like the sort of book that you just need to mix in with ‘lighter’ ones. I’d been on a mini contemporary binge so I was looking forward to this book.

What I did not expect was the genre-bending! Starting with a standard fantasy, I was jiving with it and then. BOOM. Sci-fi! Not And well, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that but I was definitely intrigued to hear about the sci-fi character’s plight so that kept me interested as well did the writing style which was easy and engaging to read.

The characters all have mysterious and cool powers/magic/curses and the plot was definitely enough to keep me engaged through the whole book, but, it wasn’t strong enough to make me say I LOVED the book, just for me to say ‘hey this was new, I tried it, wasn’t the worst.’ I think part of that issue was the fact that I also just didn’t get to know the characters very well past the basis of the first impressions and that made it all fall a little flat for me.

Still! Definitely creative, definitely a bold move and I can give props for that. I also think this was a great book for those who are looking for those genre-mixing books, looking for something new to add to their shelves.

Thank you to HQ Young Adult and NetGalley for approving me of this EARC in exchange for an honest review.
To start, I did really like the setting and the imagery that was created throughout. I think there were some really beautiful images presented throughout. The same goes with the writing. I think it was well paced and it also had a fluidity to it that worked well and was pleasant to read, even though a lot of the dialogue I found awkward and unrealistic. There were some things that I thought were a little overdone, such as some terminology, names and phrases.
Unfortunately, I felt very disconnected to the characters. They didn’t impact me on any emotional level and I think this was because of two reasons. Firstly, Sonara is continued to be called the ‘Devil’ throughout the book, and I don’t think she lived up to it. I would have preferred to see more details and scenes as to why that name is so insistent.
Secondly, the time jump was incredibly jarring. Usually, I love time jumps and I love seeing sudden character development that makes the reader wonder what happened to them and what they experienced over that time, which is gradually revealed to us. However, I didn’t see that here, and I couldn’t find much difference to her character over ten years, if any at all, but she is suddenly described as the ‘Devil’ and I didn’t see any nature of the word come forward. I would have expected an incredibly cruel, cunning and wicked character, but it just felt bland.
My final point was the perspectives. The first change in point of view to Karr threw me off a lot. Before we meet him, a typical fantasy set up and tone is given to us, with the use of swords and horses and royalty, a very beautiful scenery, I got a sense that this was a normal fantasy novel. It then cuts straight to space, which I wasn’t expecting at all, so I felt this very strange clash of fantasy and sci fi which I wasn’t sure I liked.
Despite this, I think the concept of the book was interesting, and many people will enjoy the mix of fantasy with spaceships and space travellers, especially those who are starting to introduce themselves into the sci-fi genre. Overall rating: 2.5 stars.

Lindsay Cummings' new novel is an enjoyable genre-fusing mix of Sci-fi and Fantasy.

Maybe, when picking your next book to read you might have a hard time deciding between SciFi or fantasy.
Lindsay Cummings must have been thinking this when writing Blood, Metal, Bone. But then she just thought, well why do I need to choose? Let's stick 'em in a blender and see what it tastes like.

Blood, Metal, Bone tells the story of Sonara. Cinderella bastard child of the warrior queen of Soeria, who when we first meet her is forced to maintain the horses of her mother's stable. She has a deep bond with her brother, Soahm the crown prince of the aforementioned land and jewel of his mother's eye.
However, one fateful day, a spaceship with a phoenix symbol takes Soahm, we don’t where or why, he’s just taken. Subsequently, Sonara gets the blame for this and it is assumed that she has nefariously done away with the crown prince. She is then publicly flogged by her mother, placed on a horse that her beloved brother gave her, and then forced to ride over the edge of a cliff.

Well, there’s no coming back from that one! The End!

Not quite the end, because Sonara comes back from the dead as a Shadowblood, a mysterious, magicy type of … person. The story then moves forward ten years and we meet Sonara again. Now she is working with a gang of cutpurses and she has taken up the mantle of The Devil of the Deadlands, a badass thief with magical powers. However, the shadow of her missing brother hangs over her and she is determined to find out what happened to him.
Lindsay Cummings' book is an interesting one, in that she mixes a number of different things together in this plot-driven story. In fact, she chucks everything at you Medieval fantasy that includes dragons, magic swords and quests, and then she also has a Sci-Fi story that has space smugglers, shady conglomerates, and alternative earths.

The points of view are mainly from Sonara (the medieval fantasy bit) who after been brought back from death, is surviving by being a thief in the Deadlands with other like-minded individuals who have also been brought back from the dead and now have magical powers. The other point of view comes from Karr (the sci - fi bit) who is a space smuggler aboard a spaceship called Starfall.
Initially, the book is split into these two protagonists' individual story and you are wondering what on earth the girl with the sword and the boy in the spaceship has in common.
Well, it’s obvious innit, Einstein! Brother gets pinched from his planet by a strange spaceship, what more do you need?

Yep, that is what I thought too. However, Lindsay Cummings skilfully weaves, twists, and manipulates this story to leave you with answers that quite honestly, I didn't see coming. And I enjoyed the spaceship ride that she took me on.
However, not only are there two points of view, there are two separate stories happening at the same time and at first, this can make the book a little disjointed, making you split your brain a little bit because you have to throw yourself into two separate settings.

Firstly there’s Sonara’s adventures in the Deadlands as she tries to steal stuff from the tyrannical King of the Deadlands, gets sent to jail, gets saved by her gang (who have a Dragon!), and then gets hired by a deposed princess and her skeleton encased friend to undertake a quest. Oh, and she has to come to grips with the magic powers that she gained when she was brought back from the dead, why she was brought back from the dead with all her mates, and work out her relationships with those around her, including her ex-boyfriend who also had a bit of a thing with the deposed princess and is a bit of a one!

Phew, that’s enough for one book there! However, Lindsay Cummings doesn’t stop there, she also gives us the tale of Karr and his brother Cade, who are escaping the tyrannical Jeb, who took them in as children when their parents were murdered and forced them to do some pretty underhanded jobs for him. To escape him Cade decides that taking up with a mysterious head of the shady conglomerate is the best way to escape Jeb’s clutches

The Head of the shady conglomerate then gives them a quest to get a mysterious object that is located on Sonara’s planet and can save the galaxy from a deadly disease called the ‘Reaper’, which has decimated the people of Earth and forced them to create a second Earth called Beta Earth. In the process, Karr realises that he doesn’t want to do the space smuggling thingy anymore and wants to be an artist, and he has to work out his relationship with his brother.

Now, I know that that sounds like a lot and that it may be a little confusing. But honestly, it kinda works. The stories do converge and become one and that is quite a feat, but Lindsay Cummings manages to pull it off well, and when the stories do converge we rush headlong onto the end of the book and what on earth all those things have to do with each other, beat the bad guy and discover why the Deadlands gang all have these mutant powers and who or what brought them back from the dead in the first place.

I enjoyed this book. Lindsay Cummings is a writer that treats her audience with respect. Whilst it is not up there with something like Grimdark, Cummings does pepper the story with some violence and does not shy away from it. She also introduces some complexity to the plot that twists and turns and keeps you guessing to the very end. She introduces curveballs constantly throughout the plot that leaves your brain a bit numb. In fact, at some points I met myself coming back, there were that many twists and turns in the story.

The only downside is that because there is so much in the book. I didn’t feel that I connected with the characters enough. It was like being in a perfectly decorated house, but something was a little amiss. At times, I didn’t feel that the characters quite hit their mark. For instance, Sonara was not particularly devilish, she could be a bit grumpy, but she wasn’t entirely devilish. For me, it was the same with quite a lot of the characters. I don’t want to go into it too much as this would spoil the plot.

Additionally, I felt that since there was so much in the book, a couple of storylines just didn’t feel finished. Particularly the shady space conglomerate. I just felt that I needed to know some more about them.

I’m not sure if there is another book planned, but there is definitely lots more room to carry on the story of Sonara, Karr, and the magic gang.

On the whole, the book has a mix of fantasy and sci-fi that I enjoyed right till the very end.

After signing up for a unknown cover reveal from HQ YA last year I was excited to get a NG link to a 'Secret Novel,' one that I had heard nothing about. This author and book were a real unknown for me, but I absolutely loved the story & will certainly be checking out her other works.

This is one of those books that I just can't sum up. Not because it's confusing, or there's too much stuff happening but because it will give away major spoilers. Blood Metal Bone is a genre bending read. Part Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Western/Historical novel. The premise gives little to nothing of the full story away & I will admit to getting a little confused once I started reading the second chapter, BUT, once I got into the swing of the story I found it almost impossible to put down.

The story is centred around Sonara, as well as another POV that I can't really mention without spoiling bits of the book (I said this would be hard to talk about!) Sonara has constantly been looked down on. She is a Bastard, as shown by her mix of brown and blue hair, and the only family member to ever associate with her was her older brother Soahm. One day something strange and unbelievable happens to him, and Sonara gets blamed for his death and sentenced to the Markam. Only someone wasn't ready for her to die and she returns 'Shadowblessed' with a special kind of magic, a voice in her head that lets her feel people's emotions and almost preempt them in battle. She is incredibly resilient, and finds it hard to place her trust, and open her heart to people after what happened to her brother. She doesn't believe he is dead, simply taken and the more she looks into it, the more her path with merge with POV number 2.

Sonara doesn't travel alone though. When she was brought back to life she was found by two other 'Shadowblessed' Jaxon and Markam brothers who became like family to her. I really loved the dynamic between the three of them. Jaxon and Sonara are partners in crime, he is the level headed to her sometimes hot temper, and the only person who can bring help her bring her power under control if she lets it roam too far Markam, however, has a slightly more strained relationship with Sonara, she doesn't trust the trickster and would prefer to work without him. Let's just say if you enjoy a good literary gang, filled with banter and more than a little violence, then you are sure to enjoy this one.

One thing I found really fresh about this book is there was little to no romance. Past relationships are talked about, but the main relationship this book focuses on is family, be it through blood or circumstance. But what I really liked is that every single one was different. You have Sonara and Soahm, Sonara would search the ends of the earth if it meant finding her brother, and it unwilling to give up until she has answers. Jaxon and ?, who couldn't be more dissimilar. Jaxon is kind and loving, whereas Markam is more money motivated and will only help out if there is something in it for him. As well as the secret POV I can't mention, but just know that he's a bit of a cinnamon roll who has no idea what his big brother has in store for him.

If I had one issue with this it would be that it should have been a duology. There were so many unanswered questions, not directly related to the main plot, but enough that I feel the story could have been fleshed out significantly and made into two books. That being said, making it compact made for one adventurous story that makes you fly through the pages. There were no lulls, and very few parts of the book where sometimes exciting/important wasn't happening. It's also filled with twists and turns... chapter 2 anybody! But they are brilliantly foreshadowed throughout the book, so they definitely leave you angry at yourself for not seeing them coming.

This is the perfect book for fantasy fans who are looking to branch out into Sci-Fi. It really does bring us the best of both worlds, and there are few books out there with the kind of well built fantasy world & also space ships. I had little idea what I was getting myself in for, but it was such a fun read, and has definitely made me want to check out more of the authors work. 4*.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I've enjoyed a lot of space-based fantasy novels over the last few years, offerings such as Once and Future and the Red Rising series being the top of the pile. Cummings' novel is different enough to be interesting but shows a lot of the same tropes. I found her writing a little difficult at first - once I was into the story it got easier but I found the characters a little one-dimensional at times. I liked the idea of a world that was sentient and the concept of the Shadowborn. I'll be intrigued to see what she does next.

READ THIS IF... you like three-dimensional female leads, horses and/or dragons, and stories about the power of family and friendship.

THE STORY... Wrongfully executed for her brother’s ‘murder’, Sonara’s cursed second life as a Shadowblood is even more complex than the first. Existing as an outlaw, she searches for her brother, and meets an unlikely cast of characters along the way.

I... was very impressed by this book. Part high fantasy, part sci fi, Lindsay Cummings seamlessly combined the genres into a compelling, high-stakes narrative. I felt utterly spoiled to be able to move from royal halls to spaceship escape pods. I could sum up the experience of reading this book with one word: fun!

Sonara is my favourite type of protagonist - she doesn’t think of herself as a hero, and has a morally grey past, but her love for her brother and friends is her propelling force. Whilst there were romantic subplots, I enjoyed that this was not the focus of the book. Instead, I was swept along with Sonara and her crew as they battled against capitalistic greed to save the planet.

NOW... I’m definitely interested in checking out Lindsay Cummings’ previous novels. I’d also love recommendations of other books that combine multiple genres, as it was brilliant to have such a fresh perspective.

"She'd lived two lives already, but she was still trying to figure out why in the hell she was deserving of even one."
Blood Metal Bone is a standalone novel that is a unique mix of fantasy and sci-fi, unlike anything I have read before. It has many aspects and tropes of a traditional medieval type fantasy. has magic and strained alliances and much more of the plot devices a fan of YA fantasy would be a fan of. Add some space pillaging and galactic capitalism and you have a good idea of what you are getting yourself into.
(TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR; Some mentions of death, murder, loss of a sibling, false prosecutions, medical content, imprisonment, and violence. In my opinion, these are not graphic in nature.)
It took a lot of risks, however, I am not sure it always paid off, so let's get into my review.
The setting and atmosphere were well done, we got to know our setting well and it was described in a way that was straight to the point whilst still giving the reader enough information to get absorbed into the story.
Similarly, the writing style was done well without being flowery or overly simplified, you can tell that the author has taken a lot of time to hone her craft however I wouldn't describe it as anything spectacular.
The characters are interesting however I didn't feel like I knew any of them on a deep level to the point that I had an emotional connection to them. As such some of the big plot points didn't feel particularly high stakes. I also feel as if our main characters, and the writing of them, fell down the trap of telling instead of showing. By this I mean some of them had a lot of expectations forced upon them by the way they were described, for goodness sake our MC was called a devil countless times, but it just didn't add up causing them to not feel as fleshed out as they could be.
The plot was straight forward enough and the plot twists, that there were, I had guessed pretty early on. Once again its nothing groundbreaking but could be a good place to start for some people.
I was just a bit bored in honesty, and the fact that I had seen so many things coming from the start just made me want to finish it.
It is unique though and I will give it that, if someone reads no sci-fi at all maybe this would be a good starting point for them. Also, there was no romance! Like at all. Which I greatly appreciated. The concept was definitely there, even if it was confusing for the first third because it felt like we were dealing with two completely different books.
An interesting one and not a complete write off, just not something I would recommend to everyone. Forgettable for me, at best.
Rated: 2.5 stars

I found Blood, Metal, Bone hard to get into. At the beginning it felt like there was an awful lot of setting and character info dumping, which didn’t allow me to connect with the story. I also didn’t really like any of the characters, so again I struggled to connect. However, I loved the idea of blending sci-fi and fantasy together. I don’t know why, or how, but it just worked. Although the writing was sometimes clunky, once I’d gotten used to the style, it sucked me in and carried me through the story. Overall, it was ok, and I’d love to check out some earlier books by this author!

I didn’t end up finishing this book as I hadn’t realised from its description that it was going to be sci-fi blended with fantasy. I found the mediaeval style fantasy elements in the beginning really interesting and was quite enjoying it but sci fi isn’t really the genre for me and when that element came in. It became confusing I didn’t like how the two were blended together. The writing style was ok but the descriptions and world building weren’t great at moments that should have tugged at my heart strings fell short.

This is a tricky book to review. Certain parts (Sonara - fantasy) were absolutely perfect, while I struggled with others (Karr - sci-fi). Though there is a nice melding of the two threads, it still felt for me like two separate stories. I can't fault the writing, and the heart of the story is excellent. Some of the characters felt a little bit forced and under-developed, but this is a very enjoyable read.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Blood, Metal, Bone is set on the distant world of Dohrsar, where the land is split into three rival kingdoms, where vicious kings and queens rule with iron will and murder. It's here that we meet Sonara, the bastard daughter of Iridis the queen of Soreia. Looked down on with scorn by her mother, Sonara is forced to live and work in the stables, her only friend her older brother, the prince, Soahm. Despite her unhappy life she accepts her place in the world, and finds enjoyment where she can, but when a huge metal ship descends from the heavens and takes her brother in a beam of light the queen blames Sonara for his disappearance. 


Sentenced to death, Sonara is tortured and whipped before being thrown from a cliff to her death However, for some on Dohrsar death is not the end, and Sonara is brought back to life as a Shadowblood, a warrior with a magical power and darkness flowing in her veins. Now wandering the Deadlands, she and other Shadowbloods have come together to form their own small mercenary band. When they get hired for a job my another Shadowblood and her masked companion Sonara little suspects she's setting out on a path that will decide the fate of the whole planet.

Going into Blood, Metal, Bone I was expecting a pure fantasy story, one where the magics of the Shadowbloods and the warring kingdoms would be the focus. And whilst this is mostly true, and this is a book that deals with themes of magic, destiny, and mystical forces, it's also got a dash of science fiction thrown into the mix too; which really makes the book stand out. It turns out that Dohrsar is just one of many worlds in the galaxy, and that humans have an interest in it for their won gains, putting those who live their at risk. This is what the book is really about, and in a lot of ways mirrors historical colonialism, of a more technologically advanced force coming to a land because they want the resources, and willing to kill those who live there to get it.

At first glance the book is simply a fantasy story, but once you start to get deeper into it it's clear that there's a lot more going on here, and the book deals with heavy subjects, as well as blending together two normally incompatible genres in a way that never feels forced or out of place. Lindsay Cummings manages to craft some amazing scenes where you've got warriors with swords attacking a spaceship whilst riding a dragon, and what's not to love about that?

There's a great mixture of characters too, with the team around Sonara being an interesting mix, all of whom I'd love to spend more time reading about. The fact that they're not a perfect team, and that some of them get on each others nerves, argue, and sometimes even need to manipulate each other makes them all the more realistic. Rather than a perfect band of heroes they feel like a group of people thrown together and making the best of things, people who see each other as family, but probably wouldn't be friends if they had much of a choice in the matter. 

Whilst I really enjoyed the book there's one thing that brought it down for me, the length. The book clocks in at just shy of 400 pages, and it really didn't feel like enough. We get to know Sonara pretty well, but none of the other characters really get as much of a focus; the same with the world of Dohrsar, we hear about some of the other kingdoms and peoples, but never really know much about it. The book felt light on detail in places, and I wanted to spend more time getting to know the characters, and can't help but feel another hundred pages would have helped with my enjoyment of the book.

Despite that one small complaint, the book was a really entertaining read, one that did a lot with the time it had and created a world and characters that I wanted to read more of. I don't know if Cummings plans on writing more books set on Dohrsar, but I really hope she does, as I'd love to find out what happens next.

Sonara has been sentenced to death for the murder of her brother, a crime she didn't commit. Given a second chance at life, she is keen to solve the mystery of what really happened.

It took me a beat to realise that this book was sci fi, since it begins reading much more like fantasy. To be honest I was far more gripped by the initial chapters than anything else in the book, since Sonara's later story was difficult to connect to.

The characters fell a little flat and I wasn't particularly engaged by the plot. It felt like the story had potential, but never really realised it!

I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.