Blood Mage

by K.S. Villoso

Blood magic is cheating.
The tables have turned. Unbeknownst to the people of Dageis, their emperor is a puppet, controlled by an outlaw kept under the strict watch of the mage council's Firekeeper.

Only Rosha knows it won't last long. Her powers are slipping. To hold up her disguise, she has turned to the legacy of her fathers' the dangerous, mysterious, reviled blood magic. Long practiced by her people, it has been dismissed by the empire's mages as savage and unstable. But other mages have caught on to the allure of power that lay within the forbidden and the secret hidden inside the very bodies of Rosha's kin.

It is now up to Rosha and her friends to save her people from a past that continues to haunt them and a future in which they have no place, even if it means treading the line between sanity and self-destruction. With her own secrets unraveling, Rosha has nowhere left to turn but deep within herself as she has to make the decision between embracing the people she has tried to run from and becoming the monster the history books warned she could be.

Genres: Fantasy

518 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2024

About the author

I write character-driven epic fantasy with huge doses of horror, angst, and frustratingly tangled character relationships. You can read more about my work at my website:

http://www.ksvilloso.com

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K.S. Villoso was born in a dank hospital on an afternoon in Albay, Philippines, and things have generally been okay since then. After spending most of her childhood in a slum area in Taguig (where she dodged death-defying traffic, ate questionable food, and fell into open-pit sewers more often than one ought to), she and her family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where they spent the better part of two decades trying to chase the North American Dream. She is now living amidst the forest and mountains with her family, children, and dogs in Anmore, BC.

Reviews

[Selina⚔️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS AND IM BEGGING FOR THE NEXT BOOK

[Noor Al-Shanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood Mage follows the story of Rosha after the events of book 1, showing us how she is dealing with the secrets behind those controlling the Daegian Empire, and, of course, getting her and her loved ones even more deeply embroiled in all of it. There's a certain point in the book when I realized that they had crossed over the threshold of this adventure and weren't going to catch a break until the end of the book! This is Villoso's style of throwing her characters into the heart of the action and pulling the reader along for the ride!

This book doesn't just focus on Rosha, though. We also get to see many of the events from the perspective of Nasuha, which helps give us a wider view of aspects of the empire that Rosha doesn't really connect with. Many other characters from Rosha's family and from past books tie in to the plot here, with Villoso expertly weaving together so many different character motivations and plotlines and bringing them together at the end.

And, of course, the aspect of Villoso's storytelling that keeps me coming back for more: those deep, thoughtful, raw musings about empire and identity and injustice that make these books stand out. I highlighted a lot of them in this book, but one that is short and poignant:

"There were rules, and they didn't apply equally."

I think this one sums up the struggles that drive a lot of the characters in this book as they struggle to make sense of the twisted empire they are in and try to find their place and make decisions about how they will use what little power they were able to wrest for themselves.

I went into this book thinking it was the last one in the Dageian Puppetmaster series, that this particular adventure was just a duology, but I was pleasantly surprised at the end to find out there's another one planned! I can't wait!

[Lorewarden]

I enjoyed this second volume in the Dageian Puppetmaster series. While the overall plot is interesting - a subjected peoples pushing back against an oppressive and arrogant empire - it's the characters that really make this a great read. Villoso's characters aren't really heroes - they're just regular people doing what they can with what skills and motivations they have. It's nice to see a dysfunctional family too. The protagonists almost seem to hate each other sometimes but still manage to work together when they need to.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot thickens in this second book. This time, it’s not just Rosha’s POV but also Nasuha’s, who was a minor character in the previous book. Well, let’s just say Nasuha has a much bigger part in Rosha’s story than was previously thought.

Really love the commentary on how academia, and ultimately empire, seeks to control its students, not really educate them. The question of making a place for oneself as an oppressed person in an empire that does not see your humanity vs. burning it all down is a key issue in this book.

Looking forward to Shattered Mage.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a change. A puppet for an Emperor, that strange Does anyone even realize what’s going on. A beautifully written fantasy for everyone to enjoy. The second book definitely doesn’t disappoint.

[Eliise]

I can't wait until this comes out on audio so I can read it!!!