Blood Requiem

Chaos Queen #3

by Christopher Husberg

“Perfect for fans of Daniel Abraham and Brandon Sanderson.” Library Journal on Duskfall
The Nine Daemons are on the rise.
Once believed dead and gone, Daemons have found a way back into the world. But the only people who can withstand their assault are spread across the face of the Sfaera.
Free at last from the influence of assassins and emperors alike, the psimancer Winter sails back to her hometown—only to find a new trouble stirring. Meanwhile, the heretic sisters Jane and Cinzia Oden are beset by supernatural attacks. And soon their allies, the vampire-girl Astrid and the former assassin Knot, must face the terrifying Black Matron.
As new battles are fought, the Daemons creep ever closer to freedom, and the legend of the Chaos Queen may soon be made anew.

Genres: Fantasy

400 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2018

Reviews

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addicting, and very interesting.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood Requiem, the third book in the Chaos Queen quintet, brought back all of the characters that I love in the series and raised the stakes for everyone! Christopher Husberg is exceptional at easing his readers into the story and reminding them of key information as it becomes relevant again. He interweaves multiple plot lines and builds dynamic characters by revealing the just right amount of back story as the series continues.

In this book I loved learning more about Astrid, the hundreds-years-old vampire child, who is one of my favorite characters from the first two books. Here we learn more about her traumatic past in order to understand why the Dark Matron has a strong enough hold on her to cause Astrid to betray the person she loves most. Much of the action of the story surrounds Winter, the powerful Tiellan psimancer, who begins to own her power and leads her people into battle against their oppressors. As the battle rages on, the Nine Daemons make another attempt to force their re-entry into the world.

Start with the first book in the series, Chaos Queen, but be prepared to keep reading!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally posted at Erlebnisse: erlebnisseweb.wordpress.com/2018/07/1...

I have…so many feelings, right now.

You’d think, after going through two books in this fantastic quintet, that I’d be more prepared for all the emotions that these books put you through. Like, this isn’t my first Husberg rodeo. I know how these books go down. I know how invested I am in these characters (read: really invested). I know how high these stakes are (and they just keep raising).

I know all of that, so you’d think, going into reading the third book of the The Chaos Queen quintet, Blood Requiem, that I’d be a little more prepared; that my heart wouldn’t hurt nearly so badly, after going through that rush there in the last, eh, I’d honestly say 150 pages or so. That I wouldn’t literally be covered in chills right now from those last five chapters (and epilogue). How I wouldn’t literally go and check when Fear The Stars is supposed to be released and then be disappointed when I have another year’s wait ahead of me (since, you know, this book just came out a few weeks ago). You would think, by now, I would have learned.

I have not learned.

Shit, this book, though, dear readers

First, let me tell you a quick story about my epic quest I underwent in procuring this book. It’s been my most anticipated release of the summer (although it might be tied with Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames, if I’m being honest), so when June 5th hit, I was super, super, super stoked. Made special plans with the boyfriend to drive an hour to the nearest bookstore (I know, the fact that there are no bookstores within an hour of where we live is both a travesty and completely and morally wrong) and pick up this gorgeous copy–because Husberg is always going to be on my immediate “to-buy” list, damn what my bank account says. We arrive, I fly up the stairs, ready to hold this book in my hands and wondering if my boyfriend will actually stay with me if I just immediately start reading and he’s forced to drag me through the rest of the store so I stop running into everything and anything within 15 feet in front of me; when, suddenly, I arrive on the top floor, only to discover:

The book isn’t there.

Go downstairs, ask very nicely to the person working, where this book is. Have they already sold out truly within three days? For whatever reason that still isn’t super clear to me, they don’t have any copies. So, I turn to my boyfriend, tell him of another bookstore I know 30 minutes away. It can’t hurt to try, right?

Heartbreak number two.

We go home, crestfallen and downtrodden (okay, I was), carrying even more books than I planned to buy to compensate for the fact that apparently no one has a copy of the book that I’ve been waiting a year for.

A week goes by.

We’re out shopping and I realize something: this outdoor mall outlet thing we happen to be frequenting at that very moment? They have a bookstore. Dragging the wonderful boyfriend in tow, we begin the quest anew!

And leave once more with books that don’t have Blood Requiem on the title page and Christopher Husberg on the spine.

Friends, I quested for a copy of this book to call my own. I quested and I journeyed and I failed, multiple times, shaking my relationship with bookstores everywhere for what I feel will be years to come. I’m not even sure if I can trust them, at this point. Sure, after that failed trip, I resorted to the online buying option with free two-day shipping, but that’s not the same as going to a bookstore and being surrounded by shelves upon shelves of your favorite things in the world while you pick up the book you’ve been waiting months for and finally getting to smell it and cradle it in your arms and call it ‘my precious’ and…

Ahem.

So, you can see, this book had a lot of expectations from me: from the year-long wait after finishing Dark Immolation to my epic quest to procure my own physical copy of one of my favorite series of all time, it had a lot to live up to. Could this book truly be good enough to be worth that wait, be worth all those miles driven and my now shaky relationship with all my favorite bookstores?

Oh, friends.

Like he always does, Husberg surpassed all my expectations.

I couldn’t ask for a better third installment to this incredible series. An incredible series that, I’m really surprised I don’t see more hype for? Like, how is everyone not reading this series yet? I seriously don’t get it. This book has everything you want in a classic epic fantasy. Hell, I have no doubt it’s going to become a classic for future generations like Tolkien has for us (and always will be, Professor, don’t you doubt that; your books are eternal).

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Nicole, this review told me nothing about the book. It didn’t mention the intense battles and growing political unrest (and uprisings and rebellions that has me rooting for the death of almost every human ((wait, what??))). It doesn’t describe the fantastically detailed battle scenes. It doesn’t point out that Winter is starting to grow on me, even if she annoyed me in the first couple of books. It doesn’t detail how, 3/4th of the way through, I thought I had the ending pegged, because [SPOILER] did [SPOILER] and I called it, only to have all of my expectations be completely twisted and now I’m left wanting for book four even more. It doesn’t talk about how fantastic these characters are and how much they’ve grown and how real they feel–let alone how invested I am in them. It doesn’t talk about–

I know.

It’s the third book in a quintet, dear readers. This book is spoilers for the main course with spoilers for sides, sauce, drink and dessert. I can’t give you details–even though I desperately need to talk these details out to somebody, please send help–without spoiling the entire book for you. And, dear readers, I just care too much about you to subject you to that kind of fate.

What I can do is recommend with every fiber of my being that you read these books. You read them and you become ensnared and fall in love with them like I have. You read them and finally catch all my sneaky references in these reviews and feel like a badass for doing so. You read them and then come back and thank me after you have, because each book only gets better than the last–and we are not done yet.

So, go.

Read on!

[Amy Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong entry in the CHAOS QUEEN QUINTET series, filled with actions, raised stakes, revelations, new characters and abilities, this is still a great story for anyone who is looking to get their fix on dark fantasy.

This fourth book features many of the heroes looking to make unlikely allies and confront old enemies. There is plenty going on so the book never feels slow. The characters endure quite a bit throughout the novel, and while I enjoyed everyone's scenes, Astrid remained the stand out for me.

I was delighted to see more of the gods and how their actions affected the characters near the end. Things get dark and intense as the plot progresses, though I'm still not sure I understood the introduction of the elemental magic wielders.

The writing is still strong and makes for an exciting reading experience, and I'm curious to see where things go from here as our heroes remain victorious!

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The twists of this story are very well done & the characters are now gaining real life status. This series just keeps getting better!

[Jillian Wahlquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is the best yet. I started it on an airplane and before I knew it I was 200 pages in!

I really like how the characters are developing and an author who isn't afraid to have characters walk the line between protagonist and antagonist makes me sooooo happy. I'm honestly not sure whether I'll wind up loving or happily hating half the characters in this book by the end of the series.

I also appreciate that Husberg doesn't shy away from grabbing an issue like addiction and dropping it into an epic fantasy magic system.

Enjoy!

[Alon Lankri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be much better than the previous ones, with characters coming into their own both through development and perhaps the author's technical improvement. My favorite character by far has been Astrid, followed by Knot. In general each character here is plagued by questions of philosophy, morality, and the value of their own and other lives throughout the series which is usually done well. This book grabbed me more than the previous ones thanks to the characters making harder choices and the plot swirling in ever more dramatic ways.

[Jessica Schieber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine

The story line is moderately interesting, but the character development is limited and feels forced at times. I still cant get over the Tiellians who are elven in nature speaking with “ain’t” in their vocab regularly and sounding like they are from the south. Just weird for what their characters seem they should be.

[Andrej Macko · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh I'm not sure if it was a wise idea to implement yet another filler character in to this short of a book but book 4 may persuade me that it was, well see.
So far 3.6, not good not terrible. Focus is constantly changing which so person isn't bored even after a longer reading session.

[Paul Torr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to the last one these books took me by surprise listening to them on graphic audio and its really good

[Rhu Sherrard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good storyline - twists and turns
Characters are great - conflicted and adaptable.

[Stefu Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scope of the story is getting bigger. It��s building up to something and I’m excited about it! Towards the end of the book is one of my favorite quotes: “I’m broken, and that’s okay.”

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent series - so far. Really hoping it can finish as strong as it’s started.

[Alejandro Montero · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read, the characters are developing nicely and I am more and more intrigued by where the story is going

[Thuan]

I stumbled upon Duskfall through reddit and boy o’ boy, it was such a fun and refreshing read! Dark Immolation was a tossup for me. I thought Dark Immolation’s atmosphere and story was in the opposite direction of what had attracted me to give Duskfall a try: a mysterious stranger in a quest to find his forgotten identity, his supernatural powers, justice for those he loved, and survive the dangers of it all. It was full of action and intrigue and there was never a dull moment.

Dark Immolation took the story in the opposite direction. Knot lost his wife (or what he assumed without much effort on his part), his powers and most importantly his direction in life. The premise for Dark Immolation is that Knot has to start over again but this time, his journey is abysmally boring because he doesn’t have a clear purpose nor a strong drive to find his own strength (again, I might add).

Then there’s the other (or should I say supporting) main characters: Jane and Cinzia. I had never really liked those two. In fact, I thought them to be enormously annoying and frustrating to read due to their silly religious arguments and ideals. Let’s be honest, I’m here to read a fantasy adventure, not a theological preaching about Cantos (Christianity is the analogy to it). And let’s not forget the other original main character from Duskfall, Knot’s wife, Winter. She’s still in her path of addiction and self-destruction. There’s not much to say about her in the last book except for her joining the crazy club.

So finally, here’s the third book: Blood Requiem. Now these days, as a reader I don’t have much free time for reading and along with a huge backlog of books to read, if I don’t find a book interesting by the 30% mark, I’m done. Time is precious and my tolerance level is low. But, I had really liked reading the Chaos Queen series and despite my hang-ups from Dark Immolation, Blood Requiem was this year’s anticipation for me.

Let’s just say, without much major spoilers, Blood Requiem seems to be in the same direction as Dark Immolation. I’m sorely disappointed. I don’t care much for this type of plot mechanic: Let’s make Knot weak again so he can go through another boring path to find his own strength (for try number 3!). If this series was Lord of the Rings and in every book, Aragon has to start off weak and discover his own strength and in reverse, he has to rely on the Hobbits to save his butt, I’m sure Sauron has already conquered Middle Earth, and “yawn.”

And then there’s the other characters. There’s not much changed for Winter’s situation. Locodoco club all the way for her. But, Jane and Cinzia has turned up the annoyance level to an all-time high. In the previous book, Jane and Cinizia’s religious plot device was part of the overall plot for the political maneuverings and religious conflicts. Besides that, there’s a bigger and mysterious evil that’s come to threaten the world.

In Blood Requiem, it’s progressed, in my opinion, into full Christian preaching. Cinzia is still in this repetitive mode: “Should I have faith or not have faith?” Hasn’t this already been resolved in the last book? But anyways, if a religious zealot has so much recurring doubts, she’s obviously in the wrong profession as a priest. More to the point, this book focuses less on the decisions, actions, and consequences of Jane and Cinizia’s religious struggles and decisions against the political atmosphere but more on the spiritual and theological beliefs. It’s become more of “Let’s have faith even though we’re making dumb decisions.” Ex: Oh, there’s a conflict they can’t solve? Tada! Faith to the rescue. Or, they need to make a smart decision on how to proceed? No need. Faith will fix it.

Then, there’s also the supernatural or magical part of the story. From a covert and magical organization in book one, to some nonsense devil and archangel concept in book three. From the last book, we know the evil that attacked their world was from Azael (I hope I’m right from my hazy memory). And now we’re introduced to more demons (or whatever they are) in the beginning of the book: Luceraf, Hade, Samann and etc. Clearly some mix of biblical, Greco-Roman and Germanic pagan ideas here. But more to the point, it’s a parody of the Christian (Cantos) vs. Pagans concept.

Sadly to say, by about a third of the book, I’ve lost interest. What initially attracted me to read Duskfall is completely gone by this book. I don’t find Knot interesting. I am, as always, annoyed by Jane and Cinizia. Winter is forever a dull read. And the supernatural turned religious preaching is a major turn off.

Don’t get me wrong. The writing style is fabulous to read. There’s great talent there. But personally, I don’t find it fun anymore in my limited reading time. (But to be honest, I’m just damned tired of Knot’s Ping-Pong cycle).

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really is an excellent epic fantasy series. While it is about the struggle between good and evil, there are also gray areas; not all is black and white. It is also about bigotry and religion; the rise of a downtrodden people and also the rise of a new religion. There are several different stories at work, too. I absolutely recommend this series.

[Marcelaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm loving this series. Can't wait to see where the next book goes.

But . . . can I just say, there's a lot of neck stabbing. Like it seems like the majority of the time when someone gets killed it's because someone drove a spear through their neck, sliced their neck with a dagger, bit their neck (vampires), snapped their neck, or clawed their neck.