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The Realms of Ancient #2
Children of the Bloodlands
The dazzling second book in S.M. Beiko’s Realms of Ancient series
Three months after the battle of Zabor, the five friends that came together to defeat her have been separated. Burdened with the Calamity Stone she acquired in Scion of the Fox, Roan has gone to Scotland to retrace her grandmother’s steps in an attempt to stop further evil from entering the world.
Meanwhile, a wicked monster called Seela has risen from the ashy Bloodlands and is wreaking havoc on the world while children in Edinburgh are afflicted by a strange plague; Eli travels to Seoul to face judgment and is nearly murdered; Natti endures a taxing journey with two polar bears; Phae tries desperately to obtain the key to the Underworld; and Barton joins a Family-wide coalition as the last defense against an enemy that will stop at nothing to undo Ancient’s influence on Earth — before there is no longer an Earth to fight for.
Darkness, death, and the ancient powers that shape the world will collide as our heroes discover that some children collapse under their dark inheritance, and those that don’t are haunted by blood.
Three months after the battle of Zabor, the five friends that came together to defeat her have been separated. Burdened with the Calamity Stone she acquired in Scion of the Fox, Roan has gone to Scotland to retrace her grandmother’s steps in an attempt to stop further evil from entering the world.
Meanwhile, a wicked monster called Seela has risen from the ashy Bloodlands and is wreaking havoc on the world while children in Edinburgh are afflicted by a strange plague; Eli travels to Seoul to face judgment and is nearly murdered; Natti endures a taxing journey with two polar bears; Phae tries desperately to obtain the key to the Underworld; and Barton joins a Family-wide coalition as the last defense against an enemy that will stop at nothing to undo Ancient’s influence on Earth — before there is no longer an Earth to fight for.
Darkness, death, and the ancient powers that shape the world will collide as our heroes discover that some children collapse under their dark inheritance, and those that don’t are haunted by blood.
440 pages, Hardcover
First published September 25, 2018
4 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
S.M. Beiko
18 books129 followersSAMANTHA MARY BEIKO is a writer of whatever tromps into her head at the time--but mostly it is YA fantasy and its derivatives.
She currently works full-time the Canadian publishing industry as a freelance editor, graphic designer, and consultant, and is the Co-Publisher of ChiZine Publications. She devotes her days to helping traditional corporate publishers, as well as independent writers and creators, realize their projects to print or digital completion, helping them to market with editorial and graphic design. She was also the co-editor on Imaginarium 2013 and Imaginarium 5, and will be co-editing Gothic Tales of Haunted Love with Hope Nicholson for Bedside Press in 2017.
Her first novel, a young adult fantasy set in rural Manitoba called The Lake and the Library, was nominated for the Manitoba Book Award for Best First Book, as well as the 2014 Aurora Award. Her next series, The Realms of Ancient, has been signed for a three book deal with ECW Press. The first book, Scion of the Fox, will be out in October 2017. The sequels to follow are Children of the Bloodlands and The Brilliant Dark in the subsequent years (2018 and 2019).
Samantha currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is the co-chair of the Winnipeg ChiSeries, a reading series that highlights speculative writers in various panels, readings, and workshops. She is also the co-organizer, along with Hope Nicholson (Bedside Press) and Alicia May (Dandizette Cosmetics) of Winnipeg Geek Girls Social Club.
She apologizes in advance if she ignores you when a dog walks by.
She currently works full-time the Canadian publishing industry as a freelance editor, graphic designer, and consultant, and is the Co-Publisher of ChiZine Publications. She devotes her days to helping traditional corporate publishers, as well as independent writers and creators, realize their projects to print or digital completion, helping them to market with editorial and graphic design. She was also the co-editor on Imaginarium 2013 and Imaginarium 5, and will be co-editing Gothic Tales of Haunted Love with Hope Nicholson for Bedside Press in 2017.
Her first novel, a young adult fantasy set in rural Manitoba called The Lake and the Library, was nominated for the Manitoba Book Award for Best First Book, as well as the 2014 Aurora Award. Her next series, The Realms of Ancient, has been signed for a three book deal with ECW Press. The first book, Scion of the Fox, will be out in October 2017. The sequels to follow are Children of the Bloodlands and The Brilliant Dark in the subsequent years (2018 and 2019).
Samantha currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is the co-chair of the Winnipeg ChiSeries, a reading series that highlights speculative writers in various panels, readings, and workshops. She is also the co-organizer, along with Hope Nicholson (Bedside Press) and Alicia May (Dandizette Cosmetics) of Winnipeg Geek Girls Social Club.
She apologizes in advance if she ignores you when a dog walks by.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 30, 2019
Children of the Bloodlands was an exceptional follow-up to Scion of the Fox, bringing more danger to Roan and her friends and loads more tension (and excitement) for all involved.
With Scion of the Fox, Roan was just discovering who she is and how all of the weird events she’s lived with her entire life have (unknowingly) had direct ties to ancient powers. Slowly but surely through the course of that tale, Roan was learning and training and coming to terms with her newfound status and how nothing will ever be the same again. Children of the Bloodlands picks up right where Scion left off, where Roan tries to get somewhere where she can grapple with everything she’s been faced with over the course of such a short period of time. But there’s no time for rest, as the same dangers she faced back home have reared their ugly heads in Scotland. The demon never sleeps, and Roan and her friends are tasked yet again with trying to save as many people as possible.
I can’t say enough how glad I am to have discovered this hidden gem of a series. Filled with magic and mystery with a healthy dose of mayhem, Beiko has created such an intricate and detailed world that just sucks you in. Everything — from the magic system and the ‘houses’, to the ancient realms filled with demons bent on destroying the world — there’s never a dull moment. The characters are just as detailed and dynamic as the amazing world, maybe even more so at times. These 5 friends have such an incredible chemistry and I can’t help but think that they wouldn’t work as well together without such a solid friendship. In this installment there’s also a hint of a possibility of romance, but friendship among these characters definitely the core of the story.
With so much danger facing these characters, it’s anyone’s guess how Roan and her friends will defeat the demons and hopefully save as much as the world as they can without dying. Or imparting severe damage to themselves and others. Children of the Bloodlands was such an incredible second installment and I can’t wait to see what Beiko brings in the third and final installment of this new favorite trilogy. 4.5 stars.
*Many thanks to ECW Press for providing a free copy for review.
With Scion of the Fox, Roan was just discovering who she is and how all of the weird events she’s lived with her entire life have (unknowingly) had direct ties to ancient powers. Slowly but surely through the course of that tale, Roan was learning and training and coming to terms with her newfound status and how nothing will ever be the same again. Children of the Bloodlands picks up right where Scion left off, where Roan tries to get somewhere where she can grapple with everything she’s been faced with over the course of such a short period of time. But there’s no time for rest, as the same dangers she faced back home have reared their ugly heads in Scotland. The demon never sleeps, and Roan and her friends are tasked yet again with trying to save as many people as possible.
I can’t say enough how glad I am to have discovered this hidden gem of a series. Filled with magic and mystery with a healthy dose of mayhem, Beiko has created such an intricate and detailed world that just sucks you in. Everything — from the magic system and the ‘houses’, to the ancient realms filled with demons bent on destroying the world — there’s never a dull moment. The characters are just as detailed and dynamic as the amazing world, maybe even more so at times. These 5 friends have such an incredible chemistry and I can’t help but think that they wouldn’t work as well together without such a solid friendship. In this installment there’s also a hint of a possibility of romance, but friendship among these characters definitely the core of the story.
With so much danger facing these characters, it’s anyone’s guess how Roan and her friends will defeat the demons and hopefully save as much as the world as they can without dying. Or imparting severe damage to themselves and others. Children of the Bloodlands was such an incredible second installment and I can’t wait to see what Beiko brings in the third and final installment of this new favorite trilogy. 4.5 stars.
*Many thanks to ECW Press for providing a free copy for review.
September 16, 2018
Well well well. WELL.
Full RTC. Keep an eye out for the blog Tour!!
Full RTC. Keep an eye out for the blog Tour!!
November 30, 2018
This was FANTASTIC. I will have a full review up soon!!
*
Edit: Full review here:
Children of the Bloodlands is the second installment in The Realms of Ancient Trilogy by S.M. Beiko. ECW Press was kind enough to send me a beautiful copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I read Scion of the Fox (#1) back in February and while it was a bit of a whirlwind I thoroughly enjoyed the urban fantasy. I was super excited to receive this book from ECW Press and dived right into it as soon as it arrived!
*
I’m not going to lie, one of the main reasons I was anticipating this book was because I really wanted to see what else would happen between Roan and Eli and not just if something were to happen romantically – some of my favourite scenes from Scion of the Fox were to do with both of them but especially because the ending of the first book left them on such a cliffhanger. Enter this book – still a fair bit muddled between the two of them but there is MORE and that’s what I wanted.
*
The character development grew deeper in this expansion which was something I really appreciated and definitely enhanced the story line. Most of the main characters were in high school when this adventure began but now they are out on their own – becoming adults while trying to figure out everything else that was thrust upon them. I felt like Natti was a bit of thrown in character in the 1st book and kind of again in the 2nd book but she wasn’t a character I felt a deeper connection with to be honest. Roan is very pigheaded and wants zero help with anything – another character I don’t always feel a connection to but still enjoy reading. Barton has small but very important parts to play out in each novel and I admire his determination and love his feelings for Phae. Eli has always been an interesting character to me and his lack of trust in anyone else other than himself makes him so lonely until he’s Part Of The Gang and he would totally cringe knowing that but probably also feel a little warm on the inside because of it and I love that. Phae was just the best friend to Roan – the main character in Scion but in Bloodlands – she is EVERYTHING. I just love where S.M. Beiko went with Phae’s story and really enjoyed the different perspective she has to everything that’s happening to her and how she genuinely feels about it all – I felt more of a connection with her in this book for sure! Phae was my number one in this book!
*
Also – new character alert – I LOVE Saskia, the little girl who is hero?/villain? – You’ll find out! One of my favourite scenes was with her, Eli and Roan driving in the car and the feeling it created.
*
Moving away from character growth, the enormous expansion of the story was phenomenal. Building on the Realms of Ancient and how the Paramounts and their stones greatly affect each other while all being connected in some way was really, really cool. I was really fascinated by how the story played out and S.M. Beiko really nails it in the world-building department.
*
The story itself was well written and fleshed out. I feel Beiko did a really good job of “showing” rather than “telling” for her books. It kept my mind actively participating and reading word for word rather than just skimming.
I think maybe the only thing that I stumbled over from time to time was remembering that Roan's voice was in 1st person while all the other characters voices are written from 3rd person.
*
YES. I would definitely recommend! Although, I definitely recommend you read Scion of the Fox before Children of the Bloodlands otherwise you won't have any idea what's going on. I would rate this series as a PG - 13 between the two of them so far. There are a few crude words used but not near enough to flag it.
*
Happy Reading!
*
Edit: Full review here:
Children of the Bloodlands is the second installment in The Realms of Ancient Trilogy by S.M. Beiko. ECW Press was kind enough to send me a beautiful copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I read Scion of the Fox (#1) back in February and while it was a bit of a whirlwind I thoroughly enjoyed the urban fantasy. I was super excited to receive this book from ECW Press and dived right into it as soon as it arrived!
*
I’m not going to lie, one of the main reasons I was anticipating this book was because I really wanted to see what else would happen between Roan and Eli and not just if something were to happen romantically – some of my favourite scenes from Scion of the Fox were to do with both of them but especially because the ending of the first book left them on such a cliffhanger. Enter this book – still a fair bit muddled between the two of them but there is MORE and that’s what I wanted.
*
The character development grew deeper in this expansion which was something I really appreciated and definitely enhanced the story line. Most of the main characters were in high school when this adventure began but now they are out on their own – becoming adults while trying to figure out everything else that was thrust upon them. I felt like Natti was a bit of thrown in character in the 1st book and kind of again in the 2nd book but she wasn’t a character I felt a deeper connection with to be honest. Roan is very pigheaded and wants zero help with anything – another character I don’t always feel a connection to but still enjoy reading. Barton has small but very important parts to play out in each novel and I admire his determination and love his feelings for Phae. Eli has always been an interesting character to me and his lack of trust in anyone else other than himself makes him so lonely until he’s Part Of The Gang and he would totally cringe knowing that but probably also feel a little warm on the inside because of it and I love that. Phae was just the best friend to Roan – the main character in Scion but in Bloodlands – she is EVERYTHING. I just love where S.M. Beiko went with Phae’s story and really enjoyed the different perspective she has to everything that’s happening to her and how she genuinely feels about it all – I felt more of a connection with her in this book for sure! Phae was my number one in this book!
*
Also – new character alert – I LOVE Saskia, the little girl who is hero?/villain? – You’ll find out! One of my favourite scenes was with her, Eli and Roan driving in the car and the feeling it created.
*
Moving away from character growth, the enormous expansion of the story was phenomenal. Building on the Realms of Ancient and how the Paramounts and their stones greatly affect each other while all being connected in some way was really, really cool. I was really fascinated by how the story played out and S.M. Beiko really nails it in the world-building department.
*
The story itself was well written and fleshed out. I feel Beiko did a really good job of “showing” rather than “telling” for her books. It kept my mind actively participating and reading word for word rather than just skimming.
I think maybe the only thing that I stumbled over from time to time was remembering that Roan's voice was in 1st person while all the other characters voices are written from 3rd person.
*
YES. I would definitely recommend! Although, I definitely recommend you read Scion of the Fox before Children of the Bloodlands otherwise you won't have any idea what's going on. I would rate this series as a PG - 13 between the two of them so far. There are a few crude words used but not near enough to flag it.
*
Happy Reading!
Read
September 22, 2018The premise of this book was great, what I got to read of it was great, unfortunately my ARC copy was scattered (missing sections/paragraphs) so it made it difficult to read. I think that it is a great story and will likely try to finish/reread it when I can get a published/complete copy.
January 12, 2019
I love that the plot goes in unexpected directions. I’ll just say that contrary to the obvious direction for things to go in, the five children do not all become the Paramounts of their families. Things are much more interesting and varied than that. There are also great things at stake, and I never felt like the outcome was assured or the trials too easy. In fact, I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what ultimately happened. Having read some rather predictable books recently, it was a lot of fun to be surprised repeatedly (even though the plot doesn’t rely on surprises).
The characters in this world are fabulous, as are the relationships between them. In particular, Roan, Eli, and the “frenemy” relationship they have going on is one of the best parts of the book. Neither of them particularly likes the other, but they’re having to start learning to rely on each other. Even the seemingly straight-out evil characters have more going on than just that. Everyone and everything has a depth and history to them that’s delightful.
There are plenty of nifty events going on. Roan meets her other grandmother. Natti rescues polar bears from a zoo. Phae confronts a very bitter god. We find out about a group called the Stonebreakers that wants to destroy all of the Calamity Stones, and humans are inevitably becoming aware of the Denizens. The Gardener from the Bloodlands has come to the mortal plane. All in all it’s an engrossing ride, and I look forward to reading more books by Beiko!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/01/r...
The characters in this world are fabulous, as are the relationships between them. In particular, Roan, Eli, and the “frenemy” relationship they have going on is one of the best parts of the book. Neither of them particularly likes the other, but they’re having to start learning to rely on each other. Even the seemingly straight-out evil characters have more going on than just that. Everyone and everything has a depth and history to them that’s delightful.
There are plenty of nifty events going on. Roan meets her other grandmother. Natti rescues polar bears from a zoo. Phae confronts a very bitter god. We find out about a group called the Stonebreakers that wants to destroy all of the Calamity Stones, and humans are inevitably becoming aware of the Denizens. The Gardener from the Bloodlands has come to the mortal plane. All in all it’s an engrossing ride, and I look forward to reading more books by Beiko!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/01/r...
September 3, 2018
Great Premise And The Little I Read I Definitely Loved. But I Feel Like I Have To Go Back And Read The First Premise Before Finishing This One. So I'll Come Back To Children Of The Bloodlands Once I Find The First Book.
July 18, 2019
3.5 stars
Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent follow up to Scion of the Fox and I am definitely psyched to read The Brilliant Dark when it comes out later this year. It is slightly weaker than the first installment, however.
Part of what made Scion of the Fox so great was the very real teenage characters who did normal teenage things in between all of the freaky fantasy things happening to them - it grounded the series and made it a lot more relatable than 95% of the YA series out there. Another part was the terrific cast of diverse characters and their natural chemistry together which led to some great dialogue.
The problem with this series was that the teenagers were no longer doing normal teenage things. Roan is now in Scotland working as a waitress while searching for clues about the evil she might have unwillingly unleashed on the world in banishing Zabor, the big bad from book one. The rest of the characters are flying around the world to global summits and going off on spirit quests with enchanted polar bears. The characters also spent most of the book apart from one another, which kind of sucked.
The plot was interesting (if somewhat scattered and difficult to follow in places) and the pacing was great. Its still one of the most unique and well-written YA series out there right now and has a bonus of being indie and Canadian. I highly recommend checking the series out if YA fantasy is your thing, but don't be surprised by the modest dip in quality in book 2. I have high hopes that book 3 will be a return to form.
Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent follow up to Scion of the Fox and I am definitely psyched to read The Brilliant Dark when it comes out later this year. It is slightly weaker than the first installment, however.
Part of what made Scion of the Fox so great was the very real teenage characters who did normal teenage things in between all of the freaky fantasy things happening to them - it grounded the series and made it a lot more relatable than 95% of the YA series out there. Another part was the terrific cast of diverse characters and their natural chemistry together which led to some great dialogue.
The problem with this series was that the teenagers were no longer doing normal teenage things. Roan is now in Scotland working as a waitress while searching for clues about the evil she might have unwillingly unleashed on the world in banishing Zabor, the big bad from book one. The rest of the characters are flying around the world to global summits and going off on spirit quests with enchanted polar bears. The characters also spent most of the book apart from one another, which kind of sucked.
The plot was interesting (if somewhat scattered and difficult to follow in places) and the pacing was great. Its still one of the most unique and well-written YA series out there right now and has a bonus of being indie and Canadian. I highly recommend checking the series out if YA fantasy is your thing, but don't be surprised by the modest dip in quality in book 2. I have high hopes that book 3 will be a return to form.
September 7, 2019
4 stars with an average of 7.325/10
My rating system:
1 star: 1.0-2.9/10
2 stars: 3.0-5.4/10
3 stars: 5.5-7.0/10
4 stars: 7.1-9.0/10
5 stars: 9.1-10/10
Rating based on plot, characters, and writing (2x)
Characters: 7.2/10
Plot: 8.1/10
Writing: 7/10
General enjoyment: 8/10>/b>
Review
I liked the plot. It takes off more or less right after Scion of the Fox ended and we see the world and stakes expanding. The characters now out of high-school and trying to find their way in life, even though not a lot of that happens in this story.
The vibe and plot are completely different from the first book. Where book one focused mostly just on everyday life, this book has more of an epic plot. There are some hints towards a romance that might be blossoming and will become clear in the third book.
The characters grow and especially Roan seems to be slightly wiser. Even though she isn't the brightest character in the book. I love how Eli has such a logical mind and how Roan asks so many times what he means, even when it's clear. She isn't dumb, she just doesn't fully use what she has. On the flip side, Eli has an eidetic memory, which turns out to be very useful in their final plan. He notices the details they need.
Overall very enjoyable and better written than book 1, but with a completely different feel to the plot.
My rating system:
1 star: 1.0-2.9/10
2 stars: 3.0-5.4/10
3 stars: 5.5-7.0/10
4 stars: 7.1-9.0/10
5 stars: 9.1-10/10
Rating based on plot, characters, and writing (2x)
Characters: 7.2/10
Plot: 8.1/10
Writing: 7/10
General enjoyment: 8/10>/b>
Review
I liked the plot. It takes off more or less right after Scion of the Fox ended and we see the world and stakes expanding. The characters now out of high-school and trying to find their way in life, even though not a lot of that happens in this story.
The vibe and plot are completely different from the first book. Where book one focused mostly just on everyday life, this book has more of an epic plot. There are some hints towards a romance that might be blossoming and will become clear in the third book.
The characters grow and especially Roan seems to be slightly wiser. Even though she isn't the brightest character in the book. I love how Eli has such a logical mind and how Roan asks so many times what he means, even when it's clear. She isn't dumb, she just doesn't fully use what she has. On the flip side, Eli has an eidetic memory, which turns out to be very useful in their final plan. He notices the details they need.
Overall very enjoyable and better written than book 1, but with a completely different feel to the plot.
September 15, 2019
It took me a while to read this book since I had to go back and reread Scion of the Fox. I thought Children of the Bloodlands was a good follow-up. I was a little sad that the whole team was split, but I was still engaged by the story. I was sucked into Roan's world once again and parts of the story had me holding my breath. I am looking forward to more from this author in this series. I definitely recommend this book to YA readers and fantasy lovers. I think the storyline is unique and well thought out. You will need to read Scion of the Fox first though.
I thank ECW Press and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this wonderful book!!
I thank ECW Press and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this wonderful book!!
May 24, 2019
I felt the ending was very muddled and not well defined. I also was hoping certain characters would move beyond banter and actually have a more solid relationship with each other. And of course I would like that relationship to become a romantic one as well.
I did however, still enjoy the premise of the ancient families and the mythos surrounding the narrative and everyone's part they play. The world created is very rich and detailed. Clearly a third book is needed to conclude this story and I look forward to it.
I did however, still enjoy the premise of the ancient families and the mythos surrounding the narrative and everyone's part they play. The world created is very rich and detailed. Clearly a third book is needed to conclude this story and I look forward to it.
July 28, 2021
If Avatar LAB and Infinity war had a baby = this
I like this book quite a bit over all, but the bouncing around left something to be desired. I'm happy all of the other characters got more time to develop, but they rarely put emphasis on the others as much as I would have liked.
Once again there's a lot of action and despite it having a subplot of a plague it thankfully didn't take too much of a center so it didn't reminds me too terrible much of *cough* current events. If you liked the first one you'll probably like this one as well.
I like this book quite a bit over all, but the bouncing around left something to be desired. I'm happy all of the other characters got more time to develop, but they rarely put emphasis on the others as much as I would have liked.
Once again there's a lot of action and despite it having a subplot of a plague it thankfully didn't take too much of a center so it didn't reminds me too terrible much of *cough* current events. If you liked the first one you'll probably like this one as well.
July 11, 2019
His tale is frightening but utterly thrilling. Twists and turns, which will engage the reader from the outset. Great read.
May 12, 2023
Audio book thru library 5/11/2023
August 13, 2023
I’m so sad that no one ever talks about this trilogy outside of reviews :(
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews