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A review by ade625
The Blood Tartan by Raymond St. Elmo
4.0
Summary: The Blood Tartan by Raymond St. Elmo is a hard to pin down, late 18th century, urbanish fantasy with a literary style. It’s wry and witty, starring a philosophical revolutionary assassin who discovers ancient eccentric mystical scottish clans who hide from the world at large.
-Recommended for those who like fantasy with a more literary style
-Not recommended for someone wanting a straightforward plot
-Recommended if you like a highly competent protagonist
-Not recommended if you prefer fantasy elements to be front and centre from the get-go
The Blood Tartan is written in a very distinctive style, which very nearly put me off from the first page. St. Elmo fills the pages of the novel with metaphor, philosophical musings and 18th century references, and thus our window into the first person POV protagonist Rayne is likewise filled. This is a matter of personal taste, of course – I tend not to read much on the literary side of things. However, I’m glad I stuck with it, because there’s plenty of substance to go with the style.
Rayne himself is a learned assassin, preferring not to kill if possible, and works against his old ‘friend’ Black to further the cause of the common people as the industrial revolution looms. He’s also an extremely talented swordsman, and spends a lot of time waxing philosophical in his inner monologue. He’s a man with a past and a damn interesting person to be inside the head of (although bundled up with that is some mildly unpleasant sexism).
The plot has two major tracks – Rayne’s quest to kill Black before he is killed himself, and his increasingly more frequent mysterious interactions with several strange factions. All while his life is coming down around him. The former plot zips along with lots of action and exciting twists, and would feel at home in any fantasy novel. The second is more sedate, starting more as a distraction for Rayne, until slowly, some of the mysteries are revealed.
The clans themselves are fascinating, secret Scottish families with mythical qualities, with ancient feuds and even more ancient ways. The characters introduced from the clans are strange and mercurial, doing and saying things that don’t always make much sense at first. We don’t see much behind the veil until towards the end of the book.
The conclusion itself was surprising, and plenty seems held back for later instalments. Despite that, I was mostly satisfied with where things left off.
The Blood Tartan is a surprisingly neat package – mixing thrilling sequences, philosophy and a literary style in a pleasing way. I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan who likes or prefers a literary feel.
Rating: 8/10
Further thoughts :
-I will definitely keep reading this series in the future – looking at the blurb for book 2, it seems to be going in a direction I’m excited about
-These books are also self-published, which you absolutely cannot tell from the editing, and also means they are cheaper than most other books as e-books
For reviews and more, visit my blog
-Recommended for those who like fantasy with a more literary style
-Not recommended for someone wanting a straightforward plot
-Recommended if you like a highly competent protagonist
-Not recommended if you prefer fantasy elements to be front and centre from the get-go
The Blood Tartan is written in a very distinctive style, which very nearly put me off from the first page. St. Elmo fills the pages of the novel with metaphor, philosophical musings and 18th century references, and thus our window into the first person POV protagonist Rayne is likewise filled. This is a matter of personal taste, of course – I tend not to read much on the literary side of things. However, I’m glad I stuck with it, because there’s plenty of substance to go with the style.
Rayne himself is a learned assassin, preferring not to kill if possible, and works against his old ‘friend’ Black to further the cause of the common people as the industrial revolution looms. He’s also an extremely talented swordsman, and spends a lot of time waxing philosophical in his inner monologue. He’s a man with a past and a damn interesting person to be inside the head of (although bundled up with that is some mildly unpleasant sexism).
The plot has two major tracks – Rayne’s quest to kill Black before he is killed himself, and his increasingly more frequent mysterious interactions with several strange factions. All while his life is coming down around him. The former plot zips along with lots of action and exciting twists, and would feel at home in any fantasy novel. The second is more sedate, starting more as a distraction for Rayne, until slowly, some of the mysteries are revealed.
The clans themselves are fascinating, secret Scottish families with mythical qualities, with ancient feuds and even more ancient ways. The characters introduced from the clans are strange and mercurial, doing and saying things that don’t always make much sense at first. We don’t see much behind the veil until towards the end of the book.
The conclusion itself was surprising, and plenty seems held back for later instalments. Despite that, I was mostly satisfied with where things left off.
The Blood Tartan is a surprisingly neat package – mixing thrilling sequences, philosophy and a literary style in a pleasing way. I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan who likes or prefers a literary feel.
Rating: 8/10
Further thoughts :
-I will definitely keep reading this series in the future – looking at the blurb for book 2, it seems to be going in a direction I’m excited about
-These books are also self-published, which you absolutely cannot tell from the editing, and also means they are cheaper than most other books as e-books
For reviews and more, visit my blog