Stina Leicht's "Of Blood and Honey"

As noted Monday, in my book report on Patricia Briggs’ Frost Burned, I am currently rath-er behind on da reading!

That is because most of the literary effort is currently going into completing Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three: authorly virtue!

But reading is relaxation for me, so although slower than usual, I do keep plugging away.

So the current read is Stina Leicht’s Of Blood and Honey, The Fey and the Fallen series (Night Shade, 2011.) I did a Just Arrived post for this book and the second-in-series, Blues Skies from Pain, on March 28 (not so very long ago!)

In terms for what it’s all about in a broad brush, big picture sense, I shall steal from the back cover blurb:

“Fallen angels and The Fey clash against the backdrop of Irish/English conflicts of the 1970s … Liam never knew who his father was...”

Liam is the protagonist, the son of a fey (Bran) and a mortal woman (Kathleen) and I am not giving the plot away to say that he finds himself caught up in the historical Troubles of Northern Ireland in the 1970s, and the more enduring conflict between the Fey (think Finn Mac Cool and the Fianna), the Fallen (Angels, that is) and the militant wing of the Roman Catholic church. Quite the mix, huh?

So early days on the reading, but here’s why I am enjoying this book so far (and “should” do so): Of Blood and Honey mixes two of my favourite things in the whole world—speculative fiction and historical fiction. The 1970’s era invoked is pretty much historical realism and an important part of the book-so-far, so in that sense it reads as a kind of recent historical urban fantasy—but think Charles De Lint (Forest of the Heart), as opposed to Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely) or Laini Taylor (Daughter Of Smoke and Bone.) So far I am pretty much in the gritty realism part of the storytelling, but am looking forward to finding out more about the Fey and  their conflict with the Fallen.

I am not sure if this book is readily available in New Zealand, but it’s had some very positive critical and reader reviews in the US, so on the basis of that and my initial reading, am looking forward to finishing Of Blood and Honey.

And who knows, if Stina and the Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three writing schedule both permit, I may even be able to bring you an interview in due course. 🙂