Rhapsody: Child of Blood

(Rhapsody Trilogy: Book One)
by
Elizabeth Haydon

Tor, September 1999, 656 pp.
ISBN: 0-812-57081-2

Genre: Fantasy
Reviewed: 10/17/2001

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Standing at the Edge of the Fire at the Earth's Core...

"I'm going through," Rhapsody said simply. Grunthor laughed aloud.

"If you wanted to commit suicide, Oi would o' been glad to 'elp you in a way that wouldn't damage the meat," he said. "Come on, miss, shake it off."

"Look," Rhapsody said, losing patience, "I'm not going back. I can't. None of us can. Remember those cave-ins? The path is blocked. We'll never get out that way. The only way to go is forward."

"Exactly how do you propose we do that?" Achmed asked. His tone was sincere, or at least as full of sincerity as he was capable.

Rhapsody took a deep breath, knowing that what she was about to say would sound inane, at best. "Do you remember what I said about names, and how they can make us what we once were?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, I've been thinking about it ever since the possibility arose. I think the only way to broach the fire is to wrap ourselves in a song of our names and hope that we are remade on the other side."

"You first, my dear," chuckled Grunthor.

"Of course," she said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"You really are desperate to get out of this tunnel," said Achmed. His tone was the cross between sympathy and sarcasm that Rhapsody referred to as sympacastic.

"Have you got any better ideas?"

She sat down on the root and unslung her ragged satchel, removing her higen, a palm-sized stringed instrument resembling a tiny harp. "If I make it through, I'll come back for you if I can." She brushed the dirt from the fragments of her cloak and stood again. "If I don't come back, at least you'll know to try something else."

Grunthor shook his head, staring at the inferno before them. "Oi know that without you tossin' your life away."

"Let her go," said Achmed quietly.

Rhapsody smiled. "Thank you. At least if I don't make it you'll finally be rid of me."

Grunthor was growing visibly upset. "If Oi'd wanted to be rid o' ya, Oi'da done it ages ago. I could o' snapped your neck with one 'and and been done with you."

She put her arms around the trembling giant. "Well, maybe you could have back then. I've has some pretty good sword training since." She pulled him tighter, and he bent to embrace her. "Goodbye, Grunthor. Don't worry. I'll be back."

He pulled away and looked down at her, mustering a smile. "Oi thought you always had to tell the truth."

Rhapsody patted his cheek. "I am," she said softly. She turned to the robed man who had vexed her so much, had trapped her within the Earth in the first place.

"Goodbye, Achmed."

"Hurry up," he said. "We're not going to wait long for you."

Rhapsody laughed aloud. "Well, that's incentive." She shouldered her pack and walked away toward the inferno. The two Bolg watched as her tiny black shadow grew longer against the roaring flames, then disappeared in the wall of billowing heat and light.

Synopsis

Rhapsody, a half-Lirin, ran away from home when she was young and became a prostitute. Later, her Linin half called out to her and she studied and became a Singer. She was furthering her studies to become a Namer when one of her old customers decided to take her for his own pleasures. Rhapsody evades capture by running into two half-Bolg, the Brother and Grunthor.

Using her Naming magic, she renames the Brother, the most famous assassin on the isle of Serendair, to Achmed and states that both men are her brother, and her magic makes it so. They take her with them to the Tree, the sacred white oak: Sagia, the Oak of the Deep Roots, a holy tree for the Lirin.

They enter the tree  through a root, kidnapping Rhapsody, and travel along the tunnel created by the roots. Time is meaningless in the tunnels, and 14 centuries pass for the intrepid escapees, although they do not realize it as the walk to the other side of the world, through the fiery core, which changes all of them.

They finally surface on a continent on the other side of the world. Rhapsody's only thought is to find a port city so she can sail home. But this turns out to be impossible. Plans are soon put into motion by Achmed that will affect the lives of everyone on the continent.

Rhapsody: Child of Blood is the first book in the Rhapsody Trilogy, written by Elizabeth Haydon. It is a Fantasy novel that revolves around Rhapsody, Achmed and Grunthor. The bulk of the story takes place after they spend 14 centuries escaping Serendair. This is a rather large book that will take you a while to polish off.

Review

I picked up this heavy paperback with the intention of flying through it. Well, it took me over a month to read it, as it is deceptively large. But, that is okay because it is a good story. All three of the main character are enjoyable to read about, although Rhapsody seems totally unaware of the change that has come over here since she walked through the core. I just thought that she would start to figure it out after a while that every man that say her face or her fiery hair wanted to sleep with her. But she wanders around oblivious to all males. The story is not faced paced, but it is well developed.

The world that Elizabeth Haydon has created is intriguing and the characters are interesting. Overall, this is a very good book. The only thing that I found lacking was a lapse in the action sequences. There were a couple of times that the story was building up for a big battle, and the battle was over in a page or two and seemed quite anticlimactic. As a Fantasy reader, I love the big battle sequences that can go on for quite a few pages.

Rhapsody: Child of Blood really isn't an action Fantasy tale, it is much more of a story about three people out of time trying to figure out what do with their lives now in a strange new place.

I rated this book a 7 out of 10.