This book has been on my radar for a couple of years now. I’m a longtime watcher and listener of “The Kate & Abbie Show” podcast, as well as both of the Emmons sisters’ YouTube channels, packed with writing craft and vlogs. These girls have some great content, and you can imagine my interest when I learned that Kate writes tales with a fantasy/scifi bent. Right in my wheelhouse. I finally snagged my copy of The Blood Race this fall.
Summary
To start with… I really enjoyed The Blood Race, by K.A. Emmons, overall. The narrative centers on two main characters, Ion and Hawk. Hawk is a skilled and talented “shifter,” one of a limited group of individuals identified and selected by Sensei for their uncanny abilities. Hawk was the first selected, and a leader of the group. Ion is the initiate, an unsettled “everyman” college student who has spent his life running from the inexplicable that seems to follow him. Sensei gives Hawk the task of confirming Ion’s slider abilities, introducing him to the world of the Dimension, and training him in the ways of the immortal protectors.
As the story unfolds, Ion and Hawk come to terms with each other and their places in the universe as they balance life in the normal world with that of the Dimension. A mundane enemy is more than they appear, and forces Ion’s hand, starting a chain reaction that puts the Dimension itself at risk.
Thoughts
What Impressed Me
This was a very fun read, and a brilliant take on a great concept. Emmons’ martial arts training and personal philosophies shine through in the snippets that we get of the metaphysics of the Dimension and the society that Sensei and the sliders have built. The writing itself is stellar. The prose and descriptions are immersive, and the dialogue incredibly realistic and believable. And, let me say… the physical quality of this indie-published book is top-notch. This is my new benchmark for what I would someday like to be able to send to market myself, in terms of product quality. I would never have guessed that this is an indie project if I had not known going in.
What I’m Still Sorting Out
I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, entitled “Worlds Beneath.” Because I haven’t, I’m not grading too harshly on the handful of parts of this book that didn’t grab me. I’m making the assumption that a lot of these quibbles play into the series as it unfolds.
Firstly, and this could very well be by design, the inner workings of the Dimension, Sensei’s plans, and the oft-referenced Prophecy, are really not fully explained. This really places the reader deep into Ion’s shoes, which is good, but makes it hard to see the big picture of this world, the ultimate endgame. Sensei himself (or maybe itself?) remains enigmatic and inscrutable to the end, either the ultimate wise mystic whose motives are explored more deeply in future installments, or a character who could use a bit more flesh.
The Dimension custom of renaming initiates was another stumbling block for me. The new name stands as a marker of a new existence as a slider, but they seem casually assigned at the start of the journey, instead of “grown into” at the end. It took me a couple of chapters of name changes, and interchanging old and new names, to regroup on who was who.
I know this is a bit of a laundry list… and I do want to be a bit charitable. Something seriously screams at me that it will all make more sense as the series progresses. Or, perhaps with a second, or third, reading. Emmons hints at a lot of philosophical depth in her vision. I hope to see it borne out in the sequel
The Verdict
I’m giving this one 3 stars, with the assumption that the mechanics of the world get clearer as the series goes. All in all, just the feel of this book in my hands speaks to the passion that went into its creation, but there are some funny hangups, mostly in the lack of exposition of what, in fact, is going on. A great concept that I feel like is spread farther out than this first outing was allowed to showcase.
What do you think? Have you read this intriguing indie debut? Or its sequel? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
If you’ve enjoyed this book review, you can check out another of my recent reads, Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. I don’t always review the books that I read, and I don’t get any kind of kickback for it – I simply like to share.
Until next time, happy reading!
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