The conquers are about to face the rebels’ wrath, but before this can happen, our heroes must discover the past.

Blood for the Undying Throne by Sung-il Kim and translated by Anton Hur is the second instalment in the Bleeding Empire trilogy. It is an epic fantasy which tells the story of a once strong and malevolent Empire now on the brink of collapse. 

In the opening chapters of this novel I immediately realised that this was a very unconventional sequel. Instead of moving forwards, the plot this time around is mostly looking back to past events and giving a clearer picture of what really happened when the Empire invaded Mersia. That isn’t to say we don’t have any progression at all as Kim does give the reader some intertwining complex politics and deepens the magic system which I loved exploring. There are still plenty of action scenes sprinkled throughout too and we still have a rebellion brewing in the background, but predominantly this is a book which spends much time revealing rather interesting historical truths. In doing this Kim overall conveys the theme that to conquer future wars we must understand and learn from the past and this was a sentiment I rather agreed with. So yes, you could say this instalment was a filler, but its contents were nonetheless fascinating and so I didn’t mind that. Another aspect that was a touch unconventional was that two central characters from the first book were largely absent in this one. Though I was disappointed by this at first, the characters that we did focus on strongly compelled me with their story arcs and by the end we do learn something of those who were missing. 

“This place might have been absent of life, but there was a presence of something that should not exist. A chill of the soul. A spiritual hunger that permeated the air like fog. Mersia until that moment had been mere wasteland; now Arienne was reminded that it was where the Star had unleashed a massacre.

Through Arienne’s character we explore the barren wasteland of  Danras in Mersia, a village that was utterly destroyed by the Empire’s invasion. In Arienne’s quest to find the Star of Mersia, the weapon responsible for the devastation, we learn so much more about Power generators, fuelled by dead sorcerers, and exactly how they were responsible for the destruction. Arienne’s powers grew in abundance, she became so adept at creating scenes in her mind and making them realised, her imagination became her strength, her weapon and armour. She even discovers she can communicate with ghosts and that they can enter her mind which was pretty cool when you see what she ultimately did with that. There was a lovely dreamlike quality to Arienne’s chapters as she treaded across the realms of reality, memory and imagination. Arienne had already been a favourite in the first book and in this book that definitely deepened. 

Kim then introduced us to a new character, Yuma, Chief Herder of Merseh, in a time before the Empire changed it to Mersia. With Yuma’s timeline we learn how Merseh was ruled under the tyrant Grim King, whom we met in the first book but at a point when his powers were diminished. Seeing the true extent of the Grim King’s cruelty, his army of the undead, was truly insightful and his necromancer abilities were far beyond what I had previously envisioned. Yuma also reveals much about the character Lysandros and how he presented himself as the saviour not the destroyer of Merseh. Kim crafts Yuma’s character to flesh out the backstory of not only Merseh but also these two previously ambiguous characters. There is much regret and sorrow throughout her chapters, particularly as you witness the choices Yuma had to make, none of them were good. With the Empire’s invasion Yuma could see that her beloved home, her people, her culture and even her beliefs would be erased and understandably the weight of that was too much to bear. 

“We hold everything that is and ever was. We are history, therefore we are the future.”

Lastly there is Prince Emere who previously was a side character wrapped up in Loran’s quest to become King. Yet in this novel he became a central figure within the political affairs of both the Empire and the Rebels. At first I struggled to understand Emere’s role, I couldn’t quite grasp what his position was in the rebellion or as a councillor for the Empire. Yet slowly, around halfway through the novel, his purpose began to fall into place. Emere was shown to be a character always chasing his destiny, always sacrificing personal happiness for a cause and so he reflects a lot on his past and the choices that brought him to be in the midst of such powerful events. Emere chose to leave his beloved Rakel and when he reconnects with her, his loss is keenly evident. When his narrative arc then revealed much about the Circuit of Destiny, a machine built of hundreds of Power generators, we are shown the true extent of how every choice we make determines the course of the future which is a very powerful thing, but belief and hope, well that can be just as powerful. 

“The Tree Lords had taught him that one could not pick the moment of choice, but at that moment, the future depended on the choice one made. This was a moment that he couldn’t shirk. Destiny, it turned out, was a duty.”

Blood for the Undying Throne hits you with emotion and provides a fuller picture of this incredible inventive world. Kim’s story is one that is full of regret and sorrow and really showcases the importance of understanding our own history.

ARC provided by Nazia at Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review—Thank you for the copy!

Blood for the Undying Throne is out now – you can order your copy on Bookshop.org