I’m always dubious when novels fall into the Vampire category, never certain as to which way it is going to go. Blood Fiend’s Bane, however, has all the violence and blood-lust we associate with the Dracula-style vampires and provided a real threat to the characters.

No risk of sparkling, vegetarian vampires here!

Blood Fiend’s Bane attracted my attention because it has a similar set up compared to historical fiction set in the Roman times. The soldiers’ way of life, their interactions with each other and their reasons for fighting reflects those of the Roman era. Only this time, a supernatural element was added in: it wasn’t soldiers they were fighting, but large tics deadly to men and a witch who should have been dead for hundreds of years. This combination worked for me: fantasy and historical fiction combined.

The characters were well-defined. I instantly liked Owen, a large man who must endure the comments and nick-names from his comrades, none of whom notice his intelligence. Owen isn’t prepared to follow orders blindly – he wants to do the right thing, regardless of the cost. Owen must accept what he is capable of, and what he is worth.

Dilan is also likeable – it didn’t take me long to warm to him. Owen remained my favourite though. The way Dilan takes charge at the end is admirable, but I couldn’t see the spark of heroism in him the way I could with Owen.

Throughout the novel, the reader knows the main characters are being double-crossed, which sometimes led to frustration that the characters themselves couldn’t see it. Although Owen never trusted Modwyn, nothing was done about it until too late. Modwyn made me shudder; his introduction revealed his lust for Lady Danika and his sleazy nature. His characterisation set him up as the villain from the start, despite his true treachery not being revealed until later. Modwyn only then wants to serve his mistress.

There was one side-story that I never understood. Characters were introduced, motives were given and their movements brought them in-line with the main characters. But nothing ever happened with them. The novel did end on a cliff-hanger, however, so I am hoping their story progresses in the second book because they did not add anything to this one other than confusion.

The pace of the novel is steady throughout, with enough danger in enough places that the tension remains high. I read Blood Fiend’s Bane in one sitting; despite the violence and mature themes, it is a relatively easy read.

Although I enjoyed Stacey’s writing, when it came to writing the review, I realised I hadn’t highlighted many passages at all that stuck out for me. I never got to the point where I was anxiously turning pages, wanting to find out what happened.

I enjoyed this book, but didn’t love it. There were some tense scenes and the fights were written in a clear manner. It ticked all the right boxes, but didn’t make my heart race.

Blood fiends bane by William Stacey is a mystery and thriller and sci-fi and fantasy read.
Some treasures are best left buried.
Sentenced to five-years’ service as a soldier for a violent crime, Owen Toscovar now serves the noble Dain family as a man-at-arms. Because he is large and powerful, most deridingly refer to the young man as “Horse-Boy,” believing him to be little more than a quick-tempered brute, a tool for violence. But Owen is far cleverer than most suspect, and he bristles under his forced servitude, wishing to experience adventure and see the world beyond his northern Duchy. Owen is about to get his desire.
This was a good read with good characters. I found this a bit slow. 3*. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book from netgalley.

The blurb:
Some treasures are best left buried.
Sentenced to five-years’ service as a soldier for a violent crime, Owen Toscovar now serves the noble Dain family as a man-at-arms. Because he is large and powerful, most deridingly refer to the young man as “Horse-Boy,” believing him to be little more than a quick-tempered brute, a tool for violence. But Owen is far cleverer than most suspect, and he bristles under his forced servitude, wishing to experience adventure and see the world beyond his northern Duchy. Owen is about to get his desire.
The Dains, a once proud royal family, have fallen into disfavor, but their fortunes change when a deathbed confession reveals a shocking secret — the location of the mythical longsword Sight-Bringer. The magical sword was long believed destroyed in an apocalyptic battle fifty years ago that killed the terrifying Vampire Queen, Serina Greywynne. Now, Owen will accompany the new young Dain lord and his sister on an expedition to retrieve the holy relic. They will journey across an ocean and through a monster-filled swamp to the ruins of an abandoned fortress long believed haunted by the ghost of Serina herself.
But the legends are built on lies, and evil stirs in the catacombs beneath the fortress. In the slaughter that follows, Owen must somehow protect the Dain bloodline from an unholy evil, because if he fails, everyone he loves will die.
I'm afraid I'm not particularly keen on Vampire stories; so even though the book was very well written I can only give it 3*

This starts a little slow, but don’t give up because the more you read, the better it is. The story is told using the view of multiple characters which switch with each chapter which some people don’t like but it works with this book. The scenes with the soldiers and the military situations are excellent, but given the author’s previous career I wouldn’t have expected less. The world building is good; it reminds me of Wales as do many of the names of people and place. The character building is excellent, for the most part, however I would like more back-story on Serina, her family’s history, her brothers and father and more about how the magic began and why it’s stronger in the matriarchal line. Perhaps the author could give us a prequel and give us this information and more. Like more information on why the King was so threatened by the family, had this mistrust been growing for decades or even during the reign of previous monarchs?

The old Duke is dying, his heir is son Palin who is only 13 who has been raised by his sister, Danika who is 12 year older than her brother. They have a new physician Modwyn Du’Aig, who is a liar and also a murderer and his reasons for being at the castle are personal. During his last minutes of life the Duke mistakenly make his last confession to the doctor who he thinks is a new priest and tells him what happened when they went to kill Serina. His confession reveals that he wasn’t the hero he’s always professed and the reason he was the only survivor was because f his cowardice. As he witnessed the carnage that was happening and saw all the men who had already been killed he fled; leaving his brother Stron and the remainder of the army to die. Then he lied about what had happened to the sword Sight-Bringer, a holy relic that the king loaned Stron to destroy Serina and her army of undead soldiers. The king was furious, the family was disgraced and left heavily in debt when the king refused to reimburse them for the conflict they had waged to protect the kingdom. The doctor tells the family what their father had confessed and adds other details to ensure that they will do what he wants.

Palin is determined to retrieve Sight-Bringer, he believes that if he is able to retrieve it and return to the king. He believes it will restore the family’s honor, the king will pay them the money that has been owed to his family for almost 50 years and it will guarantee that the king appoints him as the new Duke of Wolfrey instead of his idiot, older cousin Harold. In order to retrieve the sword they must travel to the island where his ancestors fought Serina at her home on Greywynne Island. The trip is fraught with danger once they reach the islands, mosquitoes abound n the swamp as do marsh ticks, which are enormous, deadly and can only be killed if they are hit in one spot that not easy to reach. They hide during the day and attack at night, .but they do fear fire and will stay away unless……. (no spoiler). Many of those who go with Palin will not make it back and the world will need to be warned about what happened on the island. Palin, his men-at-arms, priests, servants, Modwyn and Danika take a ship Greywynne Island, to retrieve the holy relic.
The head of the men-at-arms is Keep-Captain Brice Awde who is very intelligent unlike his second-in-command Lieutenant Warin Sayer. While Awde is loyal and dependable he does have a secret that he thinks is unknown, but like many secrets it is known and it is because of this that I think that Plain allows himself to be swayed a man Awde mistrusts and dislikes instead of listening to the man who has been like a father to him and who has protected him and taught him everything he knows about fighting.

The novel is very enjoyable after the first few pages I found it hard to put down. As a fan of fantasies (including urban & paranormal and sword & sorcery novels I liked this book enormously read more paranormal and urban fantasies. I’m continuing the series and reading The Shield of Serl Raven-Eye next and hoping that the 3rd will be released soon.

4.75/5 STARS: **I want to thank the author and/or publisher for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are mine.**

I'm afraid this just wasn't to my tastes. If I had to peg it down to one area where the text and I just didn't connect, it would be that I found the story to be too much Vikings and too little Vampires. Don't get me wrong, it certainly had potential, with some solid writing and some decent character building, and from what I read of it the action was well done, but the story just didn't hold my interest.