The Blood Debt

Books of the Cataclysm #2

by Sean Williams

In a remote city on the edge of two worlds, where blood has power and water is more precious than freedom, three far-flung friends unite on a quest to save their families. Sal Hrvati’s estranged father has brought more into the world than the woman he loved. Instead of saving her from the Void Beneath, he has summoned an unknown creature — a creature with a mission of its own and a past that stretches back to the beginning of the world. The quest to find both of them entangles Sal and his companions in a hunt for magical treasure on the floor of the Divide, a mighty crack in the earth inhabited by creatures that are not remotely human. Desert landscapes and dirigibles feature in a fast-paced fantasy that combines romance, adventure, and humor with an original take on magic. The Books of the Cataclysm take inspiration from many arcane and mythological sources. In positing that this world is just one of many "realms," three of which are inhabited by humans during various stages of their lives, it begins in the present world but soon propels the reader to a landscape that is simultaneously familiar and fantastic.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction

476 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling Sean Williams lives with his family in Adelaide, South Australia. He’s written some books--forty-two at last count--including the Philip K. Dick-nominated Saturn Returns, several Star Wars novels and the Troubletwister series with Garth Nix. Twinmaker is a YA SF series that takes his love affair with the matter transmitter to a whole new level. You can find some related short stories over at Lightspeed Magazine and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.

Reviews

[Daniel Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very confusing book to me, it's advertised as Books of the Cataclysm Two. I read it immediately after finishing book one, yet it read like it was part of a completely different series, one that the reader would be familiar with. Since neither the dust jacket or the title pages mention other books, as far as I knew The Crooked letter was the first and only book set in this world.

After finishing The Blood Debt today I did some research and discovered that Williams had written a prior trilogy: Books of the Change that was published in his native Australia and isn't available in the US. Except for Seth and Hadrian (who are somewhat secondary characters in Blood Debt)the characters, the world, and the frequently mentioned back story, come from that series of books. The Crooked Letter, it turns out, is a prequel, a foundation book that explains the genesis of the world from the Books of the Change. The Books of the Change in turn introduce the world and characters of The Blood Debt. If you haven't read the three Books of the Change, The Blood Debt will be somewhat confusing and frustrating, at least it was so for me.

I enjoyed the book for the most part, but the constant feeling like I was missing something that the author assumed I would know was quite annoying. Now that I know I WAS in fact missing something, I can't recommend the book to US based readers. It makes me wonder why the US publisher of The Crooked Letter and The Blood Debt wouldn't have secured the rights to the Books of the Change series too, or why Sean Williams would let the Cataclysm series be published here without making sure the first series was also available.

So really, The Blood Debt is really "Book One of the Second Chronicles of the Change" more than The Books of the Cataclysm Two.

I'm going to go on to Book Three, and maybe that will change my opinion. But if it doesn't start tying the Crooked Letter into the story better I will be done.

[Geoffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book deserves a 3.5 star. There were a couple things that stop me from feeling the 4 star, but this was also a pretty interesting story.

I was a bit hesitant to read this one after reading the first. The Crooked Letter was a really imaginative story, but also a really long rollercoaster than ends with a lot of finality. This book is basically a brand new story set in the world that comes after the first, which I initially thought was kind of a negative but ended up being a positive. I really liked the characters and got invested in their world and their adventures. I have to mention two of them- a married couple who get along and help each other on a shared adventure? Unheard of, and wonderful.

Oddly, it was the connections to the last book that felt kind of out of place for me. You don't have to have read the last book to start this one, yet there are significant pieces from it that will come up during the story. I have to imagine someone not knowing that story would have felt a bit confused, so thankfully I remembered enough to go with the flow.

Overall, I think this was written well, pacing was good, story was interesting, and I enjoyed the read. I might still have one or two reservations about the series, but I certainly look forward to the next one with more interest than I did before.

[Brian Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gets better as the series goes on

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this book a higher review. I wanted to. I've been enjoying the series a lot so far (despite accidentally finding myself reading it backwards..which surprisingly seems to work well for some reason).

My rating would have been 5/5 stars - if it hadn't been for the obnoxious couple: Sal & Shilly. I don't know how many more times I could have taken reading: 'Sal found Shilly's hand'. We get it. They're that overly infatuated, eye-roll worthy, PDA-ridden couple that -everybody- has experienced in their lives at one point or another and doesn't want to invite to dinner anymore, because their obsession with each other is hella awkward. I'm not even sure if I could describe a single personality trait from either character, because all they ever thought about - or seemed to talk about - was one another. The worst.

However, the rest of Sean Williams' characters? So compelling. The actual story? Definitely kept me up reading into the wee hours. It can be so hard to find a fantasy series this original and well written. Will definitely continue reading the rest of the books, but man.

Am I a horrible person if I root for the break-up of a fictional couple? (Or just sad?)

[Salimbol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Book of the Cataclysm, The Blood Debt, was one of the best books I read last year, and I'd been looking forward to reading the Second Book. I was startled to find that it was, in many respects, completely different from the first book, though excellent in its own right. While I miss the nightmarish landscapes and the urgency of the first book, I came to really appreciate the world that the author has built for the sequel. This is a world that he's obviously told stories in before, and happily, that backstory was woven deftly into this book so, once I got over the startlement, it didn't take me too long to find my feet in this new universe. I really enjoyed the three main characters, Shilly, Sal and Skender, and the host of secondary characters, as they were all well-realised. I particularly appreciated their diversity, and how the book was so beautifully Infused with the Australian landscape. I also liked the imaginative flashes (e.g. the man'kin, the living statuary who can see past, present and future simultaneously), and certainly the story became increasingly gripping. Good stuff, and I want to keep on with this series, and find Williams' earlier books too.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ultimately, I would say I liked this book a lot better than the first, mostly because the snoretastic Castillo twins are at a minimum. For the most part the characters are way better too, much more fleshed out than in the first one. Oh, and it's funnier. However, I did kind of feel like I missed an entire book by not knowing about Sal, Shilly and Skender until like, the end of the book. And I feel like I didn't have a real handle on how the world worked until the end of the book either, and that was mostly because I actually read the glossary. And Williams is still hugely inconsistent on his character's ages. At the beginning of the book, he says that Skender is 16, but then later Sal or Shilly says something about how the Haunted City stuff happened five years before, when they were 16. So that would make them 21, wouldn't it? Plus Sal and Shilly came across as being in their 30s or older, at least to me. I mean, it would make sense in this world that they would have to grow up fast, but not THAT fast.

[Patrick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I loved the first book and this one, I don't understand why Mr. Williams completely changed the way he writes between the two novels. You can tell that they are linked, but when I started the first paragraph I actually checked to make sure I was reading the correct novel.
Beside the different writing styles, the story is fantastic. I love that we are thrown into the middle of an epic story with adventures alluded to, but not explained. The reader is drawn into a world that may seem bizarre, but is natural to the characters. Williams explores the Symboliste movement in a way I can't imagine anyone having done. His concept of "magic" or "the change" is innovative and beautiful. Geometry as a power is just amazingly creative.
The only thing I don't like is the fact that I am having so much trouble getting the fourth book in the United States. Not a fan of that.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, The Crooked Letter was most definitely a sort of book of Genesis/creation story for this series. I can see how it would feel a bit superfluous to an average fantasy fan. It could have been simply glossed over in a summation.

I, however, felt it was bold and original, and I felt more of a connection/attachment to this new universe going into this second book. I especially appreciate that it didn't pick up directly following the conclusion of the cataclysm but rather around 1000 years later so that the world is fully established and peopled, and has grown into itself.

This book is a wonderful mix of magic and tech. With detailed societies, countries of a sort, and manages to weave magic into the existence of all without resorting to relying on it for periodic deus ex machina.

I am looking forward too the next book!

[David Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good at the end, but at times I found myself having to remember who was who, and what I just read. A surprise towards the end that for me tied the first book (The Crooked Letter) characters with the second book. The storyline really pulled through towards the end!
Now I am looking forward to the next book.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I would have read the first one. I think I missed some important stuff and would have liked it better.

[Miki · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's too much book here for the quantity of plot. The book ends pretty well, but the opening drags through well past the middle.