What do you think?
Rate this book
Darkland #2
Bloodmind
Vali Hallsdottir has returned to her home world of Muspell to discover that her nation is in chaos, preparing to face invasion from the neighbouring country of Darkland. When her friend and mentor Idhunn is brutally murdered and her spine removed and stolen, Vali falls under suspicion and is held by the army of the Morrighanu, but released by a mysterious force.
Having nowhere else to run, she travels across the northern ice field to the hostile glacier territory of Darkland, where she meets an old enemy, Thorn Eld, a member of the elite security force known as the vitki. Eld tells her that Darkland has spawned a rogue assassin, a female vitki killer known as Skinning Knife and despite their differences Vali and Eld decide to join forces and track down the vitki's most lethal weapon. Together they are going to face some dangerous questions about the nature of Skinning Knife herself, and her impact on their world...
Having nowhere else to run, she travels across the northern ice field to the hostile glacier territory of Darkland, where she meets an old enemy, Thorn Eld, a member of the elite security force known as the vitki. Eld tells her that Darkland has spawned a rogue assassin, a female vitki killer known as Skinning Knife and despite their differences Vali and Eld decide to join forces and track down the vitki's most lethal weapon. Together they are going to face some dangerous questions about the nature of Skinning Knife herself, and her impact on their world...
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
293 pages, Trade Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Liz Williams
149 books268 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. Her first novel, The Ghost Sister was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, Empire of Bones (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.[1] She is also the author of the Inspector Chen series.
She is the daughter of a stage magician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short stories published in Asimov's, Interzone, The Third Alternative and Visionary Tongue. From the mid-nineties until 2000, she lived and worked in Kazakhstan.[2] Her experiences there are reflected in her 2003 novel Nine Layers of Sky. Her novels have been published in the US and the UK, while her third novel The Poison Master (2003) has been translated into Dutch.
Series:
* Detective Inspector Chen
* Darkland
Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. Her first novel, The Ghost Sister was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, Empire of Bones (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.[1] She is also the author of the Inspector Chen series.
She is the daughter of a stage magician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short stories published in Asimov's, Interzone, The Third Alternative and Visionary Tongue. From the mid-nineties until 2000, she lived and worked in Kazakhstan.[2] Her experiences there are reflected in her 2003 novel Nine Layers of Sky. Her novels have been published in the US and the UK, while her third novel The Poison Master (2003) has been translated into Dutch.
Series:
* Detective Inspector Chen
* Darkland
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 5, 2012
Liz Williams writes such thoughtful science fiction. Bloodmind is a continuation of the story begun in The Ghost Sister and a direct sequel to Darkland. Her work reminds me of what brought me to love science fiction in the first place. Authors like Isaac Asimov who explored machine intelligence and philosophy. Authors like Ursula K. LeGuin who examined the sociology and psychology of living beings, and the divisions that always seem to plague our interactions with others. Divisions of caste, kind, belief system, gender. Where do we go and how do we get there. Do we change, evolve, or just perpetuate all of our problems through time and space. As always, Liz’ worldbuilding and characterizations are top-notch. I hope for more in this world someday. It is fascinating and memorable. I especially enjoyed the Nordic themes and want to know more about the vitki and the valkyries. And the selk. The mysterious selk. Fun stuff. Thanks, Liz.
October 18, 2008
Superb sequel to Darkland. Picking up where Darkland ends with Vali just returned home and finding death and tragedy, this book enlarges a lot the scope of the series with a clear definite ending though enough room for sequels.
Darkland was mainly a tale of self-discovery and retribution mixed with two other threads - one on planet Nhem that seemed to be thrown in and forgotten, the other more central to the book on planet Mondhille but ultimately still secondary to Vali's destiny.
Bloodmind is a deeper, more sophisticated book bringing the tale of the 3 planets Nhem, Mondhille and Muspell together while Vali becomes more of an important participant in the action then the main focus of the novel.
As in Darkland there is action, intrigue, weirdness and extraordinary well drawn characters.
Highly recommended.
Darkland was mainly a tale of self-discovery and retribution mixed with two other threads - one on planet Nhem that seemed to be thrown in and forgotten, the other more central to the book on planet Mondhille but ultimately still secondary to Vali's destiny.
Bloodmind is a deeper, more sophisticated book bringing the tale of the 3 planets Nhem, Mondhille and Muspell together while Vali becomes more of an important participant in the action then the main focus of the novel.
As in Darkland there is action, intrigue, weirdness and extraordinary well drawn characters.
Highly recommended.
February 6, 2009
Direct sequel to Darkland, takes the story in a new direction and opens up more fascinating areas of Williams' worlds. The plot has three narrative viewpoints, that draw together eventually. The three worlds described in Darkland turn out to have more history together than seemed at first. Very dark and satisfying. I hope she writes more in this series.
March 23, 2008
a strange book. not entirely sure what i thought of it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews