'Red Sonja: The Art of Blood and Fire' – Gail Simone, Walter Geovani (Dynamite)


I'm really not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes... Way back in March last year, I read and enjoyed the hell out of 'Queen of Plagues' and resolved to get onto volume 2 as soon as I could. And then a trademark 'Graeme Act of Self Sabotage' came into play... I somehow contrived to read 'The Art of Blood and Fire' as The Art of 'Blood and Fire' (a small but vital difference) and spent the best part of a year looking for a book that didn't exist... Sometimes I wonder how I manage, I really do ;o) But anyway...

It took me a little while but I got there in the end and found myself faced with the question, 'when is a Sword and Sorcery book not a Sword and Sorcery book...?'

A dying emperor has a last request of Sonja. He is throwing the ultimate send-off party, and needs the six greatest artisans from all the known lands: the greatest chef, swordsman, courtesan, and more. If Sonja brings them in time, he will free a thousand slaves...but if she fails, they will be buried alive right next to his coffin!

In what looks like becoming a pattern, 'The Art of Blood and Fire' was another 'Red Sonja' book that I couldn't put down. This was mostly because I'd never read a 'Sword and Sorcery' book like it (in a good way, more on that in a bit though), up to a point where I wondered if I was reading something else entirely.

I wasn't of course, 'The Art of Blood and Fire' was full of all the stuff that made 'Queen of Plagues' such an awesome and fun read. Yep, I'm talking sword fights and just the right level of sarcasm runnning through the book. In this respect, not a lot had changed from the last book but it didn't need to because it was still hitting all the targets; just stick these bits in 'cruise' (as it were) and let the good stuff happen on it's own.

'The Art of Blood and Fire' was a lot more than that though; there's a real thoughtful air to this book that creeps up on you and before you know it, you're reading 'feelgood Sword and Sorcery' and having a great time with it. I asked, at the top of the page, when a Sword and Sorcery book wasn't a Sword and Sorcery book. Well, I should have said 'isn't just a Sword and Sorcery' book' and the answer is when your heroine finds herself a family that she didn't even know she was looking for. It's a lesson that we can all do with learning sometimes; it's good to be able to face life on your own terms but it's just as important to know that people have your back at the same time. Red Sonja thought that was behind her but family doesn't just mean blood relatives and watching her learn this is just the best thing. Red Sonja helps her charges find themselves but at the same time... you guessed it.

And I've got to say this... In a time where Marvel losing the 'Conan' licence (not a bad thing in itself but...) has bought out the worst of a particular kind of 'fan'; it is honestly so good to see a female lead who isn't there to be carried off by the male lead. A female lead who has her own needs and isn't afraid to voice them or act on them. Simone strikes exactly the right balance between the trauma that Sonja still carries and the fact that she is the best with a sword and really doesn't have to take any shit from anyone anymore. And I love the fact that Sonja knows she hasn't had a bath but any resulting body odour is all her and dammit she'll celebrate that too ;o) That is what will have me coming back for the next book.

And on top of all this, Walter Geovani is quietly doing amazing work in the background, bringing Red Sonja to life with a real grasp of what makes her tick and how that will, in turn, make her look. And it also helps that Geovani is no slouch at really bringing the swordfights to life as well. Fingers crossed that I find his name on the next book as well.

'The Art of Blood and Fire' takes everything that was good about 'Queen of Plagues' and then proceeds to up the ante with a plot that really lets us know what Red Sonja is all about. Cheered me right up :o)

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