Let me premise with the fact that I once was a hardcore fantasy book follower. My shelves were filled with Tor books and I had mastered the art of remembering the names, lineages and personalities of multiple characters. Yes my friends, reading a fantasy book is like stepping into a brand new world. You start by feeling your way around to see if you can get acclimated, but once you do you're hooked. I missed that. So I was excited to read Bloodmaiden as soon as I opened it!

The book opens with a suspenseful first chapter, drawing you in almost instantly. We are introduced to Crislin, the new Qelda of Tynan, and her new husband. What follows is a gorgeous romp through beautiful dynasties, roving countrysides and an all around vividly painted world. My absolute favorite part of stories like these is falling in love with the world that is created within. Christine Schulze does a fabulous job of providing enough description to paint a mental picture for the reader, while still allowing them to add in certain details on their own. It was fantastic!

Characters. Characters are an extremely important part of any fantasy story. I think that is why I ended up with such an affinity for strong characters at all. It fuels my reading. I can happily say that the characters in Bloodmaiden, all the way down to the smallest supporting one, were excellently written and completely intriguing. I was hooked into the story with the setting, and brought further into it by the character development. My one qualm with the characters, however, was the lack of conversation between Crislin and her husband. Although I feel like it may have taken away from the story somehow, I would have liked to see them interact more. I felt their love, but part of me wanted to see it as well.

As for the story itself, my one difficulty while reading was the quick pace at which the story moves. It isn't that the story isn't engrossing. It is in fact so engrossing that I was a little thrown off by how quickly things were happening. By the time I would figure out exactly what the important events in the chapter were and how they tied into what I had previously read, a new plot twist was thrown at me. I'll admit that it definitely kept the story fresh! It kept me at the edge of my seat for sure. However I would have liked a little more time to slowly revel in the beauty of the world and the words on the page.

Overall Bloodmaiden is a very solid and well-written story! I haven't even begun to delve into the delicious dragon-fueled dynasties, or any of the other epic parts of the storyline. I'll leave that up to you to discover as you dive into this beautifully written book. I happily recommend this book to all fantasy lovers out there! Enjoy! ( )

Crislin has just been selected to be the latest sacrifice to the dragon that rules her nation. But instead of allowing herself to be slaughtered, she and her husband flee. They embark on a quest to put together the five songs or whatever that, when played, will somehow convince the other dragons to have a council or something and stop the dragon that's eating people in her country? I dunno. I read this a while ago but have put off reviewing it because I didn't want to be open about how awful it is. The author seems sweet, sheltered, and probably young, and I feel bad about savaging her work. But there's really nothing else to do. The writing is abominable, the world-building incoherent, the dialog unreal and stilted, the pacing uneven, the plot is--I don't even have words.

This book is set in a world ruled by dragons of various jewel colors. The world has no technology in the slightest--it's clearly your typical medieval fantasy set-up. And yet, here's how one of the characters is described: "I gasped and stared. A girl hardly older than myself stopped before them. She possessed the fair skin and golden curls of a Gauthieran. Round, copper-colored spectacles encircled eyes blazing a fiery icy blue, scolding each dragon in turn. Beyond her eys though, she was in no way intimidating. Her clothes themselves were elegant, a white sweater, a black velvet skirt falling to her knees, and white knee socks embroidered with black music notes and treble clefs. A scarf tied about her waist to match the socks. A treble clef necklace and earrings glistened, as well as a pin shaped like a guitar. Most interesting of all, a white mark shone upon her cheek. It might've been a birthmark, a painted mark, or a mark of the Gauthierans. It shimmered faintly, a small star nestled within the curve of a crescent moon."

The vast majority of the book is taken up with equally detailed descriptions of every person/sprite/god/etc they meet, each more powerful and more beautiful than the last. It's certainly very vividly drawn. And the author has clearly put a lot of work and heart into this. In fact, [b:Bloodmaiden|8265396|Bloodmaiden|Christine E. Schulze|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317080924s/8265396.jpg|13113388] is just part one of a vast, twenty-seven book series. I honor her drive and passion, but abandoning this awful, awful series is probably the best thing she could do for herself and her prospective readers. ( )

Whatever assumptions and predictions I have made about this story was destroyed as I read this book page by page. This book is so powerful, vicious and poetic, describing how a couple seeks freedom from tyranny in thier homeland. I loved everything about this story, from the characters to the different worlds to the riddles all the way to its final epic moment. Just like I have recommended this book to my friends, I highly recommend this book to all readers. ( )

I liked this book quite a bit, but seeing as I am not a hardcore fan of fantasy/sci-fi as many people out there, all of the odd names threw me off and made it hard to concentrate on the story itself. However, the story itself was extremely beautiful and very wonderful descriptive language was used. You definitely are rooting for Crislin, Chalom, Pan and Brydon throughout the whole book. Christine definitely has a talent for writing. ( )

I don't think I can remember when was the last time that I read a book where Dragons played a key role in the story. Bloodmaiden was certainly an interesting fantasy novel that included all the elements that you would find in any fantasy story: eccentric characters, magical lands, myths, and a quest. When I started to read, the story automatically pulled me in. The first person narration told by Crisilin was very interesting. The story opens up with her dreading what is coming next. She is to become the next Quelda of Tynan- in other words a sacrificial queen.

She is then getting prepared to become married to her chosen husband, who turns out to be none other then her childhood best friend, Chalom. They both come to the conclusion that they can't stay in Tynan any longer, despite the fact that Chrisilin was just made into the new Quelda. With the help of her aunt, they both escape into the night away from Tynan, in hopes of seeking the help they desperately need in order to restore peace for the people of Tynan.

Christine Schulze's writing is very descriptive and full of wonderful imagery which really made the story come to life. The magical dynasties and their unique Aria was a very cool concept for this book. Magical music as a source of protection and power is rather original and an interesting idea to incorporate into a fantasy novel. As I read about the Aria's, a part of me was trying to imagine how each Aria from the dynasties would sound like in real life. The pacing in this novel was also great. Fast paced and it never dragged at all! You'll be surprised by how fast you'll get through the book without even trying!

Characters- There were plenty of interesting characters in this story and they each played an important role in the quest of obtaining the Arias. Surprisingly though, my favorite characters weren't Chrisilin or Chalom. They were Pan,Brydon, and Mokoulu. These three characters were great! Each had their unique personality! Pan was the feisty pixie, Brydon the shy one, and Mokoulu the comical and gentle one!

If Chrisilin and Chalom were written as different characters then maybe I would have enjoyed this story a bit more. For the most part they were alright but at times I simply felt annoyed by their relationship. I just couldn't believe that they cared about each other. Not to mention that Chalom calling Chrisilin "Sweetheart" was just... weird.

In short I think Fantasy fans might enjoy this book. So if you're a fan, give this book a try! ( )