Blood Song (Lharmell, #1)by Rhiannon Hart

I wanted to turn but I was held captive by the song on the wind. I’m coming, I told the voices. Please, wait for me.When her sister becomes betrothed to a prince in a northern nation, Zeraphina’s only consolations are that her loyal animal companions are by her side – and that her burning hunger to travel north is finally being sated.Already her black hair and pale eyes mark her out as different, but now Zeraphina must be even more careful to keep her secret safe. Craving blood is not considered normal behaviour for anyone, let alone a princess. So when the king’s advisor, Rodden, seems to know more about her condition than she does, Zeraphina is determined to find out more.Zeraphina must be willing to sacrifice everything if she’s to uncover the truth – but what if the truth is beyond her worst nightmares? (goodreads.com)

Funny story about this book. I have been friends (online) with Rhiannon for a little while now, before she became all superstar author and of course, loving both her and fantasy novels, I knew I had to get my hands on this book when she published it. The book is currently only available in Australia and since the Book Depository stopped allowing me to order anything that was UK/Australia only, I was frustrated. Even my tried and true method of thwarting the UK/North America purchases at BD wasn't working (but thanks for trying, Jenny!) As much as I wanted this  book, I wasn't ready to spend a bazillion dollars to get it here. Shipping from Australian online retailers is somewhat outrageous, so there was no way I was going to pay that!Fast forward to my birthday when a miracle happened - a friend had gotten me the book! I was THRILLED to say the least and couldn't wait to let Rhiannon know about this. Only, that's how I learned she'd sent me a copy herself (signed)!!So now I have two copies of Blood Song which arrived days of each other. Go figure.I dove right into this novel with fervour, I couldn't wait to see what world was created. Rhiannon's one of the people out there who often has conversations with me about how food in books makes us crave it as we read about it. This is particularly true in fantasy novels, I am always lefts craving stew, hunks of bread and cheese, etc. From that conversation led to Rhiannon's admission that she didn't really feed her poor characters in this novel. The horror! Because it's an on-going joke between us, you can be certain I was VERY hyper-aware of any and all food-related business in this novel.I am sorry to say, that Rhiannon was right. These poor characters don't eat very much! On page 40 and 238 they have some hunks of bread and cheese. There IS a feast a couple of times but Zeraphina does not eat what was offered. And with the exception of blood (which I do not count as proper Questing Food) there is little else. Oh, they do drink some tea at one point.Starving characters aside, Blood Song is a fresh, fun and adventurey fantasy read. There is very little YA high fantasy out there these days and I hope that this series makes it across the globe and into North American publisher hands. We need more YA fantasy (and I mean real fantasy, not urban or paranormal!)I think my favourite part of the book was the description of how there were soldiers/archers everywhere watching the sky. Something was flying about up there, blocking out the stars and I was insanely curious about WHAT was up there. Something in the way this was described just connected with me. I loved the idea that the unknown was flying above. It was deliciously creepy and mysterious and I was even more excited to find out WHAT was flying around up in the sky.I look forward to learning more about Lharmell and Zeraphina in the next books. I will do gosh darned anything to get my hands on them. Well, almost anything. Nothing improper or immoral, of course. And not spend a bazillion dollars to ship it. I'll get it somehow, though!Way to go, Rhiannon with your awesome world building and fun characters! I am so happy you got the series published because it deserves its own place on the bookshelves! I wish you many more literary successes to come!** Oh, and what's that? I will be giving away a copy of the book to some lucky reader from North America? Really?! You'll have to stay tuned for that, though... I have an interview and giveaway coming up very soon! Keep your eyes peeled!**Books of Lharmell

1. Blood Song
2. Blood Storm
3. Blood Queen - 2013