Bloodsong

By Melvin Burgess

'Love. Hate. So what? It's family. It's business.'

Fifteen-year-old Sigurd, son of King Sigmund, is the last surviving member of the Volson clan. His father’s kingdom – the former city of London – is gone. And his father’s knife, a gift from the gods, has been shattered to dust.

Armed with a powerful sword forged from the remnants of the knife, Sigurd faces death, fire and torment as he travels through Hel and back to unite his country once again.

Packed with political intrigue and violence, love, lust and family feuds, Bloodsong is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones.

'Burgess's great triumph is not so much in inventing new stories as in finding fresh ways of retelling the ones that are themselves in danger of falling into extinction' Guardian
'A gripping story of horrific proportions from a prize-winning author' - Publishing News
'Teenage boys with strong stomachs should enjoy it' - Independent on Sunday
'A thrillingly readable and evocative narrative' - Daily Telegraph

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andersen Digital
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781448187027

Melvin Burgess

Melvin Burgess was born in London and brought up in Surrey and Sussex. He has had a variety of jobs before becoming a full-time writer. Before his first novel, he had short stories published and a play broadcast on Radio 4. He is now regarded as one of the best writers in contemporary children's literature, having won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for his acclaimed novel Junk.

Reviews for Bloodsong

[prop2gether · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

SOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than Bloodtide--a coherent storyline, interesting characters. I almost skipped it because I disliked the first book so much (I actually was calculating how the author could kill off a major character after her second scene).

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

That's how Sigurd began his first adventure - in disguise, on a horse that wasn't a horse, with a saddle-bag full of science and a sword forged with grit from the godworld.Sigurd's story starts with Regin reforging Sigmund's knife and trying to persuade him to kill the dragon Fafnir, just as it does in The Saga of the Volsungs although this retelling takes place in a decayed future Britain, where halfmen descended from animals, and gods who may be part machine roam the land. The story continues to follow the saga closely as it tells of Sigurd's relationships with Bryony (Brynhild) and Gudrun, and the author finds an interesting and non-magical way for Sigurd to lose his memories of his first love.Poor Sigurd is doomed from the start by the weight of expectation s on his shoulders, and by the dragon's blood that makes him both more than and less than human, He understood now why Odin interfered and fouled things up. He was jealous. All gods are. Their lives, so diluted by endless time, are worthless; they have nothing.