Ahira's Hangar

There were once five intelligent races in the world, created by the gods. Two of the races, against the will of the gods, combined forces to exterminate one of the others. In disgust, the gods abandoned the world and children of their own creation...

And with this tale, begins Winterbirth, first book in The Godless World trilogy by Scottish fantasy writer Brian Ruckley.

One of the two "tainted" races are the Huanin - humans.

The other "tainted" race are the Kyrinin - hominid, and close enough to human that the two races can produce sterile children together (called na'kyrim, the children have magical powers that neither parent race have) - but not human.

The humans that concern us in this story live in the mountainous north, and are divided into clans known as the Bloods, led by thanes. Both their countries and their social structure are clearly influenced by Scotland.

The kyrinin we meet are divided between two tribes,and live in the forests of the highlands. Their cultures are strongly influenced by Native Americans and other of the First Peoples. They are strongly tied to their natural environment, and are elite warriors, as are the Bloods.

About 150 years before the story begins, the Bloods bitterly split from each other over the rise of a new apocalyptic religion, the Black Road. The followers of the new religion were exiled to the north, and they periodically invade their original homelands to regain the lands, and to force their dark religion upon their unbelieving brethren.

Winterbirth starts slowly for the first hundred or so pages, as Ruckley introduces us to his world; but as the wars between the Bloods AND the kyrinnin begin, things get pretty exciting pretty quickly and stay that way. We see both the warriors, and the high thanes, who manipulate the war behind the scenes for their own reasons. No character is safe, and I have no idea if any of them will still be alive at the end of the third book when it comes out.

This is a very solid and well written military fantasy debut. The second book, Bloodheir is due out this spring.

The Sony ebook store (for use on Sony reader or on a PC) is offering Winterbirth for only $1 for the month of April, 2009.

Really? Hmmmm.....

As a bonus, this is a nearly complete series - the second book was released last year, and the third is out this spring. So if someone gives the very inexpensive ebook a try and likes it, they do not have long to wait to finish the series/story.

Having finished up all three books, I have to say that I greatly enjoyed this series. Very dark, very gritty, very epic.

the three books:
Winterbirth
Bloodheir
The Fall of Thanes