Healer’s Blade

Book Review: Healer’s Blade

This is not necessarily my normal read, but I came across it because it is coming up on promo and thought I should give it a go. It’s tagged as a YA fantasy adventure, and though it is very much written in this vein, it is also historical fiction – which I also love! There isn’t any magic or other obvious fantasy elements (which is why I think it could equally be classified as historical fiction), but for me that’s not a problem. It centres on some great characters and an interesting environment, and at the end of the day, that’s all that’s required for a good story 😉.

The book itself is based on the years after the Norman invasion of England in 1066, and being English, this immediately struck a chord. I have read plenty of fiction in the years preceding this: the invasions by the Saxons (written from the perspective of the pre-Saxon Britons) and then the invasions by the Danes and other Vikings (written from the perspective of the now resident Saxons). I’ve read after this period too – e.g. the Napoleonic Wars – but as for William the ‘Bastard’ and his reign, I haven’t read so much; hence this was really interesting from the off.

The story focusses on English rebellions after William’s successful invasion of England, and in particular, rebellions in the Midlands around the Humber eastuary. Spookily, I grew up less than a hundred miles from where this is set, and though I’m not familiar with the area, it did add an extra element of intrigue on my part.

The story is told from the perspective of Aliwyn, an orphaned child who has grown up under the wing of a local healer. Her healer mentor has since passed away, and because Aliwyn has struggled to fulfil the role of village healer, she has been somewhat isolated. Cue an English revolt which her ‘adopted brother’ drags her into, and her relatively quiet and lonely life is flipped into turmoil.

The book is described as being a ‘wholesome romance’, which is technically true, but I don’t think this needs too much focus. It is certainly not a romance in my eyes – even if protagonist and antagonist come closer together – and there is nothing graphic. For me the story really revolves around Ailwyn; her changing perspective on the political situation around her; and also her own opinion about herself and her skills. This is a great tale in itself.

There is a lot of action in this book, and Kyrie (the author) does like to leave a cliff-hanger at the end of a chapter – which is a good thing in my opinion. It is a bit breathless in places and may require you to sit back and work out where on the winding journey Ailwyn has gotten to, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. The only thing that gave me pause for thought was quite how much bad luck one poor peasant girl can have! Clearly the story wouldn’t work without this chaos in Ailwyn’s life, but still… Poor girl!

One thing that really stood out in this is the attention to medical detail – testament to the author’s background. There is even a medical explanation for events that seem otherwise baffling, which is very cool for the geekier reader (of which I am). Great addition!

Overall I really liked this book and will look out for more from Kyrie in the future. The Norman conquest does sound like a fascinating period of English history!