Bloody Rose

Starred review from July 2, 2018
In this hard-hitting, action-heavy follow-up to 2017’s Kings of the Wyld, set six years later, a young woman joins the world’s greatest adventuring band as their bard, only to discover her new heroes come with their own sets of flaws and emotional baggage. For 17-year-old Tam Hashford, raised on tales of heroism and monster slaying, it’s a dream come true to tour with Bloody Rose and the rest of Fable: tattooed sorceress Cura, shape-shifting Brune, and druin warrior Freecloud. They’d rather tour the arenas instead of heading north to fight a new horde of monsters, but when their final gig—the one on which they plan to retire—goes horribly awry, it’s up to this group of misfits to overcome their inner demons and save the world from a cataclysmic evil. As with the previous volume, Eames joyfully mashes rock music elements and epic fantasy tropes to create the equivalent of a 500-page heavy metal guitar solo: loud, frenetic, unpredictable, and gripping. He perfectly depicts the pressures of the younger generation struggling to escape the shadows of their predecessors and establish their own identities, even as times change and the world demands more in return. This is a messy, glorious romp worthy of multiple encores. Agent: Heather Adams, HMA Literary Agency.

August 1, 2018
Imagine a world in which bands of mercenaries tour like rock stars. In the sequel to Kings of the Wyld? (2017), Eames focuses on Tam, a tavern server and the daughter of a retired mercenary father and a mother who was a world-famous bard?the was is why her father wants Tam to have nothing to do with bands, boys, or danger. But then Tam meets her idols and, through a series of bizarre circumstances, finds herself auditioning for the most famous touring mercenary band of them all, Fable, led by Bloody Rose. They say never meet your heroes because you'll find out that they're only human; in Tam's case, it's human, satyr, and a part-time bear. Hilarious.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)