Children of the Bloodlands (The Realms of the Ancient, Bk 2)

Children of the Bloodlands is the second book in “The Realms of Ancient” trilogy which follows the struggles of five teenagers wielding the powers of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit against demonic creatures who are trying to take over the earth. Three months after the events of the first novel, Scion of the Fox, the darkling Urka has gotten free of the Bloodlands and is searching for five Calamity Stones with which he can remake Earth into another Bloodlands. Roan, Eli, Barton, Natti and Phae each have their own quests to understand the powers they have inherited, keep their Family’s stones away from Urka, and protect mundane humans from darkling monsters. But Roan has a complicated family history, and she ends up imprisoned by her father who is helping Urka steal the stones. She has to trust her old enemy Eli in a risky plan to save the world by pretending to let Urka win.

Beiko has created an intriguing mythology of five Families—Fox, Owl, Rabbit, Seal, Deer—with five different powers and Calamity Stones channelling the avatars of each Family’s goddess. There is a minor environmental theme as the Denizens (members) of the Families are supposed to use their powers to protect the earth, although this use of powers only ever seems to involve fighting monsters. At one point, Natti and Phae join a fight in the Fort MacMurray tar sands against monsters that have been unleashed by the extraction of oil. The plot is most fun when the young heroes are defending each other with their powers and meeting interesting mythical beings on their journeys.

When it comes to Urka and the darklings, the mythology gets complicated and confusing. Explanations often involve vague or cryptic statements from characters who can’t be trusted. The Fox and Owl families have interestingly conflicting agendas, but, when everyone’s motivations are suspect, it becomes difficult to know what and whom to root for. The final battle and its conclusion are difficult to parse.

The five protagonists are vibrant and well developed characters, realistically diverse, and they interestingly reflect the affinity of each of their Families (Barton the reliable, grounded Rabbit, Eli the arrogant Owl, Natti the calm Seal and Phae the gentle Deer). Fiery Fox Roan is suspicious and antagonistic, almost to the point of being unlikeable. Her character arc is more convoluted than necessary: much of her narration involves reliving her grandmother’s memories and unravelling a complicated story of betrayal and deceit. This backstory is less compelling than the present time plot and adds needless complexity to an already confusing mythos.
Natti’s and Phae’s plot lines are enjoyable but seem to have little impact on the overall conflict; perhaps their arcs will be more important in the third book.

Children of the Bloodlands is longer than it needs to be and would benefit from more focussed plot development and tighter writing. The environmental theme would have been more interesting if it had been developed more. But the world is interesting, the mythology is unique and the characters are engaging.