The new story of Princess Anastasia – review of the book “Legacy of Blood”

Surely many of you know the story of Princess Anastasia, as well as the fantastic versions about how she miraculously survived the slaughter of her entire family in 1918. However, has anyone wondered how the fate of her family and empire would have turned out if the girl had not only survived the attack on the Romanovs, but also had … supernatural abilities?

Raised in an aristocratic environment, the Princesa of the Cyrilian Empire endowed with blood kinship (that is, the power to control it), Anastasia Ekaterina Mikhailovna Kolst was framed for the murder of her father. Now her goal is to clear herself of the charges first and then make changes to the country that will help all people with affinity. It is not an easy mission, because the alchemist responsible for the destruction of her life has disappeared like a stone into water and despite more than a year of searching, the girl has not been able to reach him so far. The last hope in a well-known potion, a man well versed in the criminal underworld – Ramson Goldmouth. He has been captured and is in prison, so in order to have any chance at all to carry out his plans, Princesa must get him out and then convince him to cooperate.

A multicultural story about a girl

Amelie Wen Zhao was born in Paris, grew up in Beijing, and studied in New York. Many places and cultures influenced her growing up and functioning, which is also felt in her writing style. The world he creates is neither idealized nor black and white. It is a reality full of shades of gray, complex relationships, multi-level intrigues and heroes with the past. The aforementioned thread of Anastasia is on the one hand visible and immediately brings us to a historical association, on the other – the author relies on it very loosely (she repeats the name of the main character, her origin, family situation and the impending rebellion in the country). It cannot be clearly stated here that we are dealing with the so-called retelling, but at the same time it is difficult for us not to think of Ana as a Cossack version of Anastasia.

You don’t always need to advertise with a different title

I am aware of how the marketing schemes work, but referring to The Glass Throne and Sarah Maas in this series is somewhat damaging. After all, in her novels, Maas is much more focused on writing for fantasy fans with romance, and her heroines are always beautiful and hurt women. In the case of Zhao’s book, Ana’s descriptions do not focus on her superficiality at all. While reading, we get to know in depth her character, emotions and feelings that she has for and for others. The girl has a well-defined motivation, is not perfect in her reactions and sometimes makes mistakes, from which – most importantly – she learns to draw conclusions. Ana develops strongly with each new experience, and we, the readers, accompany her on this journey.The legacy of blood is not fantasy with a strong romantic twist. Although a bond is formed between Anastasia and Ramson, it is not the main plot – or even a secondary one. Goldousty himself plays an interesting role throughout the novel, and the chapters that tell the story from his perspective are as interesting as Ana’s. The author has created extremely interesting characters and we should not put her in one Maas bag.

 Affinity

It is worth mentioning that Inheritance of bloodit is not only a story full of intrigues, but also rich in an interesting magic plot. People are divided here into those endowed with affinity (i.e. specific, additional skills, e.g. controlling water, earth, meat or mind) and into normal, ordinary bread eaters. However, depending on the country in which they are born, these gifted people are treated diametrically differently. The Cyrilian Kingdom is the place where relatives are abused and even sold. So that the powers of the captives do not get out of hand, a potion has been invented, which when poured into the mouth of the victim fully blocks his talent. However, we learn from various minor sources that this is not the case everywhere in the world. I hope that this thread will be developed in the next volumes.

A book for the winter

The Legacy of Blood is not a long novel, and the author managed to include many threads in it, thoughtfully developing characters and a very vivid world. This book is suspenseful and provides a meaningful story that I look forward to continuing. Its climate suits me very well for the winter season, so I suspect that then I will be tempted to read it again. However, I encourage all fans of interesting youth fantasy to reach for it now.