Bloodlines is the fourth of a trilogy that has turned into a five-book series, The Shadow of the Raven. I have not read books one through four, but as I’ve read all of Bernard Cornwell’s The Warrior Chronicles, I had no trouble following the storyline and characters. Bloodlines picks up where the first three books left off with the death of Matthew(a monk turned warrior) and bringing in his two children and Alfred the Great. The characters are interesting and the bloodlines of Matthew’s children (Edward and Ingar) convoluted. Certainly there is plenty of treachery and the on-going war with the Vikings to keep the reader enthralled.

Though Bloodlines is well-researched, I did not find it to be of the same quality as Cornwell’s works. There seems to be a lot of telling, especially with dialogue used to tell the reader what everyone in the story should already be aware of. For example, early in the book, Alfred is meeting with his generals, and Osric comments, ‘That was when he was wounded by that arrow in the chest?’