Blood of Cayn by Jason McDonald
Blood of Cayn by Jason McDonald, Alan Isom, and Stormy McDonald, Book #3 of the Cayn Trilogy
Introduction
Blood of Cayn by Jason McDonald, Alan Isom, and Stormy McDonald is the thrilling conclusion of the Cayn Trilogy. The plague has returned. It almost killed everyone in the known world thirty years ago and it is threatening to do it again. Xandor, a ranger for the Kral’s secret service, and his crew investigate the source of the plague. They search the orc city of Cherigov for the legendary Tear of Havel which is rumored to have the power to cure the plague. Will they find it before their loved ones die from the plague or will everyone die?
Summary
In the previous two novels, Xandor and his crew have tracked the source of the plague to shipments of soap going to the orc city of Cherigov. Windrider Yana surveys the orc fortifications at Cherigov with her glider. She reports her findings to Lord Commander Geoffrey Ferguson of the Iron Tower. Ferguson plans to attack the keep outside the city and send a rescue force to recover Sabe’s men who are looking for the Tear of Havel in Cherigov. Sehraine the elf is Yana’s friend and knows more about the plague than what she has told Xandor.
Xandor’s crew are in Cherigov looking for Sabe and the Tear of Havel. Xandor crew are Grendel, the half-orc, Chert, the dwarf healer, Sacha, the princess of the enemy country of the Kral, and Skyld, Sasha’s bodyguard. They are opposed by Bregu Kraagor, The Orc King of Cherigov. His helpers are Marko the prince, Sasha’s brother, Kourash, a dragon kin, and Gregori, a powerful mage.
Sacha’s plan is to have Grendel take the Rite of Passage, defeat King Kraagor in single combat and have Grendel take over as the Orc King to open the city to the allies. Sacha’s plans, Xandor’s plans, and Ferguson’s plans do not go as planned. There are many reversals of fortune in Cherigov. The key to stopping the plague is found at Sabe’s estate and at Sehraine’s elf village. It will take all our heroes might to defeat the power behind all the events that have happened so far. This is the conclusion of the Cayn trilogy.
Recommendation
The Cayn trilogy combined fantasy, mystery, and military action well. I liked all the heroes and despised the villains. The action never lets up. I understood who each of the characters was, though it would have helped to have a written cast of the many characters for the series since I did not read the novels back to back. My only issue was the ending. I feel like I missed something or the last mystery remaining will lead to a sequel. It didn’t feel complete to me.
Links
The Goodreads page for Blood of Cayn by Jason McDonald is through this link.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47145155-blood-of-cayn
My review of Son of Cayn Book #1 of the Cayn Trilogy. Xandor the ranger’s mission is to infiltrate a caravan that is smuggling soap. Soap? Yes, soap. Xandor’s crew must determine where and why the soap is being smuggled.
My review of City of Cayn Book #2 of the Cayn Trilogy. It’s a suspenseful adventure. The plague story begun in the first book takes our heroes to Cherigov, a human city overrun by orcs. They must defeat the orc king, or the plague will devastate the land.