"If what she feared came to be, the whole of the slaughter would unfold again. More would die, a repeat of these last days."
The Cairns of Sainctuarie: The Bleikovat Event by Hawk MacKinney Sage Words Publishing
book review by Michael Radon
As the Bleikovat tribe wages war across all of Malfesov, the scattered and weakened other tribes band together for a last ditch effort to keep their peoples and customs alive. Forced to march through frozen mountains before arriving on the plains of Eedov City, these Malfesians make a last stand caught beyond the last bastion for their people. Able to make an escape across the sea to the continent of Maalonovia, the tribes, united by Etkaa, the widow of the Chief Elder Klavrko, make allies with the Maalons and are able to regroup long enough to wage war with the Bleikovats, who under pressure of famine and pestilence are forced to make a push to get the supplies necessary to keep their subjects alive.
Predominantly a military fantasy story, this book is great for fans of high fantasy who take great interest in things like troop placement and movement, naval strategy, and tense trading agreements. These things are not enough to bog down an otherwise exciting story of medieval warfare on another planet, but the author includes these details to help this conflict jump off the page. Maps, glossaries, and indexes regarding the numerous clans of the land are provided to help the reader more quickly adapt to the features and culture of these lands. Beneath the conflict and bloodshed is also a story of lost love, a family broken apart by war, and the quest of a people to find some semblance of normalcy in the face of potential destruction, promising something for everyone.