Review: Veinbound by Anne Pengelly

Hauntingly epic prose and one fierce firebrand of a protagonist make Veinbound: The Red Bargain by Anne Pengelly a must-read novel for fans of thought-provoking dark fantasy.

In a realm where blood can be burned as magical currency, paying one’s debt is a matter of life and death, and the Red Church always comes to collect – desperate to control the wielding of all sanguinary powers. Nyxa Reddane has been an orphan from birth, raised by a hedge priestess who taught her the workings of blood rites, simple healing spells, and how to eat the sins of the suspicious townsfolk seeking her services in their moments of need.

In an act of heroism, Nyxa’s true nature as an unsanctioned sorceress is finally revealed, and the Red Church marks her as a heretic, the ultimate crime against the Bargain and society itself. Fleeing as her old life burns, she lands among unexpected allies in the Bone Choir, sacred practitioners who work their blood magic in the unseen parts of the world, hunted but far from defenseless.

As her powers deepen and an uncertain destiny is revealed by voices in The Veil, Nyxa takes on an impossible quest: infiltrating the highest sanctums of the Red Church, unearthing its shameful secrets, and breaking its stranglehold of power across the realm. If her somewhat suicidal scheme succeeds, it could bring about the return of free-flowing magic, or unleash a new age of utter ruin.

Pengelly begins what promises to be an epic saga with its arcs and bones fully formed, allowing her to freely break from traditional rules for structure and perspective, twisting and sermonizing the darkly poetic prose like Octavia Butler at her best. The exemplary world-building hooks readers and transports them to a coal-black gothic landscape, where sinister priests of a power-hungry order align with bloodthirsty nobles to oppress and drain the power of common people.

If the premise sounds reflective of our everyday world, there are countless allegorical threads in the narrative to our very real present dynamic of debt, power, fear, and sanctioned violence; the Red Church is the Empire of ledgers and authority, and the Bone Choir is the indigenous force of rebellion and resistance. Pengelly synthesizes this classic binary into the heart of her writing, giving this series a radical and timely appeal. Add to that the unflinching explorations of gender roles and the oppression of women with its patriarchy-crushing plot, and it becomes clear that this series is a clarion call for rabble-rousers in any realm.

Every detail is penned in Pengelly’s lavish language, which is lyrical, intense, and arcane, and expressed with the unique confidence of an author who is intimately familiar with each character and their surroundings. There are some examples of overly florid phrasing and redundant passages of world-building exposition that slow the pace, particularly in the opening quarter of the book, but that is a small critique, and the book soon takes on thrilling momentum.

Shadowy, brilliant, and layered with timely symbolism, this first installment of The Red Bargain series is a ravenous cut above other works of dark fantasy, and the fantasy genre on the whole.