I'm honestly surprised this book hasn't gotten more attention in the fantasy reader community. It was a really enjoyable read with solid characters, plot, and setting.Characters: The book follows three main plots, with three main POV's, though others are thrown in to give different perspectives. Sometimes with POV shifting, there can be one character that is way more interesting than the rest. That wasn't the case here. Every character had their own unique voice and conflict that kept me interested in their story. If you know the 'five man band' trope, there was a lot of that on good display here. The characters on the quest bounced off of one another with lovely and often hilarious banter.Plot: This might be the weakest aspect of the novel in terms that it wasn't exactly breaking new ground: Princess trying to hold onto power in an unstable kingdom, grizzled action hero has to get out of his nihilist funk and collect a 'five man band' to go on an important quest, young innocent boy has to go out into the world, etc. However, this is an example of why classic fantasy tropes remain classic. The balance of political intrigue versus action adventure was well-maintained throughout. The stakes and violence were high without becoming depressing grim dark.Setting: While the novel takes place in a vaguely medieval setting, there was plenty of stuff thrown in to keep it fresh and interesting, the dragons and their ecological effects being a real highlight.To sum up, Blood and Exile uses classic fantasy tropes to their best effect, keeping the novel fresh with well-paced action adventure, likable characters, and an interesting magical mystery. At risk of revealing myself as a horse girl, my one complaint was what I guess counts as a editing mistake. At one point, the donkey is described as getting seasick and puking, which immediately threw me out of the story and killed my suspension of disbelief. Horses and donkeys can't vomit. If they get something stuck in their stomach, they basically just fall over dead. Like, I said a minor nitpick, but the obnoxious horse person in me couldn't let it go. Either way, I highly recommend this book if you like fun action adventure fantasy.