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hallowsun's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
willrefuge's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 / 5 ✪
Beneath the Twisted Trees is the 4th Shattered Sands book, a series that began with Twelve Kings in Sharakai. That was one of my favorite books ever, and I’ve really enjoyed the journey thus far. I’m happy to say that Twisted Trees continues the trend, rather than upsetting it. Though, this installment is a departure of sorts from the previous books of the series as the Kings no longer take center stage. I mean, they’re still involved, and Çeda’s main goal is still to bring them down, but the focus in Twisted Trees goes instead to Sharakai.
War has come to the desert.
With so many Kings fallen, Sharakai’s neighbors have come calling. Brama, Emre and none too few of the Kings find their destinies caught up in the battle for the Amber Jewel. Emre heads the delegation from the Thirteenth Tribe—first in an attempt to reunite the other twelve tribes, then on to the invading Malasani as they sit before the walls of the city. But will it be dispute from without or betrayal from within that dooms this mission? Brama—alone with the ehrekh Rümayesh—roams to desert in search of beauty and wonders, but instead finds more than he imagined and is swept up in a gamble to bring Sharakai to ruin. The Kings—Ihsan, Beşir and Hamzakiir (masquerading as Kiral)—seek to save their city by any means necessary, while Hamzakiir seeks only to save himself from Meryam’s clutches.
Meanwhile Ramahd seeks the Qaimiri queen’s downfall; for the murder of her father, betrayal of their people, betrayal of Ramahd himself. Davud and Anila find themselves alone with enemies on all sides, with both the Kings and Sharakai’s new queen searching for them, they must seize on any ally in an attempt to save themselves. And yet, where will their desperation lead them? In the desert, Çeda searches for answers. Riddles, poems, stories—anything that will help her bring down the Kings. But first she seeks to free the asirim, remnants of her lost tribe. And this alone may prove too daunting a task. Nalamae, goddess of the Haddah, hides from the elder gods of the desert. Centuries prior, the other desert gods chose to deal with the Kings of Sharakai, while she abstained. The mystery remains: why? And why now do the other gods—Yerinde particularly—all seek her head?
In addition to these, there are the Malasani, the Mirean, the Qaimiri: all come to the Shangazi to pluck the Jewel from the sands. A work of epic fantasy at its finest, Twisted Trees weaves together a half-dozen POVs with multiple plots into a single epic story; which is but part of a greater, over-arching story. Blood, lies, love, plague, betrayal, and hope abound in this tale, which begins the second half of Beaulieu’s six-book Shattered Sands.
And it was… actually really good.
I had few issues with the book; for the most part I really enjoyed it. Starting from the events of A Veil of Spears—which featured a plot I really enjoyed with an ending that was somewhat uneven and disappointing—Twisted Trees picks up and carries on, expertly blending action with the intricacies intrigue and subtlety. It’s good to see that after four main, plus another six or so novellas set in the world, the Shattered Sands is still going strong. The plot and stories and weave of Twisted Trees continues to impress, and though I didn’t absolutely adore every chapter, there were none that I hated, either.
As with any book, there were those POVs I found myself more excited for than others, though they changed it up a bit throughout as individual stories are wont to do. Overall Brama, Hamzakiir and Ramahd intrigued me, while Emre and Anila fell short. Çeda, Davud and the other Kings failed to wow or disappoint in equal measure (bit disappointed a bit by this, as I’d always been wrapt by Çeda’s chapters, particularly).
My largest issue with Twisted Trees were the relationships. Or love-triangles. Or… whatever. About a month ago, I read the Tattered Prince (backstory on Brama and Jax’s relationship) to ready myself for Twisted Trees, so I was rather disappointed to find that Jax wasn’t even IN this book. Not that Brama seems to notice. Does little to further Emre and Çeda’s relationship either, though again each pursue their own. In fact, everyone (every POVC) seems to have turned a blind eye to their history before this book. YOLO, and whatnot.
My only other issue was with the pacing. It becomes a bit uneven in the second half of the text–particularly towards the end. This added a few days to my read time, and made it a little harder to focus on, but affected little else. It felt quite similar to the the pacing in A Veil of Spears, really.
Beneath the Twisted Trees actually exceeded my expectations in a big, big way. I definitely enjoyed it. More so, in waiting a few days between finishing and reviewing it, I was able to reread a bit of the sections that confused/annoyed me, which really helped me enjoy it more.
Reviewed on https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2019/07/11/
Beneath the Twisted Trees is the 4th Shattered Sands book, a series that began with Twelve Kings in Sharakai. That was one of my favorite books ever, and I’ve really enjoyed the journey thus far. I’m happy to say that Twisted Trees continues the trend, rather than upsetting it. Though, this installment is a departure of sorts from the previous books of the series as the Kings no longer take center stage. I mean, they’re still involved, and Çeda’s main goal is still to bring them down, but the focus in Twisted Trees goes instead to Sharakai.
War has come to the desert.
With so many Kings fallen, Sharakai’s neighbors have come calling. Brama, Emre and none too few of the Kings find their destinies caught up in the battle for the Amber Jewel. Emre heads the delegation from the Thirteenth Tribe—first in an attempt to reunite the other twelve tribes, then on to the invading Malasani as they sit before the walls of the city. But will it be dispute from without or betrayal from within that dooms this mission? Brama—alone with the ehrekh Rümayesh—roams to desert in search of beauty and wonders, but instead finds more than he imagined and is swept up in a gamble to bring Sharakai to ruin. The Kings—Ihsan, Beşir and Hamzakiir (masquerading as Kiral)—seek to save their city by any means necessary, while Hamzakiir seeks only to save himself from Meryam’s clutches.
Meanwhile Ramahd seeks the Qaimiri queen’s downfall; for the murder of her father, betrayal of their people, betrayal of Ramahd himself. Davud and Anila find themselves alone with enemies on all sides, with both the Kings and Sharakai’s new queen searching for them, they must seize on any ally in an attempt to save themselves. And yet, where will their desperation lead them? In the desert, Çeda searches for answers. Riddles, poems, stories—anything that will help her bring down the Kings. But first she seeks to free the asirim, remnants of her lost tribe. And this alone may prove too daunting a task. Nalamae, goddess of the Haddah, hides from the elder gods of the desert. Centuries prior, the other desert gods chose to deal with the Kings of Sharakai, while she abstained. The mystery remains: why? And why now do the other gods—Yerinde particularly—all seek her head?
In addition to these, there are the Malasani, the Mirean, the Qaimiri: all come to the Shangazi to pluck the Jewel from the sands. A work of epic fantasy at its finest, Twisted Trees weaves together a half-dozen POVs with multiple plots into a single epic story; which is but part of a greater, over-arching story. Blood, lies, love, plague, betrayal, and hope abound in this tale, which begins the second half of Beaulieu’s six-book Shattered Sands.
And it was… actually really good.
I had few issues with the book; for the most part I really enjoyed it. Starting from the events of A Veil of Spears—which featured a plot I really enjoyed with an ending that was somewhat uneven and disappointing—Twisted Trees picks up and carries on, expertly blending action with the intricacies intrigue and subtlety. It’s good to see that after four main, plus another six or so novellas set in the world, the Shattered Sands is still going strong. The plot and stories and weave of Twisted Trees continues to impress, and though I didn’t absolutely adore every chapter, there were none that I hated, either.
As with any book, there were those POVs I found myself more excited for than others, though they changed it up a bit throughout as individual stories are wont to do. Overall Brama, Hamzakiir and Ramahd intrigued me, while Emre and Anila fell short. Çeda, Davud and the other Kings failed to wow or disappoint in equal measure (bit disappointed a bit by this, as I’d always been wrapt by Çeda’s chapters, particularly).
My largest issue with Twisted Trees were the relationships. Or love-triangles. Or… whatever. About a month ago, I read the Tattered Prince (backstory on Brama and Jax’s relationship) to ready myself for Twisted Trees, so I was rather disappointed to find that Jax wasn’t even IN this book. Not that Brama seems to notice. Does little to further Emre and Çeda’s relationship either, though again each pursue their own. In fact, everyone (every POVC) seems to have turned a blind eye to their history before this book. YOLO, and whatnot.
My only other issue was with the pacing. It becomes a bit uneven in the second half of the text–particularly towards the end. This added a few days to my read time, and made it a little harder to focus on, but affected little else. It felt quite similar to the the pacing in A Veil of Spears, really.
Beneath the Twisted Trees actually exceeded my expectations in a big, big way. I definitely enjoyed it. More so, in waiting a few days between finishing and reviewing it, I was able to reread a bit of the sections that confused/annoyed me, which really helped me enjoy it more.
Reviewed on https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2019/07/11/
itsfreelancer's review against another edition
5.0
Holy hell. The desert has come alive. Book 5 better not take another 3 years.
skycrane's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very good. I was waiting for it to come out and read it in just a couple days. It feels even more fast-paced than the previous two. Things in the desert have devolved into complete chaos, with many different competing factions, and individuals scheming against each other within those factions. It feels very much like most of the characters are being dragged along by events, unable to exercise anything more than the barest amount of control over their direction.
Cheda, of course, is the exception. Hunted though she is, she is generally able to keep the initiative against her enemies. She's become more of a leader than before, and in some ways her stubborn willfulness is tempered (to some small extent) by her sense of responsibility for those who follow her. Also, now she has friends who are able to stand up to her and tell her when they think she's making a mistake; though she often overrules them, she does listen.
Here's one of my few complaints about the book: some of the character development is way too fast. For Cheda, it mostly makes sense: her mother prepared her when she was young, and she's been training for this her whole life. She's had experience in the slums, in the palaces, and in the deserts. She's studied history and religion. She's gone through a lot in the earlier books, and learned from other people as well as her own mistakes. Plus, she's got some kind of super power. It feels odd that she's the most powerful person in the universe, but I can buy it. Emre, on the other hand, has barely set foot out of the city before, and is now in charge of a diplomatic mission as well as a whole ship. Does he even know how a sandship works? What does he know about rigging, about the terrain, about navigation? Why would anyone listen to him give orders in ship-to-ship combat? What has prepared him to sit with kings and chiefs, follow diplomatic protocol, and discuss weighty issues? I can see him learning some of these things over the course of the books, but not all of them.
I think this only really bothered me with Emre. Otherwise, character development generally makes sense. People grow, and a major part of books like these is seeing the characters learn from their struggles. I feel like many of the relationships are taken more seriously than in the previous books, and the side characters feel more realized.
My other complaint is kind of petty. I feel like the author does waaay too much to try to explain things to people who might've forgotten or haven't been paying attention. The book starts with a brief summary of previous events, which is a nice refresher. Then throughout the book, when something from a previous entry is brought up for the first time, it's explained even when it doesn't make any sense for the narrating character to be reminding themselves of it. This is sort of awkward, but is often helpful. However, sometimes things that were explained just chapters or even mere pages before are reexplained again. This is annoying. I think there's one time where a whole sentence was repeated word-for-word from just a few paragraphs later, for no reason I can fathom. Maybe it slipped through proofreading, or the editing was kind of rushed? Maybe there was some rhetorical purpose that just went over my head.
And speaking of editing, there's something really interesting the way the chapters are put together that at first I wasn't sure how to feel about. Many of the chapters are out of order. You'll have a chapter from one character's point of view, then a chapter set a week earlier from another's point of view. In one chapter there'll be a confrontation in the desert that ends unresolved, and in the next some of the characters will already be back in the city. Then a few chapters later, it'll jump back to the desert right after the battle. I think this happened in the previous books, but it wasn't as noticeable. At first it was a little confusing, or sometimes anticlimactic. However, I think I get it now. The number of times characters split up and then meet up again, or major events affect several different plotlines simultaneously, is massive. Planning out this book must've been quite a feat, and as far as I can tell, it all fits together to the day. I think a decision must've been made to prioritize the flow of the narrative over strict adherence to chronology, and ultimately it works out really well. Throughout this series, I've been really impressed at the way different sections are woven together. There's always a very strong rhythm, with a good alternation between faster and slower sections, without ever sacrificing momentum in key scenes.
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and eagerly await the next one. If you've been enjoying the series so far, there's no reason to stop now.
Edit: I just re-read this in preparation for starting the recently released When Jackals Storm the Walls. My complaints above seem even more petty than they did when I wrote them. I did notice the issue I had had with the explanations in general (though this time through I was a little more grateful and less annoyed), but I didn't catch the specific part I had complained about, and now I don't remember what it was. As for the characters, I think I hadn't taken into account how much time had passed, and Emre's involvement in the actual management and direction of the ship mostly consisted of encouraging his underlings, who did most of the real work. He was chosen to lead the mission because of his personal qualities and Macide's trust in him, not because of his expertise.
On the other hand, the things I liked about the book stood out to me even more on a second reading. The story feels unpredictable. There are plots and betrayals, plans and reversals, enemies become allies become enemies again. It's all very exciting, and the paces matches the escalation in the story. A minor rebellion has given way to a full-blown war of four nations, and you really feel the chaos of the situation. No one person has a chance of plotting their way through the mess, and it seems like even the gods themselves are really only along for the ride at this point. The best anyone can hope is to react gracefully to the twists in fate, or at best to stay one step ahead.
Overall it's a very good book, and I enjoyed reading it again as much or more than I did the first time.
Cheda, of course, is the exception. Hunted though she is, she is generally able to keep the initiative against her enemies. She's become more of a leader than before, and in some ways her stubborn willfulness is tempered (to some small extent) by her sense of responsibility for those who follow her. Also, now she has friends who are able to stand up to her and tell her when they think she's making a mistake; though she often overrules them, she does listen.
Here's one of my few complaints about the book: some of the character development is way too fast. For Cheda, it mostly makes sense: her mother prepared her when she was young, and she's been training for this her whole life. She's had experience in the slums, in the palaces, and in the deserts. She's studied history and religion. She's gone through a lot in the earlier books, and learned from other people as well as her own mistakes. Plus, she's got some kind of super power. It feels odd that she's the most powerful person in the universe, but I can buy it. Emre, on the other hand, has barely set foot out of the city before, and is now in charge of a diplomatic mission as well as a whole ship. Does he even know how a sandship works? What does he know about rigging, about the terrain, about navigation? Why would anyone listen to him give orders in ship-to-ship combat? What has prepared him to sit with kings and chiefs, follow diplomatic protocol, and discuss weighty issues? I can see him learning some of these things over the course of the books, but not all of them.
I think this only really bothered me with Emre. Otherwise, character development generally makes sense. People grow, and a major part of books like these is seeing the characters learn from their struggles. I feel like many of the relationships are taken more seriously than in the previous books, and the side characters feel more realized.
My other complaint is kind of petty. I feel like the author does waaay too much to try to explain things to people who might've forgotten or haven't been paying attention. The book starts with a brief summary of previous events, which is a nice refresher. Then throughout the book, when something from a previous entry is brought up for the first time, it's explained even when it doesn't make any sense for the narrating character to be reminding themselves of it. This is sort of awkward, but is often helpful. However, sometimes things that were explained just chapters or even mere pages before are reexplained again. This is annoying. I think there's one time where a whole sentence was repeated word-for-word from just a few paragraphs later, for no reason I can fathom. Maybe it slipped through proofreading, or the editing was kind of rushed? Maybe there was some rhetorical purpose that just went over my head.
And speaking of editing, there's something really interesting the way the chapters are put together that at first I wasn't sure how to feel about. Many of the chapters are out of order. You'll have a chapter from one character's point of view, then a chapter set a week earlier from another's point of view. In one chapter there'll be a confrontation in the desert that ends unresolved, and in the next some of the characters will already be back in the city. Then a few chapters later, it'll jump back to the desert right after the battle. I think this happened in the previous books, but it wasn't as noticeable. At first it was a little confusing, or sometimes anticlimactic. However, I think I get it now. The number of times characters split up and then meet up again, or major events affect several different plotlines simultaneously, is massive. Planning out this book must've been quite a feat, and as far as I can tell, it all fits together to the day. I think a decision must've been made to prioritize the flow of the narrative over strict adherence to chronology, and ultimately it works out really well. Throughout this series, I've been really impressed at the way different sections are woven together. There's always a very strong rhythm, with a good alternation between faster and slower sections, without ever sacrificing momentum in key scenes.
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and eagerly await the next one. If you've been enjoying the series so far, there's no reason to stop now.
Edit: I just re-read this in preparation for starting the recently released When Jackals Storm the Walls. My complaints above seem even more petty than they did when I wrote them. I did notice the issue I had had with the explanations in general (though this time through I was a little more grateful and less annoyed), but I didn't catch the specific part I had complained about, and now I don't remember what it was. As for the characters, I think I hadn't taken into account how much time had passed, and Emre's involvement in the actual management and direction of the ship mostly consisted of encouraging his underlings, who did most of the real work. He was chosen to lead the mission because of his personal qualities and Macide's trust in him, not because of his expertise.
On the other hand, the things I liked about the book stood out to me even more on a second reading. The story feels unpredictable. There are plots and betrayals, plans and reversals, enemies become allies become enemies again. It's all very exciting, and the paces matches the escalation in the story. A minor rebellion has given way to a full-blown war of four nations, and you really feel the chaos of the situation. No one person has a chance of plotting their way through the mess, and it seems like even the gods themselves are really only along for the ride at this point. The best anyone can hope is to react gracefully to the twists in fate, or at best to stay one step ahead.
Overall it's a very good book, and I enjoyed reading it again as much or more than I did the first time.
soofsaphony's review against another edition
5.0
What I really like about this series is that the focus of the story shifts from book to book. It's not just, we need to defeat the oppressive regime or the big bad and that's it. Çeda really changes in the role she is playing in the grand scheme of it all, suddenly we're getting worried about what the Gods are actually up to AND the story never starts to feel too complicated to deal with! I love it.
coriandercake's review against another edition
3.0
This book finally broke the pattern of the last three. Unfortunately, this book was a lot more battle focused and I much prefer problem-solving/mystery focused plots. The characters also haven't gone through a lot of development and it's making me lose interest. Davud and Brama are the most interesting characters in this book precisely because they're facing internal dilemmas and changes whereas Ceda and Emre pretty much just have to defeat x bad guy. The thing that really brings this book down is the sex/romance/incest. Beaulieu doesn't write romantic tension well, there are pointless love triangles, and I absolutely hate incest as a trope. I wish fantasy authors would stop doing it.
ryan_reads_fantasy's review against another edition
4.0
This was definitely a slower book. Geared more towards setup as it puts the pieces in place for the next big act, that is the second half of this series. With that come the dangers of slower pacing of the territory while my attention did ebb and flow a little bit I still quite enjoyed the pieces he put on the board and the possible new layers to the ever growing list of perils our main characters face and Ned to overcome.
maddieraereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
aurora69006's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
htb2050's review against another edition
1.0
DNF @ Chapter 15. I was looking forward to reading this book for a long time. Book 1 was okayish, Book 2 got really good and then book 3 was where all the story started making sense.
But this book is nothing like the previous 3.
Firstly forget continuity, a few chapters in you would be questioning if its the same story as the previous 3 books then you would see characters falling in love and romance and you would ask yourself where did this come from? Why wasn't it in the previous books.
The pacing was terribly slow and on top of that the writing style was a lot different so much so that if felt someone else wrote it.
All in all. Read a broucher or something else when you are at a barber's because you might find something more interesting in that then what you would in this book.
But this book is nothing like the previous 3.
Firstly forget continuity, a few chapters in you would be questioning if its the same story as the previous 3 books then you would see characters falling in love and romance and you would ask yourself where did this come from? Why wasn't it in the previous books.
The pacing was terribly slow and on top of that the writing style was a lot different so much so that if felt someone else wrote it.
All in all. Read a broucher or something else when you are at a barber's because you might find something more interesting in that then what you would in this book.