Reviews

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan

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joelhart's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

snowbanshee17's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The good:
- the plot and how it plays out by the end of the book, where trivial things from earlier turn out to have meaning
- well written, the language descriptive without being repetitive, nor does it read like someone just threading together synonyms from a thesaurus.
- layered mysteries of the different orders, cultures and nations that hint at some sort of interconnection, revealed in a way that’s believable and in line with the way this fictional world is set up (I.e no convenient surprise “twists” that make no sense with the magic system)
- the story spans a lot of time, but the time jumps are done well and the few flashbacks aren’t jarring and are all relevant to moving the plot or character development forward.

The could be better:
- pacing. The story is very slow, with the tension and action picking up toward the last third of the novel or so, but even then this is not a page turner. It is epic fantasy so I expected it to be slower paced but I can’t quite place my finger on why this felt really slow, even during the more “action-packed” sequences.
- some of the world building could be more unique, infusing more distinguishing elements to the cultures, nations, and governments.
This extends to the characters Vaelin meets. Particularly all the nobility, a majority of them all blurred together as I read, so many similar names but not enough distinguishing characteristics save for a few of the characters.

Although this book was very well thought out, planned and written well, it took a while to read through, even for an epic fantasy. The pace was slower and the language heavier, sometimes verbose in certain passages but it’s not detracting, just makes it a slower read but an intriguing story overall.

bookfiend1990's review against another edition

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5.0

Oh my goodness! Where to start! I was perusing through a book store on one of my rare journeys to the city and I saw it. The blurb interested me, so I took it home.
This book was fantastic. I didn't want to stop reading. I needed to know more, what happened, what was going to happen, I COULDN'T WORK WITHOUT THINKING OF THIS BOOK.
Needless to say, it earned a full 5 STARS from me.
I loved the characters (kind of maybe sort of fell in love with one). So great. And the characters' personal journeys...man oh man! So great!
Cheers to Anthony!

hudsone45's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this one, more than the Covenant of Steel series by the same author. I like that the magic system is visible but not blatant. I also like that the main character attempts to have morals.

bnelson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

calbowen's review against another edition

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1.0

*Yawn* Do you know how to figure out when it is time to close a book? When you start to think about the next book that you want to read, and it is not a sequel or even another book by the same author.

This is, quite simply put, boring.

We meet the main character being taken away, and he begins to tell the tale of his life. Problem, I don't care. I read, and he goes through trials and tribu - *yawn* - lations. Whatever.

I have absolutely no desire to continue and I do not care about the characters. I feel zero emotion, and I would rather search Good-reads for another book to read then to continue this drivel. If you enjoy this, then good on you, but being that this is probably the last book I will read prior to NaNo, I am disappointed, uninspired, and I feel robbed of a book given high reviews. What am I missing, because this was a snore-fest from beginning to the middle, and then I quit.