Reviews

Bane and Shadow by Jon Skovron

slc333's review against another edition

3.0

It was still really good and very readable in that it drew me in and kept my attention but I found it quite a bit darker than book 1 and it was just a bit too dark for my enjoyment. Once again both Hope & Red’s individual stories were interesting but sadly this time we don’t get any time with them together and I missed that.

yccngz's review against another edition

5.0

This novel was everything I had been waiting for. Hope and Red was amazing, and this one, was phenomenal. We fall back into the world of biomancers, pirates, and royals seamlessly. Hope and Red are in completely different situations but somehow, I never got bored of either of their plotlines. When reading books with multiple point-of-views, I usually pick a favorite storyline and wait for their their chapters but with this one, I was exited for everyone.

The piracy scenes were EPIC and probably one of my favorite parts of the book. I also very enjoyed Red's banter, it was funny to see him in these situations that were completely out of his confort zones, and even funnier to see him make high-class citizens uncomfortable with his vocabulary. Another thing I greatly enjoyed was that whole focus on Nettles. Her character was explored to another level in this book and I really wasn't expecting it, but was very thankful!

I still love love love the world, everything about the empire of storms is so well built and complete. The island setting is original and honestly works very well, I liked seeing more of the differences between each part of the empire and I loved to see the royalty react to Red's New Laven slang. I am vert excited to see how this story evolves.

I honestly can't wait for book 3(soon pls).

boosbesje's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

3.5

kris7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

lourdes_chapters_we_love's review against another edition

5.0

This is definetly a GREAT sequel to Hope and Red. I loved the first book and this one is no different. My only complain the thing with Red was dealt with to quickly I thought it wasn't going to get resolve until the last book but other than that 5*s read.

Review: https://chapterswelove.com/2017/08/30/bane-and-shadow-by-jon-skovron/

Red and Hope, Book 1: https://chapterswelove.com/2017/04/27/hope-and-red-the-empire-of-storms-book-1-by-jon-skovron/

cece97's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

majaingrid's review against another edition

4.0

Excellent continuation of the trilogy! I actually liked this one better than the first book and was happily thrown into it. It moved slightly slower, but was no less brutal. Seriously biomancery is fucked up. People of the Paradise Circle isn't squeamish lacies either. Also what Mick the Sick did was real disturbing stuff. There's stuff that I will never be able to unsee.

Spoiler

Actually found myself a little disappointed though that Nettles didn't chop of Mick's dick

I'm fully rooted for Red. As the pat wag that he is, he's stolen my heart and is reluctant to share it with anyone else (though Nettles and Sadie and Filler all three scared him into giving them each a bit of it). I ~almost~ fell sorry for the palace folks for all the shenanigans he threw around. Almost, but not really.

Looking forward for the final installment. Bit sad it's only a trilogy because I'm having such a big fun with these books.

kathleen_guy's review

5.0

I just. I just REALLY LIKE THESE BOOKS. I can sit and read them in a single sitting, I love them so much.

Fantasy/high fantasy is my fav and these books hit EVERY. SINGLE. REQUIREMENT. that I yearn for in my fantasy books. There are: strong female characters that do not exclude quiet women of the court (aka more than just the "warrior type" of feminine character), a wide variety of characters of all ages and identities, FUCKING MAGIC, intrigue, new plot lines that are actually RELEVANT AND NOT THROWN IN FOR THE FUCK OF IT, actual brutality and violence (as apposed to implied), excellent dialogue and character development, heartbreak, emotional rollercoasters, and best of all, satisfactory deaths.

I'm just saying, Hope and Red are baes and I NEED THE THIRD ONE NOW PLEASE AND THANKS JON SKOVRON FOR THIS EXCELLENT SERIES. I just like it a lot ok...

amym84's review against another edition

4.0

4.5

Originally posted at Vampire Book Club

It’s been a year since Bleak Hope took up the moniker of Dire Bane and began sailing the seas terrorizing Imperial ships, never forgetting that her end goal is to free Red from the biomancers. When she and her newfound friends/family stumble upon an island being used as the testing grounds by the biomancers for a new weapon, Hope knows she must put an end to it no matter what. As she prepares herself for the battle, will the result end up costing Hope too much?

Meanwhile, it’s been a year that Red has been living in the capital city of Stonepeak being trained by the biomancers. He doesn’t regret his decision to stay, as it allowed him to save Hope, but Red’s biding his time until he can use their training against them. When a new threat emerges from the shadows of the city and begins killing any who may be in opposition to the biomancers, Red needs to find out where this new threat is coming from and put an end to it. But will the things he learns along the way be too much for him to come back from?

For me, Bane and Shadow definitely put more focus on the characters. We already know the biomancers are up to no good. That they’ve corrupted the Empire. We’re given more details and further information on how far this corruption goes, but reading it, I was more invested in the characters; their actions and reactions, sometimes surprising, but always satisfying.

ALL of the characters are put through their paces in Bane and Shadow. I capitalize the “all” because this is not just Hope and Red, although they are the focal point, but I’m talking about all the important characters we were introduced to in Hope and Red. Everyone is faced with new dilemmas or finally coming to terms with new understandings. I appreciated that no one is spared when it comes to the difficult emotional stuff, but it’s the way each character deals with it that proved most interesting.

Hope, who was used to being alone, now has people surrounding her. People that have helped her grow and become a no-holds-barred pirate captain. I loved where she is at the beginning of Bane and Shadow. But with all this newness and growth, of course, comes questions. She begins to question the initial path she started, which was one of vengeance. I think in the next book we’ll see her make some definite moves toward her own future and not one that has been pressed upon her via trying to uphold traditions.

On Red’s side, he’s living in the palace, posing as a Lord, and besides a very limited number of persons he’d call himself friendly with, he’s alone. He has no idea what is going on with Hope and the rest of his true friends. Plus, he’s working, albeit begrudgingly, with the biomancers. Wondering everyday what they’re really doing to him. He’s in a completely new element, and not quite sure of his footing which is definitely strange for Red. It’s safe to say he finds his way by the end, and I can’t wait to see where he goes with it.

I’m anxiously awaiting the final installment in the trilogy. Of course, Job Skovron threw in some very surprising turn of events at certain points and I can’t wait to see how it all concludes. So far, this series has not disappointed.

reader44ever's review against another edition

4.0

This second book in the Empire of Storms trilogy was, if anything, slightly better a read for me than the first one was. Why? Well, the first one ended with a *MAJOR* cliffhanger. This one ended with things just sort of up in the air. (Hope and Red still haven't been reunited, in other words.)

I laughed out loud a couple of times, which I shared in my status updates but will also share here, but I did not ever cry, which surprised me. After all,

Filler and Sadie were killed!

:-(

(I think no tears were shed mainly because it's been almost a year since I read book one. If I ever reread this series back-to-back, which I actually think I am likely to do someday, I probably will cry.)

Speaking of my chances of rereading this story/series, I think I might actually buy this trilogy, especially once book three is released. I find myself thinking of it occasionally, so much so that I didn't actually need to reread book one - or even read my review of it - before reading this book two. (That cliffhanger ending to book one has haunted my thoughts ever since I read it on August 10, 2016.) :-)

So, when is book three due out? It looks like its anticipated release date is late November (or "December") of this year!!! :-)

Anyway, back to this book. Red is, as we knew, on Stonepeak with the biomancers. :-( But

he has not yet been so changed that he's unrecognizable. He's still "Red." And he's somehow struck up a friendship with Prince Lestan, heir to the throne of the Empire of Storms.

I was surprised at how much freedom Red has to run around. After

Red revealed himself to be the Shadow Demon (!!!), Lady Hempist was even able to sail away with him to Lesser Basheta to seek a cure. I didn't expect the biomancers to be that lax. I thought they'd stop the ship or something.

So Red's storyline did not go how I was expecting, at all.

Also,

on Lesser Basheta, Red was cured. The Shadow Demon no longer takes him over. Though he still hears the commands of the biomancers, he is "Red" when he hears them and not "required" to follow through.

So that was interesting, but again, not what I was expecting.

As to Hope, she did "become" Dire Bane, but

by the end, she was so disheartened by all the death that she abandoned her sword, the Song of Sorrows, and her companions (!!!), and returned to Galemoor.

Once again, this was not what I was expecting.

For some reason, I expected Gavish Gray to betray Hope, though why the Black Rose would have asked this favor of him, I didn't know. So I was again surprised, but happily, when

he instead killed Progul Bon, the biomancer trying to finagle Hope into letting him live by dangling Red in front of her. Gavish told her that that was the favor the Black Rose had asked: to not let Red be used against her.

:-)

In the end, the biomancers are

devastated by the loss of all their work on Dawn's Light. (A loss resulting from Dire Bane's attack.)

:-) But as I said, Hope

was disheartened so much that she abandoned her sword, the Song of Sorrows; she left Alash, Brigga Lin, Jilly, and Missing Finn (and Brice Vaderton, Gavish Gray, and the rest of the crew that helped her attack and decimate Dawn's Light); and she returned to Galemoor. Brother Wentu was the only monk still there (the rest went to Stonepeak; more on this in the next spoiler) and he gave her a book with a letter from Grandteacher Hurlo. After reading it. . .

Hope looked up at Wentu, tears in her eyes.
"I am not worthy of this task."
He smiled down benevolently on her. "Worthy or not, you are the only one left to do it. So perhaps the first step is making yourself worthy." [fin]

So that was how the book ended (at the end of Chapter 29), for Hope at least. But what happened when last we saw Red, at the end of Chapter 28 on pages 486-487? I'll tell you. . . Red

was told to attend a midnight council meeting, an order he remained conscious for (the "Shadow Demon cure" worked!). He did go (he's now a spy for Lady Hempist, after all) and saw the biomancers - all except Progul Bon - meet with 40 Vinchen, led by Racklock "the Just." (I expected the council to order the deaths of the Vinchen, but they didn't. Instead, Ammon Set asks them to kill Bleak Hope and Brigga Lin.

Racklock drew his sword, and the thirty-nine Vinchen behind him did the same.
"I swear on my honor," said Racklock the Just, "that the blasphemers Bleak Hope and Brigga Lin will not see the end of another year."
Red stood behind them, almost invisible for all anyone was paying attention to him. And that was a good thing, because otherwise they might have seen the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Feelings for Hope that had begun to fade over the last year sprang suddenly back with full force. She was hitting the biomancers hard enough to actually hurt them. She was the setback to their latest plans. His heart soared with pride.
But then he looked at the Vinchen before him. Forty men, all as strong and quick and fierce as her. He'd never really worried about her before, because, well, she was a pissing Vinchen after all. But what good would that be to her now?
[End Chapter 28]

So clearly we can see part of what Book Three will involve. It should prove exciting! :-)

I mentioned laughter up above? I'll share those quotes here in my review, though you can also see them in my status updates down below. Both LOL scenes were in Part One. . .

First, on page 123 in Chapter 7, we have this fun scene

outside the hold where the captured girl children are waiting to be rescued

, shown in full:

"Get Sadie," Nettles said. "She looks all grandmotherly."
"Sadie?" asked Hope.
Nettles shrugged. "They don't know her like we do."
Filler volunteered to go get Sadie. When he brought her to the cargo hold entrance, she did not look pleased.
"Grandmotherly?" she asked Nettles.
"You got all them materny instincts from raising Red," said Nettles, a slight grin tugging on the corner of her mouth.
"I'll show you my materny instincts in a minute, you uppity slice," growled Sadie.

*snicker, snicker* :-)

The next and, I think, last scene I laughed a little over happened on page 152 in Chapter 9: Hope and Brigga Lin are going to make Jilly their apprentice. (!!!)

"Sorry," said Missing Finn. "But do I understand right that you and Hope plan to make Jilly here into a Vinchen biomancer?"
"Progress is inevitable, Mr. Finn," Brigga Lin said primly. "Do try to keep up."

lol ;-)

In sum, this was a really fun story, made up of so many unexpected twists that it's a wonder I never became overly dizzy. ;-)

And I am really looking forward to reading the conclusion in December of this year. :-)

Oh! And what is the task that Hope

believes herself to be unworthy of? Hurlo shared that she is the hope for the future of the Vinchen order:

You must be bold enough to dream of a better future, and strong enough to defy the present. Remember that every storm begins with only a breath.

Also, I forgot to share my thoughts on the "An Unbiased Overview of the Reign of the Dark Mage by Progul Bon, Chief Strategist for the Council of Biomancery" that followed the story. It was very interesting. Apparently, the Dark Mage prophecy

that has the biomancers so fearful of Aukbontar just warned of a conflict with "a country far across the sea." The biomancers just assume that the country must be Aukbontar.

After reading [b:Bane and Shadow|30363757|Bane and Shadow (Empire of Storms, #2)|Jon Skovron|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478810311s/30363757.jpg|50250393], I think

it's much more likely that the country they should be worrying about is the Haevanton Triumvirate.

So their assumption that the world is made up of just the Empire of Storms and Aukbontar is stupid of them. Besides, it is never safe to make assumptions! (I learned this when I was in my teens!)