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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Think this book was as good as the first one.
The new POVs were a nice alternation to Vaelins.
Till now a nice series, but not one of the best I ever read.
;D
The new POVs were a nice alternation to Vaelins.
Till now a nice series, but not one of the best I ever read.
;D
A fantastic read!
And just like with the first novel in this series I already see myself rereading this again and again and again and again ...
At first I was anxious with the addition of new PoV's but with the action being spread as it was it was wonderfully executed.
I like the fact that many of the side characters from the first novel reappeared.
Tower Lord answered some of the questions I had from Blood Song but also posed many many new ones and I'm anxiously awaiting the third installment.
Even with this book being so full of action some of the scenes still make me feel as if it was a setup for something even bigger and better in the following novels.
I'm getting a strong deja-vu, I feel similar as when I read Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss for the first time. Both books are fantastic sequels to a fantastic start of the series and both made me itching for the third book.
What can I say more except I'm going to be biting my nails awaiting the next part of this wonderful series.
And just like with the first novel in this series I already see myself rereading this again and again and again and again ...
At first I was anxious with the addition of new PoV's but with the action being spread as it was it was wonderfully executed.
I like the fact that many of the side characters from the first novel reappeared.
Tower Lord answered some of the questions I had from Blood Song but also posed many many new ones and I'm anxiously awaiting the third installment.
Even with this book being so full of action some of the scenes still make me feel as if it was a setup for something even bigger and better in the following novels.
I'm getting a strong deja-vu, I feel similar as when I read Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss for the first time. Both books are fantastic sequels to a fantastic start of the series and both made me itching for the third book.
What can I say more except I'm going to be biting my nails awaiting the next part of this wonderful series.
They say the sequel is usually weaker than the original, but Tower Lord took everything that was great about Blood Song and added more greatness to it. The addition of other perspectives really added a whole other level of depth to the story, and left me wanting more by the end. Good thing there's one more book in the series.
This book and the Queen of Fire were my 2 highest anticipated to read for this year. I spent $35.00 to secure both books so that I could enjoy them over December.[b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421573407s/13569581.jpg|19148922] was epic. Not just epic, but one of the best fantasy books that I have ever read EVER So of course you can understand my frustration to struggle through Tower Lord.
Let me start with the good.
The writing is exceptional. How to write a novel 101 right here. Perfect prose and grammar. Same as Raven Song. They could use Anthony Ryan text samples to teach any writing class. His style is that eloquent.
The characters are intriguing and leave you thinking of them long after the pages turn blank.
Let the part where I cry
The points of view switches. Annoying. Just when things start to get decent you get switched off to another character view and have to start all over again. This is akin to nails on a chalkboard.
The chapters and page breaks.... doesn't match the tempo of the writing. Speaking of which....
The tempo. What tempo? The action sequences are just to far apart, and sad to say, are overtaken by long passages of explanation of what is going on and what is about to happen.
Character voice. Doesn't match up to Raven Song. I find this part probably the most frustrating. This book reads not like a #2 in series, rather, like an entirely separate book.
I'm just at 50% into this novel and I fear I must stop my review otherwise I might drop the ranking even further. Anthony Ryan is freaking awesome and I owe him at least that much respect.
Summary:
Reading this is like trying to pass a fart without craping yourself
Let's hope I finish this without any accidents. The 3 star review doesn't reflect my disappointment.
Let me start with the good.
The writing is exceptional. How to write a novel 101 right here. Perfect prose and grammar. Same as Raven Song. They could use Anthony Ryan text samples to teach any writing class. His style is that eloquent.
The characters are intriguing and leave you thinking of them long after the pages turn blank.
Let the part where I cry
The points of view switches. Annoying. Just when things start to get decent you get switched off to another character view and have to start all over again. This is akin to nails on a chalkboard.
The chapters and page breaks.... doesn't match the tempo of the writing. Speaking of which....
The tempo. What tempo? The action sequences are just to far apart, and sad to say, are overtaken by long passages of explanation of what is going on and what is about to happen.
Character voice. Doesn't match up to Raven Song. I find this part probably the most frustrating. This book reads not like a #2 in series, rather, like an entirely separate book.
I'm just at 50% into this novel and I fear I must stop my review otherwise I might drop the ranking even further. Anthony Ryan is freaking awesome and I owe him at least that much respect.
Summary:
Reading this is like trying to pass a fart without craping yourself
Let's hope I finish this without any accidents. The 3 star review doesn't reflect my disappointment.
A great sequel to the amazing first book in this series. More character depth and some very cool twists along the way with an ending that leaves you hungry for more. Highly recommended for all epic fantasy fans!
This continuation of The Raven's Shadow novels was a fun read, but also utterly disappointing. Anthony Ryan took the surprisingly strong single POV book that was A Blood Song and turned it into an attempt to follow in George R.R. Martin's footsteps. He also, didn't quite pull it off. I will not say, however, that it was a bad book. I had fun reading it. I may have wanted some more bloodshed, and more story about Vaelin, but I don't think all of the new POV's were useless. I really enjoyed reading from Frentis' point of view because it brought so much more to the story of the young boy from the streets. Reva was a good read, but it could have been done w/out quite as many chapters focusing on her. Then there was Lyrna. I know many people liked her story, and I'll admit I enjoyed the journey North until she actually made it there, and I had fun with her connection with the Red Shark. Other than that, I didn't find her to be as satisfying. Overall, I enjoyed the read, but I think we need to get back to the Vaelin we saw before, and dismiss the self doubt that is plaguing him (and all of the other characters). We can't all be the misunderstood hero now can we? At any rate, I am excited, and yes, hopeful that Mr. Ryan will take Queen of Fire back to where he left Blood Song.
I got my hands on an ARC of Wolf's Call, so I scrambled to read the first trilogy. The second book wasn't as strong as the first book, bringing in multiple POVs that dilute the focus in the first book. And while the end of Blood Song seemed like it could be a complete story, this is clearly a set up to book 3.
As with many multiple POV books, I liked some narrators more than others, though the overall variety, stretch across culture and countries, worked well for me. Clearly, Vaelin's desire for peace isn't going to happen, and the events in this book are sweeping and dramatic. Battles are fought, evil is faced, people die and some supposed dead are found. Though it has some of that middle book syndrome, a decent addition to the world.
As with many multiple POV books, I liked some narrators more than others, though the overall variety, stretch across culture and countries, worked well for me. Clearly, Vaelin's desire for peace isn't going to happen, and the events in this book are sweeping and dramatic. Battles are fought, evil is faced, people die and some supposed dead are found. Though it has some of that middle book syndrome, a decent addition to the world.
I absolutely loved all the action and multiple POVs especially that of Frentis. The Volarian Empire reminds me of The Wheel of Time's Seanchan Empire.
This sequel kept me on my toes and I love how it ended.
Readers are complaining about the POV and less Vaelin time and they have the right to but in my opinion it took nothing away from how much I enjoyed this sequel. Maybe they would have felt better if the name was Battle for The ........... It didn't bother me.
I did lose track of some minor characters and I feel Reva's skill with sword and arrow developed too quickly. Same goes for Lyrna. I guess people with potential learn faster in perilous times.
4/5 stars from me and special love for the food sections. I love passages dedicated to food!
This sequel kept me on my toes and I love how it ended.
Readers are complaining about the POV and less Vaelin time and they have the right to but in my opinion it took nothing away from how much I enjoyed this sequel. Maybe they would have felt better if the name was Battle for The ........... It didn't bother me.
I did lose track of some minor characters and I feel Reva's skill with sword and arrow developed too quickly. Same goes for Lyrna. I guess people with potential learn faster in perilous times.
4/5 stars from me and special love for the food sections. I love passages dedicated to food!
Rating: 3.5 stars
GAH! After so many pages (or, in my case, hours of listening to the audio book) of rapt attention, it ends on a cliff hanger! One of the things that I so admired about [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363126955s/13569581.jpg|19148922] was that it left options open, but concluded with what I felt to be a complete story. However, [b:Tower Lord|18138189|Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382486392s/18138189.jpg|25481154] builds and builds in delicious tension and excitement and then it ends.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. I enjoyed it immensely. While the story takes us through new adventures and intrigue, Ryan uses the same formula of changing perspective and intense battle scenes to weave his tale. We see a return of our favorite characters that did not die in the previous book, as well as meet up with new and interesting characters.
My favorite new addition to this exceptional cast of characters is Reva. She is a tortured soul, fighting to find herself after being abused, manipulated and being used as a pawn in the schemes of others. In this character, I think that Ryan has created a female heroine who is truly the equal of men. Amazingly, for a very patriarchal world, the author has a large cast strong characters of both genders.
The action in [b:Tower Lord|18138189|Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382486392s/18138189.jpg|25481154] is just as well-written and intense as [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363126955s/13569581.jpg|19148922]. There is a still a heavy militaristic slant that works well for Ryan's writing style. The book offers a variety of fighting styles, this time adding a lot more skill in the archer class, without backing off on the swordplay. The battle scenes also range from small skirmishes to broad battle sequences.
This book is a great read for fans of epic fantasy. While it incorporates magic, the focus is by far placed on martial skills. The world building is centered mostly around politics and intrigue, rather than creating a world vastly different from any we've seen in history. The result is a well-balanced story in which the reader can easily get lost the plot. I am looking forward to the next book.
GAH! After so many pages (or, in my case, hours of listening to the audio book) of rapt attention, it ends on a cliff hanger! One of the things that I so admired about [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363126955s/13569581.jpg|19148922] was that it left options open, but concluded with what I felt to be a complete story. However, [b:Tower Lord|18138189|Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382486392s/18138189.jpg|25481154] builds and builds in delicious tension and excitement and then it ends.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. I enjoyed it immensely. While the story takes us through new adventures and intrigue, Ryan uses the same formula of changing perspective and intense battle scenes to weave his tale. We see a return of our favorite characters that did not die in the previous book, as well as meet up with new and interesting characters.
My favorite new addition to this exceptional cast of characters is Reva. She is a tortured soul, fighting to find herself after being abused, manipulated and being used as a pawn in the schemes of others. In this character, I think that Ryan has created a female heroine who is truly the equal of men. Amazingly, for a very patriarchal world, the author has a large cast strong characters of both genders.
The action in [b:Tower Lord|18138189|Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382486392s/18138189.jpg|25481154] is just as well-written and intense as [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363126955s/13569581.jpg|19148922]. There is a still a heavy militaristic slant that works well for Ryan's writing style. The book offers a variety of fighting styles, this time adding a lot more skill in the archer class, without backing off on the swordplay. The battle scenes also range from small skirmishes to broad battle sequences.
This book is a great read for fans of epic fantasy. While it incorporates magic, the focus is by far placed on martial skills. The world building is centered mostly around politics and intrigue, rather than creating a world vastly different from any we've seen in history. The result is a well-balanced story in which the reader can easily get lost the plot. I am looking forward to the next book.
No 'middle child' syndrome here! This takes all the (still living) characters to whole different levels, places, mindsets, and realms.
Look at you, Raven's Shadow Trilogy, being the most epic gritlit fantasy series since Song of Ice & Fire.
Look at you, Raven's Shadow Trilogy, being the most epic gritlit fantasy series since Song of Ice & Fire.