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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
My review as posted on grimdarkalliance.com:
Much of what I’d heard about Tower Lord before I began reading lead me to believe that this book in some way pales in comparison to Blood Song. I went in to Tower Lord with the expectation that it was a lesser book than the former in the series. I am very pleased to report that the rumors I heard were sorely misplaced.
What made Blood Song so successful in my mind was the closeness of Vaelin to his order brothers. The brothers were lead into many fairly small scale battles and Vaelin attempts to uncover the mysterious plots of the seventh order. Tower Lord differentiates from the formula in the first book in a big way. Tower Lord is much grander in scale and area covered. Instead of focusing solely around Vaelin, the story follows many different POV’s that all converge in wonderful carnage when it’s all said and done. Vaelin is no longer surrounded by his order brothers and instead is joined by several new faces, each given no small amount of depth and personality.
There is a lot more action and blood spilt here than in Blood Song, a lot more. The battles and skirmishes in Tower Lord were simply stunning and I frequently stopped just to imagine the wonderfully envisioned scenes in my mind. There are few books out there that can really capture the grand scale battle or siege and Anthony Ryan certainly delivers one of the very best battles I can think of. I am not the sort of reader who normally finds themselves on ‘the edge of their seat’ but I definitely felt the tension to read chapter after chapter as the plot unfolded masterfully before me.
Aside from the battles, the thing I think made this book so great was the variety of locale the plot allowed. From burning villages in the forest, to the cold northern reaches, to the city under seige, to the slave ships, to the pirate ships, to the open battlefields, this book really brought scenes and locale to the table in a special way. Each location is given special attention in its description and the plot never wandered the reader to places that were unnecessary.
Overall I think this book has placed the series as one of my very favorite ever. I loved Blood Song and I love brother Vaelin. Watching the struggles of the realm and the terrifying horrors that have been unleashed have left me yearning for the final installment, not to mention the giant cliffhanger that awaited me as I reached the end. Queen of Fire releases on July 7th, my birthday, this year. I will be very eager to spend my birthday seeing how Vaelin can resurrect the realm. If you’ve not yet read Anthony Ryan’s series I would highly recommend it. It has a lot of different elements from different parts of fantasy so I doubt there are very many who will read this book and find it lacking. Happy reading!
Much of what I’d heard about Tower Lord before I began reading lead me to believe that this book in some way pales in comparison to Blood Song. I went in to Tower Lord with the expectation that it was a lesser book than the former in the series. I am very pleased to report that the rumors I heard were sorely misplaced.
What made Blood Song so successful in my mind was the closeness of Vaelin to his order brothers. The brothers were lead into many fairly small scale battles and Vaelin attempts to uncover the mysterious plots of the seventh order. Tower Lord differentiates from the formula in the first book in a big way. Tower Lord is much grander in scale and area covered. Instead of focusing solely around Vaelin, the story follows many different POV’s that all converge in wonderful carnage when it’s all said and done. Vaelin is no longer surrounded by his order brothers and instead is joined by several new faces, each given no small amount of depth and personality.
There is a lot more action and blood spilt here than in Blood Song, a lot more. The battles and skirmishes in Tower Lord were simply stunning and I frequently stopped just to imagine the wonderfully envisioned scenes in my mind. There are few books out there that can really capture the grand scale battle or siege and Anthony Ryan certainly delivers one of the very best battles I can think of. I am not the sort of reader who normally finds themselves on ‘the edge of their seat’ but I definitely felt the tension to read chapter after chapter as the plot unfolded masterfully before me.
Aside from the battles, the thing I think made this book so great was the variety of locale the plot allowed. From burning villages in the forest, to the cold northern reaches, to the city under seige, to the slave ships, to the pirate ships, to the open battlefields, this book really brought scenes and locale to the table in a special way. Each location is given special attention in its description and the plot never wandered the reader to places that were unnecessary.
Overall I think this book has placed the series as one of my very favorite ever. I loved Blood Song and I love brother Vaelin. Watching the struggles of the realm and the terrifying horrors that have been unleashed have left me yearning for the final installment, not to mention the giant cliffhanger that awaited me as I reached the end. Queen of Fire releases on July 7th, my birthday, this year. I will be very eager to spend my birthday seeing how Vaelin can resurrect the realm. If you’ve not yet read Anthony Ryan’s series I would highly recommend it. It has a lot of different elements from different parts of fantasy so I doubt there are very many who will read this book and find it lacking. Happy reading!
I tried for a long time to come back to this book after setting it down, but I finally set it down for good. After a good first book, this sequel had uninteresting characters, no plot, and there was no point in reading more.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
I really enjoyed this one. It is so different from the first one. There are three new main POV's that you follow on top of Vaelin and Vernier, one being a lesbian bad-ass, one being Vaelin's old friend, and the other being a princess. I think the ladies were the more interesting story lines for sure. Lyrna, Reva, Alornis, Dovoka, and Dahrena were all so incredibly interesting to read about and really made this novel for me. I didn't really like the romances that Ryan builds into the story though. They seemed a bit forced and weird, but it's a relatively small part of the overall picture. I'll definitely be reading Queen of Fire whenever I get my hands on it!
Lässähti. Upea aloitusosa, kiinnostavat hahmot, haarautuvat juonen käänteet - tässä toisessa osassa kaikki vain jotenkin kuivui kokoon.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Finally with the review!
https://solseit.wordpress.com/2019/04/28/tower-lord-ravens-shadow-2-by-anthony-ryan-the-characters-are-so-realistic-it-feels-like-standing-next-to-them-5-5/
I just loved it - so much not only in terms of characters and world but also emotional investment on my part.
https://solseit.wordpress.com/2019/04/28/tower-lord-ravens-shadow-2-by-anthony-ryan-the-characters-are-so-realistic-it-feels-like-standing-next-to-them-5-5/
I just loved it - so much not only in terms of characters and world but also emotional investment on my part.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated