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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Superb. Really enjoying this series so far and the way the author keeps the storylines twisting and evolving in such a way as to retain the reader's interest.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
First off, the title was misleading. Second, Blood Song was epic, Tower Lord was simply an average book. Not bad, not too good either. Reading this, I realised how much I appreciated the brotherhood in the first book, how big a part it was to the force that sucked me in before. Inevitable of course, we have to lose it now. The mutiple POVs in its way did serve to expand the worldbuilding, but sadly took the charm off this series. Especially with Reva's POV that was so problematic, a rapid development in skill and maturity that lacked credibility, and the thing was her character was nothing but a female version of Vaelin. Frentis was great, but his journey was mostly boring and even he has a piece of Vaelin personality. And Vaelin was almost a side show. Lyrna's POV was the only one that interesting, and I have felt attracted toward the potential of her character which was explored much here. The overall plot of this sequel mostly didn't have anything to do with the first book. It alternating between engaging and boring through out the book. Prose was still great at least. Disappointing after Blood Song though.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A solid continuation of the Raven's Shadow Trilogy. I actually liked Tower Lord better than Blood Song simply because of the myriad of viewpoints we view the story from. Rather than just Vaelin's story, we hear from Lyrna, Frentis and others. The story was fast paced, but it didn't feel like a sprint to read. The only exception to this is at the very end, when there is a bit of a time skip. Every time I've read this (3 or 4), it's felt a bit forced, but still written very well and the feeling goes away very quickly. Overall, this is of my favorite fantasies, and I would highly recommend it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Each book gets darker in an increasingly satisfying way. There is nothing I hate more than when characters are unaffected by their experiences -- as though they are above all the gore and murder and tragedy happening around them. Each character in Ryan's trilogy is changing and evolving accordingly, and I really appreciate that.
I was really excited for this book and have been waiting with anticipation for this to come out. Tower Lord however is but a shadow of Blood Song. While Blood Song had a tight plot and pacing with an interesting narrative, the Tower Lord is filled with pacing issues and rather uninteresting POVs. Much of the book was about traveling around, and the action when it happened was rather boring. In the first one we had a band of brothers with each being good in a specific skill. The sequel however has the two new POVs being almost godlike with a sword, hell I doubt even Vaelin could do most of the feats the others did without his magic.
I couldn't help but dread every time Frentis's turn comes up and Reva while slightly better I feel her character somewhat hard to believe. She only learned the sword in a few months and by the near end of the book her skill and feats with it is probably equal or even better than Vaelin's. And her relationship with another character came out of nowhere and felt rather tacky. Honestly it feels like the author or editor wanted a female equivalent of Vaelin for a wider demographics purpose.
The ending was anticlimactic and rather leaving me wanting to read the next one it left me feeling disappointed. I will probably read the last installment when it comes out, but there's no anticipation now.
I couldn't help but dread every time Frentis's turn comes up and Reva while slightly better I feel her character somewhat hard to believe. She only learned the sword in a few months and by the near end of the book her skill and feats with it is probably equal or even better than Vaelin's. And her relationship with another character came out of nowhere and felt rather tacky. Honestly it feels like the author or editor wanted a female equivalent of Vaelin for a wider demographics purpose.
The ending was anticlimactic and rather leaving me wanting to read the next one it left me feeling disappointed. I will probably read the last installment when it comes out, but there's no anticipation now.
slow-paced