You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A brilliant sequal book which expands the Raven's Shadow world beautifully. Really enjoyed how this book was from more than one PoV, really added some depth to the story and provided some much needed motivations for various characters. Can't wait to see how the trilogy ends!
Holy cliffhanger, Batman.
I mean, I did like this, but I didn't like it as much as I liked the first book. And it's probably mostly my fault. I don't know, I was in a weird place with this, not paying it enough attention as I should, on top of Ryan going and changing up the format on us. The first book was told through Vaelin's perspective, and it was so immersive. I normally love books that have rotating POV characters, but I kept getting angry when it would switch between them, and that's never good. I also wasn't super invested in the outcome of the battles. I figured the good guys would win. The biggest 'oh shit' moment came at about the 3/4 mark, and it was all downhill from there.
The four POV characters are Vaelin (he's still here, but his sections felt the shortest, which I thought was sucky), Frentis, Lyrna, and a new character called Reva. I wasn't in to Frentis's chapters at first because he was so passive. it's basically just him being held in thrall by magic to this woman who is part of the Big Plot, and she forces him to murder a bunch of people and then falls in love with him like a big creep. His sections got better after he started regaining some control. I actually liked Lyrna's sections a lot. I didn't much care for her in the first book, and I do think Ryan mostly wastes the traumatic incident that occurs halfway through the book. He could have done a lot more with it. I liked Reva a ton. I love stories about people who change their beliefs and have realizations.
Anyway, I liked this, the narrator is still great, but it didn't really get me emotionally like the first one did, for whatever reason. Will read the last book soon, though, before I forget everything. Kinda nervous about it, though. Seems to most people's least favorite of the three.
I mean, I did like this, but I didn't like it as much as I liked the first book. And it's probably mostly my fault. I don't know, I was in a weird place with this, not paying it enough attention as I should, on top of Ryan going and changing up the format on us. The first book was told through Vaelin's perspective, and it was so immersive. I normally love books that have rotating POV characters, but I kept getting angry when it would switch between them, and that's never good. I also wasn't super invested in the outcome of the battles. I figured the good guys would win. The biggest 'oh shit' moment came at about the 3/4 mark, and it was all downhill from there.
Spoiler
I'm speaking about Frentis being forced to assassinate the King, and then Lyrna being lit on fire. It was the only moment in the book that surprised me.The four POV characters are Vaelin (he's still here, but his sections felt the shortest, which I thought was sucky), Frentis, Lyrna, and a new character called Reva. I wasn't in to Frentis's chapters at first because he was so passive. it's basically just him being held in thrall by magic to this woman who is part of the Big Plot, and she forces him to murder a bunch of people and then falls in love with him like a big creep. His sections got better after he started regaining some control. I actually liked Lyrna's sections a lot. I didn't much care for her in the first book, and I do think Ryan mostly wastes the traumatic incident that occurs halfway through the book. He could have done a lot more with it. I liked Reva a ton. I love stories about people who change their beliefs and have realizations.
Anyway, I liked this, the narrator is still great, but it didn't really get me emotionally like the first one did, for whatever reason. Will read the last book soon, though, before I forget everything. Kinda nervous about it, though. Seems to most people's least favorite of the three.
Pokracovanie najlepsieho debutu minuleho roku. Cita sa rovnako dobre, ak nie lepsie, ako prvy diel. Narozdiel od prveho dielu ale ma aj problemy. Konkretne dva. Prvym je postava Revy. Rozumiem tomu preco ju autor napisal tak ako ju napisal, ale stale je to jednoducho az prilis Mary Sue. Za par tyzdnov vycviku s Velinom je mu rovnocennym superom? Prinajmensom usmevne. Druhym 'problemom' je, ze narozdiel od prveho dielu, tento druhy je vypravany z pohladu viacerych postav. Kazda takato kniha ma ten problem, ze nevyhnutelne si citatel niektore postavy oblubi viac a niektore menej. Treba ale podotknut, ze autor sa s tymto vysporiadal velmi dobre a viacmenej vsetky postavy boli rovnako zaujimave a vsetky pribehove linky sa citali vyborne. Oba tieto problemy ale blednu pri fakte, ze tato kniha je jednoducho 650 stran tej uplne najlepsej fantasy, ktora sa v nasich koncinach da zohnat. Sice je o nieco slabsia ako prva kniha, ale nie o vela. Velmi dobre pokracovanie a velmi sa tesim na posledny diel.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
I really enjoyed the split POVs and I honestly liked Lyrna's and Frentis' stories much more than Vaelins. It took a while for the book to pick up the pace but I feel like everything tied together nicely in the end. During the middle of the book it seemed like it was only battle after battle though, which was a bit hard to get through and the list of character names (especially ones starting with A!) gets very long and quite similar, which makes it hard to know who the book is talking about. All in all a worthy successor to Blood Song and I'm excited to find out how Vaelin's story ends.
Perhaps it was due to tempered expectations, but I really loved this read. I tend to take reviews with a pinch of salt and can often discern whether I may agree or disagree with a review by how it's written or what that person is focusing on. I may look for or not look for the same things, and that's absolutely fine.
With Tower Lord, the changes brought on after Blood Song didn't feel jarring or inconsistent with what was established previously, but came across as a natural and mature progression of Anthony Ryan's story. Contrary to a common criticism I see, the characters have evolved and grown in organic ways and their dialogue or decisions never felt counter to their personalities.
What I tend to love most in any form of storytelling, is sharp dialogue and a level of intrigue. I enjoy when things are not quite as they seem and the story unfolds naturally and mysteriously. Anthony Ryan accomplishes this in spades, so his style just works for me.
I understand readers who are disappointed in Vaelin being relegated to 25% page-time but I quickly became very fond of all 3 new POVs. With strong dialogue, not too much exposition and characters that actually are intelligent (rather than just telling me they are), the chapters can feel very satisfying to read. He packs a punch with small details and satisfying foreshadowing or peppering in seemingly insignificant details that he can later callback to.
Reva, Lyrna and Frentis are each interesting in their own way, with Lyrna being the standout.
I understand people's criticisms of pacing or lack of focus on Vaelin, but if you roll with it and have the right expectations, this is a great book for fans of complex fantasy worlds/plots. He leaves it such a way that is ripe for theorising and has great re-readability - a big box-ticker for fantasy readers.
If you put John Gwynne and George RR Martin on a spectrum of complexity and intrigue, I think this lands somewhere in the middle.
A great book for fantasy fans, if you can let go of the fact that the story doesn't continue as a single sword-wielding hero just kicking ass.
With Tower Lord, the changes brought on after Blood Song didn't feel jarring or inconsistent with what was established previously, but came across as a natural and mature progression of Anthony Ryan's story. Contrary to a common criticism I see, the characters have evolved and grown in organic ways and their dialogue or decisions never felt counter to their personalities.
What I tend to love most in any form of storytelling, is sharp dialogue and a level of intrigue. I enjoy when things are not quite as they seem and the story unfolds naturally and mysteriously. Anthony Ryan accomplishes this in spades, so his style just works for me.
I understand readers who are disappointed in Vaelin being relegated to 25% page-time but I quickly became very fond of all 3 new POVs. With strong dialogue, not too much exposition and characters that actually are intelligent (rather than just telling me they are), the chapters can feel very satisfying to read. He packs a punch with small details and satisfying foreshadowing or peppering in seemingly insignificant details that he can later callback to.
Reva, Lyrna and Frentis are each interesting in their own way, with Lyrna being the standout.
I understand people's criticisms of pacing or lack of focus on Vaelin, but if you roll with it and have the right expectations, this is a great book for fans of complex fantasy worlds/plots. He leaves it such a way that is ripe for theorising and has great re-readability - a big box-ticker for fantasy readers.
If you put John Gwynne and George RR Martin on a spectrum of complexity and intrigue, I think this lands somewhere in the middle.
A great book for fantasy fans, if you can let go of the fact that the story doesn't continue as a single sword-wielding hero just kicking ass.
The second of the Raven's Shadow series - not as great as the first. The story overall was still compelling and fun, keeping me interested. The issue with this novel was fluidity, as the format changed to tell a different characters story each chapter. The constant interruption in flow made this a more difficult read.
medium-paced