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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Tower Lord is not as good as Blood Song. However, with the high standard its predecessor set, that's like saying Star Wars isn't as good as Empire Strikes back. It's still a totally awesome and engaging read, with great characters and a gripping plot. Looking forward to the conclusion (and an excuse to reread the entire series) later this year.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a very disappointing read. After thoroughly enjoying Blood Song, I wanted to like this one, but I was worried because of what I had heard about it. It turns out what I heard was right.
My biggest problem is with the characters. The first book had just Vaelin as the sole POV, but this one has multiple POVs. While this could be no big deal if done right, it's done poorly here as Vaelin essentially becomes a secondary character. Also, he's very different than he was in the first book. Gone is the young man struggling to find himself while learning about his power and bonding with his comrades. Here, he feels like a generic protagonist who doesn't even have his own mind. He's literally just doing what the Blood Song tells him to do.
All this could be lessened a bit if the other POVs were interesting, but unfortunately they aren't. Frentis actually is put in an interesting situation during the first part of his story, but the second part is boring. Reva's story is almost entirely forgettable, and she probably could have been left out of the book altogether. Lastly, there's Lyrna. She has the most eventful story out of all of them, however, the events she goes through happen so fast that they are not given any real weight to them. It makes it very difficult to connect with her emotionally.
After reading this book, I'm not looking forward to reading the ending, which is supposed to be the worst book out of them all. But I'll finish to complete the series.
My biggest problem is with the characters. The first book had just Vaelin as the sole POV, but this one has multiple POVs. While this could be no big deal if done right, it's done poorly here as Vaelin essentially becomes a secondary character. Also, he's very different than he was in the first book. Gone is the young man struggling to find himself while learning about his power and bonding with his comrades. Here, he feels like a generic protagonist who doesn't even have his own mind. He's literally just doing what the Blood Song tells him to do.
All this could be lessened a bit if the other POVs were interesting, but unfortunately they aren't. Frentis actually is put in an interesting situation during the first part of his story, but the second part is boring. Reva's story is almost entirely forgettable, and she probably could have been left out of the book altogether. Lastly, there's Lyrna. She has the most eventful story out of all of them, however, the events she goes through happen so fast that they are not given any real weight to them. It makes it very difficult to connect with her emotionally.
After reading this book, I'm not looking forward to reading the ending, which is supposed to be the worst book out of them all. But I'll finish to complete the series.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Tower Lord is told from five perspectives: Vaelin, Frentis, Reva, Lyrna, and the royal chronicler. This gives us a closer idea of the sprawling mechanisations of the politics, powers, and destiny which seems to bind all our characters, plots, and lands together.
Vaelin Al Sorna discovers that there is no escape from the call of destiny, and how he matures and deals with this is a central point in this story. Sadly, this makes him a lot more serious than book one, yet does reflect the progression of years and his experiences from book one.
I loved Lyrna’s perspective. As one of the two female perspectives, she’s obviously not a warrior by nature and her demeanour is better suited to peace, advising, and negotiations. Yet, the demands of the land sees her bravery, commitment, and strength, and she is utterly relatable through it all.
Why couldn't I have been more interested in physical pursuits? she grumbled, feeling every step of Verka's hooves on the rough ground. One hour away from my books wouldn't have killed me. But this bloody horse might.
Why couldn't I have been more interested in physical pursuits? she grumbled, feeling every step of Verka's hooves on the rough ground. One hour away from my books wouldn't have killed me. But this bloody horse might.
I found this book was more battle and killing heavy than the first book which found me skimming at parts. There was also a lot less lightness, teasing, and found family aspects that I had loved in book one, but I think this demonstrates the darkness encroaching all.
This was disappointing for me sadly. The last 50% was just battles and killing and journeying and it just didn’t hold my attention. The character work felt underwhelming compared to book one, as did the prose.
I will continue, and hope it improves.
I would recommend this to fans of Nevernight, The Forgetting Moon, and the First Law trilogy.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
WAS this my most disappointing sequel of the year? Probably.
3 stars isn't a bad rating but I gave Blood Song 5 stars when I read it last year. It was an excellent coming of age story with some interesting magical elements. I loved it. Tower Lord did not grab me in the same way.
Book one focussed on Vaelin whereas book two has four POVs. It was really disappointing that Vaelin's story took a backseat because I'd cared a lot about it in the first book. The other perspectives were interesting but it took me a long time to get into the story again.
My main problem was that each of the four perspectives had essentially the same narrative voice. There was nothing particularly distinctive about them apart from the physical distance between the characters. It was a shame. There's a chance this is exacerbated by the fact I listened to the audiobook and I didn't love the narrator, he was quite flat and paused for about five hours between sentences sometimes.
I'm intrigued by the story in a distant way. Maybe I will finish the series at some point in the future but I'm not super passionate about it at the moment.
3 stars isn't a bad rating but I gave Blood Song 5 stars when I read it last year. It was an excellent coming of age story with some interesting magical elements. I loved it. Tower Lord did not grab me in the same way.
Book one focussed on Vaelin whereas book two has four POVs. It was really disappointing that Vaelin's story took a backseat because I'd cared a lot about it in the first book. The other perspectives were interesting but it took me a long time to get into the story again.
My main problem was that each of the four perspectives had essentially the same narrative voice. There was nothing particularly distinctive about them apart from the physical distance between the characters. It was a shame. There's a chance this is exacerbated by the fact I listened to the audiobook and I didn't love the narrator, he was quite flat and paused for about five hours between sentences sometimes.
I'm intrigued by the story in a distant way. Maybe I will finish the series at some point in the future but I'm not super passionate about it at the moment.