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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Alright, I have finished the second book in the trilogy. It was okay for the first three quarters, but wow...a Sanderlanch of a last quarter.
Love the time on the sea and the battles, there.
The battle sequences are getting really good. The ability to write a scene, where the reader knows what is happening on a macro level, but at the same time NOT lose that cliseness to the character being portrayed. Very good, in deed.
The overall story and where it is heading is unclear, but at the end of this book...another piece has been taken off the "chess board of life."
This makes the next book more interesting, from the very onset.
Love the brutalness of this Fantasy world, but also the magic that is used (a soft magic system...which when emplyed correctly is a great addition to the story).
There is a little bit of Joe Abercrombie in his writing, but also (IMO) Andrzej Sapkowski. Better in some ways of both these writers in particular ways, but not to their level of storytelling, yet. High bar, but I see great things to come.
Love the time on the sea and the battles, there.
The battle sequences are getting really good. The ability to write a scene, where the reader knows what is happening on a macro level, but at the same time NOT lose that cliseness to the character being portrayed. Very good, in deed.
The overall story and where it is heading is unclear, but at the end of this book...another piece has been taken off the "chess board of life."
This makes the next book more interesting, from the very onset.
Love the brutalness of this Fantasy world, but also the magic that is used (a soft magic system...which when emplyed correctly is a great addition to the story).
There is a little bit of Joe Abercrombie in his writing, but also (IMO) Andrzej Sapkowski. Better in some ways of both these writers in particular ways, but not to their level of storytelling, yet. High bar, but I see great things to come.
Actually a 3.4. Huge swathes of this were dull and then confusing because I spaced out, BUT it's 25 hours long, so there were also huge swathes of it to love. Riva and Vernier should be the main characters. I'd read about them eating breakfast and reading a phone book.
While the story was compelling, I sometimes found it hard to adjust to the changes in perspective. Things would start to get interesting with one character and then we'd jump to a different one.
All in all, though, this was a good book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
All in all, though, this was a good book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
"The best way to avoid a trap," the Shield said, "is to kill the bastard who made it before he gets a chance to set it."
A very interesting read. While the first book concentrated on one character, this book switched between a number of characters, and did so quite well. All the characters had meaningful development over the course of the book, and I liked most of them pretty well, although Reva was probably my favourite.
The way not only the bad people™ but everyone, including the protagonists, committed war crimes left right and center was risking alienating me, but they somehow pulled it off while still retaining some of my respect for the protagonists.
All in all, I can't wait for the third book to come out. Usually, I would give this one 4.5 stars and round down, but as it is a comparatively new author, and as the book engaged me quite well, I'll round up to five stars this time.
A very interesting read. While the first book concentrated on one character, this book switched between a number of characters, and did so quite well. All the characters had meaningful development over the course of the book, and I liked most of them pretty well, although Reva was probably my favourite.
The way not only the bad people™ but everyone, including the protagonists, committed war crimes left right and center was risking alienating me, but they somehow pulled it off while still retaining some of my respect for the protagonists.
All in all, I can't wait for the third book to come out. Usually, I would give this one 4.5 stars and round down, but as it is a comparatively new author, and as the book engaged me quite well, I'll round up to five stars this time.
3.5 stars. I agree with majority of reviewers that this book was inferior to the first in the series. However, there were certain things loved about this book. I did like we had different viewpoints unlike the first book. It made for a different feel, but I really enjoyed Lyrna and Vaelin's viewpoints - especially Lyrna's (her character and story stole the spotlight from Vaelin I think). I was a little disappointed what happened to her at the very end though...it felt a little superficial... We'll see if how it plays out in the next book.
There were things that I really didn't like as well.
The character and viewpoint that really soured the book for me was Reva (a new character). Her character just felt out of place in a great story and a lot of her actions and the plot around her felt boring, contrived, forced, and just plain weird sometimes. Frentis has his own viewpoint which I didn't like at first but when he got past his major obstacle, it got better.
Overall a good book, but disappointing as it didn't live up to it's predecessor.
There were things that I really didn't like as well.
The character and viewpoint that really soured the book for me was Reva (a new character). Her character just felt out of place in a great story and a lot of her actions and the plot around her felt boring, contrived, forced, and just plain weird sometimes. Frentis has his own viewpoint which I didn't like at first but when he got past his major obstacle, it got better.
Overall a good book, but disappointing as it didn't live up to it's predecessor.
Just as good as Blood Song, has me frothing for the next in the series already!
Whoa.
That. Was. AWESOME!!
Seriously? Did all that just happen? I mean ...
Whoooooa. Fuck me.
Okay, so here's the thing, Blood Song was a pretty freaking great book, right? It just swept ya off your feet and made you turn those pages until there were no more pages left to turn. Amiright?
Well I'll be damned if Tower Lord doesn't manage to do that too...but yet in a wholly different way. While Tower Lord is a direct sequel to Blood Song, its a completely different kind of book - a whole different beast. The feeling of it, the vibe, even the points of view - its all very different than what Blood Song was ... and yet it all fits together so perfectly.
I don't even know what to say. I'm book drunk! Flabbergasted! This book had so much to it. There was a little bit of everything. Fights in the jungle, assassins in the streets, naval warfare, sieges, harrowing escapes, mountainside chases, epic-mysterious-magics...I literally never knew what Anthony Ryan's was going to throw at me next! The character development was phenomenal and I really liked how this book had differing viewpoints rather than just following Vaelin around. It opened up the story and blew the world wide open! I don't even think I could be pressed to name a favorite character - I just enjoyed them all so much!!
I'ma start rambling soon if I don't stop myself.
Read this book. Read it now.
I'll be over in the corner there...stunned, staring at the wall and mumbling incoherently to myself from having just finished this.
Buddy read with Sibil :3
Quite disappointing to be honest.
Tower Lord is a good book. At the same time though, it's also a huge disappointment for me.
> I had several problems with the author's choices when it comes to the structure of the book.
I usually do NOT have problems with multiple POVs, but in this case I loathed the author's choice. Blood Song was told in one POV (Vaelin's), portraying the story as Vaelin's story. At the start of Tower Lord the perspective was shifting between 4 different characters, one of them Vaelin, and of those four only one was a fully developed character. This might not be a problem for some readers, but it did not seem like a coherent story to me. It wasn't consistent.
> I get that Ryan wanted to give us a bigger picture, but he did not manage to make all the storylines interesting enough in my opinion. And even worse, he failed to introduce interesting characters and to develop them as he should have.
The main characters were: Vaelin, Reva, Lyrna and Frentis. Of these only Reva went through some major character development, and in fact she was the only character I actually liked. Vaelin was already a well written character to begin with and he didn't even have a big storyline in this volume.
Frentis and Lyrna were huge disappointments. Frentis' storyline was extremely boring. He came off as a really flat character to me and what little potential he had was wasted on a boring storyline.
Lyrna came off as bipolar. Her personality changed when the author needed it. She was the happy princess one moment and a cold blooded killer the next, in spite of having never even had a lesson with a knife. Overall I just didn't see a coherent story arc for her.
Why still three stars then?
To be honest, Tower Lord wasn't bad. The problem is mainly that it paled in comparison with the first book.
And Reva, Reva shined for me. Her character is fleshed out during the first chapters but it's extremely well developed after that. Hers is the only real journey. From her journey with Vaelin and then the progress she made on her own we see her character bloom into a mature person.
I'm not sure when I'll pick up the last book to be honest, but if I do it will be thanks to Reva and Vaelin. I do not expect Ryan to deliver as much as I did after Blood song now.
A dir poco sottotono rispetto al primo. Poco coerenti alcune scelte dell'autore (specie il festival di pov inutili aggiunti).
Per gli italofoni: spoiler nei commenti!
Quite disappointing to be honest.
Tower Lord is a good book. At the same time though, it's also a huge disappointment for me.
> I had several problems with the author's choices when it comes to the structure of the book.
I usually do NOT have problems with multiple POVs, but in this case I loathed the author's choice. Blood Song was told in one POV (Vaelin's), portraying the story as Vaelin's story. At the start of Tower Lord the perspective was shifting between 4 different characters, one of them Vaelin, and of those four only one was a fully developed character. This might not be a problem for some readers, but it did not seem like a coherent story to me. It wasn't consistent.
> I get that Ryan wanted to give us a bigger picture, but he did not manage to make all the storylines interesting enough in my opinion. And even worse, he failed to introduce interesting characters and to develop them as he should have.
The main characters were: Vaelin, Reva, Lyrna and Frentis. Of these only Reva went through some major character development, and in fact she was the only character I actually liked. Vaelin was already a well written character to begin with and he didn't even have a big storyline in this volume.
Frentis and Lyrna were huge disappointments. Frentis' storyline was extremely boring. He came off as a really flat character to me and what little potential he had was wasted on a boring storyline.
Lyrna came off as bipolar. Her personality changed when the author needed it. She was the happy princess one moment and a cold blooded killer the next, in spite of having never even had a lesson with a knife. Overall I just didn't see a coherent story arc for her.
Why still three stars then?
To be honest, Tower Lord wasn't bad. The problem is mainly that it paled in comparison with the first book.
And Reva, Reva shined for me. Her character is fleshed out during the first chapters but it's extremely well developed after that. Hers is the only real journey. From her journey with Vaelin and then the progress she made on her own we see her character bloom into a mature person.
I'm not sure when I'll pick up the last book to be honest, but if I do it will be thanks to Reva and Vaelin. I do not expect Ryan to deliver as much as I did after Blood song now.
A dir poco sottotono rispetto al primo. Poco coerenti alcune scelte dell'autore (specie il festival di pov inutili aggiunti).
Per gli italofoni: spoiler nei commenti!