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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Tower Lord by [a:Anthony Ryan|5804101|Anthony Ryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361298283p2/5804101.jpg] is a decent, but uneven, continuation of the tale that began in [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1421573407s/13569581.jpg|19148922]. Vaelin returns, yet shares the spotlight this time with Frentis, Lyrna, and Reva. At times, this split narrative works well and adds to the story, but more often than not it serves to kill momentum and alienate readers for periods of the novel. Much of one's feeling towards to novel will have to do with how they relate and enjoy each characters' story and arc:
Vaelin still works as a protagonist, but in this novel his story is so much less compelling. Blood Song developed and grew Vaelin so much over the course of its pages; Tower Lord feels so much lesser because we only spend a quarter of the time with him.
Fentis is hit-and-miss in this one. Some of his story is very compelling, but a lot feels drawn out and only necessary to set up the next novel.
Lyrna is, at times, interesting. Mostly her chapters felt like a distraction from the other, more interesting characters.
Reva, however, is by far the most interesting of the newcomers. Her arc throughout the novel is very well done and holds the most intrigue. Her internal struggles and growth both work to interest the reader and develop her as a young woman (side note - did anyone else think that Reva was only 10-11 years old right of the bat? I spent most of the story thinking of her as a child only to realize she is 19ish much later in the novel...which rather changes all of her actions throughout). The climax of her tale also stands as the most exciting part of this novel.
To sum-up other aspects of this work: the world-building is still very good. The action is great. The pacing was a bit lacking. Overall, Tower Lord doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, but isn't a poor read by any means.
Vaelin still works as a protagonist, but in this novel his story is so much less compelling. Blood Song developed and grew Vaelin so much over the course of its pages; Tower Lord feels so much lesser because we only spend a quarter of the time with him.
Fentis is hit-and-miss in this one. Some of his story is very compelling, but a lot feels drawn out and only necessary to set up the next novel.
Lyrna is, at times, interesting. Mostly her chapters felt like a distraction from the other, more interesting characters.
Reva, however, is by far the most interesting of the newcomers. Her arc throughout the novel is very well done and holds the most intrigue. Her internal struggles and growth both work to interest the reader and develop her as a young woman (side note - did anyone else think that Reva was only 10-11 years old right of the bat? I spent most of the story thinking of her as a child only to realize she is 19ish much later in the novel...which rather changes all of her actions throughout). The climax of her tale also stands as the most exciting part of this novel.
To sum-up other aspects of this work: the world-building is still very good. The action is great. The pacing was a bit lacking. Overall, Tower Lord doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, but isn't a poor read by any means.
adventurous
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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:
Yes
Truly, this is a fantastic fantasy series! This installment is written in a different format from the first book in that each chapter is told from a different character's perspective. Vaelin's perspective is still provided, it's just not the sole point of view. Most of the characters we already know, and this provides the reader the opportunity to get to know these other characters more. I really loved the format! Was not disappointed by this next installment!
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tried, I truly did, but unfortunately this one has ended up in the didn't finish bin. The protagonist of the first novel has been demoted to one-quarter sideshow in this offering, and we get POVs from three other characters, one of whom, Reva, makes little sense as a character. What is she? Avenging angel? Bloodthirsty assassin? Doting teacher? Confused twenty-something? Romantically perturbed?
Whatever the case, the novel just wanders too much dramatically. There's a surfeit of travelling to get somewhere, then doing bugger all or murdering everything (either/or) depending on who did the travelling.
It became tiresome wading through the page after page of scattershot narrative. I mean, is this novel and the first one related? Wow...
Shame.
Whatever the case, the novel just wanders too much dramatically. There's a surfeit of travelling to get somewhere, then doing bugger all or murdering everything (either/or) depending on who did the travelling.
It became tiresome wading through the page after page of scattershot narrative. I mean, is this novel and the first one related? Wow...
Shame.
I had a very reserved expectation for this book after the first book in the series having disappointed me somewhat, even though it was a decent read with an intricate story that was worth following. So as a comparison to the first book, I think this one is very similar in terms of my enjoyment and general feelings towards the story. I still found it had a few too many writing issues to be really enjoyable, but having expected those coming in, they didn't bother me as much this time around. I also still dislike this narrator, who was the same one who did the first book, but he's also far from the worst I've heard.
We learn quite a bit more about the world and it's people, but this is done from four concurrent storylines with a fifth one thrown in from another time period. If you're thinking "that's too many damn storylines", you'd be right. There are so many interchangeable characters in each storyline, that you soon forget who most of them are. It felt like we spent very little time with the protagonist from the first book this time around as well, which was definitely disappointing. The author also managed to do the annoying thing of switching storylines just as one got to an exciting part in what I suspect was supposed to keep the reader on edge, but since it takes so long to get back to them, you pretty much lost any excitement by the time you do. The protagonists of each story were well done though and those characters did get a lot of development.
As for the writing issues, we once again get the feeling that "fate" governs most things in this world, so we're left not really caring too much about certain characters and events since we "know" things will turn out favourably for them. The dialogue was also very dreary once again and made it hard to relate to many characters. There was also a distinct lack of answers to many questions regarding the magic system in this world and instead, we somehow know even less now than where we left off in the last book due to so many new elements being introduced and left unexplained. And to top it all off, we get a good dose of "second book in a trilogy syndrome" where a lot of things are setup for the last book and you're left feeling unsatisfied by the multiple hanging plots.
The overall story is still going in an interesting direction and I like the somewhat dark tone of the book in general. There were a handful of really good, exciting scenes which made up for the few periods of long, boring exposition sections. The magic system is coming more into play now, but it's still restrained nicely so that everything still has that air of believability to it. If you enjoyed the first book for the story, you'll probably like this one as well. If all you cared about was the protagonist, however, you're quite likely to be disappointed. I'm invested enough at this point to finish off the series, but I'll definitely have very restrained expectations once again.
We learn quite a bit more about the world and it's people, but this is done from four concurrent storylines with a fifth one thrown in from another time period. If you're thinking "that's too many damn storylines", you'd be right. There are so many interchangeable characters in each storyline, that you soon forget who most of them are. It felt like we spent very little time with the protagonist from the first book this time around as well, which was definitely disappointing. The author also managed to do the annoying thing of switching storylines just as one got to an exciting part in what I suspect was supposed to keep the reader on edge, but since it takes so long to get back to them, you pretty much lost any excitement by the time you do. The protagonists of each story were well done though and those characters did get a lot of development.
As for the writing issues, we once again get the feeling that "fate" governs most things in this world, so we're left not really caring too much about certain characters and events since we "know" things will turn out favourably for them. The dialogue was also very dreary once again and made it hard to relate to many characters. There was also a distinct lack of answers to many questions regarding the magic system in this world and instead, we somehow know even less now than where we left off in the last book due to so many new elements being introduced and left unexplained. And to top it all off, we get a good dose of "second book in a trilogy syndrome" where a lot of things are setup for the last book and you're left feeling unsatisfied by the multiple hanging plots.
The overall story is still going in an interesting direction and I like the somewhat dark tone of the book in general. There were a handful of really good, exciting scenes which made up for the few periods of long, boring exposition sections. The magic system is coming more into play now, but it's still restrained nicely so that everything still has that air of believability to it. If you enjoyed the first book for the story, you'll probably like this one as well. If all you cared about was the protagonist, however, you're quite likely to be disappointed. I'm invested enough at this point to finish off the series, but I'll definitely have very restrained expectations once again.