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dawn_marie 's review for:
Tower Lord
by Anthony Ryan
Tower Lord is the second installment in Anthony Ryan’s Raven’s Shadow Series, was disappointing. While the novel is rich in world building, filled with a unique magic system, and inhabited by (some) interesting characters it felt less like a sequel and more like a different novel taking place in the same world as Blood Song.
In this installment Vaelin Al Sorna, recently returned to the Realm is named Tower Lord by the king and . . . . travels a lot, meets people, and prepares for war? The plot is a bit ambiguous – its purpose seems nothing more than to move the characters into position for the next installment of the series. If you were to believe the book blurb (and going by the tone of the first book), you’d think that the novel would focus on Vaelin Al Sorna and his exploits as Tower Lord. But it isn’t, his plot felt secondary (sometime tertiary) to the new characters, and that is highly disappointing.
While I do not mind a book whose plot is little more than a lot of travel interrupted by the occasional battle sequence (hello The Blade Itself) if it is well written and filled with well-developed and interesting characters. Luckily, the novel is well written. Sadly, other than Vaelin Al Sorna I found the other characters flat. Reva was the bloodthirsty orphan set on revenge, while Frentis was the killing machine with a conscience, and Lyrna the whip smart princess that no one listens to. And speaking of Frentis
The biggest disconnect for me was the change in narrative styles between the first and second books. While the first book was all Vaelin, the second had multiple POV chapters. While I do not mind multiple POV narratives, I do find it jarring when the narrative style changes midstory.
I enjoy Mr. Ryan’s writing and find his stories entertaining, this one did not quite hit the mark for me.
In this installment Vaelin Al Sorna, recently returned to the Realm is named Tower Lord by the king and . . . . travels a lot, meets people, and prepares for war? The plot is a bit ambiguous – its purpose seems nothing more than to move the characters into position for the next installment of the series. If you were to believe the book blurb (and going by the tone of the first book), you’d think that the novel would focus on Vaelin Al Sorna and his exploits as Tower Lord. But it isn’t, his plot felt secondary (sometime tertiary) to the new characters, and that is highly disappointing.
While I do not mind a book whose plot is little more than a lot of travel interrupted by the occasional battle sequence (hello The Blade Itself) if it is well written and filled with well-developed and interesting characters. Luckily, the novel is well written. Sadly, other than Vaelin Al Sorna I found the other characters flat. Reva was the bloodthirsty orphan set on revenge, while Frentis was the killing machine with a conscience, and Lyrna the whip smart princess that no one listens to. And speaking of Frentis
Spoiler
I found his chapters especially problematic, especially the repeated rapes of Frentis.The biggest disconnect for me was the change in narrative styles between the first and second books. While the first book was all Vaelin, the second had multiple POV chapters. While I do not mind multiple POV narratives, I do find it jarring when the narrative style changes midstory.
I enjoy Mr. Ryan’s writing and find his stories entertaining, this one did not quite hit the mark for me.