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leelah 's review for:
Tower Lord
by Anthony Ryan
Reread before [b:Queen of Fire|18405221|Queen of Fire (Raven's Shadow, #3)|Anthony Ryan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417350958l/18405221._SY75_.jpg|26039753]
I was giving my best to avoid reviews before I started reading book #2 because I wanted to jump blind into it.
Well, it was a huge surprise all around.
And it boils down to that: how will you enjoy this book depends completely on whether you'll like or hate new direction and considerable changes author made compared to first book.
Now, here is the thing: I had troubles formulating my thoughts on this book because on one side I think changes made this story actually grow into more serious and complex fantasy, but on the other hand it had done that by detaching itself from book #1 too much.
Ok, I'll talk about the biggest change: narrative style. Did I mind terribly when I saw multiple povs? No. I was more thrown out of course because the story is changed from being an oral history to pot-boiler pace delivery of current events. THAT was a big change, but not unwelcome one because there was several interesting characters from Blood Song and I am glad I got to know them more. It also made possible to correct one of my biggest peeve from first book: it managed to convey the vastness of world Ryan imagined where first book just couldn't. In Blood Song, too much page time reader is constricted to Sixth Order and when Vaelin finally gets out in the world to perform his duty as Brother of the Sixth Order and Sword of Realm later on, those scenes were shorter,and not as detailed as his life during his training which can be explained partially due to his focus being entirely set on battle. Still, I like when I actually get the vibe of all those places I see on maps at the begging and this is exactly what I got in book #2.
Changing narrative, or rather give more voices to story actually meant we get more experiences and we finally get to see more of Unified Empire. It gave author an opportunity to explore and further develop his world building.
This is one of the reasons I liked we got Frentis as narrator- not just because his fate was left unknown at the end of Blood Song but because his path took a really interesting turn, one that revealed a lot about enemy. Definitely intriguing, but I noticed that he sounded just a touch too similar to Vaelin.
Lyrna, the most intelligent and, I have to say, most resourceful character in bunch probably had the most interesting journey,so I enjoyed her chapters the most. Comparing to first book, book #2 is definitely more diverse in cast; including more female characters who are strong, powerful, and just all around bad-ass and not just victims ( one of my favorites being Davoka). Also big plus for including sexually diverse character who is also a key player.
Reva is a new character. She is a daughter of old Fief Lord Mustor Vaelin killed in a war against Cumbrael mutineers. To be honest, I thought that adding Reva didn't bring much to story until second half. Defending Alltor- Cumbrael city surrounded by wall was by far the most interesting part of the book. Battle was compelling and it kept me at the edge of my seat.
Which brings me to Vaelin and reasons for my rating.
Valin's story is somewhat expected and heavily hinted by title: after the events of book #1 and his infamous trial by battle, he is coming back to Unified Realm tired of fight and completely disillusioned about Faith. King has purpose for him as he ends up as Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches. We got some glimpses about people who live in Northern parts of Realm, but the most distinctive thing I remembered from first book is that Norther Reaches seems to be the place where people who fell out of King's grace usually end up- which means they are more tolerant toward those who think different and they are too far out of King's influence to afford acting somewhat on their own. So,as much as I find his venture and his interaction with Seordah and northern people interesting because they were so loyal to old Tower Lord not even Vaelin's glory can blind them... I was a bit disappointed. He went from the most important character to character in the background who mostly finished things by fame of his name... Including that ending. I just had more fun reading other chapters. His role is considerably diminished in overall war against enemy, against Ally, and I did find him lacking comparing to first book.
And that's the crux of it: There was a certain enjoyment in simplicity of first book and "hero tale" we all read in similar books, but never grow tired of. I liked it despite its obvious flaws (mostly predictability).
I liked book #2 because the story got more complex; more "thinky", I liked that character got more layers and the fact that scope is larger all around.
I liked them separately, but in context of entire series, I cannot overlook some obvious things. As a sequel to Blood Song , I find that book #2 strays far too much from course of story and rules already established in first book. The most obvious part where we can see that is when it comes to characterization: with some characters, I can't say I got character development, but rather character adjustment. Lyrna, Sentes, Janus, Vernier, Hope...they are completely different characters comparing to what we got to know about them in first book. Some of them go from predominately bad to predominately good or other way around...all for the purpose of serving the plot. It's like author had this vision where he wants story to go and he needed to adjust characters we already got to know so he can take the story there (and some of them even cut from the story).
I was mussing a lot about how I like this book on its own, but not in context of series, and decided that for me it was more important if I am still interested in story enough, do I care about characters enough to pick book #3. And I do.
Story ends up with really mean cliff hanger, so I advise you have next book in your near vicinity. :)
I was giving my best to avoid reviews before I started reading book #2 because I wanted to jump blind into it.
Well, it was a huge surprise all around.
And it boils down to that: how will you enjoy this book depends completely on whether you'll like or hate new direction and considerable changes author made compared to first book.
Now, here is the thing: I had troubles formulating my thoughts on this book because on one side I think changes made this story actually grow into more serious and complex fantasy, but on the other hand it had done that by detaching itself from book #1 too much.
Ok, I'll talk about the biggest change: narrative style. Did I mind terribly when I saw multiple povs? No. I was more thrown out of course because the story is changed from being an oral history to pot-boiler pace delivery of current events. THAT was a big change, but not unwelcome one because there was several interesting characters from Blood Song and I am glad I got to know them more. It also made possible to correct one of my biggest peeve from first book: it managed to convey the vastness of world Ryan imagined where first book just couldn't. In Blood Song, too much page time reader is constricted to Sixth Order and when Vaelin finally gets out in the world to perform his duty as Brother of the Sixth Order and Sword of Realm later on, those scenes were shorter,and not as detailed as his life during his training which can be explained partially due to his focus being entirely set on battle. Still, I like when I actually get the vibe of all those places I see on maps at the begging and this is exactly what I got in book #2.
Changing narrative, or rather give more voices to story actually meant we get more experiences and we finally get to see more of Unified Empire. It gave author an opportunity to explore and further develop his world building.
This is one of the reasons I liked we got Frentis as narrator- not just because his fate was left unknown at the end of Blood Song but because his path took a really interesting turn, one that revealed a lot about enemy. Definitely intriguing, but I noticed that he sounded just a touch too similar to Vaelin.
Lyrna, the most intelligent and, I have to say, most resourceful character in bunch probably had the most interesting journey,so I enjoyed her chapters the most. Comparing to first book, book #2 is definitely more diverse in cast; including more female characters who are strong, powerful, and just all around bad-ass and not just victims ( one of my favorites being Davoka). Also big plus for including sexually diverse character who is also a key player.
Reva is a new character. She is a daughter of old Fief Lord Mustor Vaelin killed in a war against Cumbrael mutineers. To be honest, I thought that adding Reva didn't bring much to story until second half. Defending Alltor- Cumbrael city surrounded by wall was by far the most interesting part of the book. Battle was compelling and it kept me at the edge of my seat.
Which brings me to Vaelin and reasons for my rating.
Valin's story is somewhat expected and heavily hinted by title: after the events of book #1 and his infamous trial by battle, he is coming back to Unified Realm tired of fight and completely disillusioned about Faith. King has purpose for him as he ends up as Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches. We got some glimpses about people who live in Northern parts of Realm, but the most distinctive thing I remembered from first book is that Norther Reaches seems to be the place where people who fell out of King's grace usually end up- which means they are more tolerant toward those who think different and they are too far out of King's influence to afford acting somewhat on their own. So,as much as I find his venture and his interaction with Seordah and northern people interesting because they were so loyal to old Tower Lord not even Vaelin's glory can blind them... I was a bit disappointed. He went from the most important character to character in the background who mostly finished things by fame of his name... Including that ending. I just had more fun reading other chapters. His role is considerably diminished in overall war against enemy, against Ally, and I did find him lacking comparing to first book.
And that's the crux of it: There was a certain enjoyment in simplicity of first book and "hero tale" we all read in similar books, but never grow tired of. I liked it despite its obvious flaws (mostly predictability).
I liked book #2 because the story got more complex; more "thinky", I liked that character got more layers and the fact that scope is larger all around.
I liked them separately, but in context of entire series, I cannot overlook some obvious things. As a sequel to Blood Song , I find that book #2 strays far too much from course of story and rules already established in first book. The most obvious part where we can see that is when it comes to characterization: with some characters, I can't say I got character development, but rather character adjustment. Lyrna, Sentes, Janus, Vernier, Hope...they are completely different characters comparing to what we got to know about them in first book. Some of them go from predominately bad to predominately good or other way around...all for the purpose of serving the plot. It's like author had this vision where he wants story to go and he needed to adjust characters we already got to know so he can take the story there (and some of them even cut from the story).
Spoiler
Sherin. I am having troubles believing wasn't interested in looking after Vaelin and other way around, especially because Malcious proclamations were more loose comparing to more rigid standing Janus often took. Oh, well...I was mussing a lot about how I like this book on its own, but not in context of series, and decided that for me it was more important if I am still interested in story enough, do I care about characters enough to pick book #3. And I do.
Story ends up with really mean cliff hanger, so I advise you have next book in your near vicinity. :)