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Tower Lord
by Anthony Ryan
Well this was a disappointment. This went from a solid 4 stars in [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1421573407s/13569581.jpg|19148922] (bk 1) to a weak 2 stars in Book 2.
It was only because I so enjoyed the first that I kept reading. It was told from FIVE points of view and the chapters were entirely too short, never cementing in my mind what had actually happened. Every time I was returned to a character's story line, I had to flip back and re-read some or most of what had previously happened to them. The stories were too drawn out. Too much of nothing happened. The first book was big enough that you would have thought Ryan was done with world-building & that this one would be all meat & potatoes, but no....apparently we needed more world building, much of which seemed unnecessary. (Some of the world building in bk 1 seemed ridiculously unnecessary...like renaming all the days of the week. This was detailed in book 1, and only mentioned once in book 2.)
We have Vernier's story (the scribe from book 1), Vaelin (main character of bk 1), Lyrna (princess), Frentis (Vaelin's brother in arms), and Reva (new character; daughter of a lord who is killed in bk 1). With all these different characters that were scattered around the realm, it was hard to determine if all the events were happening concurrently or at different times.
Lyrna is portrayed over & over in bk 1 as being clever and manipulative, and while Ryan *told* us about her vast intelligence, she rarely *exhibits* it in the story. She glaringly insults and rejects the advances of one of the Fief lords to his face, making an enemy of him...when she herself admits she has no power in her brother's, the king, court. The cold & calculating manipulator behind the throne is nowhere to be seen.
Frentis is a mind-slave to a woman that is inhabited by a spirit that is several hundred years old. She & her conspirators have 'plans' for the realm, and she forces him to accompany her on a world-tour of murder. Once her main plan is accomplished, she's killed off & Frentis' story line mostly fizzled out. He made some efforts in helping with the war that has come to the shores of his home, but his apparent betrayal is never addressed at the end of the book.
Reva is on a holy mission to kill Vaelin, who she blames for her father's death. Her father had become possessed by a spirit and was inciting the people of his Fief into a holy war. She was stolen from her grandparents & had lessons beaten into her (one of which was her lesbianism was a sin). Although only groomed to be a martyr to Vaelin's sword, she instantly becomes a brilliant strategist (better than Lyrna) and saves a city from invaders. Reading the point of view from a misguided cultist is always awkward, even when they eventually redeem themselves.
Vaelin, the hero and main character of the first book, is buffeted by the plot and spends the whole book fighting against using his ability with a sword. He's had enough of killing, and doesn't want to take up his sword, but is sent to the northern wasteland to hold it against barbarians....eventually having to abandon his post to go & rescue everyone in an un-described & vague battle that simply leaves everyone *even more* in awe of him. Blah.
And while it's laudable that Ryan has two of the three storylines from the point of view of women, entirely too much description is dedicated how the women look (gorgeous, of course). And so often they are simply petty & jealous.
There's only one more book in the series, so I'm going to go ahead & see how things are wrapped up, but currently, I'm holding off on recommending this series. The second book was huge (602 pgs), poorly executed, and didn't get interesting until over halfway through.
It was only because I so enjoyed the first that I kept reading. It was told from FIVE points of view and the chapters were entirely too short, never cementing in my mind what had actually happened. Every time I was returned to a character's story line, I had to flip back and re-read some or most of what had previously happened to them. The stories were too drawn out. Too much of nothing happened. The first book was big enough that you would have thought Ryan was done with world-building & that this one would be all meat & potatoes, but no....apparently we needed more world building, much of which seemed unnecessary. (Some of the world building in bk 1 seemed ridiculously unnecessary...like renaming all the days of the week. This was detailed in book 1, and only mentioned once in book 2.)
We have Vernier's story (the scribe from book 1), Vaelin (main character of bk 1), Lyrna (princess), Frentis (Vaelin's brother in arms), and Reva (new character; daughter of a lord who is killed in bk 1). With all these different characters that were scattered around the realm, it was hard to determine if all the events were happening concurrently or at different times.
Lyrna is portrayed over & over in bk 1 as being clever and manipulative, and while Ryan *told* us about her vast intelligence, she rarely *exhibits* it in the story. She glaringly insults and rejects the advances of one of the Fief lords to his face, making an enemy of him...when she herself admits she has no power in her brother's, the king, court. The cold & calculating manipulator behind the throne is nowhere to be seen.
Frentis is a mind-slave to a woman that is inhabited by a spirit that is several hundred years old. She & her conspirators have 'plans' for the realm, and she forces him to accompany her on a world-tour of murder. Once her main plan is accomplished, she's killed off & Frentis' story line mostly fizzled out. He made some efforts in helping with the war that has come to the shores of his home, but his apparent betrayal is never addressed at the end of the book.
Reva is on a holy mission to kill Vaelin, who she blames for her father's death. Her father had become possessed by a spirit and was inciting the people of his Fief into a holy war. She was stolen from her grandparents & had lessons beaten into her (one of which was her lesbianism was a sin). Although only groomed to be a martyr to Vaelin's sword, she instantly becomes a brilliant strategist (better than Lyrna) and saves a city from invaders. Reading the point of view from a misguided cultist is always awkward, even when they eventually redeem themselves.
Vaelin, the hero and main character of the first book, is buffeted by the plot and spends the whole book fighting against using his ability with a sword. He's had enough of killing, and doesn't want to take up his sword, but is sent to the northern wasteland to hold it against barbarians....eventually having to abandon his post to go & rescue everyone in an un-described & vague battle that simply leaves everyone *even more* in awe of him. Blah.
And while it's laudable that Ryan has two of the three storylines from the point of view of women, entirely too much description is dedicated how the women look (gorgeous, of course). And so often they are simply petty & jealous.
There's only one more book in the series, so I'm going to go ahead & see how things are wrapped up, but currently, I'm holding off on recommending this series. The second book was huge (602 pgs), poorly executed, and didn't get interesting until over halfway through.