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njauf's review against another edition
3.75
This isn't bad but I was still kinda disappointed. The initial time jump sucked and the pacing was kinda off. Lots of infodumping
erinngillespie's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
clevercatchphrase's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Slower than the first book, but glad to see the cast and crew faced with different challenges. Again, heavy on the politics, and some really messed up torture sequences.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, and Physical abuse
whisper88's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
saemiligr's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Listening to the audiobook is making this so much more enjoyable. Love the cast of characters and the magical feel of the entire series.
meribiaa's review against another edition
3.0
This one is less of a reread for me. I attempted to read The White Gryphon directly after reading The Black Gryphon years ago but put it down at the 25% mark. I ran into the same issue that I’d had with The Black Gryphon—expectations of a certain story and timeframe were thwarted by the reality of the book.
The Black Gryphon ends with a bang, and the main characters are forced out of their homeland and into the unknown, with a magical cataclysm rocking the foundations of the universe and making magic go wild and unstable. It sounds like an exciting place to pick up, doesn’t it? Where will the cast go? What dangers will they face? How will this magic-dependant society make do? How long will it take them to get out of the blast zone? These were the questions that I was left with.
The White Gryphon helpfully summarizes the answers, because it takes place a full 10 years later!
I think it’s fair to say that I was shocked and disappointed when I jumped into the book and discovered that we’d skipped through what I considered “the good stuff”. Not only that, but the focus of the story very quickly moves away from the new settlement of White Gryphon to an unknown place and culture.
So, 25% in, disappointed, disillusioned, I gave up. Then, several years later, I tried again.
This time I allowed the book to be what it was and enjoyed it more for that. I was shocked to find that it was a murder mystery, which veers wildly away from the war story that we got in The Black Gryphon. The Mage Wars as a whole defies definition or expectations at every turn.
The new characters that we got—Makke, Shalaman, Leyeut, Kanshin, Noyoki, and Hadanelith—were varied and, for the most part, interesting. Some of them I really liked, and one of them, I was sure had a secret that I had guessed early (I was wrong!). There’s a lot of different POVs in this installment, and I think the book benefits from them. It feels like we see and experience more as these different people than we did in The Black Gryphon.
Some of the conflict feels a bit contrived—especially the plot line that has a time crunch—but I was still curious enough about the specifics to stick with it.
It felt unique in a Lackey book to have such a variety of villains, and I really enjoyed the time spent in Kanshin’s POV! I think Lackey would benefit from having more villains like him, and less like Hadanelith.
While the books has its highs and lows, and while it’s worthwhile to read for a diehard Lackey fan looking to appreciate the worldbuilding of Velgarth, this is not a book I’ll be rereading very frequently or soon.
The Black Gryphon ends with a bang, and the main characters are forced out of their homeland and into the unknown, with a magical cataclysm rocking the foundations of the universe and making magic go wild and unstable. It sounds like an exciting place to pick up, doesn’t it? Where will the cast go? What dangers will they face? How will this magic-dependant society make do? How long will it take them to get out of the blast zone? These were the questions that I was left with.
The White Gryphon helpfully summarizes the answers, because it takes place a full 10 years later!
I think it’s fair to say that I was shocked and disappointed when I jumped into the book and discovered that we’d skipped through what I considered “the good stuff”. Not only that, but the focus of the story very quickly moves away from the new settlement of White Gryphon to an unknown place and culture.
So, 25% in, disappointed, disillusioned, I gave up. Then, several years later, I tried again.
This time I allowed the book to be what it was and enjoyed it more for that. I was shocked to find that it was a murder mystery, which veers wildly away from the war story that we got in The Black Gryphon. The Mage Wars as a whole defies definition or expectations at every turn.
The new characters that we got—Makke, Shalaman, Leyeut, Kanshin, Noyoki, and Hadanelith—were varied and, for the most part, interesting. Some of them I really liked, and one of them, I was sure had a secret that I had guessed early (I was wrong!). There’s a lot of different POVs in this installment, and I think the book benefits from them. It feels like we see and experience more as these different people than we did in The Black Gryphon.
Some of the conflict feels a bit contrived—especially the plot line that has a time crunch—but I was still curious enough about the specifics to stick with it.
It felt unique in a Lackey book to have such a variety of villains, and I really enjoyed the time spent in Kanshin’s POV! I think Lackey would benefit from having more villains like him, and less like Hadanelith.
While the books has its highs and lows, and while it’s worthwhile to read for a diehard Lackey fan looking to appreciate the worldbuilding of Velgarth, this is not a book I’ll be rereading very frequently or soon.
judythereader's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this very much, but once again, the story narrative was hurky-jerky and it started to bother me with the jumps forward and no notice of them.
kmj91's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars, I liked it better than the previous book but not quite enough to give it a higher score
In the years since the end of the last book, Skandranon has grown old and fat and, worst of all, respectable. He longs for the days when he was a maverick and resents being a diplomatic leader which he feels isn't true to who he is. Luckily, an unseen enemy soon starts attacking the city of White Grypone which gives him the chance to relive some of his glory days as he helps defend the city. I will say that I found Skandranon to be a better character in this book. I didn't particularly care for him as a cock-of-the-walk bad boy that everyone adores but I am extremely here for over-the-hill Skandranon who can't believe where he's ended up in life. Unfortunately, that interesting character growth does get sidelined a bit and the book is a bit too abrupt in its pacing (this is one of the shortest books of the Valdemar books I've read and though I haven't counted absolute pages, I feel like it probably is the shortest) so it feels like everything just needed a bit more breathing room, especially when the plot resolves so quickly and neatly. I'm curious how this trilogy will wrap up now since each book has neatly resolved all lingering issues from the previous book more or less.
In the years since the end of the last book, Skandranon has grown old and fat and, worst of all, respectable. He longs for the days when he was a maverick and resents being a diplomatic leader which he feels isn't true to who he is. Luckily, an unseen enemy soon starts attacking the city of White Grypone which gives him the chance to relive some of his glory days as he helps defend the city. I will say that I found Skandranon to be a better character in this book. I didn't particularly care for him as a cock-of-the-walk bad boy that everyone adores but I am extremely here for over-the-hill Skandranon who can't believe where he's ended up in life. Unfortunately, that interesting character growth does get sidelined a bit and the book is a bit too abrupt in its pacing (this is one of the shortest books of the Valdemar books I've read and though I haven't counted absolute pages, I feel like it probably is the shortest) so it feels like everything just needed a bit more breathing room, especially when the plot resolves so quickly and neatly. I'm curious how this trilogy will wrap up now since each book has neatly resolved all lingering issues from the previous book more or less.