Reviews

The Legacy Of Lord Regret by Sam Bowring

books17's review against another edition

4.0

As Regret put his hand behind the world and wrenched at threads he found there, he injured deep and age-old patterns. Imagine it, my friends – the Great Spell, altered by a madman’s will.

A reread of a new edition of one of my favourites from years ago!

Long ago in the land of Aorn, the despot Lord Regret was killed by a group of Threaders - users of magic who can twist the threads of the Great Spell to their will. His powers went into the eight Threaders - now called Wardens - who used their power for good or ill, and eventually were all killed. Now, decades later, the Wardens are back to continue or change their paths.

I first read THE LEGACY OF LORD REGRET back in 2013 when I found it whilst shelving at the library. I was immediately taken by the setting and the characters. Early this year I was thinking about a re-read, and looking on eBay for copies as the original books are out of print when the author Sam Bowring posted on Facebook asking for beta readers/reviewers for a new publishing run! Sometimes I believe that kismet exists.

I really enjoy the magic system in STRANGE THREADS - it rides a good line between Sanderson-style magic rules and Tolkien-style wishy-washy 'magic is magic'. I just upset somebody by suggesting that Brando Sando and JRR are the only two kinds of magic writer. The different abilities that each Warden picks up from their defeat of Lord Regret are interesting - being able to sense injustice, constantly spewing out random blessings to the world around, being able to 'steal' threads from the Spell and rhyme things out of existence. You have the standard super strength, freezing time, but they're mixed in with far more interesting and unique concepts.

We get POV chapters from all of the Wardens bar one who is killed very early and they are all pretty well rounded and interesting to see their perspectives. The 'evil' Wardens, Despirrow and Forger, get a fair bit of time and development - Forger moreso, who feels more like a character whereas Despirrow is kind of a cardboard cutout of 'Bad Guy'. It feels like Bowring needed a character to take out his edgy on. I didn't notice the overuse of r*pe as a threat/event when I originally read it but I certainly did this time.

Rostigan, our protagonist, has a kind of relatable melancholy to him and his relationship with his bard companion/lover Tarzi - while a little trite - is believable and sweet. The twist of his character is also rather good but I think that it could have done with being pushed back to later on in the book or perhaps in the second book as it happens pretty early on, but that would require a fair bit of shuffling of the plot.

Overall, really enjoyed my reread! Annoyed with myself that it took me so long but I do struggle reading ebooks. I encourage any of my fantasy reader friends to try it out, this series really deserves a lot more attention, especially from a local Aussie author.

deehaichess's review against another edition

3.0

I already knew that anything I read directly after finishing the 3rd and final book in Richard Morgan's awesome, brutal Land Fit for Heroes series would probably suffer for the comparison, so I didn't have really high expectations for this book. That being said, it had enough going for it - reasonably light, straight forward and featuring an sympathetic enough almost-anti hero - that I read it fairly quickly and easily. Bowring's characters are a little simplistic, his writing a little basic, but he has an interesting premise - a group of once-heroes inadvertently become the monster they hunted - and the author hints in this first book at questions of moral reform and past evils redeemed. Whether that theme continues in the second book remains to be seen but by the end of the story I was sufficiently invested in the main character and where things were going to want to read the next installment.

Legacy of Lord Regret didn't set my world on fire, but it was enjoyable without being too demanding and I can definitely recommend it (so far!) for a good light read a bit above the standard sword and sorcery tale.

littlemissbookworm's review against another edition

3.0

"Der Herr der Tränen" ist der erste Teil der Duologie über den Kriegshelden Rostigan.

Vor 300 Jahren herrschte der berüchtigte Regret über Aorn, bescherte seinen Untertanen aber nur Leid. Um dieses zu beenden, schlossen sich einige mächtige Fadenwirker, die sich "Wächter" nannten, zusammen um besagten Herrscher zu töten.
Heute, viele Jahre später, scheint sich vieles zu wiederholen und Rostigan versucht den alten Frieden wiederherzustellen.

"Der Herr der Tränen" ist schnell und flüssig zu lesen und kann mit vielen interessanten Charakteren punkten. Allerdings hatte ich das Gefühl als wäre dieses Buch bloß eine Einleitung zum ereignisreicheren (?) zweiten Band. Obwohl es einige actionreiche Szenen gibt, hätte ich mir mehr Spannung gewünscht. Die Idee des Fadenwirkens finde ich sehr gut, auch wenn es ein bisschen gedauert hat, mich mit dieser Form der Magie anzufreunden.

Insgesamt ist "Der Herr der Tränen" ein durchaus lesenswertes Buch und auch für Leser geeignet, welche gerade erst in die Welt der Fantasy eintauchen.

thiefofcamorr's review against another edition

Katharine is a judge for the Sara Douglass 'Book Series' Award. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.

I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.