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leodhasach's review
5.0
I was sent this as an ARC from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
I'm shying way from giving 5 Stars to books unless they really are exceptional, but this book is exactly that. You can tell that Lucas has poured a huge amount of energy into crafting this third instalment of his Beyond the Wall series.
Each book in the series has got progressively larger and more complex with twists and turns that keep the interest.... and at least one late night that led to me sleeping in and nearly missing work! The level of detail and thought that has gone into the plot is impressive and it's already one of the most original scifi series that I've ever read. Impressive when you consider this is already a genre that's fit to bursting. It's part political intrigue, part spy thriller, a wee bit Firefly-esque with a touch of the X Files thrown in.
I'm not going to go too far into the plot, I don't feel I could do it justice and I feel that this is a book you should read without the hint of any spoilers.
There are no predictable 'goodies' and 'baddies' here, the characters are flawed, a bit broken (mentally and physically!), they're conflicted and they feel very real.
This is space opera that is easily as good as anything by Peter Hamilton.
I'm shying way from giving 5 Stars to books unless they really are exceptional, but this book is exactly that. You can tell that Lucas has poured a huge amount of energy into crafting this third instalment of his Beyond the Wall series.
Each book in the series has got progressively larger and more complex with twists and turns that keep the interest.... and at least one late night that led to me sleeping in and nearly missing work! The level of detail and thought that has gone into the plot is impressive and it's already one of the most original scifi series that I've ever read. Impressive when you consider this is already a genre that's fit to bursting. It's part political intrigue, part spy thriller, a wee bit Firefly-esque with a touch of the X Files thrown in.
I'm not going to go too far into the plot, I don't feel I could do it justice and I feel that this is a book you should read without the hint of any spoilers.
There are no predictable 'goodies' and 'baddies' here, the characters are flawed, a bit broken (mentally and physically!), they're conflicted and they feel very real.
This is space opera that is easily as good as anything by Peter Hamilton.
davidmaureen1's review
4.0
Excellent
Excellent series so far and Enjoyable reading...looking forward to the next ( 4th ) and final book in the series.
Excellent series so far and Enjoyable reading...looking forward to the next ( 4th ) and final book in the series.
tahernandez's review
5.0
When I read the first two books of this series, The Heretic and Defiance, I immediately fell in love. The story and characters were fantastic, and I knew I had stumbled across something epic. To my delight, things only became more epic in this third installment. A Shroud of Night and Tears is brilliantly crafted, with countless twists and turns I didn’t see coming, but which still made perfect sense after the fact. The story is filled with betrayal and double-crossing, which are some of my very favorite things in stories - especially when you don’t see it coming. The plot becomes increasingly more complex and intriguing as different storylines are expertly woven together so that there is never a dull moment.
Shroud starts off by introducing us to another new set of characters and storyline, though it becomes evident early on that this will tie into events from the previous books pretty quickly. We soon see the return of Natasha, Weaver, Shepherd, and other familiar characters as they are all forced to work together, whether they like it or not. The stakes are raised for all of them, and it’s interesting to see how each of them deals with the situation differently. After finishing the book last night, I was trying to think of who my favorite character in the series is, and I honestly can’t pick one. I love Gant’s devotion to protecting his people at all costs. I love the contrast in Natasha’s character; she’s had a hard life and is obviously damaged as a result, but she still has a softer, caring side. I love Shepherd’s stubbornness and automatic resistance to everything and everyone. I love watching Weaver’s inner transformation, which we saw a lot of in Defiance and continues here. All of the characters feel so real and are fantastically written.
And speaking of the writing, I’m still just kind of in awe of how good the writing is. The descriptions provide a clear picture of everything that’s happening and everything the characters are feeling, and the pacing is spot-on. I’ve read a lot of great books by indie authors in the last few years, but Lucas Bale is easily one of the best. I will eagerly look forward to anything else he writes, and I’m already excited to see what’s next for this series.
Shroud starts off by introducing us to another new set of characters and storyline, though it becomes evident early on that this will tie into events from the previous books pretty quickly. We soon see the return of Natasha, Weaver, Shepherd, and other familiar characters as they are all forced to work together, whether they like it or not. The stakes are raised for all of them, and it’s interesting to see how each of them deals with the situation differently. After finishing the book last night, I was trying to think of who my favorite character in the series is, and I honestly can’t pick one. I love Gant’s devotion to protecting his people at all costs. I love the contrast in Natasha’s character; she’s had a hard life and is obviously damaged as a result, but she still has a softer, caring side. I love Shepherd’s stubbornness and automatic resistance to everything and everyone. I love watching Weaver’s inner transformation, which we saw a lot of in Defiance and continues here. All of the characters feel so real and are fantastically written.
And speaking of the writing, I’m still just kind of in awe of how good the writing is. The descriptions provide a clear picture of everything that’s happening and everything the characters are feeling, and the pacing is spot-on. I’ve read a lot of great books by indie authors in the last few years, but Lucas Bale is easily one of the best. I will eagerly look forward to anything else he writes, and I’m already excited to see what’s next for this series.
ejfisch's review
5.0
After I finished [b:Defiance|23201018|Defiance (Beyond the Wall, #2)|Lucas Bale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410425152s/23201018.jpg|42745419] at the end of January, a couple of conversations took place on various social media in which Bale informed me that Book 3 contained a couple more vicious twists and that I totally had no idea what was coming.
It didn't take me long to discover that he wasn't kidding.
I was lying awake last night brainstorming for this review (#writerproblems) and trying to think of a way to describe the structure of this series. The best example I could think of was a wishbone. [b:The Heretic|22471354|The Heretic (Beyond the Wall, #1)|Lucas Bale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403725257s/22471354.jpg|41912717] and [b:Defiance|23201018|Defiance (Beyond the Wall, #2)|Lucas Bale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410425152s/23201018.jpg|42745419] brought us two separate stories with different characters, and Shroud slowly brings those stories together. But the game still isn't over. If anything, it's just now actually beginning.
I was a little surprised to find that the book started out by introducing yet another character and story arc with Gant and his band of survivors, but after the way Defiance ended, I could tell this new arc was going to become relevant very quickly. Gant and Weaver and Natasha's storylines were all on a collision course. Characters who had previously been lone wolves - so to speak - were suddenly forced to form alliances and trust one another in order to face a common enemy, and I always love when that sort of thing happens.
I confess to not being totally shocked by a couple of the aforementioned "vicious twists" because once I actually reached them, I realized everything had been flowing so naturally toward the revelations that I was more satisfied than surprised. Most of my predictions were dead wrong, though - I truly didn't have any idea what was coming. The continuation of Gant's story in particular was something I totally wasn't expecting to see, but thinking back to certain details in the previous books, it seems so obvious and inevitable now. The reader finally gets answers to some of the questions they may have had throughout the series, but many of these answers only spawn new questions.
I did have a little bit of trouble keeping track of who was on what side and who had betrayed who, but this was apparently the intention. There's a lot of double-crossing going on and characters are trying to figure out what side they're on. It will be interesting to see what choices they end up making in Book 4.
And speaking of the characters, I've gotten to where I really love the core group in this series. I've always liked anti-hero characters who didn't want to be thrown into the role of hero, so in that sense I've loved Shepherd from the beginning. The preacher remains a mystery, and I love that; some of his dialogue and one-liners crack me up. Natasha is as strong and resourceful as ever, but she's a very damaged person and her problems are starting to catch up to her. I liked seeing a softer-but-still-resilient side of her in this story. Then there's Weaver. In discussing him with Bale upon finishing the book, he mentioned that Weaver's character arc is probably his favorite, and I think I'd have to agree. He has come so far in just a short time; in Defiance , he knew he'd have to make certain choices and do certain things, and there'd be no turning back. Now he's caught up in everything, and he's in this until the end, whether he likes it or not.
It might also be worth it to mention that I tend to fan-cast characters in my head, regardless of what I'm reading. When Weaver was first introduced in Defiance , I saw someone in his mid-to-late 40s but had trouble putting a face to him. As the story progressed and we got a few more physical descriptions, I started seeing something along the lines of Ezio Auditore circa Assassin's Creed: Revelations - a little bit older guy with some gray in his hair and beard, but still strong and capable. Then he was described several times as being tall, and about halfway through Shroud, it hit me: Liam Neeson. Give him Qui-Gon's beard and maybe Bryan Mills's hair, and he'd be perfect. I mentioned this to Bale, and it turns out Liam Neeson is more or less the "official" in-the-author's-head fan-cast for Weaver too. I guess that's just a testament to how well the character is described and written. This happened recently with another character in another book as well, and I applaud authors for writing their characters so well that readers have THAT clear of a picture.
The stakes are higher than ever in the Beyond the Wall series now, and I can't wait to see how it all ends. I was told that the final paragraph of Shroud would be killer, and it was.
It didn't take me long to discover that he wasn't kidding.
I was lying awake last night brainstorming for this review (#writerproblems) and trying to think of a way to describe the structure of this series. The best example I could think of was a wishbone. [b:The Heretic|22471354|The Heretic (Beyond the Wall, #1)|Lucas Bale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403725257s/22471354.jpg|41912717] and [b:Defiance|23201018|Defiance (Beyond the Wall, #2)|Lucas Bale|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410425152s/23201018.jpg|42745419] brought us two separate stories with different characters, and Shroud slowly brings those stories together. But the game still isn't over. If anything, it's just now actually beginning.
I was a little surprised to find that the book started out by introducing yet another character and story arc with Gant and his band of survivors, but after the way Defiance ended, I could tell this new arc was going to become relevant very quickly. Gant and Weaver and Natasha's storylines were all on a collision course. Characters who had previously been lone wolves - so to speak - were suddenly forced to form alliances and trust one another in order to face a common enemy, and I always love when that sort of thing happens.
I confess to not being totally shocked by a couple of the aforementioned "vicious twists" because once I actually reached them, I realized everything had been flowing so naturally toward the revelations that I was more satisfied than surprised. Most of my predictions were dead wrong, though - I truly didn't have any idea what was coming. The continuation of Gant's story in particular was something I totally wasn't expecting to see, but thinking back to certain details in the previous books, it seems so obvious and inevitable now. The reader finally gets answers to some of the questions they may have had throughout the series, but many of these answers only spawn new questions.
I did have a little bit of trouble keeping track of who was on what side and who had betrayed who, but this was apparently the intention. There's a lot of double-crossing going on and characters are trying to figure out what side they're on. It will be interesting to see what choices they end up making in Book 4.
And speaking of the characters, I've gotten to where I really love the core group in this series. I've always liked anti-hero characters who didn't want to be thrown into the role of hero, so in that sense I've loved Shepherd from the beginning. The preacher remains a mystery, and I love that; some of his dialogue and one-liners crack me up. Natasha is as strong and resourceful as ever, but she's a very damaged person and her problems are starting to catch up to her. I liked seeing a softer-but-still-resilient side of her in this story. Then there's Weaver. In discussing him with Bale upon finishing the book, he mentioned that Weaver's character arc is probably his favorite, and I think I'd have to agree. He has come so far in just a short time; in Defiance , he knew he'd have to make certain choices and do certain things, and there'd be no turning back. Now he's caught up in everything, and he's in this until the end, whether he likes it or not.
It might also be worth it to mention that I tend to fan-cast characters in my head, regardless of what I'm reading. When Weaver was first introduced in Defiance , I saw someone in his mid-to-late 40s but had trouble putting a face to him. As the story progressed and we got a few more physical descriptions, I started seeing something along the lines of Ezio Auditore circa Assassin's Creed: Revelations - a little bit older guy with some gray in his hair and beard, but still strong and capable. Then he was described several times as being tall, and about halfway through Shroud, it hit me: Liam Neeson. Give him Qui-Gon's beard and maybe Bryan Mills's hair, and he'd be perfect. I mentioned this to Bale, and it turns out Liam Neeson is more or less the "official" in-the-author's-head fan-cast for Weaver too. I guess that's just a testament to how well the character is described and written. This happened recently with another character in another book as well, and I applaud authors for writing their characters so well that readers have THAT clear of a picture.
The stakes are higher than ever in the Beyond the Wall series now, and I can't wait to see how it all ends. I was told that the final paragraph of Shroud would be killer, and it was.
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