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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Probably more like 3.5 stars. It is a great story, the world has interesting people and....magic. Something about Reva's character bugs me, she is trained extensively in knife fighting, not the sword yet a mere 2 weeks of Vaelin's tutoring makes her some sort of super-natural sword fighter? I think not. The jumps in time and the fact that the Chronicaler part of the book takes place later than much of the rest didn't add to my enjoyment.
The mystery surrounding the immortal bad guys and the Ally is good, on to the third book although I fear for the conclusion, it sounds poorly done.
The mystery surrounding the immortal bad guys and the Ally is good, on to the third book although I fear for the conclusion, it sounds poorly done.
I was a bit disappointed after the 1st book, but not overly so. It's just that the story splinters into the journey of 4 different characters separately and since the main focus leaves Vaelin, my favorite character, I wasn't as connected to this book. No twists, turns or surprises in this book either compared to the first.
2.5 stars. I ended up DNFing this because it's so much worse than the 1st book and I have no hope of it getting better.
Excellent sequel to Blood Song. Different from the first book, but as good or even better. I liked the different POVs and look forward to the next book.
I was hesitant going into this book after the first one because I had read a lot of reviews that knocked it. Now that I've finished, I can definitely say that I don't understand the problem of the majority of the reviews. Yes I love Vaelin as a character and I loved Blood Song as a book entirely from his view point. However, I think the scope of the story massively evolved and different viewpoints needed to created to keep up with that. I don't think this could have been accomplished any other way without a massive overhaul of the plot which just seems silly to me at least.
That being said, a few things kept me from giving this book a 5.
I'm not a huge fan of the person A looks at person B and BAM! They're in love. At least that's what it feels like to me. I'm not saying this needs to turn into a romance book by any stretch of the imagination but it feels like people are falling in love based off nothing more than being in the same room together. I appreciate the additions to the book, I just wish they were a little more developed. They can even be small scenes/moments as I think some of the greatest romances are portrayed with looks and a touch here or there. But as they are, I thought they seemed clunky and risked throwing me out of the book with a "wait, what?"
My second quip is that I'm a little lost by the enemy plot line in the book. We get a couple glimpses into it with different POV characters, but only enough to let me know it's there and let me wish there was more. I'm hoping this will be wrapped up neatly in the third book, but there are definitely some chunks in this book that I just didn't really understand the point. Either leave me in the dark or give me enough so I feel like I understand who/what is going on. I'm not saying I want to know what's coming, and this is hard to describe as I'm trying to not give any spoilers away, but after the enemy POV or even after the hero is left pondering them, I feel more confused and distracted by trying to figure out what I just read than immersed in the story. Perhaps it is intentional that the enemy remains a big mystery since the hero's themselves do not seem to truly know what they're up against, but with different POV, I think the reader could be given enough for a better immersion while the heroes are still lost.
With that out of the way, I will totally admit to having spent my entire night reading in order to finish the book. Even ordering pizza so I didn't have to stop and cook. I love these characters and this world, and I truly appreciated the character growth and even the story growth as we shift from a boy becoming a man to an entire world under attack. I definitely cannot wait to see how it all ends.
That being said, a few things kept me from giving this book a 5.
I'm not a huge fan of the person A looks at person B and BAM! They're in love. At least that's what it feels like to me. I'm not saying this needs to turn into a romance book by any stretch of the imagination but it feels like people are falling in love based off nothing more than being in the same room together. I appreciate the additions to the book, I just wish they were a little more developed. They can even be small scenes/moments as I think some of the greatest romances are portrayed with looks and a touch here or there. But as they are, I thought they seemed clunky and risked throwing me out of the book with a "wait, what?"
My second quip is that I'm a little lost by the enemy plot line in the book. We get a couple glimpses into it with different POV characters, but only enough to let me know it's there and let me wish there was more. I'm hoping this will be wrapped up neatly in the third book, but there are definitely some chunks in this book that I just didn't really understand the point. Either leave me in the dark or give me enough so I feel like I understand who/what is going on. I'm not saying I want to know what's coming, and this is hard to describe as I'm trying to not give any spoilers away, but after the enemy POV or even after the hero is left pondering them, I feel more confused and distracted by trying to figure out what I just read than immersed in the story. Perhaps it is intentional that the enemy remains a big mystery since the hero's themselves do not seem to truly know what they're up against, but with different POV, I think the reader could be given enough for a better immersion while the heroes are still lost.
With that out of the way, I will totally admit to having spent my entire night reading in order to finish the book. Even ordering pizza so I didn't have to stop and cook. I love these characters and this world, and I truly appreciated the character growth and even the story growth as we shift from a boy becoming a man to an entire world under attack. I definitely cannot wait to see how it all ends.
I would love to give this another 5 stars, because I really enjoyed reading each of the characters stories and their development. That said, my five stars to books like the Power of One and The Fountainhead, etc. gets devalued. I wish they allowed half stars. I really do.
More fun here, great stories with a great mid-series finish. Looking forward to the last book.
More fun here, great stories with a great mid-series finish. Looking forward to the last book.
great book but do yourself a favour, read it right after the first one. I think I would have like it even more.
Re-read. One star down.
I remember this one better than it is. We go from following Vaelin in book one to a multiple POV in this one. And this is not for the better. First off the rest of the people aren't as interesting as Vaelin, secondly, the story suffers from it. The world is expanded and so are the stakes, but somehow it feels smaller as we don't feel as much for the characters. Reva is a Mary Sue after meeting Vaelin, Frentis a light version of Vaelin (while the traveling around assassinating people is great for showing deep planning, it gets boring), and the Queen of Fire is plainly so deep a thinker, it's weird didn't stop the invasion when she was six.
Anthony Ryan has a gift for world building, both with people, history, magic, plot and depth, and he has shown an ability to write a great character in book 1, but somehow it's the characters that are lacking here.
I remember this one better than it is. We go from following Vaelin in book one to a multiple POV in this one. And this is not for the better. First off the rest of the people aren't as interesting as Vaelin, secondly, the story suffers from it. The world is expanded and so are the stakes, but somehow it feels smaller as we don't feel as much for the characters. Reva is a Mary Sue after meeting Vaelin, Frentis a light version of Vaelin (while the traveling around assassinating people is great for showing deep planning, it gets boring), and the Queen of Fire is plainly so deep a thinker, it's weird didn't stop the invasion when she was six.
Anthony Ryan has a gift for world building, both with people, history, magic, plot and depth, and he has shown an ability to write a great character in book 1, but somehow it's the characters that are lacking here.
adventurous
slow-paced