Reviews with content warning for Violence - Valour

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Valour by John Gwynne

16 reviews

dani_reis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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xta_07's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Things I muttered to myself while reading the last few chapters of this book: What? On no! And of course: NoNoNONONonono!

While both the beginning and the end of the book were very exciting and fun to read, I had trouble maintaining my momentum through the middle. What truly carried me through were the characters. They shine in this story; they all feel incredibly real. I really particularly enjoyed

Cywens journey, and her budding relationship with Vedaris and Alcyon. Even though she is their captive, they end up caring about each other.

I also really liked Camlin finding his place in the “crew” and learning the value of loyalty. There are a few one sided “bad guys” but most of the characters have nuance and depth, which is something I really appreciate.

John Gwynne has a knack for taking a tangled spider web of a plot and weaving it all together in a beautiful tear stained tapestry. I am both exited and scared to pick up book 3!

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josiah17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad 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? Yes

4.5

I'm still kind of debating the rating (between a 4.5 and a 5), but I'll stick with a 5 for now.

The plot for this series is just so digestible and captivating, even in its simplicity. It's very much a "God vs Satan" or a "Good vs Evil" conflict, but it still feels fresh and unique in it's own ways.

The character work is also an improvement in this book over Malice as this book builds on the groundwork that was laid in the previous one. Gwynne is masterful at making you feel attached to his characters.

This book also explores a really interesting portion of the world, and it gives some insight into the differences between giant clans and humans.

I'm really a huge fan of Gwynne's writing. I love it. And as I said after Malice, this series is certainly on it's way to becoming an all-time favorite.

Edit 9/8/23: 4.5 stars now. Still fantastic, but not quite 5 stars like I initially thought.

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

It's an improvement over the first book if you consider the 'entertainment' aspect, but I'm afraid most of the issues I mentioned about its predecessor carry over to this one as well, and the writing style just doesn't work for me. Characterization, world-building, all of them feels either generic or cookie cutter. Nothing really stands out and whenever something really good happens, it falls flat because the author writes just enough to get the point across, which kills whatever excitement I feel at that moment. Consider these final words of the book ( ending spoilers ofc! ) for example where

the protagonist lost his mom and buried her after a battle.

He thought of the cauldron, the black cloud rising from it, the tainted Jehar ripping men limb from limb, Nathair sitting on the dais steps, and finally the old man that he had fought, who had killed his mam. Calidus, Meical had called him. One thought circled in his head like the black birds swirling about the mountain peaks.
They must be stopped.

They must be stopped!

Okay ye, that's obvious. Is that the final line that's suppposed to get me hyped for next book? Come on now.. There's also some twists and turns in the story that made me laugh rather than surprised because of how contrived or ridiculous it was sometimes. With all that said, I did have some fun reading it and I really enjoyed Maquin's arc. That's one thing I had my doubts about when it comes to execution, and it turned out to be the best thing about the book somehow, which was a pleasant surprise. Regardless of this book being an improvement, unfortunately I can't say I really liked it still, so I'mma round down to a 3.

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russelmcq's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

To me, this series just continues to quicken the pace. Breakneck style, short chapters, action packed. While I can see how some may not love the "stop to smell the flowers" type of prose, I really enjoy this series for what it is.

A violent, emotional upheaval that grabs you and shakes you.

As a newer fantasy reader and having gone from Tolkien to this, I can appreciate both sides immensely.

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sorrel29's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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dryhop's review against another edition

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adventurous dark

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book did exactly what I want to see in a series. It trusted the reader. Where do we start in this book? At the end of the last book. There is precious little recapping. We aren't back in time, looking at events through a different characters viewpoint to try and reestablish what's going on. A tad bit, but only just. As I am reading this, I am rereading the Wheel of Time, so buckle up for a lot of comparisons. Gwynne expects the reader to know what's going on in his world where there are already quite a few viewpoint characters and new ones coming in this book. But he doesn't hold your hand. The events of the last book happened; if you don't know them, you aren't going to get the 'previously, on Faithful and the Fallen'. It just launches in and away we go. And I personally appreciate the hell out of this. Wheel of Time spends hundreds of pages reexplaining terms and people and events, so much so that I feel like each subsequent book becomes more and more recap and less and less something actually happening. I find Valour incredibly refreshing because of this.

Likewise, I find Gwynne's handling of description much more to my liking. Jordan can paint a scene but after pages of livery and architecture, I get it. I've probably already forgotten most of it. Gwynne sets his scene quickly and leaves it to the reader to fill in. There's a feast hall, a fire, benches, and warriors. Now let's talk plot and characters. Brilliant. Let's move right into the meat of it.

Additionally, Gwynne handles time skips well. There's a siege, it's been a couple weeks. How does Gwynne describe that? Chapter break and a couple moons later. Perfect. Need to walk somewhere. Good work everyone, you did it. I feel with Jordan that we would have a chapter for each day of the siege, each pang of hunger dragged on interminably between descriptions of the now ill-fitting silk whatever that everyone is wearing. Again, it sets a scene, but is it ultimately necessary? Gwynne keeps the action going and the important parts front and center. It's fast paced, especially for an epic fantasy, but I'm all in.

I don't mean to say that Jordan or the Wheel of Time is bad. I don't think that. But it creates a great counter to The Faithful and The Fallen. They both do things well and in their own way. I enjoy the Wheel of Time or else I wouldn't be doing a reread. But I must say I have a great deal of respect for how Gwynne moves his story along. The characters are engaging, the story interesting, and you're basically never dropped into a chapter that's there to explain something to you. Keep up; there's a war happening and it waits on no one. Coming from Wheel of Time where I may glaze over the stitching on the sleeves of noble Whoever's sleeves, I have to stay riveted to the page here because things are happening. It's a very engaging reading experience. All in all, this book was great and I highly recommend it. (Lots of gore and violence for those that aren't into that by way of content warning).

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