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badbadwolf's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Slavery, Child death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Medical content, Xenophobia, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and War
ehmannky's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So! Good! It's just as fast-paced and intense as book one. I loved the further development of the characters, the plot moved at the right pace, and it was just so! good! Everything I liked about book 1 is here, but now there's more female characters and they are all so different and awesome. One additional thing that I love about this book is that even though it is so bloody and violent, there's not really any rape/sexual assault other than some references. Like, we have this brutal world and you aren't subjected to multiple women being hypersexualized or brutalized (other than the death). Like, again if you don't like war books, it's not going to be something you particularly enjoy, but I couldn't stop reading it.
Also,I just about shrieked when we learn that Uduak, my favorite background character, is gay and in a relationship with Hadith! And it did feel like a natural revelation since so much of book 1 is just Tua being a "no thoughts just vengeance vibes" character that he only just barely starts paying attention to his friends in this book.
Also,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Colonisation, Child death, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Genocide
maelikesbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I loved this book and breezed through it. Really engaging plot and characters are compelling. That said, I did think it was a little weaker than the first book. It’s themes are a little messy and there isn’t as much character development. I also didn’t care for the main romance and thought it was given way too much page time that I would’ve rather spend with characters like Uduak and Hadith who didn’t get as many character moments. I missed the friendship and brotherhood we got to see in Book 1 with Scale Jayeed.
For example, Jabari’s storyline and relationship with Tau was a high point for me, and yet it still felt rushed and a little under-explored.
There is a distinctive tonal shift (I’m not really sure if tonal is the right word here) from the first book, specifically when it comes to violence. While the first book did focus a lot on combat and violence and didn’t shy away from showing messed up things (Lekan’s action at the start for example), Book 2 feels like it’s jumping into the grimdark deep end. I don’t think this is a problem, and it never feels gratuitous - but it did feel more brutal than I was expecting going into it.
Overall, this book feels like it’s doing a lot of setting up for the next installations. And while it’s not the most polished approach, it remains damn entertaining every step of the way. If this is what middle book syndrome feels like for this series, I can’t imagine how much fun the final book will be!
For example, Jabari’s storyline and relationship with Tau was a high point for me, and yet it still felt rushed and a little under-explored.
There is a distinctive tonal shift (I’m not really sure if tonal is the right word here) from the first book, specifically when it comes to violence. While the first book did focus a lot on combat and violence and didn’t shy away from showing messed up things (Lekan’s action at the start for example), Book 2 feels like it’s jumping into the grimdark deep end. I don’t think this is a problem, and it never feels gratuitous - but it did feel more brutal than I was expecting going into it.
Overall, this book feels like it’s doing a lot of setting up for the next installations. And while it’s not the most polished approach, it remains damn entertaining every step of the way. If this is what middle book syndrome feels like for this series, I can’t imagine how much fun the final book will be!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Body horror, Genocide, and Torture
Minor: Slavery and Suicidal thoughts
noraa's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Colonisation, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
sugarpal's review
adventurous
challenging
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
4.5
If you've read RF Kuang's Poppy War trilogy, these books may feel eerily familiar.
Not in a bad way, definitely –– as a huge fan of TPW, I actually loved this book, and really enjoyed making note of the parallels. The similarities of the first books (grimdark-dark-dark atmosphere, grisly violence, themes of war and discrimination and colonialism, non-Western cultural focus, and the plot: main character becomes an unstoppable rage-fueled war machine, makes friends, does war ) were tropey and/or modern enough to be coincidental; but after reading this book, I'm convinced RF Kuang and Evan Winter are sniffing the same airplane glue, or in some secret author conspiracy, or something. The second books –– this one and Kuang's The Dragon Republic –– both involve (shock) more war, national infighting despite a common enemy, an absolute banger of a climax, and even an emotionally constipated romantic subplot (though it's only actually realized in TFV and not TDR). The sequels' endings strike me as similar: the setup for the third book seems to be gearing up for the real enemy, the colonizers, which is obviously a message I approve of .The dragons in Winter's books even seem to play a similar role to Kuang's gods, and the Underworld strikes me as conceptually similar to the Pantheon. Of course, there are differences, like the obvious ones in cultures and in the protagonists' genders; in general the details differ, and I think Winter's books will end up going in a different direction than Kuang's (if only because there are supposed to be four in this series as opposed to TPW's three), but the journeys feel similar. I think if you like one series, you'll enjoy the other. (The biggest difference is that Winter's series isn't complete, which makes reading this now a stupid decision on my part, because now I have to wait until 2022 to get the next one. Fuck me.)
I do, of course, have some thoughts about this book on its own. The character work is excellent. Though Winter could easily let Tau stagnate in this book as a blindly raging avenging machine, he instead treats Tau as a human, and makes sure to show his sensitivity alongside his brutality. Tau is very self-centered, but even while stuck in his perspective, I still enjoyed reading about his relationships with his friends, and their development as individuals. (The gay rep?? We love to see it!!!) And especially for a male author, the female characters, few though they are, are strong and well written. Tsiora is my queen and she could step on me any day –– but I love that he also explores her childhood, and the darker sides of her character that anyone but her sister would be blind to. Actually, on the topic of perspective, I wasn't sure how I felt about Winter's fluid approach to POV in the first book (occasionally shifting to side characters, while still mainly staying in Tau's perspective), but I decided in this book that I definitely am a fan due to how he handled Esi and Tsiora. Being in the head of a major player we had never seen, the discomfort of reading her bigotry, and her fresh perspective on the war and on Tsiora were all very well done and added a lot to the story.
Overall, I have a few quibbles about these books –– for example, how Winter's already-few female characters seem to love sacrificing themselves (seriously, they've done that3 times now), and how women have strictly non-physical roles in the Omehi military (though at least that is deliberately contrasted with the Xiddeen women, who fight alongside the men). But I'm absolutely going to be reading The Lord of Demons when it comes out in January!
Not in a bad way, definitely –– as a huge fan of TPW, I actually loved this book, and really enjoyed making note of the parallels. The similarities of the first books (grimdark-dark-dark atmosphere, grisly violence, themes of war and discrimination and colonialism, non-Western cultural focus, and the plot:
I do, of course, have some thoughts about this book on its own. The character work is excellent. Though Winter could easily let Tau stagnate in this book as a blindly raging avenging machine, he instead treats Tau as a human, and makes sure to show his sensitivity alongside his brutality. Tau is very self-centered, but even while stuck in his perspective, I still enjoyed reading about his relationships with his friends, and their development as individuals. (The gay rep?? We love to see it!!!) And especially for a male author, the female characters, few though they are, are strong and well written. Tsiora is my queen and she could step on me any day –– but I love that he also explores her childhood, and the darker sides of her character that anyone but her sister would be blind to. Actually, on the topic of perspective, I wasn't sure how I felt about Winter's fluid approach to POV in the first book (occasionally shifting to side characters, while still mainly staying in Tau's perspective), but I decided in this book that I definitely am a fan due to how he handled Esi and Tsiora. Being in the head of a major player we had never seen, the discomfort of reading her bigotry, and her fresh perspective on the war and on Tsiora were all very well done and added a lot to the story.
Overall, I have a few quibbles about these books –– for example, how Winter's already-few female characters seem to love sacrificing themselves (seriously, they've done that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, and Colonisation
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