Reviews

The Hand That Casts the Bone by H.L. Tinsley

tezzarudge's review

4.0

This scored a 3.9 on my matrix - which equates to 4 stars on rounding

There was an improvement in the character work in this book compared to the first. Vanguard continued to be an intriguing and thought provoking character, surrounded with background mysteries from his past. However in this book, some of the fringe characters really did get to shine - Carmen and Vince in particular

The writing style itself, isn’t totally my jam and i find it hard to grasp why some of the layering in the story happens and the value it brings. However the wonderful world building and the aforementioned characters do create a good score on the entertainment value for me

The story itself tied off some loose ends from book 1 and set up some intriguing threads for the next book.

A good read

ravenwood1984's review

adventurous dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

kitvaria_sarene's review

5.0

And hell hath no fury like a girl who remembers.

I already loved We Men Of Ash And Shadow, the first book in this series, but The Hand That Casts The Bone is even better.

The sometimes a bit meandering pace and unsteady POV has been massively improved, so this one is a smooth and addictive read all the way through.

The characters gain so much more depth, and especially Carmen quickly became a favourite of mine! Having the book split between a couple of POVs made it all the more gripping, at let me fly through the pages (or rather minutes, as I was audio booking) in no time at all. I can't even tell you who I liked to read most!

And best of all, I enjoyed reading them for very different reasons.

There's villains here who I just love to hate.

Then there's the charismatic ones you don't want to win, but you somehow still kinda (secretly) root for, because they might be horrendous bastards, but they are so in a convincing way... I mean you don't get into a position of power by being a push over...

We also get Vanguard who is trying to deal with everything that happened in the last book, as well as finding some way forward.

Henriette nodded, jaw clenched into a smile that could have shattered teeth. "Wonderful."

And then, I really fell in love with Carmen, Beth and Henriette. I love me some female characters who do their thing, and I adore having three very different ones in one book.

She was a powerhouse of love. A force of nature perpetually wrapped in a cloak of tiny people who de pended on her, needed her, adored her.

Aside from the characters, THTCTB has not just one mystery at its heart, but a couple of them, and I really couldn't wait to get to the bottom of them. Some we do get answered, but boy the ending... Do I want another book right this second!

Beware, this is just as dark, bloody and violent as the first book. There's plenty of swearing, murdering and whatever else you'd expect from a really grim book.

szeththeassassin's review against another edition

4.0

Please find my review at the link below:

https://escapistbookcompany.com/2022/07/28/the-hand-that-casts-the-bone-the-vanguard-chronicles-2-by-h-l-tinsley/

Thanks for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!

nathans_fantasy_reviews's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 

I originally read the first book in the Vanguard series, We Men of Ash and Shadow in 2021 when it became a SPFBO finalist. That book became one of my insta-favorites, and I ranked it as my second overall pick in its finalist pool (my overall favorite was Legacy of the Brightwash - yes, there are common themes in my obsession with dark gaslamp fantasies!). I was completely and entirely absorbed into the city of D'Orsee, and I was fascinated by the complex and honestly pretty messed up relationship between John Vanguard and his protégée (if that is even the right word) Tarryn.
 

This series is a total standout of a grimdark fantasy series, and I would really like to see it get spoken about with same enthusiasm and popularity of the other major grimdark authors. Tinsley's books perhaps evoke the greatest sense or feeling of a dark and gritty fantasy, to the extent where I could feel the grit and grime on my skin as I read Tinsley's prose. If you want a series that feels like its crawling with an underground world of crime and terror, D'Orsee is going to be one of your new favorite fantasy cities. In a (relatively, for the fantasy genre) short book and pretty sparse descriptions, Tinsley paints a perfect picture of a gritty city on the precipice of collapse and revolution. Without taking 1000 pages Tinsley populates D'Orsee with a wide variety of fantasy characters that you might not necessarily come to love (because nothing about this book is warm and fuzzy) but you are more than guaranteed to be entertained by. 

Because of this grimy aesthetic, the magic in this book is pretty much absent. A couple of the characters do have a bit of magic, in which they can make themselves invisible. Thematically and aesthetically this works so well for book because Tinsley invokes the danger of the shadowy corners, nooks, and crannies of D'Orsee. The protagonist, John Vanguard, is able to use the shadows to use his magical abilities to hide, but so can other more nefarious characters! 

While I am focusing on many of the grimmer and darker elements here, and this book is definitely a grimdark novel, I do want to say that Tinsley exhibits a lot of restraint and control. Sometimes authors go way too far in terms of the violence, gore, etc. It even gets to the point sometimes where dark = sexual assault in a gross way. Tinsley does none of that here. There are some squelchy moments in the books, but Tinsley uses them sparingly for maximum effect. The grimmness and darkness of this story comes more from the sense of dread Tinsley cultivates. It also comes from Tinsley's emphasis on the plight of the working and underclasses; Tinsey vividly paints the slop and oppression of those not in power , and class relations are a major theme throughout the novel. 

If you have already read We Men of Ash and Shadow, be ready for a very different reading experience with The Hand that Casts the Bone. I still really liked this second book, but in very different ways than I liked the first one. This book felt a lot bigger in terms of its world and politics than the first book. We spend a lot of time outside of D'Orsee with new POV characters (some new to the series, others characters we came to know in the previous book!). Therefore, while We Men was very much rooted in the relationship between Vanguard and Tarryn, this book is much more about the larger global politics and power grabs that are going on. There are, admittedly, some pros and cons with this shift in perspective and scope. On the good end, there were some really awesome payoffs for things that Tinsley started in We Men. However, on the downside this means that we spend a lot less time with Vanguard and Tarryn in this book. I particularly felt that Tarryn got the short end of the stick here; he was the most fascinating character from We Men, but plays a pretty minor role here. Maybe it was just me, but I kind of got the feeling that Tinsley didn't know how to incorporate Tarryn into the larger politics that were shifting the main focus of the narrative. None of these elements ruined the book for me, but they did throw me off at first. I also want to note that there is a confrontation between Vanguard and Tarryn that was one of the best and intense scenes in a fantasy novel I have read! 

The other major change is that the POVs are a bit more...stationary? If you read We Men then you probably already know that Tinsley was very loose with the POV shifts; a POV could shift from one sentence to the next with little indication. This didn't bother me at all, but I know it bothered a lot of other readers. Those abrupt shifts in POV don't really happen in The Hand that Casts the Bone. 

The end of the book shakes everything up and radically changes the status quo. Tinsley really didn't hold back in allowing the plot and characters to push forward in many exciting ways. I asked Tinsley on Twitter a while back how many more books we should expect, and she said (at the time) she was planning on one or two more in the Vanguard series. I will definitely join the ride for how many every books are left! 

Concluding Thoughts: Another entertaining entry in Tinsley's gaslamp grimdark series, this book expands the city of D'Orsee and beyond. Tinsley's prose continues to vividly illustrate the grit and grime of an oppressed population and a city on the precipice of revolution. Highly recommended for all fans of gritty and grimy fantasy with complicated characters and politics.  

All of my reviews and more available at nathansfantasyreviews.wordpress.com.

wokeupolder's review

5.0

An amazing sequel, a compelling story and a cast of incredibly well developed characters. The Hand That Casts the Bone definitely didn't not disappoint!

5/5

sff_reads's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0