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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
I ended up liking this one more than I thought I would, too. It's a huge tome & I've found that authors might have big sweeping stories in mind, but they don't end up taking me along for the ride. They have details, but they just aren't *interesting.* Plus, this was standard male-centric fantasy fare where women are relegated to being whores, mothers, or love interests. I ALSO was doubtful of his story-telling method because I've seen another try it & have it utterly fail. The story is told by the main character relating it to a scribe, so it can be recorded for posterity. Ugh...that old trick. However, Ryan managed to pull it off without it being cliche or boring. Despite the faults I listed (and a few other nitpicks I have), I genuinely enjoyed this & will be picking up the next in the series.
Vaelin al Sorna's father was Battle Lord to the King. After Vaelin's mother dies, his father suddenly & brusquely drops Vaelin off to join the Sixth Order (It was annoying trying to keep all the orders in...order. The 4th is the Healers. Then one of them are scribes and another group are basically like the Inquisition, hunting down & killing heretics.). Once you join the Orders, you no longer have any connection to your family. Those in the Order are your family. The tale follows Vaelin's training, while also slowly painting the picture as to how he finds himself a captive and traveling with a high-level scribe of the enemy.
Magic is present in the world, but depending upon which ethnic group you belong to, is either seen as a gift or an evil curse.
It's a solid piece of fantasy, with a standard dollop of misogyny.
The King sighed in weary frustration. "What a burden it is to have an intelligent daughter. It goes against nature for wit to be bound up in so much beauty."
Vaelin al Sorna's father was Battle Lord to the King. After Vaelin's mother dies, his father suddenly & brusquely drops Vaelin off to join the Sixth Order (It was annoying trying to keep all the orders in...order. The 4th is the Healers. Then one of them are scribes and another group are basically like the Inquisition, hunting down & killing heretics.). Once you join the Orders, you no longer have any connection to your family. Those in the Order are your family. The tale follows Vaelin's training, while also slowly painting the picture as to how he finds himself a captive and traveling with a high-level scribe of the enemy.
Magic is present in the world, but depending upon which ethnic group you belong to, is either seen as a gift or an evil curse.
It's a solid piece of fantasy, with a standard dollop of misogyny.
The King sighed in weary frustration. "What a burden it is to have an intelligent daughter. It goes against nature for wit to be bound up in so much beauty."
Kitabı ilk 2014 yılında okumuşum, yeniden okumak 2018'e nasip oldu. 💛
Ilk kez okuyormuș gibi çocuksu bir heyecan, eski dostlara kavușmanın sevinci, unuttuklarım hatırladıklarım derken rüzgar gibi geçti gitti.
Geriye kaldı kaybettiklerim, yitirdiklerimin hüznü.
Kule Efendisi için sabırsızlanıyorum.
Ah benim zavallı çocuklarım. 💧
Ilk kez okuyormuș gibi çocuksu bir heyecan, eski dostlara kavușmanın sevinci, unuttuklarım hatırladıklarım derken rüzgar gibi geçti gitti.
Geriye kaldı kaybettiklerim, yitirdiklerimin hüznü.
Kule Efendisi için sabırsızlanıyorum.
Ah benim zavallı çocuklarım. 💧
So, I think there are some comparisons to Name of the Wind, but I liked this book a lot more! I enjoyed the political intrigue mixed with lots of action. The character development was good and the characters themselves intriguing. Also, I felt like the author did a good job of writing about the personal consequences the characters had to face from their actions, no matter how good or heroic their intentions.
excellent first book.can't wait to read the next books in the series
Ok sooo it was good but ....
I had higher expectations. The first half of the book I loved. I mean the comradeship between the brothers and the training, hints of love. But the second half was when the the political aspect came in. That was where I lost a lot of interest because it dealt with a lot of vaelin’s guilt from the political war and following the king. The fact that it was going into politics didn’t bother me, it was now the story in itself was where I lost interest cause I thought it was going to take a different direction. This really disappointed me and so that’s why I didn’t give it 5 stars. I live vaelin as a character and want more of him but I hear the books that follow are multi-perspective and so I probably won’t be continuing the series. I also hate how barkus like turns out to be bad cause he’s like possessed or smth. Anyways still thought it was a good book and had excellent pace however the second half really let me down.
I had higher expectations. The first half of the book I loved. I mean the comradeship between the brothers and the training, hints of love. But the second half was when the the political aspect came in. That was where I lost a lot of interest because it dealt with a lot of vaelin’s guilt from the political war and following the king. The fact that it was going into politics didn’t bother me, it was now the story in itself was where I lost interest cause I thought it was going to take a different direction. This really disappointed me and so that’s why I didn’t give it 5 stars. I live vaelin as a character and want more of him but I hear the books that follow are multi-perspective and so I probably won’t be continuing the series. I also hate how barkus like turns out to be bad cause he’s like possessed or smth. Anyways still thought it was a good book and had excellent pace however the second half really let me down.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4,5 stars
I didn't get to reread Blood Song before release of book #2 even though I planned it, so I decided to plan better this year and crack open my shiny paperbacks. Hence, the reread before release of final book in trilogy and my first read of revised edition.
****
It is not rare to see word 'traditional' thrown in as something less than favorable or flawing about fantasy book. I am not blind to linear and constant, even rigid, rules of world-building and characterization established in well-known great works of genre, but I also think that traditional doesn't always have to mean that book is bad or that you can't enjoy it.
That being said, [b:Blood Song|13569581|Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)|Anthony Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421573407s/13569581.jpg|19148922] is a heroic fantasy with traditional vibe and somewhat predictable plot.
And I enjoyed the hell out of it.
From the first sentence Ryan is making it clear what kind of book you're getting into. There is kind of a "Once upon a time.." and "Let me tell you a story..." feel to it that calls for sitting by the fire images and make me think about Peter Falk in The Princess Bride - it's a just one of those stories. You know, the one about hero saving the day. ;)
And that's it- Blood Song is very straightforward that way in its delivery. It opens with a first person pov from character who is taking our hero to his trial test that will quite possibly result in his death and whose purpose it to be witness and write his story. We get back to him before every part in book, but the meat (and the bones) is the real account we get to read as Vaelin remembers how he got to that point.
Vaelin Al Sorna in his thirties is already a legendary hero, a warrior and vital figure of Unified Realm's war against Alpirian Empire. He is so feared they often attribute some kind of unnatural powers to him; he is so hated that entire nation is willing to forgive a senseless war for a chance to judge him and kill him. The story opens with the scene of him joining the Sixth Order (elite warrior order of Unified Realm) and we become aware from the very start that great things are expected of him. His father is a Battle Lord and almost as (in)famous as Vaelin himself so he comes with the baggage- you are thinking he is trying because he has to live up to his father's reputation, only to see Vaelin has to live up to predestined path. Big chunk (3/4) of the book is dealing with Vaelin's training and becoming the skilled Brother of the Sixth Order. He has adventures, trouble often finds him, he escapes death and saves lives, he endures all the tests and he is shaping into legend we are promised at the beginning. On the surface, he is too perfect, too noble, too everything, but the more I read the more I realized his life was already directed to play in certain way by more powerful beings, Gods and like. Author actually made a point of telling us that he is the best swordsman in his group, but he is only passable rider, bowman, tracker... He doesn't see things right away, for he lacks the cunning for majority of novel, which is ok- he learns on his mistakes, but it's hard to think about choices he made as his own- he is right where he supposed to be, dong right what he's meant to do.
Vaelin is checking all the boxes on traditional fantasy hero trope, which doesn't mean that story isn't compelling. I personally liked the fact that following one person, a key player, we actually get to see the bigger picture of events happening in Realm and surrounding lands. Vaelin doesn't dwell much on figuring why something is the way it is- he accepts it the way it is which assured me that I am getting pretty much unfiltered account of events. So, when you think about it, it's very easy to see that king he's fighting for is very wrong, that battles are futile and illogical and that Fate Sixth Order is practicing religiously is bunch of bullshit. It makes you question whether is he a hero or a fool several times. It's a nice pondering piece and one development I liked very much.
Side characters are good- big thing about warrior books is the sense of camaraderie and I feel that Ryan managed to create that with Vaelin and his fellow brothers of the Sixth Order: Dentos, Northa, Frentis, Brackus and Caenis. All of them were distinctive and had some kind of backstory I wanted to know more about.
The reason for my rating comes from the fact hat I felt that narrative and pace changed too much (or too late, depending how you see it). We got every little thing that happened during his training described in details only for end events and battles to be a little rushed and with some loose ends that demand for next book to be picked up right away.