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A review by peterkeep
Thron in Flammen: Roman by Brian Staveley
4.0
When I finished The Emperor's Blades, I was happy that I'd read the book but not certain that I would continue the series. After a few months, I kept thinking about the book and decided that it must have been better than I thought, since my mind would return to think about Valyn and Kaden.
Now, I'm convinced. It's easy to see that Staveley figured out some of the problems he had in his first book and worked through them. The pacing, while still a bit draggy near the beginning, is better. The climax felt a lot more believable, and the action sequences were better written. The strong points are still here - the religious backdrop is interesting, and the world and races and mythology are all put together nicely. The intrigue is done much better, where the mysteries aren't obvious right away but they don't come out of nowhere either. I feel like this one was a bit bloodier than the first (which I'm totally ok with) but I might just be misremembering.
I think the biggest improvement is the power moves and politicking. It's all way more believable and feels a lot more mature this time around. The line between right and wrong, good and bad, and honorable and dishonorable becomes really blurred. Everyone's motivations get fleshed out nicely, and I found that the characters that I was rooting for and against changed several times, which I liked a lot. It kept the conflicts from feeling stagnant, which was a bit of a problem in The Emperor's Blades.
All in all, I really liked it! I'll definitely be picking up the next one, and not just because of the cool looking covers!
Now, I'm convinced. It's easy to see that Staveley figured out some of the problems he had in his first book and worked through them. The pacing, while still a bit draggy near the beginning, is better. The climax felt a lot more believable, and the action sequences were better written. The strong points are still here - the religious backdrop is interesting, and the world and races and mythology are all put together nicely. The intrigue is done much better, where the mysteries aren't obvious right away but they don't come out of nowhere either. I feel like this one was a bit bloodier than the first (which I'm totally ok with) but I might just be misremembering.
I think the biggest improvement is the power moves and politicking. It's all way more believable and feels a lot more mature this time around. The line between right and wrong, good and bad, and honorable and dishonorable becomes really blurred. Everyone's motivations get fleshed out nicely, and I found that the characters that I was rooting for and against changed several times, which I liked a lot. It kept the conflicts from feeling stagnant, which was a bit of a problem in The Emperor's Blades.
All in all, I really liked it! I'll definitely be picking up the next one, and not just because of the cool looking covers!