The Ruined City (The Veiled Isles Trilogy, #2)

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The Ruined City (The Veiled Isles Trilogy #2)

3.28 of 5 stars 3.28 · rating details · 67 ratings · 15 reviews

Paula Brandon’s epic and captivating trilogy continues as magic and mystery wreak havoc with the very fabric of existence.

Reality is wavering. Soon its delicate balance will shift and an ancient force will return to overwhelm the Veiled Isles. Now those with the arcane talent forge an uneasy alliance in hopes that their combined abilities are enough to avert an eerie catas...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Spectra

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May 05, 2012 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: coverlove, fantasy, horror-zombies-gore, steampunk, 2012-reads, 2012-reviews, reviewed

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Once again returning to the simmering pot of trouble and magic that is the fantasy land of the Veiled Isles, Paula Brandon's second effort in the series is a sadly rather mixed one with The Ruined City. A larger worldview and a focus outside of main character Jianna certainly allows for more options and ideas, twists and turns, all to varying degrees of success. With plagues, intelligent automatons, revolution, amphibian humanoids, the walking dead,...more Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

Once again returning to the simmering pot of trouble and magic that is the fantasy land of the Veiled Isles, Paula Brandon's second effort in the series is a sadly rather mixed one with The Ruined City. A larger worldview and a focus outside of main character Jianna certainly allows for more options and ideas, twists and turns, all to varying degrees of success. With plagues, intelligent automatons, revolution, amphibian humanoids, the walking dead, star-crossed love, betrayal and the prophesied return of an alien race looming, it's easy to feel that the author bit off a bit more than she could chew in this genre-blending exercise. While some aspects do better in the frame of the second novel (the Faerlonnish resistance versus Taerleezi occupation plotline gets much more traction than previously seen), others felt ignored or simply tedious in their execution, like the interminable journey Aureste/Innesq/Vinz are on together for 300 out of 384 pages. This is a resundingly second novel in a series - plotlines advance, there's little to no true resolution to anything and as a result, large chunks of this can come across as filler. Whatever else it may be, The Ruined City is definitely an ambitious fantasy novel - one with an author totally unafraid to try and incorporate new ideas to varying degrees of success.

Even the title of this direct sequel is a clue that this series isn't just going to focus solely on the eponymous character of The Traitor's Daughter, Jianna Belandor. The Ruined City is a novel that is more concerned with illustrating the upheaval this world is undergoing as its unpredictable magic shifts and changes; a novel with more attention paid to the emergence of the evil Overmind than with the personal storylines of many characters. This may be a benefit in disguise because, on the whole, I found the cast here to be rather stifling and uninspiring. With the exception of a few delightfully flawed individuals, there's not a whole lot of originality to be found this second time around the Veiled Isles. Jianna's story is important and featured but not to the extent it was in the first novel. Jianna herself still has a lot of growing to do as a person. As a character, she is serviceable (moderately smart, reasonably capable) but her tendency to try to maneuver and manipulate others (instead of just being honest) got old. She also needs the personal growth to realize she is not the center of the world. Aureste's characterization was mystifying here as well (the woman that abducted and held his daughter for months, whom Aureste has still not yet seen, is with him for the whole book and he says/does nothing? That's not the Aureste of The Traitor's Daughter.) The previous minor antagonist of Dowager Magnifica Yvenza is still present but less of a force - I found her addition to the expedition story and her machinations while there to be entirely obvious, ham-handed and rather frustrating to read. The deterioration of her malevolence is quick and disheartening - what was the point of her at all?

I do have to give props for all the strong female characters shown in the two books thus far published. This is a world where women are subservient, expected to adhere and obey any and all of their husbands/father's wishes and they are regarded as possessions to be bartered and traded at will. However in the middle of all this patriarchy, Paula Brandon goes out of her way to illustrate many different forms of strong female characters. Some are evil, or wronged (like Dowager Magnifica Yvenza), some are spoiled but resourceful and determined (Jianna), some are quietly unyielding and steadfast (Sonnetia), and some are zealots and patriots (Celisse). Whatever the case may be, it's a rare fantasy series where the women are as equally impressive and rounded out as their men - I mean, for much of the novel it is the "maidenlady" Jianna is trying to save Falaste instead of the typical other way around. As I've said before, both characters of Jianna and Yvenza were sadly underutilised here in round two, but their respective continued presences add family drama and unpredictability to the plot. Yvenza may not be truly necessary as a secondary foil with the Overmind stepping up antagonism and zombification as the novel progresses, and her cruelly manipulative "talks" with Vinz felt more like filler than most else in the book.

This is very much a middle-of-the-trilogy novel, with all the implied problems that such books inevitable encounter - it is solid but not spectacular and often tepid and bland in execution. The worldbuilding shown here is still on par with the best I've come across (So complete! convoluted!) but now lacks the originality that helped it stand out so much in The Traitor's Daughter. Much less action-packed than its immediate predecessor, I even found the final conflict herein to be entirely underwhelming - so much so that I knocked this down from a 3.5 to a 3. While I found the first book's narrative cut off at a near-perfect spot, with resolution of some plots and an overarching problem that easily lent itself easily and naturally to the sequel, the same cannot be said of The Ruined City and its final conflict and denouement. A bit unsatisfying and lacking the original oomph that was so alluring in the first book, The Ruined City suffers a bit from its place in the line of publication but there is enough here to keep fans of the first engaged and reading.(less)

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Sep 16, 2012 Patrice rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books-read

At this point we are learning more about each of the central characters and what the great "reversal" will mean to the Veiled Isles if Innesqu Belandor and the other practioners of the arcane arts are unable to band together as one to save the world as they know it.

We find that someone thought dead, is not. Falaste and Jianna travel to Vitrisi together, as Falaste is in search of his sister Celisse. There is more murder, disease and destruction taking place in Vitrisi and in the rest of the Veil...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012_release_read, genre-fantasy, read_2012, review_fbc, t2_recommended_2012

A more polished FBC rv instead of the original raw thoughts but content is pretty much same so I kept only this

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "The Ruined City" is a direct sequel to "The Traitor's Daughter" and a typical middle series novel insofar things advance but nothing is really resolved. The book was still fun to read as style but the content was too standard this time so I found myself reading a few pages and then putting it down so I do not get too bored by what happens and then repeating this a fe...more A more polished FBC rv instead of the original raw thoughts but content is pretty much same so I kept only this

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "The Ruined City" is a direct sequel to "The Traitor's Daughter" and a typical middle series novel insofar things advance but nothing is really resolved. The book was still fun to read as style but the content was too standard this time so I found myself reading a few pages and then putting it down so I do not get too bored by what happens and then repeating this a few times, until I finished it maybe a month after I started it.

There are a few twists and the ending is quite interesting - it is similar to how the first novel ended so with a dramatic touch - but in typical middle book fashion, story-lines that split earlier and characters whose coming apart was a major part of the first volume, remain split this time and remain apart, but in a time sensitive switch of places which read just a little contrived.

I also found Aureste's change in focus and outlook somewhat unconvincing and all his storyline which is the big picture thread after all, seemed very "unreal" given the way the world building - occupation, constraints, even character relationships - has been presented earlier. In many ways he becomes a more interesting character true, but the whole change of focus in "let's forget everything and let's go save the world" - this without the occupiers otherwise portrayed as keeping a tight leash on the occupied seeming to notice or care - jarred to a large extent.

In contrast I found Jianna's storyline much more interesting and "natural" and her transformation from "smart but bookish, other worldly pampered girl" to a practical, let's do what is needed to survive and help my new found friends, continued apace, though like with the big picture issue nothing was really solved here.

The book and the series to date excels at portraying strong women who are determined to do what it takes to reach their goals, while Jianna is getting there and her character arc is quite fascinating and the reason I enjoyed the novel and I plan to read The Wanderers which presumably will end the trilogy, and this finale volume will decide how I will regard the series overall.

So to sum quickly, The Ruined City (recommended novel of 2012) focuses more on the big picture than I found desirable or interesting as the whole "ancient evil, world is in danger, let's go save it" seems to be so predictably done these days - and here it is no exception to a large extent - that it has become a reason to stop reading a book whose focus is there.

On the other hand the personal stories, especially Jianna's, are still fascinating and represent the strength of the author as she has shown us in her wonderful 1990 novels like Illusion. I really hope the last volume will be very strong there, though I fear to some extent that it will go the whole faux-drama of everything seeming lost until at the last minute the heroes save the world and everybody lives happily ever after while all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, which seems to be the way traditional fantasy series end these days. We'll see in July...
(less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Susanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Part 2 of a trilogy, an intriguing fantasy by new author Paula Brandon. I was utterly fascinated by the first book, "The Traitor's Daughter" and was eager to read a continuation. This one was certainly not bad, but suffered from 'middle book' syndrome, picking up in the middle of a complicated story, and ending without resolving anything. I'll need to read the third book before I can decide if I really like it or not

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Dec 16, 2011 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars

The second book in a projected trilogy is usually the weakest link, but the author makes some interesting twists and turns here to keep the reader engaged. The beginning is really slow after the initial amusing chapter (in which Grix has another arguement with his doppleganger automation), and if you don't like romance cooties in your fantasy you won't like this. But I did.

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Apr 07, 2012 Kassandra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

*******First reads winner***********
I have finally finished this great book! Although, I was expecting more romance between the characters, but it was still a good book. I loved how the author, Paula Brandon, provides the reader with different POV from the main/important characters in the book. To sum up, the whole book was a thrill full with adventure, magic, and suspense. The ending is a cliffhanger and I can not wait to read the third book in this trilogy. I recommend all readers to add Paula...more

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May 28, 2013 Carrie Jelen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I had a little trouble getting through this one. Now that we've gotten to know the characters better, their unrelenting unlikability under their constant state of threat and their tendencies to wallow in blind, self-centered depression got to me. Maybe the final volume will pull it all together.

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Jun 25, 2012 Shauna rated it 5 of 5 stars

I liked this as much as I liked the first book in this series, The Traitor's Daughter. Be aware, though, that this book ends without a true ending; one has to get the final book in the series to find out what happens.

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Nov 04, 2012 Camille rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-asst

Still slow moving, I think this series would have been much better well edited and released as a single story. The story is fantastic, the characters rich and believable, but very tedious.

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Feb 25, 2013 Stephen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: locus-recommended-2012

Meh and Disappointing.

I picked up this book based on it's presence in Locus's 2012 recommended reading list. And I really don't understand how it made the list. Like its predecessor, The Traitor's Daughter, it is way overlong, stuffed with
thoroughly unlikable characters and essentially trite in plot and character development.

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Apr 09, 2012 Monica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

a good continuation of the series. Looking forward to the final one.

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Jun 05, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I hope there is a bit more romance in the 3rd book :)

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Feb 23, 2012 Justin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-release, female-author, fantasy, read-2012, random-house

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Jan 04, 2013 Laura rated it 1 of 5 stars

I just couldn't finish this book. I picked it up several times and every time, I ended up putting it right back down.

I didn't connect with the characters in the first book and I surely didn't connecrt with them in this one. I couldn't find anything interesting to hold my interest. I hate giving up on a book, but life is too short and there are too many books to read.

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Apr 13, 2012 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I recieved this book as a free Goodreads giveaway.

I really enjoyed the continutation of the Veiled Isles Trilogy. I can't wait to read the last book. The book didn't lose steam and momentum.

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Jun 04, 2013 Krissy marked it as future-series-reads

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May 21, 2013 Natasha Masunaga is currently reading it

May 18, 2013 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

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May 07, 2013 Eliste rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Apr 21, 2013 Tania rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Apr 17, 2013 Katelyn Erickson rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Shelves: ebooks

Apr 09, 2013 Lauren marked it as to-read

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About Paula Brandon

Paula Brandon lives in New Jersey

A pseudonym of Paula Volsky

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The Traitor's Daughter (The Veiled Isles Trilogy, #1)

The Wanderers (The Veiled Isles Trilogy, #3)

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