Der Herr des Turmes

Raven's Shadow #2

by Anthony Ryan, Hannes Riffel (Translator), Birgit Pfaffinger (Translator)

Vaelin Al Sorna ist der größte Krieger seiner Zeit und Zeuge einer verheerenden Niederlage. König Janus' Traum vom vereinten Reich forderte einen hohen Blutzoll und Vaelin ist des Kämpfens müde. Doch der neue König ist schwach, seine Feinde schmieden ein mächtiges Bündnis. Wird Vaelin, der das Töten hasst und um die Lügen weiß, auf denen Janus' Reich fußt, wieder zum Schwert greifen?


Detlef Bierstedt wird der Vielschichtigkeit des Protagonisten Vaelin mit seiner Stimme absolut gerecht.


(4 mp3-CDs, Laufzeit: 30h 42)

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, High Fantasy, Magic, Adventure

859 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Anthony Ryan was born in Scotland in 1970 but spent much of his adult life living and working in London. After a long career in the British Civil Service he took up writing full time after the success of his first novel Blood Song, Book One of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. He has a degree in history, and his interests include art, science and the unending quest for the perfect pint of real ale.

For news and general wittering about stuff he likes, check out Anthony's blog at: http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com

Reviews

[Petrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

On its own, Tower Lord is not a bad book. But as a sequel, it was disappointing.

The first time I finished reading Blood Song, it was in 2017. Since then, I honestly haven’t mustered the courage to continue past it due to the infamous negativity—I honestly never see the last installment of a series being called disappointing as often and widely as Raven’s Shadow trilogy—surrounding the sequels. I love Blood Song very much, I just finished rereading it a few weeks ago and I still think of it as one of the best fantasy debuts of all time; the idea that the sequels have the potential to ruin it scared me. Now that I have an ARC of The Wolf’s Call in my hand, I’ve decided to finally take the plunge and continue reading the series. If I ended up being disappointed by Queen of Fire, at least I know there’s a continuation after it that could—hopefully—bring the glory of Blood Song back.

Picture: Tower Lord by NAVAR



Tower Lord takes place roughly five years after the end of Blood Song. Vaelin is no longer the sole/central main character as the storytelling style has changed to multi-POV. This is usually a good decision; multi-POV narrative is my favorite storytelling style, especially in epic fantasy. However, introducing it in the sequel after the first book focuses its coming-of-age story on a single character, it means we have to accept that the MC—Vaelin, in this case—of the first book will have a chance to be on the backseat. If an author wants to take this direction, they must be able to make sure that the new leading characters have the strength to be as captivating as Vaelin’s POV in the first book. After all, readers continue reading the series because they want to know more about Vaelin’s journey.

Unfortunately, the multi-POV instead added many problems. The problem doesn’t lie within the multi-POV itself, but because Vaelin is now a side character that sounded completely different from the Vaelin we knew. Even being prepared for having less focus on Vaelin wasn’t enough to diminish my disappointment; reading Tower Lord feels like reading a book from a different series. Everything that’s great and distinctive about Blood Song is gone. Coming-of-age story? No more, though this one is understandable. Brotherhood? No more. The incredible strengths in characterizations? No more; every POV character sounded almost exactly the same with each other. There’s no clear distinction to their tone. I think if you haven’t read Blood Song and jump straight into this, you’ll still understand the majority of Tower Lord because the plot doesn’t really take what’s expertly built in the first book into account.

“It’s always the way with great men, they can’t see the knives of those who live in their shadow.”

Excluding the fact that the new POV characters overshadowed Vaelin, the POV characters were almost never close to each other’s proximity; each of them has a different storyline that almost never converges at all. To me, it felt like reading four or five novellas in one novel. It’s really hard to care about the new characters; both main and side. When some characters cry or die, it never felt emotive because the nature of the storytelling style—even though it’s well written—has changed. Blood Song was able to evoke a poignant reaction from me just from Vaelin thinking “I want to stay.” This kind of moment was non-existent in this installment. The superbly written internal conflict and character development were almost gone. Plus, the pacing also felt off. The first half was okay but the second half was quite tedious; full of battle after battle revolving around characters that I couldn’t care about.

“If the stars in the sky are not fixed, then nothing is fixed. Nothing is eternal, all is temporary and ever-changing.” She turned away from the stars, meeting his gaze. “Nothing is fixed, my lord. No course is so set it cannot be changed.”

It’s not all disappointing of course, Ryan’s prose was wonderful. Other than Queen of Fire, I’ve read all of Ryan’s fantasy novels and I loved his prose in all of them. The change to multi-POV in Tower Lord helped in expanding the lore of the series and also the world-building geographically. Despite feeling disheartened by the lack of Vaelin, I found Lyrna and Frentis’s POV to be mostly great. Heck, I actually think that Frentis resembled Vaelin from the first book more than Vaelin himself in this installment.

Tower Lord isn’t as bad as my review might imply. As I mentioned in the beginning, if this weren’t the sequel to Blood Song, I would’ve rated it higher. I can’t help it, I loved Blood Song very much and I think this one differs and simply doesn’t live up to it. Overall, Tower Lord was a disappointment after the brilliance of Blood Song. I’ve heard more than hundreds of times from hundreds of readers—not an exaggeration—throughout the past two years that Queen of Fire is even worse. I will try to finish Queen of Fire, but if I failed, I'll probably read a detailed summary of the book and jump to The Wolf's Call immediately.

You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

[Dear Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me tell you a story.

Around December 2012, a good friend of mine, Kureha, approached me to say that there was this book on Amazon that was getting huge attention. She told me I should check it out especially since I was starting to read more epic fantasy. Yup, you guessed it: that book was Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. I got myself a copy and read it in two sittings, and was in a huge hangover for days after that. It was one of the best epic fantasies I've ever read, and very few have come close to it. That's why I was ecstatic when he finally found publishers willing to print his book and spread it far and wide. I've never been so happy for an author before. Anthony is very talented; I love his storytelling skills, and I love the characters he creates. It's only fitting for him to be given the chance to share his story with more people from other countries and cultures, who, I hope, will also relate to Vaelin al Sorna.

After that, all I had left was the waiting game. I waited TWO YEARS to read the second installment.

Alas, the wait is over...

...FOR I NOW HAVE THE ARC IN MY HANDS!!!

I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I just HAD to brag.

Look! I even got a sweet message!

"Propaganda"?! Man, I'm so touched. That's legit one of the best names to call my fangirling. Mehehehe.

The author has been such a cool guy. He sent me this ARC even though he didn't have to (I... I may have nudged him a little~), but in any case, I read it as soon as I got it and you wanna know what I think?

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

One thing to look forward to here in Tower Lord is the introduction of POVs of new (and old!) characters, something that I welcomed warmly. Blood Song could be likened to a chronicle of Vaelin al Sorna, depicting events at different intervals of his life when he was in the Sixth Order, serving as more of a laying of the foundation and backstory of what will happen in the second installment. If you're expecting Tower Lord to be the same way, you'll be disappointed, as it's more fast-paced (with a slow beginning), especially with a lot of POVs showing different angles of the story, but somehow I thought they were all fitting. I loved the new perspectives. I mean, yes, I missed Vaelin, but it was awesome getting to know other vital characters intimately too, and not just from a distance.

Obviously, we get Vaelin's POV. I missed him a lot and it was so nice getting reacquainted with him again. It was like meeting an old friend for the first time in a long while and seeing how much he has changed. And Vaelin did change. The events at the end of Blood Song has made him think and see things differently, and we see a different side of him here. Nevertheless, I still loved him, and I thought he was easier to relate to in this installment. He struggles with a lot of things, one of them being his reputation as a Darkblade and how it molded other people's expectations of him. It was also really nice seeing him ponder about the boundaries of morality, about what must be done and what could have been done, while also maintaining this aura of leadership that attracts people to him. Suffice to say, he remains as my favorite character.

We also see things happen in Frentis' POV, and man, his situation really made me sad. Out of all the characters, you can see that he's the one who changed so much. In Blood Song, I pictured him as this merry guy who's eager to lighten the mood, but because of certain circumstances, he turned quite dark, and I have nothing but sympathy for him. While reading this book, all I ever wanted to do was pat him on the back and whisper things will be okay(although to be honest, with how things went for him for the first half of the book, even I doubted). Aside from Vaelin, I think Frentis will be a favorite among the readers just from the experiences he went through and the steps he took to overcome them. By the end of the book, I just wanted him and Vaelin to team up already!

The last two POVs were from two females - Reva and Princess Lyrna. I also loved these two to bits. They were both strong ladies who were able to overcome various trials and tribulations, situations I don't think I would have survived myself. I loved how Anthony Ryan gave them so much personality and how he made them so consistent throughout. Like Reva is this person who has been brainwashed and abused as a child, raised to hate Vaelin, and you can really see the internal conflict happening within her as she experiences kindness from him. Princess Lyrna, on the other hand, finds herself in the hands of her enemy, and she becomes really bad-ass later on, which I appreciated. I loved seeing her grow out of her shell, to be thrown in a shitty situation and come out of it like a real queen.

All in all, I loved how polished each of them were. I loved how they never felt like filler, and how they contributed so much to the storyline - not just the different sides of their personalities but also the different angles of their common enemy, as each of them had to fight them in their own ways.

Of course, while there were many awesome stuff, there were also really... sad ones as well, especially when it came to the secondary characters. I mean, we got to meet a lot of the old ones, and many of them will come to Vaelin's aid especially with the impending war, but just like our own historical wars in the real world, not everyone survives to tell the tale, and this book really devastated me in that aspect. But, at the same time, I welcomed it, too. I loved how realistic war was portrayed here. It's shitty, it's awful, and not everyone is immortal, despite how much we want them to be. I applaud Anthony Ryan for recognizing how horrific wars can be, and how everyone is vulnerable and at risk, and getting out there meant putting your life on the line because so much is at stake.

AND THAT ENDING. ARGGHHHH. I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW.

Overall, this book was awesomesauce. I wish I could say more, but I don't really want to risk spoiling you guys, because books like this are meant to be read, enjoyed, and appreciated to the fullest. But if there's one thing I can assure you, it's that this book was an awesome ride from the start to the very end. You will get to see new and old characters, and you will be able to appreciate them more because of the switching POVS (which were nicely done, I promise). Anthony Ryan really puts the "epic" in "epic fantasy" because this was epic as epic could be.

And now, the wait begins once more for book three...

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[Plushie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5/5

I was lucky to to have just finished Blood Song recently, and to my utter delight, its sequel, Tower Lord, was due for release not long after. I was excited! There would be no year long wait to see what happens to Vaelin as he journeys back home after 5 long years of absence. The book description only served to heighten my appetite as it sounded like Vaelin would have to face more hardships, tough decisions and grave responsibilities ahead.

It's unfortunate that after all the excitement, I couldn't but feel a bit cheated with Tower Lord. I feel deceived because the title and the inner jacket synopsis is very misleading. By reading the book description, you'd expect the book to be centered on Vaelin's exploits as the titular "Tower Lord". There isn't an inkling that the so called "Tower Lord" would in fact only be featured in a mere 25% of the book! There are also no indications that the story would turn Vaelin's story as the Tower Lord into more of a sideshow, while dividing the rest of its attention to 3 other character's stories. Nope, there's absolutely no mention of any of the other POV characters in the blurb at all. So to say I was caught off guard is putting it mildly.

Still, after the initial confusion, I continued on, hoping the different POVs would somehow converge and tie in with Vaelin's. I had hoped each story would be an individual thread that would eventually come together, with Vaelin's acting as the center, and weave a brilliant tapestry. Sadly, the flames of hope never became anything but a pitiful smoulder. Rather than using the other POVs to compliment Vaelin's story, or to do some inter-character development along side him, the POVs for the most part were separate and didn't have much to do with each other.

I have nothing against books with multiple POVs, but when the first book is written entirely in one person's point of view, a sudden change in format like this must be dealt deftly, since most people can get really attached to the main voice. Perhaps my opinions would have been different if I didn't just finish reading Blood Song and had time to distant myself from Vaelin's voice, but as it stands, I'm still very much attached to him. I wanted to see more of Vaelin, and not have him only occupy a quarter of the book. That and often doing some pretty mundane things as well. Needless to say, I felt these new POVs took away too much focus from his story. All of Vaelin's efforts and heroism from the last book felt trivialized and pushed aside for these characters I cared less about.

Also, a huge draw of Blood Song for me was the camaraderie between Vaelin and his Sixth Order brothers, but unfortunately that was barely to be found here. Caenis, for instance, was someone I was very interested to see a POV from, but he was not given one and had a relatively minor role. Not to mention, his cold attitude towards Vaelin felt abrupt. Frentis is my second favourite character from Blood Song and I was ecstatic he got his own POV. However, after a few chapters from him, I started to find myself skimming through his story, hoping he would triumph over his ordeal already and meet up with Vaelin so they can kick some major butts together. That never happened. To my frustration, their journeys never intersected at all.

While I appreciate Ryan's attempt to diversify his narrative by adding more female characters, and writing in two strong female POVs, they did not evoke enough empathy for me to care about them in a significant way. Princess Lyrna is one of my least favourite character from Blood Song, and her POV did nothing to change those feelings. Her story did not inspire much sympathy or interest from me. I actually like Reva, but as a new character, she had a lot ground to cover in order to catch up to characters I've already spend a lot of time with and developed affections to. Moreover, while her story does diverge later, she interacts a lot with Vaelin, which in all honesty, her POV could probably be taken out and be told from his point of view. As it is, I felt it eroded too much into his POV.

I wished Anthony Ryan kept the same POV format as Blood Song, or at least utilized the multiple POV format from the very beginning, rather than introducing it now. Due to it's singular POV focus, Blood Song was able to cover a large amount of plot over a long expanse of time, making the book feel packed and rich. On the other hand, while Tower Lord's splitting of the story into 4 POVs that runs parallel within a much shorter timeline allows readers to see the world with a wider scope, it also makes its plot feel much thinner. It also doesn't help that Tower Lord sometimes feels like an overly long 600 page set up for the next book, especially when seen in the light of its non-conclusion ending. Blood Song, while promises more to come, at least had a satisfying end. Now, I have to probably wait years before any satisfying conclusion would be met.

The new change in format is definitely going to split the opinions of the fans of the first book. Looking at the current reviews on Amazon.com will confirm this. People who want to see the story take a broader, epic scope and through different perspectives are going to love the new change. However, people who fell in love with Vaelin and expected the story to continue to focus on his journey is going to be sorely disappointed. I unfortunately fall in the second category.

[Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I ended up DNFing this because it's so much worse than the 1st book and I have no hope of it getting better.

[Mayim de Vries · Rating 2 out of 5]

“You know who I am,” he said. “Who are you?”
She gave a mirthless smile. “I am a songbird in a cage. And now so are you.”

On some level I do envy those who never ventured beyond the Blood Song. In spite of my reservations against this book, I thought it was in many ways and on many levels an outstanding piece of fantasy. In contrast, Tower Lord is just an average read. Whatever magic sang on the pages of the previous instalment, it is silent here. For me, the song has definitely ended.

The novel starts with the atmosphere of utter disaster. Nothing is as readers expect it: old glory vanished, old heroes forgotten or discarded, everything upside down and going from bad to worse. Also, nothing makes sense. We are yet again forced to come up with our own theories how come things are as they are and who is behind the scenes. I like being Sherlock Holmes when I read so that is a definite plus. Furthermore, Vaelin gets the promotion to the Tower Lord (no spoilers here, as this is practically heralded in the title) and while he remains sweeter than Jesus and wiser than Buddha, there is finally doubt and internal struggle in him that strengthens the book too. And by the Departed, this novel needs all the strengths it can get because the rest is so very lame.

Firstly, in this instalment Mr Ryan switched into the multiple POV narrative. I thought that Blood Song was unique in how it told the story exclusively via Vaelin. The single narrative embedded into Vaelin’s personage carried the tale effortlessly. It was seamless, dense and somehow wholesome. The jagged new many-POVs style changed something very distinct into a generic, multi-voiced fantasy.

What pains me the most is that Tower Lord gives us the conventional assortment of POVs: the bloodthirsty waif, the tragic warrior, the princess, and finally the former main protagonist himself. In this crowd Vaelin is merely one of many, and while all the arcs are interconnected, the tale is no longer his. It is not even Verniers (actually, when I think of it, Vernier accounts stop making sense).

As to the POVs:

I absolutely hated Reva's chapters; the unbearable weight of cliches really brought me down. Little bloodthirsty girls were never my favourite archetype; they really need to have something more in them than an insatiable desire for martial prowess and an urge to kill bordering on psychotic to make them interesting. Reva vanishes in a crowd of borderline identical fantasy figures and things that were, I assume, supposed to make her special are simply ludicrous. For instance, Mr Ryan wants me to believe that the girl who has been raised as a religious fanatic (sic! but let's not start this thread again) in a sadly stereotypical albeit perverted Puritan upbringing, fed hatred and distrust all her life needed one conversation to strike a deal with her archenemy. I mean, excuse me, but Little Prince has had more problems in taming the Fox! Similarly incongruous was the development of her martial skills that (and I quote) “grow with every parry and thrust” and allowed her achieve nearly Vaelin’s prowess somehow bypassing the harsh YEARS of training he had to endure is unacceptable for me. And finally, there is the issue of her sexual orientation trying to make up for a total lack of personality.

Brother Frentis is young Vaelin’s copycat in this instalment, i.e. a noble fighter caught up in the intrigues of higher powers against his own will and with a love story in the background. What I couldn’t stomach was the whole dynamic with an inhuman being entirely based on human emotions, namely love (oh, how cheesy). Not very credible. No. scratch that, not even remotely credible.. It is sad but necessary since Vaelin has grown up and somebody has to fill in his boots.

Simultaneously, Vaelin lost all his charm and all of sudden, there is nothing exceptional about him. In a sense, he is a vessel for a very specific gift. Or a foretold (and I have serious reservations against prophecies as vehicles for the narrative). I cannot understand the sudden brotherly affection he develops after years of estrangement or the fact that even though he is free to pursue the love of his life (even though I was never particularly fond of sister S., I still believe that discarding the romance like that is akin to miscarriage), he doesn’t even try to find her. Mr Ryan kept the characterisation long enough to bring about the Blood Song climax, then dropped it completely in Tower Lord. What remains, is a pale shadow of the former character. Pity, that.

In this collection, princess Lyrna is a definite winner. I loved this smart cupcake from the very start so I was happy that she has been given the voice. While I think that Lyrna's POV is overall the most interesting (despite the lack of depth afforded by the extra layer of personal reflection embedded in the previous way of narrating the story, which in her case is particularly painful, because I adored the way Mr Ryan showed the double meanings and bluffs and feints in every conversation, and those featuring Lyrna especially) even she is not impervious to the ills that characterise the whole book. The chapter of slaver ship liberation was just so indescribably meh, that I nearly wished they had all been devoured by the shark. This would perhaps balance its cheesiness (my Queen!? how the hell did he surmise that?!) and convenience (well done Lyrna guessing straight away who Frentis' companion really was). But then, the silly shark that (and I quote) “somehow Lyrna knew she would never see it again” was problematic in its own way.

I really don't know what to call the Tower Lord if not predictable. Especially that the retrospective design this instalment reveals all in the beginning, even if initially we are not aware of what is exactly being revealed I am talking about the siege of Alltor and Reva's role in it divulged or at least alluded to by Vernier. This made me positively yawn my way through the second part of the book i.e. the passages describing the defence preparations and the whole Volarian siege and finish without any steam left.

I won’t deny it, I feel robbed after reading Tower Lord. I thought the writing style hindered the previous originality of the characters while the structure of the book failed to take advantage of the overall plot. I wish I had not read it; I like my own imagined continuation of the story better.

Also in the series:

1. Blood Song ★★★★☆
3. Queen of Fire ★☆☆☆☆

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sale Alert: Kindle Daily Deal 27Jul20 $1.99

Reread before the final book release

Possible Minor Spoilers for BloodSong

While Bloodsong is completely Vaelin’s journey The Tower Lord opens up more of this world by showing the story from multiple PoVs. This was good and bad for me as I am so attached to Vaelin that having to share this book with other characters meant I missed him for a lot of it. The other PoVs are good and some I liked more than others but with most books that have shifting PoV chapters it takes a while for all the stories to build and really pick up momentum. But when things get rolling they really get rolling.

Books with multiple PoVs storylines are the hardest books for me to write reviews for. Things shift so much in the story with some people intersecting and others not but still holding relevance to some of the other people and places and how do you convey that in a review but not give importance things away….AHHHHH.

♔ The Story ♔

Again at the beginning of each Part of The Tower Lord the reader is in the present with the historian Vernier. He is in a somewhat different position than in the first book now a slave for the enemy and at their disposal to record the upcoming victory of a city under siege. Even though we all know where the story will eventually lead it isn’t clear until the very end again how it will all play out. It is a great way to create tension for the characters in the story from the very beginning.

Remember this, Queen, when you watch the flames rise high, remember this and ask yourself: would I do this again?”

The Volarian’s with help from The Ally have come to the Unified Realm to conquer and enslave its people. It is a plan that has been in the works for longer than most have been alive and so many pieces must fall into place. Unlike the Unified Realm the Volarians have no fear of using the dark to obtain their goals. If Vaelin is to help a new friend Reva, Lyrna or the Realm that he has already given up so much for he will need the help of some old friends and unite a few new ones along the way. It is time for Vaelin to be not only the Darkblade and Beral Shar Ur but also earn some new names including The Lord of Blades.

♔ The Characters ♔

Vaelin - While this is still a lot of his story because he had to share time with other PoVs I really missed him. He is still a compelling character. His time spent alone in prison was well spent learning his song. It was as much a character in this book as he was. Vaelin always has many parts to his section of the story. He is a warrior true, but he is a man who doesn’t want to war again if possible. He doesn’t long for battle in fact most of the time he is really doing everything he can to avoid it. His true wants are simple, the family he was denied in the form of a sister, peace if possible and to find his lost brother Frentis.

“Justice?” he said as the mirth faded. “I looked for justice once, from a scheming old man. He gave it to me, and all I had to give him was my soul.”

Destiny seems to always get in his way though and the bloodsong plays on helping to lead the way. He will earn even more names and fulfill even more prophecies.

Reva - Her chapters were some of the most interesting to me. Bastard daughter of the Trueblade she has been shaped to a fanatical devotion of the World Father and what some believe he would want. She has one of the most interesting journeys as she is taken in and trained by the Darkblade himself then set back out into the world a little broken and looking for answers.

“Pardon me,” Reva said, pausing.
He was a tall man and she was obliged to look up at him, though not tall enough to be out of reach. “Your nose appears to be bleeding.”
He frowned, fingers coming up to touch his nose, coming away clean. “I don’t . . .”
His head snapped back from the force of the blow, nose breaking, though not with enough force to kill him. He stumbled backwards to collide with the wall, sinking to the floor, blood streaming down his face.
“My mistake,” Reva said, moving on. “Now it’s bleeding.”

Her journey to find the truth of her past and carve her future was almost as good as Vaelin’s journey in Bloodsong. She is a force to be reckoned with and a powerful surprise in a small package.

Frentis - Oh poor Frentis. His fate at the end of Bloodsong was unknown and the last five years have not been kind to him. I loved and hated his chapters all at the same time. He has been with the enemy for these last five years in the fighting pits. It seems that One Eye left him with a gift that just keeps on giving and the Volarians know how to use it against him. He is forced to travel with ‘the woman’ who has a story probably darker than most and she is bat-shit-crazy. She is the reason the chapters are difficult to read but at the same time you can’t get enough. She is the deadliest woman in the realm, possibly any realm and Frentis is forced to help her in her dastardly deeds. He both sympathizes with her and hates her at the same time.

He looked away and she moved closer, her arms slipping around his waist as her head rested on his shoulder.
“I’m going to kill you,” he said. “You must know that.”
She kissed his neck and for once he didn’t flinch, though he had the freedom to do so.
“Then, beloved,” she said in a whisper, breath hot on his neck, “you would doom yourself and every soul in this world.”

She is monstrous and crazy and probably the lesser or all the evils presented but it is still an evil more terrible than most can imagine.

Lyrna - spends most of her time traveling, that usually isn’t my favorite fantasy trope which is probably why I liked her sections the least. She was so smart and slightly cold in the last book that I wasn’t sure what to make of her. She has changed a bit from Bloodsong. Lyrna is still the exceptionally smart Keschet player looking at the long game she isn’t as ruthless as she once was, it seems a decision she made in Bloodsong might have changed her more than she realized.

“It must have been hard,” he said, reclining on his stool, his smile now genuine.
“Hard, my lord Shield? Keschet is very simple in essence . . .”
“Not the game. Pretending all those years. Not being you. After all, who wants the keenest mind in the room to be the princess in the corner?”

I really enjoy roles with strong women in them and Anthony Ryan has created quite a few between Lyrna, Reva, Davoka, Veliss and Dahrena. Each plays a pretty strong part in the story. Lyrna’s story is only a less interesting due to the fact the other story lines are stronger. She is traveling searching out answers about ‘The Dark’ and negotiating peace with the Lornak. Later she is traveling on a ship, I lose interest sometimes when plot lines go that direction. The best part of her story line was the introduction of Davoka, a Lornak ‘guide’. She was the source of much of the comic relief in this dark tale. The Lornak ways are interesting and different and she was a fantastic character addition to the story.

“I’m sorry I hit you,” Lyrna said.
Davoka turned to her with a puzzled frown. “Sorree?”
Lyrna searched for the Lonak equivalent, finding there wasn’t one. “Illeha,” she said. Regret or guilt, depending on the inflection.
“Lonakhim hit each other all the time,” Davoka replied with a shrug. “If you’d tried to knife me, things would be different.

The friendship that built between Lyrna and Davoka was really a great bond and I’m hoping to see more of them in the next book.

♔ Overall ♔

Honestly this book is full of information, great characters, wonderful cultures, dark deeds and a plethora of adventures. This is actually my second time through the book and I picked up even more details. When a book holds my attention wrapped even on a reread I know that it is good. I’m rooting so much for Vaelin and at the end he was amazing although I’m not sure how he will do what needs to be done in the next book. The ending for this was so intense and I was really happy with so much of it. Don’t be confused though this is a dark fantasy. There were deaths of characters I hated and some I loved. It is an emotional journey as well as an exciting one and I’m not sure all my favorite characters will make it through to the very end but I still hold out all hope.

On to Queen of Fire.


Original Read September 2014:

Buddy read with Athena, Armina, Gavin and Desisnka


Well it has been months since I finished this and I still can't seem to find the words I want to use to describe how I feel about this series. It is so strong and while I missed being with Vaelin all the time the introduction of multiple PoVs made the story grow by leaps and bounds.

I loved most of it.

I will attempt a real review when I re-read it (because we all know I will) right before the release of the 3rd book in the series. All I can say for now is I like this series a lot and want to read it all over again.

[Choko · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 3.75 ***

I am not exactly sure how I feel about this installment in the Raven Shadow Series. It is getting interesting, it is keeping its violent edge, and the story is a bit more spread geographically, since our heroes, Vaelin Al Sorna, warrior of the Sixth Order, Princes Lyrna, young warrior and brother of the Sixth Order Frentis, the newly introduced young bastard daughter of the Trueblade Reva, and the man who brings it all together in his chronicles, the Historian and slave Veniers are scattered to different parts of the Realm and the Empire. Vaelin Al Sorna was the major point of interest in book one and we all got attached to the young man who went through so much and kept his sense of honor and justice. I think I was also one of those, who was looking forward to find out more about his romantic life, his future choices and all that is his life while given to the Volarians. Anthony Ryan had had different ideas, obviously, because he gave POV's to all of the main characters and Vaelin became just one of several, his story line still important, but not as central.

"... “Your realm is an insane place. In Volaria, no-one goes hungry, slaves are no use when they starve. Those freeborn too lazy or lacking in intelligence to turn sufficient profit to feed themselves are made slaves so they can generate wealth for those deserving of freedom, and be fed in return. Here, your people are chained by their freedom, free to starve and beg from the rich. It's disgusting.”... "

Yes, the Volarians are coming!!! To arms!!! Que dramatic battle music.

The Realm, where Lorna's brother rules at the moment, has many problems and its Fiefdom Lords do all types of hostile machinations among each-other, but there is no slavery and there is still an expectation of an individual freedom. There have even been new attempts at legalizing religious freedom, although this is not going so well. The Volarian society, on another hand, is build on slavery and despotism, with those at the top having almost no regard for any but those of their own rank, if even that. Since they establish their place in the power scale by how many slaves they own, they have set their eye on taking over and subjugating the Realm, making it a land to supply their always depleting slave pens. The death of the Bright Hope in a duel with Al Sorna has given them a pause, but now the wheels of their maneuvers cannot be stopped. The historian Veniers finds himself once again in the middle of the action, being a slave in the house of the Volarian General who is in charge of the operation.

"... “Beware the seduction of the quick conclusion. Do not indulge in the answer you desire until you know all you need to know.” ... "

While the enemies are putting their game pieces in place, Al Sorna has returned, a changed and disheartened man, who has no more faith and chooses to leave the Sixth Order, giving the chance of the King to appoint him the Lord of the North Tower, which currently is without a Realm leader. Having returned hope to look for his sister and Frentis, he gathers what he owns and travels to the North, where he is thought of as a bringer of war. However, war is the furthest thing from spilling blood. However, a girl who is bent on vengeance takes the road with him and he decides to teach her as much as he can, knowing that she will need all the help she could get with the coming danger. Reva is the character whom I truly enjoyed, since she is very emotionally manipulated and trained to hate, but finds her better self by the end of the book and still keeps her kick-ass badness:) Another such character was the new traveling companion of Princes Lyrna, Dahrena, a warrior from the Lornak tribe, with whom the Princes went to negotiate a peace treaty. Her people are very direct and physical in the way they express themselves, and I dearly hope we get more of her in the next book!!! But as strong as those women are, they are also true human beings and all the war, destruction and slaughter takes a toll on their souls...

"... "I have done things here. In defending this city I have done things ... I thought them right and just as I did them, now I don’t know. Now I wonder if I mistook rage for right and murder for justice. " ... "

So, if I obviously enjoyed this book, why do I have misgivings? Two things - one, I am not sure that all of the violence had a true purpose. Yes, I know it is a war and trust me, I know how it could be, but it does seem like the author wants the people in his book to suffer, all of them, no matter what they are doing or who they are, and all of them are not always involved with the war or even the action... There is a sense of jaded self-hatred running through the whole book, which I feel has nothing to do with the plot or the given world. Second, I think that there is an unnecessary inflation of named characters who have also very little to do with anything, except to be told eventually that they are dead in some horrific or useless way... I think this becomes confusing for the reader, since we know nothing more about them than their names and that they parish, which only adds to the reader wondering if they missed something and that character was somehow important so we should grieve for them... Once you figure that no, they were just a randomly named person in the crowd, the impact when some of the more important characters meet an unfortunate end is just not there, or is at least very diminished. I think this is the difference when comparisons are made with authors like Cook, Erikson and Jordan - they have all those named characters, but even with minimal words, they all have their personality and real place in the story, often planned chapters or even books ahead, thus the effect is devastating, no matter how many of them we loose and why.

"... “If the stars in the sky are not fixed, then nothing is fixed. Nothing is eternal, all is temporary and ever-changing.” She turned away from the stars, meeting his gaze. “Nothing is fixed, my lord. No course is so set it cannot be changed.” ... "

Despite the weaknesses, I enjoyed the story, even though it did depress me a bit and I need to watch some of the Winter Olympics to bring my Happy Back! So this is what I am going to do and hope for a good third and last book in the trilogy!!!

Now I wish you all Happy Reading and many more Wonderful Books to come!

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was even better than Blood Song. Telling the story from the perspective of four POV characters was a masterstroke. It gave the book a more epic feel and added depth to characters like Lyrna and Fretis. It also introduced a great new character in Reva.

The story was a bit dark since if focused around repelling an invasion by the Valorian Empire, but there was enough humor, mystery, and romance to keep things from getting too bleak.

I really loved this and the series has become a new favorite. I cannot wait for the next installment.

Rating 5 stars!.

[H P · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited for this book and have been waiting with anticipation for this to come out. Tower Lord however is but a shadow of Blood Song. While Blood Song had a tight plot and pacing with an interesting narrative, the Tower Lord is filled with pacing issues and rather uninteresting POVs. Much of the book was about traveling around, and the action when it happened was rather boring. In the first one we had a band of brothers with each being good in a specific skill. The sequel however has the two new POVs being almost godlike with a sword, hell I doubt even Vaelin could do most of the feats the others did without his magic.

I couldn't help but dread every time Frentis's turn comes up and Reva while slightly better I feel her character somewhat hard to believe. She only learned the sword in a few months and by the near end of the book her skill and feats with it is probably equal or even better than Vaelin's. And her relationship with another character came out of nowhere and felt rather tacky. Honestly it feels like the author or editor wanted a female equivalent of Vaelin for a wider demographics purpose.

The ending was anticlimactic and rather leaving me wanting to read the next one it left me feeling disappointed. I will probably read the last installment when it comes out, but there's no anticipation now.

[Mihir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic

ANALYSIS: Tower Lord is a book that I’ve been waiting for since 2012. Anthony Ryan really announced himself in spectacular fashion with his self-publication success, which then translated into a traditional publishing contract. Two years later, a lot of fans are waiting to see if he can repeat and build upon his success with Tower Lord. In my review for Blood Song, at the end I had written "give this book a read if you want to read a story that’s closest to those written by David Gemmell." With Tower Lord, he not only proves that in spades by giving the readers a siege situation similar to that in Legend and also many more memorable events and characters. There will be mild spoilers in the review below so be wary before you start.

Let's begin with the story, in Tower Lord, we get three new POV characters besides Vaelin who was the sole narrator in Blood Song. Another funny aspect of the story is that this book also follows the same narrative format as Blood Song wherein the events begin in the near past and interspersed between five current accounts of the royal Alpiran chronicler Verniers Alishe Someren. As to why the story is set in such a format and what is Verniers doing will be up to the fans to RAFO. Safe to say it's quite shocking to meet Verniers who finds himself in quite stunning conditions.

We find Vaelin Al Sorna back to the Unified realm and seeks to find his relatives who might be still surviving. The second POV character is Reva a young woman with tremendous martial skills who seeks revenge on Vaelin for a past crime. She's not an Asraelian and seeks his death single-handedly, who she is and why she hates Vaelin is spoiler material and so I won’t comment on it. Safe to say for people wanting to know her identity can take guesses and I might just give you tell if you are correct or not in the comments section below. The other two POV characters are Princess Lyrna & Frentis. I, as a fan was expecting them to be POV characters and enjoyed getting to know their thoughts.

This book also magnifies the world situation by showcasing the continent east of the Alpiran & Unified realms, namely the Volarian Empire. The story begins by detailing an attack on the unified realms from many fronts. Vaelin is faced with a new responsibility when he's made Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches by King Malcius. He has to ride north and take charge which he does but not with some reluctance. Reva’s track has us focusing on how she came to hate Vaelin so much and how she tracks him to face him for a duel. Last when we met Frentis, he was aboard a strange ship heading off to lands unknown. We find him now as an Alpiran slave who’s fighting to stay alive. Lastly we also get to explore the Northern Reaches as Princess Lyrna tries to find accord with the realm’s northern neighbors.

That’s all I’m going to say about the plot contents, as what happens in the story is that realm truly faces an invasion that boggles the mind. I can see why the author choose to expand the POV list as this story would have been impossible to cover from just a singular POV. Another highlight of this book is that nearly every character that made a major & minor impression in its predeceasing title is back in this one (except the dead ones). We get to see all of them & experience different shades to them; this was an extremely pleasurable to read. A couple of mysteries from Blood Song, namely who attacked Vaelin in the Test Of the Wild as well as who was behind it get clarified. Many other bigger revelations also abound like what truly happened to Vaelin when he was an Alpiran captive. Who is the Witch’s bastard and who are his allies? There’s also a fascinating exploration of the Seventh order and the magic system espoused in this trilogy.

Secondly going on to the characterization, Anthony Ryan shines brighter in his sophomore effort by giving us many brilliant characters. Besides Vaelin, Reva, Frentis and Princess Lyrna get the POV turn and I loved how different the characters were from what we read in Vaelin’s thoughts. Princess Lyrna was the character that was the most intriguing to me and in this book, she gets to shine truly. There’s also the brothers (Caenis, Sollis, the order aspect, etc) who we have met before and now have acquired different roles. You’ll be surprised to see many of them and how they feel about Vaelin. There are also some characters who make an appearance under a different name & it will be fun if you can spot them. Many of those who complained about Frentis’ cockney accent will be glad to know that it isn’t a problem in this sequel. Infact I would say he becomes a terror worthy of Vaelin’s status. The author also expands the readers on to the world by focusing on the realm and giving us fascinating insights into the various types of people and faiths that abound. This light is also shone upon the Alpiran as well as the Volarian culture.

Lastly the pace and action sequences are amplified across all the four POV sections, we get to see our favorite characters face odds that they have never thought of and the fun is reading how it all ends. Previously I talked about the siege-like conditions similar to Legend. The author displays his skills and gives us a fascinating account in to the siege via Verniers and then through the actual characters. This dual approach creates some confusion but it’s done in a way that will leave you with a smile in the end. Coming back to my original statement of this book being similar to Legend, David Gemmell's epic debut. We get a siege wherein legends are forged and this was the highlight of the story. And how does the author manage to top off such an exciting read, he cruelly ends the story with a chapter that hearkens back to the shocker that was the epilogue in A Storm Of Swords. This climatic chapter ends on such a note that you might not want to wait a whole year for Queen Of Fire.

There's so much more I want to gush about this book but I think I've said enough. Regarding the negatives about this title, the only thing I can think is that the story has kind of a slow start with all POV chapters. It takes only a while for the pace to pick up but once it does, the chapters fly by on to a rousing action-packed finale that is memorable. Your mileage may vary but this is the only drawback in an otherwise superb sequel.

CONCLUSION: This book easily is the best heroic epic fantasy of 2014 (bettering the high of City Of Stairs which is yet to be released) and now all other books will have to excel to overcome it. Tower Lord is a loud proclamation that Anthony Ryan is David Gemmell’s natural successor and epic fantasy’s best British talent.

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Tower Lord is the highly anticipated follow-up to Anthony Ryan’s brilliant debut: Blood Song. Ryan was undoubtedly under a lot of pressure to produce a worthy sequel to his massively successful self-published debut and in my opinion he’s delivered in a big way. Ryan manages to retain what made Blood Song great (brilliant characters, gripping plot, an intriguing sense of mystery) while also expanding this series with some interesting new ideas (different plot structure with more POV’s, darker tone). While the greater amount of interweaving storylines made the story more complex and sometimes slowed it down it was still just as compelling as the first book.

One of the first thing readers of the first book will notice about this one is the new POV structure. I really liked this new structure. The different POV's allowed us to gain a broader view of events that there’s no way any one POV would have been able to cover. The change in narrative structure halfway through the series evinces Ryan hadn't really planned this series out very well but I still think he's handled the change brilliantly. I especially liked the way he used the 'Vernier's account' sections to keep some continuity and make the transition run more smoothly. I also think Ryan did a great job of creating a balance between the 4 POV characters. Unlike almost every other book I’ve read with this structure (ASOIAF, The First Law) I never found myself skipping one character’s sections to read ahead with a more interesting character.

Where Blood Song featured a more focused, fast paced story here we have many more different plot-lines and important events happening at the same time. While this book in many ways has a stronger plot than it’s predecessor I was disappointed by the simplistic good vs. evil nature of it’s central conflict. The Volarian empire was written as a 2-D, almost cartoonishly evil ‘invading empire’, complete with all the tropes that are usually found with this clichéd plot point such as an alliance with a mysterious force of pure evil, an army of brainwashed slave-soldiers, supposedly deadly elite warriors who are constantly getting poned by the protagonists (including an 18 year old girl with a few weeks of training with a sword). While the central conflict is nowhere near as complex or intriguing as Blood Song the characters in this book more than make up for it. The additional POV’s allow for the introduction of a larger cast of characters and for those characters, especially the main characters, to be explored in greater detail.

Vaelin Al Sorna has survived the bloodshed of the mad king’s war and the horrors of an Alpiran prison and now returns to the realm seeking peace. His blood song however has other ideas. Vaelin’s storyline in this book, much like in Blood Song was enjoyable and well-written. Unlike in ‘Blood Song’ however, Vaelin was rarely involved in action in this book. While some readers were disappointed by this I thought it was handled really well, with the presence of action in the other storylines (especially Reva and Frentis) preventing the book from becoming boring. This storyline reminded me of an old western with Vaelin’s careful restraint from violence building the tension leading up to the inevitable final showdown. Unfortunately the showdown itself was a disappointment. The climactic battle that Vaelin’s storyline had been building up to since half-way through the book was ultimately rushed and badly handled. Ryan nicely set the stage for an epic set-piece battle between the 2 opposing armies to decide the fate of the nation. However Vaelin then completely ignored the intelligent battle plan laid out to him by one of his officers in favour of the Leroy Jenkins school of strategy, going on a 1 man charge against the entire enemy army (roughly 100,000 strong) and single-handedly poning them through sheer badassery, allowing his much smaller, less-well trained army to annihilate them without wasting time on anything as sissy as tactics or planning. Because Blood Song > realism/strategy/logic. Obvs. (Rant over). Vaelin’s camaraderie with his ‘brothers’ played a smaller role in this book but his interactions with Nortah were still cool and the tension in his relationship with Caenis made for some interesting scenes. Vaelin’s sister Alornis finally got more screen time in this book, something I had hoped to see throughout Blood Song and her interactions with Vaelin were really enjoyable.

Reva was the only character not introduced in Blood Song to get a POV and as a result I didn’t expect to like her much. However she confounded my expectations and turned out to be a really cool, interesting character. Her POV provided an interesting and well thought out insight into religion and sexuality in the world Ryan has created. Her inner turmoil as she comes to realise that everything she has been taught to believe is a lie was also really gripping. I lost interest with her POV whenever she wound up in action scenes however. Having only spent a few weeks receiving half-hearted training from Vaelin in archery and swordsmanship, and after having only been taught basic knife-fighting previously, her incredible fighting abilities seemed forced, bordering on ridiculous. This manifestation of incredible fighting skill after only a short period of training is something that happens often in fantasy (Rand’s ‘blademastery’ in WoT) and usually frustrates me. Part of the reason why I loved the training section in Blood Song so much was because of how it drove home how hard-earned and deserving the heroes fighting skills were. Outside of action scenes Reva's parts were really enjoyable and her interactions with Veliss (a really cool character in her own right) were especially awesome, in turns funny, intense and touching.

I was really psyched when I saw that Princess Lyrna was a POV character in this book. She was one of my favourite characters in book 1 and I had been hoping to see more of her throughout the series. However I was ultimately disappointed with Lyrna’s sections and found her to be, albeit only by a small margin, the weakest POV character. I loved Lyrna in Blood Song when she was manipulative, ruthless and ambitious. In this one she's a generic fantasy princess having adventures, going on arduous journeys and making unlikely friends (her friendship with Davoka is pretty much exactly Elayne-Aviendha in WoT... except they've not both slept with Vaelin. Yet). That being said as much as I was disappointed by the direction her arc went in it was still a really strong example of the adventure storyline that is so popular in fantasy. Lyrna was a funny and interesting character throughout and her recollections on her last meeting with her father were intriguing and emotionally charged.

After the bloody conclusion to the Alpiran war Frentis was sold into the brutal slave-pits of the Volarian Empire. At the start of this book a mysterious woman takes him from the pits and sends him on a bloody campaign of assassination all across the world. In the first half of this book Frentis’ sections were probably my least favourite. Due to a magic spell compelling him to do whatever his master commands (a plot-point that shows up a lot in fantasy and to me always seems an example of lazy writing) Frentis does virtually nothing on his own initiative. While we received some interesting information about some of the mysteries in this series and the enigmatic ‘woman’ was a really cool character I was still frustrated by Frentis’ lack of agency. However in the second half Frentis came into his own and really stole the show. These sections were dark, intense and extremely compelling. He is also the only one of the three warrior POV characters who isn't ridiculously OP. This adds a sense of realism that makes his fight scenes all the more brutal and engaging.

Overall this was a really enjoyable sequel to a great debut. Ryan has succeeded in writing a worthy follow-up to Blood Song while also advancing the series as a whole. I’m definitely psyched for the release of Queen of Fire.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2014/07/16/b...

There are a number of sequels coming out this year with big shoes to fill, and not the least of them is Tower Lord which is the follow up to the sensation that was Anthony Ryan’s Blood Song. While this second installment might not pack the kind of punch its predecessor did, I nonetheless enjoyed the book immensely. It’s a very different novel than the first book, with a shift in style, focus, and character perspectives, and yet it still has all the elements that we epic fantasy fans live for.

In book one, we met Vaelin Al Sorna, a brother of the Sixth Order and one of the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Coming home from a bloody war, he has sworn to fight no more, instead focusing his efforts on seeking any of his relatives that still might live. Named Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches by the new monarch, Vaelin has the noble yet perhaps naïve dream of living out his life in peace and quiet, for news of his exploits (and his crimes) have spread far and wide and those who know of his mysterious gift that guides him will not let him rest.

Anthony Ryan also adds several more point-of-view characters to the mix in Tower Lord, which I was glad to have been prepared for, as Vaelin no longer takes center stage. Instead, he shares the book with mainly three others: Reva, a young woman who begins this journey with hate for Vaelin in her heart and an unquenchable thirst for revenge; Princess Lyrna, sister to the new king and who possesses more strength and resolve than her brother ever would; and finally, Frentis, a familiar face from Blood Song, though he has been changed from his years of being held captive by the Untesh and being forced to fight in the slave pits.

Having been aware of this new format, with the chapters cycling through the character viewpoints, I had expected and prepared myself for the slower start. Indeed, with more characters to follow this time around, the author takes much more time to set the stage for the events in this book. And I have to confess it didn’t quite grab my attention right away. It was a pleasant journey through the first half of the novel to meet new faces or to catch up with old friends, but on the whole Tower Lord lacked a certain quality that made Blood Song the dangerously addictive and immersive read it was right off the bat.

However, I don’t think this makes Tower Lord a weak sequel. On the contrary, in fact. This second book is stronger than book one in many ways, not only because it expands the scope of the series by giving us multiple character perspectives and opening up the wider world, but it also showcases Ryan’s talents as a storyteller. He’s proven himself as an author who can write a very diverse and convincing cast of characters while maintaining a steady level of suspense and interest in all spheres of action, building intensity as he moves all the pieces into place for when things really start rolling.

Quite simply, Tower Lord is a totally different beast. And it’s just hard not to compare a sequel to what came before. It comes down to personal taste, and admittedly, Blood Song and I hit it off much faster. I had myself this experience with a couple other sequels this year; they were all excellent novels, but thematically they just worked slightly less for me. In this case, it’s hardly a surprise. Blood Song began with Vaelin Al Sorna as a young boy, entering the Sixth Order and a huge chunk of the book was dedicated to his training, the relationships he forged with his brothers, and his eventual rise to greatness. It was my favorite part of the novel. And come on, we all know how tough it is beat a good coming-of-age story.

The first book was absolutely a tough act to follow, I know. But all things considered, Tower Lord is a wonderful follow-up that might even appeal more to other readers, especially those who preferred the parts with “grown-up” Vaelin from the first book. I mentioned one of the things I liked about the “young” Vaelin’s chapters was his relationship with his fellow Sixth Order brothers, and it’s incredibly fascinating to see how those dynamics have changed over time. Brother Frentis was a huge surprise for me in this one. Thinking about all the terrible things that has been through and how they’ve affected him, it almost makes his story more interesting to me than Vaelin’s. I’m also impressed by Ryan’s female characters, and the energy and conviction he was able to put behind Reva and Lyrna, two women who are not afraid of setbacks and will fight for what they believe in.

In the end, it’s definitely the characters who made this such a great read. I absolutely adore the new additions. The characters make things happen, set things in motion, and while the first half of this book might have lagged a little, the same cannot be said about the second half, and the final quarter was pure action bliss. Does it take a bit of investment to get to this point? Yes. But totally worth it. Love the intricate magical elements and political entanglements that made the finale such an edge-of-your-seat ride. Anthony Ryan really tied things together and delivered.

I hope when we next meet Vaelin and whoever Ryan decides to let us be acquainted with next time (assuming he once again chooses this multiple POV character format) in the third book Queen of Fire, we’ll be able to jump right into the action. The slower build-up at the beginning held this book back a little, in my opinion, so I can’t say I enjoyed this book more or even as much as Blood Song, but the difference is very close. And I’m not disappointed at all. If you enjoyed the first book, there’s absolutely no reason at all not to pick this up and continue the epic journey.

[Armina · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 July, 2015

Re-read time!

First attempt for review, 25 September, 2014

Easy 5 stars! I finished the book several days ago but I'm still thinking about the ending and the wait for book #3 is gonna be a torture. I think I enjoyed this second installment in the series even more! Full review later.

[David Sven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tower Lord continues where Blood Song finished off. Anthony Ryan switches from the single third person POV of Vaelin Al Sorna, to add another three POVs to the story ie Princess Lyrna, Frentis, and Reva join Vaelin's POV with their own Game of Thrones style character chapters. He also abandons the framing device he employed in the last book though he still has "Vernier's account" interludes.

Like Blood Song I really enjoyed this book. I didn't know how I would take to the format with the additional POV's but they were all interesting in their own right and served to expand the scope of the story. I didn't think the pacing was as perfect as the first book with a goodly section of the later parts of the book involving all the characters journeying from A to B. I also think this feels very much like a middle book setting up for the finale with minimal resolution in itself.

Still, I enjoyed the prose, I enjoyed Steven Brand's audio narration, and I enjoyed the story. My only disappointment being I now have to wait for the next book in the series.

I'm giving this one....


5 stars

Review of Blood Song


Edit:

I'm rerating this down a star because when I considered rereading books one and two in preparation for book 3, I found myself thinking book one would be great to revisit - but reading all the parts where people were travelling from A to B in this book was asking too much.

4 stars

[Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trilogy Review: [4.5 stars for Tower Lord] I thoroughly enjoyed the Raven’s Shadow Trilogy, especially the first book, Blood Song. It was easily a 5 star read and one of the best fantasies I’ve read since Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives. It focused on one character – Vaelin, and his coming of age story. Taking place in the school (one of my favorite settings) it offered a combative learning environment that honestly reminded me of Harry Potter adventures meets the medieval, gritty reality of Game of Thrones. The camaraderie that Vaelin formed with his fellow “brothers” was an excellent dynamic, one which I wish had carried through the rest of the trilogy.

After finishing the first book (and fangirling about it for a few days) I quickly became aware that people weren’t loving the second and third books nearly as much. I have a few theories as to why. The sequels are very different from the first one. What an author puts forth in initially is usually a promise to the reader of what’s to come and readers expect at least a bit of consistency of storytelling (which Ryan failed to deliver because his tale took off in a completely different direction).

His story also went from a single point of view to multiple, bouncing around in a very Game of Thrones manner. I actually liked the different perspectives, each one adding a missing piece to the puzzle and written as well as Vaelin. Ironically, though, the passages involving Vaelin, the initial hero of the saga, became the least interesting… odd, right? This overall story arc remained the same, but everything built up in the first book got swept under the rug in favor of these other storylines.

While I understand how this could lead to a lot of disappointment, I admit I enjoyed Tower Lord (book 2) almost as much is the first book. Heck, I even liked about 80% of Queen of Fire (book 3) save one chunk near the end where I was incredibly bored and found it difficult to get through… once I did though, I liked the ending.

Overall, even though my personal experience with the series differs from the majority, I still think the consensus is that Blood Song is worth reading even if you don’t plan to continue on.

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

[Liz* Fashionably Late · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buddy Read with lazy Tanya <3

I apologize for the long review, it's actually meant for me instead of you, to be honest. I won't remember a thing if I don't write it down and I'm planning on reading book #3 as soon as it comes out.

Long story short? This book is amazing and more complex I had imagined. It deserves every star.

_________________________

Long review for future Liz*



"Only three, snared by the depth of their own malice. But from where does malice spring? If not from fear... and pain."

I think it's safe to say Raven's Shadow is one of the most exciting books I've read this year. If Blood Song was good, Tower Lord was great. Unlike Blood Song, this second installment is told from multiple POVs and far from being confusing, it really expanded Vaelin's world exponentially.

Lyrna

"The price of noble blood is that we do not choose our paths in life, just the manner of walking them."

I really enjoyed Lyrna's POV. I was intrigued by her in the first book. I knew she was more than it met the eye. But now? She's everything and more. She's smart, cunning, strong and definitely the Queen the United Realm deserves. She's not afraid of making hard choices. Honestly? I completely adore her.

It was so good to see Sollis and Lyrna working together and Davoka was amazing but the best thing about her POV was the Mahlessa. After so little learnt in book #1 answers about the Ally, the three beings and their origin were much welcomed.

That ending!it was Weaver :O

Now, allowed my shipper heart to say: Vaelin/Lyrna is something that we must see done. Seriously. Even if I was giggling every time The Shield appeared. Vyrna FTW.

"A queen does not live, she reigns, and my reign has begun. Will you take me to Alltor?"
He moved closer still, looming above her, brows creased and eyes lost to shadow as he stared down at her. "May the gods save me, but you know I'd take you anywhere."


Frentis:
"Fear was an old friend, but terror was a stranger"

The woman is the best new character introduced in this series. Amazing, enigmatic, mysterious, incredibly cruel and the reason I ached for Frentis so much. Just the thought of the things she did to him and made him do.

Reva:
"No better than us." He said in thickly accented Realm Tongue.
"No," she replied. "I'm much worse."

As Tanya said, Reva is a superhero. Her relationship with Veliss was unexpected but it allowed me to see her accepting herself and healing from the lies the "priest" used to say whenever he flogged her. Her Uncle surprised me. I thought him a fool but his devotion to Reva redeemed him.

She's amazing, awaking the loyalty of her people in just a few months. The city, fighting against Free Realms was inspiring. It's hard to believe just a few months with Vaelin made her such a badass, though ^^

Vaelin:
"We will make and ending, you and I."

I really liked Dahrena, she was amazing, respected and loved by her people. Not sure if I want her near Vaelin.

I can't believe he's lost his song. I guess he's going to take it back but I'm afraid of its cost. It's amazing to think the first time I saw him he was just ten, alone and lost and now he's a strong man, finally accepting his fate. I'm amazed how he wakes the admiration and loyalty of everyone around him.

On a side note, I'd like to say the author has done a magnificent work building perfect, fascinating female characters. Every single one of them, villains and heroines, are complex and utterly inspiring women. Cheers for that.

"You will witness the harvest of death under a blood-read sun. You'll kill for your faith, for your King and for the Queen of Fire when she arises. Your legend will cover the world and it will be a song of blood."

- Blood Song (Raven's Shadow #1)

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first. The storyline is divided between four characters now, more complex and convoluted, all wrapped up in the turmoil following the Volarian invasion.

Sacrificies are made, unusual alliances too, old enmities fade away facing the new threat. Lyrna and Reva prove themselves to be two of the best female characters I have encountered so far in a fantasy.

The battle for Alltor reminded me of the one held at Helm's Deep (movie version) in its epicness and goosebumps it gave me. I think the author had it mind when he wrote the scenes.

Unlike the first volume, this one ends in a cliffhanger, so be sure to have the third one nearby.

[Eon Windrunner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was not sure if this was a 4 or a 5, but as I loved it despite.... it gets a 5.

First half of the book felt a bit slow, lots of catching up and setting up, even though it is a necessity. Only other complaint regards the lack of more Vaelin. I did not know that this would be a multiple POV book as opposed to the focus on Vaelin's POV in the 1st book, so that might be the reason this bothered me, as I was not prepared. Enjoyed the other characters and didn't really have any I disliked, but lets face it - The Raven's Shadow series is the Vaelin Al Sorna show. And this fan wanted more. Luckily, the second half really picks up the pace and finishes on a high.

Tower Lord stands on its own as a great book. Yes, it did not have that unputdownable quality that Blood Song had for me, but I would still recommended it in a heartbeat as it is without a doubt a fantastic entry in this series.

Well done Mr. Ryan.

[Evander · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was on my most wanted list for 2014. Blood Song, the first in the series, is in my opinion one of the best fantasy books written in the last 10 years. It was an incredible immersing experience with great story and characters.

With this book on the other hand it’s like the publisher told him: “Now listen here Mr. Ryan, you’ve made quite the impression with Blood Song. You have lots of fans raving about it … let’s milk it … we'll introduce a couple of pointless characters stating that we’re enriching and enlarging the book's perspective and universe, we'll limit what actually happens … and voila TOWER LORD”.

This should have been named Filler Lord in my opinion. As for the actual Tower Lord, the Raven’s Shadow, you know, the character that the book was supposed to be about? Let’s put it this way: for 30% percent of the book he travels to Northern Reaches, for 65% percent of the book he travels back from the Northern Reaches to save a city that is besieged for all the duration of the book and in the last 5% he swings his sword for like 2 pages and …DONE. I give you Tower Lord.

Major disappointment. I liked the self-published Mr. Ryan better.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this book was structured very different than Blood Song, with several POV characters, I enjoyed it just as much. I liked that the reader got a larger sense of the world and the events that were taking place in this book, and the stakes for the characters were also considerably raised. I will definitely be reading the rest of the books in the series as soon as they become available. I would recommend this novel to anyone that likes epic fantasy.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I waited for this book with what is usually called "bated breath". The first book in the series snatched my interest and held it from almost the first line. This book, while I give it 5 stars is not quite up to the first book. I'm still involved in the series and I'm looking forward to the next book.

But not with the intensity I looked forward to this one. So let me say first that I do recommend it and it is an excellent read. Note I do go the full five stars, after thinking it over.

First the book opens with our original narrator (the "historian" who was "writing the story" in the first novel) except now he's a slave. How'd that happen?

That would be telling.

Still he begins his tale and we set out to put together events from the end of the last book. Sadly, the book is slow to get started. For some reason this novel took a long time to draw me in. I actually almost lost interest a few times. I was probably a fifth or a quarter of the way in before I found myself deeply into the story.

The book does pick up the "ball" and it does run with it. It just seems to want to do some broken field running. Where the first book was basically told from 2 viewpoints this one breaks up into as many as 5. These viewpoints occasionally come together, travel along in common and then split off again. It gets a little disjointed at times and then seems to find it's feet.

We do pull together again and get to a good climax that satisfies and gives a nice balanced story.

This promises to be one of the best epic fantasy series in a long time if it stays true to it's story and doesn't fall into the Wheel of Time trap of repetitive drawn out story telling. So far it's still an intensely interesting story and I like it immensely.

Recommended, enjoy.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Executive Summary: Another great entry in what's quickly become one of my favorite series. The change in format may frustrating fans of the first book however.

Audio book: Stephen Brand is once again a great narrator that could stand to have his volume boosted. He does an excellent job with voices and inflections, but can be frustratingly quiet in places.

Full Review
How do you follow up a debut novel that seems to be almost universally loved by those who have read it? By writing a book that may be even better in my opinion.

My opinion may not be shared by everyone who loved Blood Song. This is definitely a different book from that.

Instead of a single narrative about Vaelin told in the form of a flashback, we are instead given three new point of view characters in addition to Vaelin and the interludes from the perspective of the chronicler.

Two of the characters, Frentis and Lyrna will be instantly familiar from the first novel. The fourth, Riva, was probably my favorite. As a new character she probably got the most character development of the four. I think having two male POVs and two female ones gave the novel a good balance.

I found Lyrna's story to start a bit slow, but I was quickly grabbed by the book as a whole and eventually sucked into her narrative as well. Much like Blood Song this is one of those books that grabbed hold and didn't let go. I hated to put it down and loved to pick it back up.

I'm glad for the format change as I think Mr. Ryan was able to tell a much larger story as a result. There were parts of the story where the various POV's overlapped, but there were also a lot of things that would have gone otherwise unmentioned if he stuck with just Vaelin's story.

We are once again given some excellent action scenes, though probably fewer overall than the first. While the first book was more a hero's journey, this book is more epic fantasy with larger implications to the realm as a whole.

We get answers to many of the big questions I had from the first novel too. Often times it seems like authors jealously guard all their book's secrets and wait until the last possible minute to reveal them. Not so with this series. I felt there were several big reveals in parts 2 and 3 that other authors might have held back.

There is plenty of new questions to take the place of those that are answered that kept me wanting to keep listening and find out what would happen next.

Mr. Ryan has put himself in a precarious position of writing two really excellent novels in what I believe is supposed to be a trilogy. Now the expectations are that much higher for the finale of what has quickly become one of my favorite series.

If you haven't read this book yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up. And if you haven't read/heard of this series you should check out Blood Song as soon as you can.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Posted from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2014/0...

I know everyone is wondering: Is this as awesome as Blood Song? I had a hard time comparing because the formats are so different. But...
Here it is, I’ll say it early for anyone with a short attention span: this is great book in its own right. For me, it may not have had quite the same addictive quality, the kind that keeps me reading way too late at night, and compels me to pick right back up too early in the morning, that I had with Blood Song, but honestly, I read maybe two books a year that achieve that. Not to say I don’t stay up too late reading with many others (this one included), it’s just not quite as furtive of a need. And I don’t know if I have ever had it happen with a book that has multiple POVs.

That’s right. If you haven’t already heard, the book is not centered on Vaelin. He’s still a central figure in the overall story arc, but every page in the book is not devoted to solely his perspective and plights. Tower Lord is broken into five parts, each of with starts with a Verniers entry, which are all great fun. I’m honestly not sure if I appreciated Verniers as much in the Blood Song as I should have and as I did in this one. Perhaps because I was so anxious to continuously read about Vaelin, and the journal entries were the only intermissions I had from that. But this time, I definitely fully appreciated Verniers’ wry wit.

In addition to Vaelin, we get POV chapters from 2 familiar characters from Blood Song: Frentis and Lyrna. And then we also get a new character with a POV, Reva. The four POVs, paired with Vernier’s journal entries, give the reader a great opportunity to see a much clearer picture of the overall story. And understand the movement of battle from all fronts in addition to the different people and cultures involved. I think it also leant a stronger air of anticipation as you experience the trials of all involved across the land. I was also quite appreciative of the maps in Tower Lord. I don’t too often find myself referencing maps, but in this one, with the story so spread out, so many characters on the move, I often would flip to them for reference.

Reva was an interesting addition. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to like her in the beginning. I started having flashbacks of Renna from The Daylight War and was quite concerned Reva’s character might go in that direction (for those not familiar, I found Renna to be grating and a distraction). I am quite happy to say it did not. Not at all. I am actually quite a fan of Reva and really liked seeing her character growth through the book. She was faced with loyalty issues that challenged her to reevaluate her Faith as it had been taught to her versus how she believes Faith should be. In addition to that, she also becomes critical to the story in ways I’d rather you read for yourself to find out.

I remember a while back, some fellow fantasy fans, either on twitter or a forum, using the term ‘siege porn’ (probably in regard to The Red Knight by Miles Cameron). Seven hells, if you are looking for an incredible, down and dirty, gritty ‘siege porn’ fix, then look no further. Some truly great siege action in this one!

My only real disappointment in the book is that at the end of Blood Song, I was quite curious about Caenis, and am sad to say he is not really featured in Tower Lord. However, I am consoled by the fact that it seems he will be again (he is mentioned. We know he’s out there still). I would love to have Caenis POVs in future books, but since I still really enjoyed this one, I can’t really complain either. It just gives me something to look forward to.

If you enjoyed Blood Song, by all means, you have to read this. I think the strengths of this book are different than Blood Song, but it works so well. Blood Song was the coming of age story of Vaelin and setup for the grander story. This book gives you a much clearer picture of the impressive scale of the conflict, introduces you to more characters. And it has siege porn! And prepare yourself. The first thing you will want to do you finish reading this, is look to find out when the next book is going to be released! Absolutely brilliant ending that leaves you both satisfied and on the edge of your seat for what happens next. Loved it.

[Christopher Harju · Rating 2 out of 5]

A spoiler free review.

By analyzing my own behavior after finishing this title can I best describe my "hurt" feelings. For two days now, Tower Lord has constantly been nagging around in the back of my mind, in a negative way. I just keep pondering, why? Why did Mr. Ryan change the writing style and overall direction of the story for his second installment in the series? If not for the strong, STRONG, ecstatic feelings i felt when reading Blood Song - One of the best titles the fiction genre in whole has to offer, I would have not cared. Shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

Where Blood Song nailed every aspect of a brilliant book spot on, Tower Lord misses by a mile. Is this title readable? Certainly. Is it worth buying? Probably. Is it a good book? No.

I enjoy reading books that manages to captivate my full attention, reading until early morning. Books that contains characters that I care for, full with my emotional investment. Books, where my childlike wishes feel like being part of the story, even tho it's only a book. Books, satisfying my ever intellectual curiosity for a complex, deep layered and well written story. Sadly, none of these qualities can be said to describe Tower Lord.

Tower Lord, does Not continue the opening tale of Vaelin Al'Sorna, that Blood Song so masterfully laid out. Instead the reader is presented with 4 homogeneous and one dimensional main characters, of which, Vaelin is least represented. Our 4 new protagonist spends seemingly most time traveling from point A. to point B. Sometimes fighting an uninteresting battle that I find hard to care for. We're introduced with lots, Lots of new minor characters, whose names I constantly struggled to remember. And I don't think I have problems with my memory, yet! While reading, I was constantly wishing; "Soon, soon Vaelin, the bad-ass warrior, will be included in this book, doing the title some justice". To my bafflement this never happened. Instead, Vaelin is found playing a passive role of a pacifist in some far northern land.

How come such a brilliant book like Blood Song was written by the same author of Tower lord I cannot say. Is this the result of intervention by his new publishers, wanting to create a mainstream book, closely resembling the popular style of George R.R. Martin? Or was this the reason Mr. Ryan struggled long to find a publisher?

Mr. Ryan is obviously a very talented author. To recover his name, and the quality of future books, I'd sincerely recommend him seeking assistance of advanced beta readers from his fan-base, readers that don't hesitate to give constructive criticism, before publishing any more books in the series. By eyeing the constant flow of negative reviews flowing into Amazon.com by his fan-base (And some suspiciously looking 5-star reviews by first time reviewers), it is clear I am not the only one sharing this opinion!

Thanks for writing us interesting books. Good luck with your next installments. Greetings from a dedicated long time fantasy reader from Finland,
Christopher

[Fares · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so... this was boring.
This was in its way to be one of the worst books I read, mainly because I couldn't care less for what happens to these characters. And. It. Was. So. Freakin. Long.
What saved it however, is that I read a summary of what this book is mainly about, and it get's a half star for that, because if you cut all the boring stuff in it's heart this is a good story.

Blood Song (book 1 in the series), was good, it wasn't the best but it had potential, Tower Lord however was a gigantic step back, a huge part of that is because of the ending of Blood Song, and maybe this is just me but when the two characters that I loved most besides Vaelin in the first book aren't present much (one is just mentioned and the other isn't there much and they are supposed to be the love interest and the MC's best friend.) I'm gonna start looking for action, and while there's much of it, it wasn't well done, which leads me to my next and most important point, this felt like an instruction manual.

In this book we get multiple POVs and not just Vaelin's as it was the case in book 1. We get to meet new characters (interesting but not much relatable, and I don't understand for the life of me why they get the upper hand over the old good characters from book 1). Add to it the Vernier's chapters (which unlike book one aren't telling Vaelin's story but adding just another POV to the book) which created a great confusion about the timeline of the events and you get a book that doesn't make you live the story but just tells you one. That's what I meant by instruction manual.
In no point during the 600 pages of this did I went "oh what's going to happen?" or "I wonder how this goes?" I felt so disengaged from what's happening in the book, and that's one of the worst things that can happen when you're reading.
I would've been better off hearing commentary of my daily life, and that's the worst insult I can give this book.

Also I think the author assumed I'd remember much of the things that happened in book 1 so he didn't reference or remind us of most events, he assumed too much in my case. if you ever want to read this make sure you don't space the books out.

Another thing I want to say is I really wanted to DNF this multiple times while I read, and I don't DNF books because I hate not knowing what happens in the end. That being said I will not read the third book, I simply cannot go thru another 600 pages of agony. It's absolutely not worth it, and that speaks volumes how boring and disappointing this book was.

[Fabiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recensione per l'intera trilogia.

Oggi parliamo della trilogia “L’Ombra del Corvo” scritta da Anthony Ryan.

La storia inizia nel Regno Unificato, un reame di ispirazione medievale governato da un sovrano avido e implacabile. Al centro delle vicende troviamo Vaelin Al Sorna che, appena undicenne e orfano di madre, viene affidato dal padre ai “monaci” del Sesto Ordine il cui scopo è quello di formare soldati dediti alla difesa del Regno. Il nostro giovane protagonista deve sottostare a regole ferree e a una dura disciplina, la strada per diventare un guerriero è costellata da un’infinità di sacrifici, prove e pericoli. Vaelin si dimostra fin da subito abile e capace, merito del potere insito in lui, potere che imparerà a conoscere e forgiare. Il mondo in cui vive, però, reputa la magia una manifestazione del Buio e perseguita tutti coloro che la esercitano...

Una volta completato l’addestramento, Vaelin inizierà a calcare i sanguinosi campi di battaglia per i quali è stato addestrato. La trama, arrivati a questo punto, diventa più complessa: verranno coinvolti nuovi personaggi, imperi in lotta tra loro, nemici di nazioni lontane, fitti intrighi e misteri. L'intreccio narrativo che si sviluppa tiene letteralmente incollati alle pagine.

Anthony Ryan dimostra un'ottima capacità di scrittura: l’addestramento degli adepti del Sesto Ordine, le battaglie campali, l’ambientazione, i personaggi e la loro crescita sono caratterizzati nei minimi dettagli. Lo stile è dinamico, raffinato e fluido, non risulta mai pesante. Il worldbuilding è estremamente approfondito, seguendo le avventure dei nostri protagonisti scopriremo la storia e la cultura del Regno Unificato, quali sono gli altri Ordini e perché il Buio viene temuto da tutti.

Mi sento di consigliare questa trilogia ai lettori che hanno apprezzato David Gemmel, Richard Morgan, Mark Lawrence e Joe Abercrombie, in Anthony Ryan ritroverete tutti gli elementi che hanno fatto grandi questi autori. Non mancheranno personaggi e combattimenti epici, assedi disperati, violenza e sangue, storie d’amore e di vendetta.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent follow up to a fantastic book. The shift in story telling to a four person POV was necessary and worked really well as the story grew too large to be told from only one characters POV.

This is a fantastic series, one I'd suggest you don't miss. I am really excited for the last book in the trilogy which will be out in July :)

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two years ago, I called Blood Song the best fantasy debut I’ve read in a long, long time. I probably should have curbed my enthusiasm a little, because I find myself today struggling to explain why I was disappointed in the second volume, even as I admit it is probably just as well written, as epic in scope and as fast paced as the first book. The answer lays most probably in unreasonably high expectations. I wanted to recapture the ‘wow’, the thrills of exploring a fresh secondary world, the edge of the seat page turning rush to find out how my hero Vaelin Al-Sorna will get out of a tricky spot. I have instead ‘just’ an excelent middle of the story installment that greatly expands the worlbuilding and raises the stakes of the conflict from a personal quest for identity to another Evil Overlord bent on world domination, sending his secret minions and supernumerary armies to conquer country after country. The novel remains well above the norm of current fantasy offerings (I could name Sanderson, Weeks and a few others), but I feel it made too many safe choices and abandoned originality and nuanced characterization in favor of spectacular battles and wholesale slaughter, a move toward fashionable ‘grimdark’.

Blood Song was character driven and focused mostly on Vaelin, the small boy who goes to War School and becomes, thanks to native talent and magic superpowers, the best fighter in the land. He is still the focus in Tower Lord, but he shares the spotlight with three other POV characters : Princess Lyrna, who was at one time his intended fiancee; his former school mate Frentis who was captured in an overseas war and made a sort of gladiator slave; and Reva the newcomer, a girl trained as an assassin and unleashed against Vaelin Al Sorna by a secretive sect. I have noticed some reviewers complained about the rotating point of view but this is actually one of the author’s succesful choices for me, as it allowed for more diversity and complexity in the worldbuilding and in the plot development. The balance between the four perspectives was rather well kept, with Vaelin taking a more passive role until the final confrontation, Frentis struggling to escape both physical and magical bonds that make him an unwilling instrument in the hands of the yet unrevealed Evil Overlord, Lyrna going out of her comfort zone of books and palace manipulations to explore savage lands and to learn the ruling game literally from the bottom up ( Why couldn’t I have been more interested in physical pursuits? she grumbled, feeling every step of Verka’s hooves on the rough ground. One hour away from my books wouldn’t have killed me. But this bloody horse might. ), Reva freeing herself of years of brainwashing to become a fabled freedom fighter in her Cumbrael home city. Reva is actually the least credible character in her abrupt transformation from brat to wise teenage leader and accomplished swordmanship, the most cardboard of the four POV’s, yet her storyline was the most engaging in the whole book, which probably tells something about my predilection in epic fantasy for young baker boys or orphaned heroines with a destiny for greatness. I should probably have been more emotionally involved with Lyrna’s tragic struggle or with Frentis doomed love affair with his jailer, but for some reason I kept myself at a distance and simply followed the twists and turns of the plot with a cold eye. About Vaelin I have even less to say, as he is stagnant in development for the second book from start to finish, even as he travels with companions from one end of the continent to the other. A surprisingly interesting accolade was provided by the chronicler who introduces every major event in the story with his own account of being captured by the adversary and forced to rewrite history from the perspective of the winner.

I don’t have any quotes from the book, surprisingly because, as I already mentioned, I think it is very well written considering Ryan is still a newcomer on the scene. I have though bookmarkerd a couple of things that really ticked me off:

- Reva simply finds a legendary bow of Cumbrael by the side of the road, without any explanation whatsoever what this super rare weapon was doing there in the first place.
- Frentis, and some of the others, are surprisingly adept at using torture as a fast means of extracting information from prisoners
- I think I prefer life without prophecy exclaims one Master Monk towards the end of the volume, and I sort of agree with the feeling for the whole series. Vaelin, Reva and even Lyrna have their destiny already foretold and expressed in gnomic utterances (Diana Wynne Jones TM). I could do with a little more free will and chance in my epic fare.

I don’t want to end my review on a sour note. Some of my complaints may be a signal of my preferences shifting from epic battles to a more intimate and subtle form of fantasy (I’m reading now Patricia McKillip and love it unreservedly). I may have read the book too fast and missed some very simple explanations for the choices of characters and for the fortuitous presence of magic weapons. And regarding ethics, I probably was supposed to be discomforted and angry at war crimes and easy ways out. I’ll give the last word to Reva:

I have done things here. In defending this city I have done things ... I thought them right and just as I did them, now I don’t know. Now I wonder if I mistook rage for right and murder for justice.

I plan to read the third Raven’s Shadow book, and it is possible, with my expectations lowered, to once again enjoy it unreservedly and put it in the top spot of my fantasy reads.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that book two in this series did not live up to my expectation. I would rate this about the same as I rated The Emperor's Blades, About 3.8 but expectation plays a lot in determining to use the 3 or 4 star rating. This is like a Wall St mystery. Company A makes 4 billion profit after expecting to make $6 billion and its share price plummets by 10%. Company B makes a $100 million loss instead of $200 million loss and its share prices increase by 10%.

Well, my expectation for this book was much higher than Emperor's blades because was already invested in the story and characters and knew what I would be getting myself into. In reality I got something different. I am being a little harsh on Anthony Ryan with this, because really, it is still a great story and he used book two to develop the characters and the intrigue and the whole world story. All this info that was wonderful and relevant. The problem is/was, book one was like getting a ride in a racing car and book two felt like catching the number 17 bus, stopping all stops.

So in a nut shell, the dramatic change in pace through me, it struggled to keep my attention at times as events seemed to drag out.

I have to say that it finished very strongly and the last quarter had me remembering what I like so much about Ryan's writing. He also has me looking forward to book 3, but overall I am still a little disappointed with this one.

[TS Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing that struck me was the different format from the first book. Vaelin had to share the limelight with 3 other POVs, one of which is a completely new character, and I enjoyed each one of them. As a general rule, I do like having different POVs (albeit not too many) such that the readers get to see the main protagonists as viewed by the others. The other plus point is that the individual POVs take place in different locations, hence lending much to the world-building aspect of the series.

This is also one of those rare books where I actually liked the female leads. Having said that, I have a slight beef on one character which almost suspends belief being able to so easily attain an incredible level of skill with the sword with merely a few weeks of training. And of course, she also had to be absolutely gorgeous and was not aware of it. Rant aside, she was interesting and had a fascinating arc in the book.

However, even though the writing was good and the story quite engaging, I do not find myself getting really excited when I was reading it. I can easily put it down at almost any point of the book which I can't say for some of my favourites. The coming-of-age story of Vaelin and his brothers in Blood Song definitely had that edge which I found lacking in Tower Lord.

That being said, I've already come this far and this is by no means a mediocre book, so definitely had to finish the trilogy with the Queen of Fire.