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Twilight Reign #2
The Twilight Herald
Lord Bahl is dead and the young white-eye, Isak, stands in his place; less than a year after being plucked from obscurity and poverty the charismatic new Lord of the Farlan finds himself unprepared to deal with the attempt on his life that now spells war, and the possibility of rebellion waiting for him at home.
Now the eyes of the land turn to the minor city of Scree, which could soon be obliterated as the new Lord of the Farlan flexes his powers. Scree is suffering under an unnatural summer drought and surrounded by volatile mercenary armies that may be its only salvation.
This is a strange sanctuary for a fugitive abbot to flee to – but he is only the first of many to be drawn there. Kings and princes, lords and monsters, all walk the sun-scorched streets.
As elite soldiers clash after dark and actors perform cruel and subversive plays that work their way into the hearts of the audience, the city begins to tear itself apart – yet even chaos can be scripted.
There is a malevolent will at work in Scree, one that has a lesson for the entire nations can be manipulated, prophecies perverted and Gods denied.
Nothing lies beyond the reach of a shadow, and no matter how great a man's power, there some things he cannot be protected from.
Now the eyes of the land turn to the minor city of Scree, which could soon be obliterated as the new Lord of the Farlan flexes his powers. Scree is suffering under an unnatural summer drought and surrounded by volatile mercenary armies that may be its only salvation.
This is a strange sanctuary for a fugitive abbot to flee to – but he is only the first of many to be drawn there. Kings and princes, lords and monsters, all walk the sun-scorched streets.
As elite soldiers clash after dark and actors perform cruel and subversive plays that work their way into the hearts of the audience, the city begins to tear itself apart – yet even chaos can be scripted.
There is a malevolent will at work in Scree, one that has a lesson for the entire nations can be manipulated, prophecies perverted and Gods denied.
Nothing lies beyond the reach of a shadow, and no matter how great a man's power, there some things he cannot be protected from.
503 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 2007
42 people are currently reading
919 people want to read
About the author
Tom Lloyd
47 books448 followersTom Lloyd was born in 1979 and showed almost no interest in writing until the age of eighteen. I blame the teachers myself.
Nevertheless he did eventually find himself with a long summer to spare before university, and decided to start a novel when it was suggested he get a job to pass the time. This tells you much of what there is to know about him. The rest can be derived from the fact that he first had the idea of writing a book to annoy a schoolfriend by getting published before him.
No, honestly; he's actually that shallow.
It was swiftly apparent that this was not the quick route to fame and fortune that he’d hoped for. The first sign of this was the realisation that being good at writing was required, but he managed to surprise everyone by not giving up on something he didn’t show immediate promise in.
Studying Politics and International Relations at Southampton University had very little appreciable effect on him, beyond giving him a couple of ideas for future novels, but that was largely due to spending most of those three years in London shacked up with the god-daughter of an Asian dictator. Upon leaving university he decided – along with what seemed like half of all other graduates, some of whom had had the temerity to study English – that doing “book stuff” sounded like a fun alternative to working out what sort of job he wanted to do. There was also the intriguing suggestion of literary talent being passed on by some osmosis-like process. As a result of a little work experience at Simon and Schuster - combined with some shameless flirting with the HR manager - he got a job as an editorial assistant on the Scribner list, which allowed him to mistype letters to a whole host of talented writers.
Certain luminary examples there made it clear that before he became a fantasy editor he was going to have to spend several years iron-cladding his liver. Towards this goal, he decamped to the A M Heath Literary Agency by way of Random House, which was silly because walking down Longacre would have been a lot quicker, to work in foreign rights while also freelancing for writersservices.com and constantly revising what was slowly becoming The Stormcaller.
A three year litany of madcap adventures in the crazy world of agenting ensued, but it would be far too time-consuming to detail any of that so suffice to say that his hangover cleared sufficiently one morning in 2004 for him to realise that he wasn’t quite so bad at writing now. Maybe there was something to this osmosis thing after all - although if that’s true Katie Fforde and Dave Hill might get a surprise at the effect they’d had.
Securing the services of John Richard Parker at MBA Literary Agents proved a surprisingly painless experience – despite being previously rejected by one of John’s colleagues, which just goes to show how persistent one has to be – and soon he was sat in the office of Jo Fletcher at Gollancz trying to persuade her how much of a geek he was. After four years as contracts manager at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency he decided he didn't like other authors that much so he swapped his dark corner of Camden for one at Atlantic Books where it quickly became apparent that he prefers winning arguments to scruples.
Writing part-time, also known as watching loads more TV, he also manages to play a little sport in between trips to the pub and battering his next book - into a semblance of shape.
http://tomlloyd.livejournal.com/ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?...
Nevertheless he did eventually find himself with a long summer to spare before university, and decided to start a novel when it was suggested he get a job to pass the time. This tells you much of what there is to know about him. The rest can be derived from the fact that he first had the idea of writing a book to annoy a schoolfriend by getting published before him.
No, honestly; he's actually that shallow.
It was swiftly apparent that this was not the quick route to fame and fortune that he’d hoped for. The first sign of this was the realisation that being good at writing was required, but he managed to surprise everyone by not giving up on something he didn’t show immediate promise in.
Studying Politics and International Relations at Southampton University had very little appreciable effect on him, beyond giving him a couple of ideas for future novels, but that was largely due to spending most of those three years in London shacked up with the god-daughter of an Asian dictator. Upon leaving university he decided – along with what seemed like half of all other graduates, some of whom had had the temerity to study English – that doing “book stuff” sounded like a fun alternative to working out what sort of job he wanted to do. There was also the intriguing suggestion of literary talent being passed on by some osmosis-like process. As a result of a little work experience at Simon and Schuster - combined with some shameless flirting with the HR manager - he got a job as an editorial assistant on the Scribner list, which allowed him to mistype letters to a whole host of talented writers.
Certain luminary examples there made it clear that before he became a fantasy editor he was going to have to spend several years iron-cladding his liver. Towards this goal, he decamped to the A M Heath Literary Agency by way of Random House, which was silly because walking down Longacre would have been a lot quicker, to work in foreign rights while also freelancing for writersservices.com and constantly revising what was slowly becoming The Stormcaller.
A three year litany of madcap adventures in the crazy world of agenting ensued, but it would be far too time-consuming to detail any of that so suffice to say that his hangover cleared sufficiently one morning in 2004 for him to realise that he wasn’t quite so bad at writing now. Maybe there was something to this osmosis thing after all - although if that’s true Katie Fforde and Dave Hill might get a surprise at the effect they’d had.
Securing the services of John Richard Parker at MBA Literary Agents proved a surprisingly painless experience – despite being previously rejected by one of John’s colleagues, which just goes to show how persistent one has to be – and soon he was sat in the office of Jo Fletcher at Gollancz trying to persuade her how much of a geek he was. After four years as contracts manager at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency he decided he didn't like other authors that much so he swapped his dark corner of Camden for one at Atlantic Books where it quickly became apparent that he prefers winning arguments to scruples.
Writing part-time, also known as watching loads more TV, he also manages to play a little sport in between trips to the pub and battering his next book - into a semblance of shape.
http://tomlloyd.livejournal.com/ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 18, 2016
3 Stars
Twilight Herald by Tom Lloyd is just OK. This book suffers by simply having too many points of view. It also centers on several characters that are forgettable and boring. The first book excelled on the shoulders of our awesome young protagonist Isak. He is hardly in this one....Ugggh.
This book reminded me of book 5 The Scarab Path, of the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The plot lines are incredibly similar. All people converge on a mysterious and cool and cool city that is a character in of itself. But where The Scarab Path excelled and shined, elevating the series as whole, The Twilight Herald left me wondering if I should go on. The Scarab Path was an intimate story that centered on my favorite characters. The Twilight Herald leaves Isak in the shadows.
The Twilight Herald suffers from what many fantasies do these days and that is simply having too many characters and points of view. I feel that authors try to hard to make things more complex through multiple points of view, but in the end it all just washes together. I really was bored with much of this book and felt that it did not add to this story and it dertracted from book one. I actually disliked some of the characters. Without Isak, I did not care...
Although series offers a great deal of parts that make up great epic fantasies, it is lessened substantially by not connecting with me emotionally. I feel that the series does deserve my attention, and I will move on to the next book, but I really hope that the story returns to Isak and that I find interest in the other characters.
Twilight Herald by Tom Lloyd is just OK. This book suffers by simply having too many points of view. It also centers on several characters that are forgettable and boring. The first book excelled on the shoulders of our awesome young protagonist Isak. He is hardly in this one....Ugggh.
This book reminded me of book 5 The Scarab Path, of the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The plot lines are incredibly similar. All people converge on a mysterious and cool and cool city that is a character in of itself. But where The Scarab Path excelled and shined, elevating the series as whole, The Twilight Herald left me wondering if I should go on. The Scarab Path was an intimate story that centered on my favorite characters. The Twilight Herald leaves Isak in the shadows.
The Twilight Herald suffers from what many fantasies do these days and that is simply having too many characters and points of view. I feel that authors try to hard to make things more complex through multiple points of view, but in the end it all just washes together. I really was bored with much of this book and felt that it did not add to this story and it dertracted from book one. I actually disliked some of the characters. Without Isak, I did not care...
Although series offers a great deal of parts that make up great epic fantasies, it is lessened substantially by not connecting with me emotionally. I feel that the series does deserve my attention, and I will move on to the next book, but I really hope that the story returns to Isak and that I find interest in the other characters.
July 31, 2020
This is a better book than The Stormcaller, where the scope of the story gains a depth and complexity that was absent from the first book. It is also much darker and grim. I almost felt a GOT vibe concerning the epic and twisted plotting, the politics, ancient evil, and conflicts/bloodshed plaguing the land. It's however not an easy read, as I ploughed through some 530 pages where the events, secrets, mysteries were unveiled gradually with uncanny timing.
The setting was vividly realized. The city of Scree and its oppressive magical convergence of varied powers sent shivers through me. I could feel the heat, bloodlust, and paranoia gripping the city like an unholy plague. I loved the fact that, Lloyd has shown us the new players in this game of gods, and mortals, and demons. The entirety of the book was fraught with wild tension, and when the chaos started along with the action, it was pure bloody mayhem in a freaking scale. The last half of the book is literally spattered with blood, entrails, and corpses. It was vicious madness/insanity incarnate. So beware.
Some of the characters were pretty well done. I loved Zhia Vukotic. She is a formidable woman of power, knowledge, and influence. She is also beautiful and deadly. I liked her interactions with the others, mostly with King Emin's man Doranei. Isak was somewhat tolerable here, though he still retains his arrogance and petulant behaviour at times. The antagonists were nicely sketched out, but, we get very little about their motives, and they remain as a shadowy presence of dread throughout the story.
It feels that I'm slowly getting the taste of this series. This book definitely made me more eager to read the next book. The writing was a little ponderous in places which slowed the pacing, but, it helped in giving a much detailed picture of the world Lloyd is trying to flesh out. The ending was definitely intriguing, which I believe is going to lend another conniving angle to an already complex narrative and the overarching plot of the series. So, yes, I'm excited to read the next book.
The setting was vividly realized. The city of Scree and its oppressive magical convergence of varied powers sent shivers through me. I could feel the heat, bloodlust, and paranoia gripping the city like an unholy plague. I loved the fact that, Lloyd has shown us the new players in this game of gods, and mortals, and demons. The entirety of the book was fraught with wild tension, and when the chaos started along with the action, it was pure bloody mayhem in a freaking scale. The last half of the book is literally spattered with blood, entrails, and corpses. It was vicious madness/insanity incarnate. So beware.
Some of the characters were pretty well done. I loved Zhia Vukotic. She is a formidable woman of power, knowledge, and influence. She is also beautiful and deadly. I liked her interactions with the others, mostly with King Emin's man Doranei. Isak was somewhat tolerable here, though he still retains his arrogance and petulant behaviour at times. The antagonists were nicely sketched out, but, we get very little about their motives, and they remain as a shadowy presence of dread throughout the story.
It feels that I'm slowly getting the taste of this series. This book definitely made me more eager to read the next book. The writing was a little ponderous in places which slowed the pacing, but, it helped in giving a much detailed picture of the world Lloyd is trying to flesh out. The ending was definitely intriguing, which I believe is going to lend another conniving angle to an already complex narrative and the overarching plot of the series. So, yes, I'm excited to read the next book.
March 28, 2010
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the freshness of the first book in this series and I was looking forward to the second installment. Unfortunately, this one dragged really slowly for me. It took me almost a whole month to get through, and I really had to push myself past the middle third of the book. The beginning wasn't bad, nor was the end exactly, but the middle definitely took a lot of slogging.
I think that the book dragged this way because of the ultimate goal of the story. What I mean is that I think the author's purpose with this book was to present the grand, culminating ending, after having the whole book center on setting up for it. Almost the entire book, we keep hearing about something bad that's going to happen, and at times I felt myself saying "I know I know, but what does this have to with that?" It's one of those books where you remember the ending really well, but hardly anything of what happened on the way there. There were a lot of subplots going on in this book too, which I'm normally quite a fan of, but in this case it was slightly offsetting because I didn't feel like everything got covered. Or rather, I'm still not sure if some plots just got forgotten about or if I just didn't get it when they came together.
Still, despite all this, the ideas and the writing and the general sense of the book make it worth about 3.5, Slightly better than average.
I really enjoyed the freshness of the first book in this series and I was looking forward to the second installment. Unfortunately, this one dragged really slowly for me. It took me almost a whole month to get through, and I really had to push myself past the middle third of the book. The beginning wasn't bad, nor was the end exactly, but the middle definitely took a lot of slogging.
I think that the book dragged this way because of the ultimate goal of the story. What I mean is that I think the author's purpose with this book was to present the grand, culminating ending, after having the whole book center on setting up for it. Almost the entire book, we keep hearing about something bad that's going to happen, and at times I felt myself saying "I know I know, but what does this have to with that?" It's one of those books where you remember the ending really well, but hardly anything of what happened on the way there. There were a lot of subplots going on in this book too, which I'm normally quite a fan of, but in this case it was slightly offsetting because I didn't feel like everything got covered. Or rather, I'm still not sure if some plots just got forgotten about or if I just didn't get it when they came together.
Still, despite all this, the ideas and the writing and the general sense of the book make it worth about 3.5, Slightly better than average.
November 21, 2012
As a solo novel, I consider this to be a great book. As a sequel to The Stormcaller, it is even better. The overall plotline was spectacular, and the conclusion was one of the best I've experienced in a long time.
Sure, it sill has too many characters and the political backstabbing gets old after a while, but these are easy to overlook when pitted against the literal apocalypse going off in the main city of the book, realistic character evolution of heroes who were all ready good to begin with, and a fistful of new villains to stand beside Kastan Styrax (still one of the best ever) on death row.
For the of you who read The Stormcaller and liked it, this book is an absolute must. For those of you who didn't care for The Stormcaller, I'd still tell you to read this one, since it's better in nearly every way. Lastly, for those of you who never read The Stormcaller and you don't mind picking up the middle of a series, my advice is GO FOR THIS ONE.
Sincerely,
General Dicer
Sure, it sill has too many characters and the political backstabbing gets old after a while, but these are easy to overlook when pitted against the literal apocalypse going off in the main city of the book, realistic character evolution of heroes who were all ready good to begin with, and a fistful of new villains to stand beside Kastan Styrax (still one of the best ever) on death row.
For the of you who read The Stormcaller and liked it, this book is an absolute must. For those of you who didn't care for The Stormcaller, I'd still tell you to read this one, since it's better in nearly every way. Lastly, for those of you who never read The Stormcaller and you don't mind picking up the middle of a series, my advice is GO FOR THIS ONE.
Sincerely,
General Dicer
February 18, 2009
Enjoyable! An improvement on the first one in the series in that, while still jumping around between characters and plot lines a lot, it's not quite as disjointed as Stormcaller.
Something dark is brewing in the city of Scree - players from all over the Land seem to be drawn to it: a plotting necromancer, an abbot in hiding, a king seeking revenge, and a surprisingly human vampire, to name just a few. The mood is tense, the sequence of events is convincing, and the battles are suitably bloody.
If I have one quibble it's that, barely a month after finishing it, I can't remember how the story unfolded - there was just too much happening, too many characters demanding attention. I'm sitting here trying to remember the ending and failing miserably. May have to skim the book again before I embark on Grave Thief, which I will definitely pick up.
Something dark is brewing in the city of Scree - players from all over the Land seem to be drawn to it: a plotting necromancer, an abbot in hiding, a king seeking revenge, and a surprisingly human vampire, to name just a few. The mood is tense, the sequence of events is convincing, and the battles are suitably bloody.
If I have one quibble it's that, barely a month after finishing it, I can't remember how the story unfolded - there was just too much happening, too many characters demanding attention. I'm sitting here trying to remember the ending and failing miserably. May have to skim the book again before I embark on Grave Thief, which I will definitely pick up.
October 12, 2010
I greatly enjoyed this book. It is a tougher book to read fro a few reasons, but the reasons add more depth and intrigue to the story. The first book of this series was focused on a single character (Isak) and his friends. This one follows several different characters. There are at least 7 different plots running at the same time. Most of the main plots follow people met in book one, some are new, and all have a different stake in what is happening. It can be daunting trying to place everything together, but it is an excellent story in itself and at the same time it opens the series up for more. The style keeps suspense while adding depth and it makes it difficult to establish where exactly the plots of all these characters will lead.
May 13, 2009
3.5 stars but I will bump it up to 4. This book is your usual second part of a trilogy - the whole point is to prepare the stage for the final part, so basically, when you finish it, you have no idea what just happened. It's a good thing that I actually like the characters, especially Isak. Though Vesna's "woe is me" attitude did start to get on my nerves a bit - I mean, he used to murder and kill for lord Bahl but all of a sudden he starts second-guessing lord Isak's orders.
To sum it up, the whole plot is a bit too complicated and convoluted so in the end you don't feel like it really paid off but the characters do save it from being boring.
To sum it up, the whole plot is a bit too complicated and convoluted so in the end you don't feel like it really paid off but the characters do save it from being boring.
January 21, 2012
Book two in a new, epic fantasy that’s big, gritty and easy to sink your teeth into. Picking up from Stormcaller, Lloyd wastes no time continuing the story of the new Farlan Lord, Isak and the blood-soaked battlefields that seem to be the destiny of all his kind, the ‘white-eyes’. Though new to writing, Lloyd’s story is enthralling, his characters vivid and his world-building solid and rich in back-story. He has great inventiveness and offers the genre a new twist on old tropes. If you enjoy Gemmell, Feist and Erikson, give Lloyd a go too.
September 2, 2011
After struggling through the first book in the series i had to see how things went with this one........fortunatley this is a far better read than the first in my opinion and altho at times you will be lost due all the differant plots going on things do eventually start to come together.
What i like most about this is that some of the supporting cast play a bigger role and i really did come to love some of these other characters.
If you tried the first book but didn't/couldn't really get into it i would say to still give this a go as it is very enjoyable.
4 Stars
What i like most about this is that some of the supporting cast play a bigger role and i really did come to love some of these other characters.
If you tried the first book but didn't/couldn't really get into it i would say to still give this a go as it is very enjoyable.
4 Stars
October 14, 2014
It's been a while since I ready a book so regularly and without losing interest in it.
The characters were all quite interesting and there were no characters I didn't want to read about anymore (for example the typical clumsy screw up everything character - fortunately not in this book!).
The book was able to sometimes surprise me with how the story continued, that was good as well.
It also left me wanting to read the third part of the series.
The characters were all quite interesting and there were no characters I didn't want to read about anymore (for example the typical clumsy screw up everything character - fortunately not in this book!).
The book was able to sometimes surprise me with how the story continued, that was good as well.
It also left me wanting to read the third part of the series.
June 13, 2025
4*
I really enjoyed this book!
It was more complex than the last, with more POV's and focusing less on Isak's personal group of friends and more on what is happening elsewhere.
The plot was slow at times but other parts made up for that and it was overall definitely worth it..
I really enjoyed this book!
It was more complex than the last, with more POV's and focusing less on Isak's personal group of friends and more on what is happening elsewhere.
The plot was slow at times but other parts made up for that and it was overall definitely worth it..
December 14, 2008
Again good plot and storyline, this book had a much darker mood set then the first book which created a good sense of a growing evil.
February 10, 2009
Very enjoyable read. Seemed disjointed in parts, but overall it has very hard to put down.
May 20, 2012
Brilliant second installment in 'The Twilight Reign' series, the plot evolves thick and fast and is completely enthralling. On to book 3.
January 4, 2014
Expands the world significantly beyond what was introduced in the first book, introducing a number of fun & menacing new characters, and giving a stronger sense of direction to the overall story.
June 8, 2013
Odd but fascinating
January 30, 2021
Magic and life, the God's, their Aspects and death. All come together in a brilliant collision throughout this tale. This was a brilliant continuation of the first book, it developed events smoothly, but also dedicated time to character development and relationships between characters. I feel like this book doesn't take the black and white approach when deciding what is right or wrong, or good and bad; but constantly blurs these lines and opts for a grey view of things.
My only annoyance with this book is that while the descriptions are well detailed but leave enough for the imagination to go off from, some of the fight scenes are harder for me to picture. Aside from that, the book is still well worth a read, even if you thought the story could have finished with the open ended finale of the last book.
My only annoyance with this book is that while the descriptions are well detailed but leave enough for the imagination to go off from, some of the fight scenes are harder for me to picture. Aside from that, the book is still well worth a read, even if you thought the story could have finished with the open ended finale of the last book.
April 4, 2021
I liked the beginning of this book, and I liked the ending even more! However, that whole middle act… talk about drag. I fail to understand some of the narrative choices the author made here.
The overall story is good, so is the writing, but there are too many characters, yet too little happening for the better part of the book. And what little does happen, mostly happens off-screen! I don’t get it.
I wanted to give The Twilight Herald a higher rating because of the things it does well, but when I take into account all of the bad parts, it kinda evens out to a fair 3/5 from me.
The overall story is good, so is the writing, but there are too many characters, yet too little happening for the better part of the book. And what little does happen, mostly happens off-screen! I don’t get it.
I wanted to give The Twilight Herald a higher rating because of the things it does well, but when I take into account all of the bad parts, it kinda evens out to a fair 3/5 from me.
January 13, 2022
3.5 stars - this was a good one. Books with lots of (seemingly irrelevant at first) POVs normally irk me, but I enjoyed the various people & their perspectives throughout this tale. It WAS long though, & it really should have had several portions cut to shorten such a drawn out segment of this tale.
October 10, 2017
I am really getting into this series. Dark, brooding and filled with surprises.
November 16, 2019
A good read.
continuation of previous book. A good read. Well drawn characters. Well developed plot. Well worth reading. Will definitely read the rest
continuation of previous book. A good read. Well drawn characters. Well developed plot. Well worth reading. Will definitely read the rest
March 13, 2022
Good escapism.
Heavy on the overly narrated physical maneuvers.
Light on the explanations for several pivotal plot points.
A nice light escapist read. Slightly less fluffy than book one.
Heavy on the overly narrated physical maneuvers.
Light on the explanations for several pivotal plot points.
A nice light escapist read. Slightly less fluffy than book one.
April 1, 2025
3.5/5 Stars
April 16, 2021
This second book revolves around the minor city of Scree that's suffering under an unnatural summer drought and surrounded by volatile mercenary armies. The book is filled by a diverse cast of characters who each have their own reasons of being present in the city.
Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I didn't mind the many different viewpoints overly much, though that might be because I'm quite used to it from the Game of Thrones books. Although the many battles within the Twilight Reign series are not completely my cup of tea, I deeply appreciate the detailed worldbuilding of Lloyd and am impressed by the intricate plotlines in the books so far. In this, this second book knocks the first out of the park, and I can't wait to see how all the plots will evolve!
Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I didn't mind the many different viewpoints overly much, though that might be because I'm quite used to it from the Game of Thrones books. Although the many battles within the Twilight Reign series are not completely my cup of tea, I deeply appreciate the detailed worldbuilding of Lloyd and am impressed by the intricate plotlines in the books so far. In this, this second book knocks the first out of the park, and I can't wait to see how all the plots will evolve!
June 22, 2015
I wasn't quite sure how to rate this one. I went back and forth from 3 to 4 and round and round. Tom Llyod has definitely created an interesting world that I love to be in, but he did something I truly wasn't expecting...he spent a lot of time away from Isak, the lovable hothead who stars in the book. I found myself getting frustrated that the next chapter was about somebody else I could care less about, again! I mean, is it me...or is that weird?? Why spend an entire first book getting me to understand and absolutely adore a character, only to take them away from me in the second. I mean, I get it...in order to make all the subplot lines for this book connect, he had to focus on the other characters, cause Isak wasn't doing much...or did he?
I dunno...
Which brings me to my other issue with this book...the convergence on "can't remember the city name right now...I actually finished the book a few weeks ago and forgot to update" city was annoying me. However, there were some fantastic storylines in there. And I especially loved the fight with the demon---superb!! And the full cast fight with the zombies...if that's how you could classify them---also brilliant. However, I honestly could've lived without a good portion of the inherent quest/plotline of this book.
I always feel horrible when I give a "Not so glowing" review for a book. I mean, what will people say about my books? Is it fair for me to judge, when I know my writing could use more polishing?
YES!!
First and foremost, I'm a reader...a Greedy Reader, at that. I love to read and I'll always do that a million times better than I write. So, I'm free to give my opinion as others will be free to give theirs about my work.
Will I read the next book in this series? Sure, but after I go over a few chapters first. I want to be sure I'm getting more Isak this time!! ;p
dmd
I dunno...
Which brings me to my other issue with this book...the convergence on "can't remember the city name right now...I actually finished the book a few weeks ago and forgot to update" city was annoying me. However, there were some fantastic storylines in there. And I especially loved the fight with the demon---superb!! And the full cast fight with the zombies...if that's how you could classify them---also brilliant. However, I honestly could've lived without a good portion of the inherent quest/plotline of this book.
I always feel horrible when I give a "Not so glowing" review for a book. I mean, what will people say about my books? Is it fair for me to judge, when I know my writing could use more polishing?
YES!!
First and foremost, I'm a reader...a Greedy Reader, at that. I love to read and I'll always do that a million times better than I write. So, I'm free to give my opinion as others will be free to give theirs about my work.
Will I read the next book in this series? Sure, but after I go over a few chapters first. I want to be sure I'm getting more Isak this time!! ;p
dmd
September 2, 2014
This is a hard one to review. I've read it twice. First time was hot on the heels of reading volume 1, which I didn't like too much, but which showed real promise in terms of a bigger story.
I've read this book and...... put the series away for a long time. I found it to be really poorly written, and I felt the author over-relied on the literary device known as "convergence", while failing to really execute it all that well. Add to that my continued dislike of the main protagonist, Isak, and the type of prologue for book 3 where we see "a tragic flaw being exploited, and a big bad happens. because XYZ IS/ARE SO TRAGICALLY FLAWED!!!" (which is something I loathe in literature. Nothing screams "bad writing" to me more that an author hitting me over the head with a signpost demonstrating how terribly and tragically flawed XYZ is) basically meant that I filed this series away as "waste of time".
As I know realize, I was very unfair in some of my criticisms (though Isak is still the worst thing in the first 2 books. And that prologue still feels awful). I compared Lloyd's use of convergence to Steven Erikson's masterful display of the same in his "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series, which is never a fair comparison. Having re-read this book, I can honestly say, it's not bad, it builds on a lot of good ideas from Book 1 (everything except Isak. Really, for the first 2 books it's best to ignore everything Isak-related, except for the ending action scenes), while throwing in a number of really solid action scenes.
The same recommendation as in Book 1 applies here: if you value an interesting world and cool ideas more than you are put off by poor characterization, you should read this, because there's payoff. If not, don't bother, you won't like it.
I've read this book and...... put the series away for a long time. I found it to be really poorly written, and I felt the author over-relied on the literary device known as "convergence", while failing to really execute it all that well. Add to that my continued dislike of the main protagonist, Isak, and the type of prologue for book 3 where we see "a tragic flaw being exploited, and a big bad happens. because XYZ IS/ARE SO TRAGICALLY FLAWED!!!" (which is something I loathe in literature. Nothing screams "bad writing" to me more that an author hitting me over the head with a signpost demonstrating how terribly and tragically flawed XYZ is) basically meant that I filed this series away as "waste of time".
As I know realize, I was very unfair in some of my criticisms (though Isak is still the worst thing in the first 2 books. And that prologue still feels awful). I compared Lloyd's use of convergence to Steven Erikson's masterful display of the same in his "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series, which is never a fair comparison. Having re-read this book, I can honestly say, it's not bad, it builds on a lot of good ideas from Book 1 (everything except Isak. Really, for the first 2 books it's best to ignore everything Isak-related, except for the ending action scenes), while throwing in a number of really solid action scenes.
The same recommendation as in Book 1 applies here: if you value an interesting world and cool ideas more than you are put off by poor characterization, you should read this, because there's payoff. If not, don't bother, you won't like it.
February 10, 2012
Did not like this book. The plot was hard to follow and I did not think it was very realistic that the so called leaders of Narkang and the Farlan would let the situation in Scree deteriorate to the point of chaos and despair that it did, only to see what Azaers plans were. So called leaders watching a priest murdered on stage in a theatre would make any leader, fantasy or not (if he was supposed to be the hero) stand up for what is right. We as readers do not get any feel for what day to day life is like for regular people without magic to aid them against the daemons and witches etc that seem to be on every street corner. I feel this is a bit of a disconnection in the plot because I don't think a regular person would be able to survive going to the well in the forest,to get their water to wash their dishes, without being killed by some magical predator. The only reason I kept reading after this second installment is because my wife bought me the 3rd and 4th books for Christmas. I am now into the 4th book and will now finish reading the series because obviously it is getting better but the plot disconnection is still there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2009
Tom Lloyd is violent, but creative in his use of the standard stock of elves, monsters, magic, gods, heroes, villains, and all the gray that falls in-between. This second installment of his Twilight Reign series shows his growth and increasing ability to weave a tale of disparate plots and characters to a common story.
My only caveat was the heavy violence and often agnostic perspective of the characters towards right and wrong, good and evil, while more pragmatic, makes them correspondingly less empathetic. However, in place of morally directed and motivated individuals, we see people who would fit well into the Hobbesian view of the world ("solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"). They are motivated by power, and corrupted by power, as Lord Acton would say, and it makes for a very fast, exciting, if occasionally violent story.
My only caveat was the heavy violence and often agnostic perspective of the characters towards right and wrong, good and evil, while more pragmatic, makes them correspondingly less empathetic. However, in place of morally directed and motivated individuals, we see people who would fit well into the Hobbesian view of the world ("solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"). They are motivated by power, and corrupted by power, as Lord Acton would say, and it makes for a very fast, exciting, if occasionally violent story.
January 31, 2014
"The Twilight Herald" is a solid second book from Tom Lloyd. While I enjoyed "Stormcaller", book one of "The Twilight Reign", book two wasn't as good for me. It took me quite a while to finish, honestly. That isn't a common occurrence.
As I just said, "Stormcaller" was a great read, but as one delves deeper into the story Tom Lloyd is telling the plot becomes quite complicated and convoluted. There is plenty of action and magic, and I love the premise of the skulls, but when it's all put together there is a lot there and it goes in a lot of directions. One really has to pay attention.
I look forward to reading book three "The Grave Thief" soon, because I believe the overall story of "The Twilight Reign is gonna be awesome. I just can't help but hope I just finished the worst of the 5 books, which wasn't bad. Just complicated.
Tuff it out for the joy of the entire series.
As I just said, "Stormcaller" was a great read, but as one delves deeper into the story Tom Lloyd is telling the plot becomes quite complicated and convoluted. There is plenty of action and magic, and I love the premise of the skulls, but when it's all put together there is a lot there and it goes in a lot of directions. One really has to pay attention.
I look forward to reading book three "The Grave Thief" soon, because I believe the overall story of "The Twilight Reign is gonna be awesome. I just can't help but hope I just finished the worst of the 5 books, which wasn't bad. Just complicated.
Tuff it out for the joy of the entire series.
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