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Tower Lord
Anthony Ryan
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TL: Part 1
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He also seems to have met whoever had taken Barkus in the first book, though he doesn't know it. And now he's being forced to be an assassin for a women with another parasite.
Will this woman be the dark witch to corrupt Vaelin? Or maybe they got it wrong and Frencis is really the Dark Blade.
I also worry the blood he got on him from the old man is going to corrupt him and turn him against Vaelin. I hope that I'm wrong though. Too predictable/been done too much.
I like Riva a lot so far. Interesting how she's important to the Blood Song. Looking forward to finding more of that.
Lynara's story is the least interesting. Seems like a diversion. Overall the format is very different. Instead of one story/POV we have 4. Riva and Vaelin's stories have overlapped. I wonder if any of the others will.
I want Vaelin to free Frentis without it biting him in the ass, but I'm not optimistic.
I'm liking it so far though.
With a smile on his face, Sky turned the final page of The Shadow Throne, closed his eyes, and listened.The blood song tugged his fingers toward his Kindle's library and whispered two words, ever so softly.
"Tower Lord."
Al Sorna was waiting, as he had been these past four long years. It seemed almost a disservice to the Brother of the Sixth, putting him behind the machinations of Vhalnich and the adventures of Winter.
The blood song rose up, impatient. Sky smiled again, deeper, more knowing.
It was time to begin.
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Very nice Sky! Coming in here with one eye closed because I've just started - Verniers is a slave?!! Anthony Ryan isn't wasting any time getting into it.So The Realm is viewed as savages by the Alpirans, the Alpirans are viewed as savages by the Volarians and the Meldeneans are viewed as savages by everyone.
Rob wrote: " He's been taken slave, and the torture one eye put him through seems to make him vulnerable to being controlled through magic."It seems One-eye carved some runes in him that can be used to control him. The woman he's being controlled by also has the same scars on her - so I'm guessing someone else is able to control her as well. I'm also guessing she's the assassin with the Blood Song we learned about in book one from the Mason.
Rob wrote: "He also seems to have met whoever had taken Barkus in the first book, though he doesn't know it. And now he's being forced to be an assassin for a women with another parasite."Yeah, I took that to be the same guy who possessed Barkus - and I agree, the assassin woman is possessed as well having been around at least 200 years. I'm guessing the "parasite" as you call it, gets a fresh body every now and then.
And they are both working for "the one who waits" who seems to not be possessing any bodies itself. I bet it wants to possess Vaelin's body - maybe that's why it waits - and maybe why ex-Barkus couldn't outright kill him all those years when he had opportunity. He would have had to do it in a way that brought him close to death without killing him - harder to do I think.
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I wonder if the women has been swapping bodies or not. It seems to me she's partial to her current body and I wonder if she's not just using magic to keep it young.
If she's got the blood song as you suggest, she'd be less likely to want to swap bodies as those powers seem to come from the body, and the blood song seems rare.
That's an interesting theory about the one who waits wanting Vaelin's body/ It's as good an idea as anything I can come up with.
Rob wrote: "Hmm. I hadn't thought the scars to be specific runes. That would make more sense though."I don't think they're called runes. But it's the pattern of the scars that grant control to those who know how - they weren't just random cuts.
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So the assassin woman drinks the dead man's blood and gains his fire magic. I wonder if Frentis will get a bit of fire magic seeing he got a a small taste as well.
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I also didn't pick up on the fire magic thing. That makes some things make way more sense. Yet another readfail (or I guess listenfail) on my part.
Rob wrote: "I'm still confused by that. Who is he? At first I thought another "taken" person, but now I'm not sure."I'm thinking it might have been Frentis' predecessor - maybe he was a slave assassin too?
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She did mention something about him letting his body grow old, and he said that she was still holding onto the same shell... I'm imagining that they're both body hoppers of some type, who also have the ability to prolong their own lives. /beginrant
I'm not a fan of the blood song getting Vaelin to do things that go against his nature and better judgement. Consider the following:
When the king tells him to become Tower Lord, he clearly doesn't want to, clearly knows that he can just walk away with no consequence, clearly has other means of getting where he wants to go and doing what he wants to do... but he accepts, because the
Same thing with Reva. She tried to kill him. She isn't directly helping him with his apparent number one goal of saving Frentis... and yet, the
I'm fine with fate conspiring to land our hero where he needs to go or with strange traveling partners, but this felt a little heavy handed. Give me a clever series of Rube Goldberg-like events over magic that just tells someone where to go and what to do for the sake of the story any day.
I also miss the framing story (Vaelin telling his tale to the guy on the boat) that the last book had. Having multiple points of view is great and all, but that was well done, and I'm sad to see it go.
/endrant
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I guess how he uses the blood song to drive the plot just doesn't bother me like it does you Sky.
And Riva was my favorite character.
I'm also glad the framing story was different. It wouldn't work for the story being told in this book imho.
But I loved this book, and will probably be less sensitive to its flaws as a result.
Sky wrote: "She did mention something about him letting his body grow old, and he said that she was still holding onto the same shell... "Yeah - that would suggest he was a body hopper.
I also miss the framing story, but I'm still enjoying the four POVs as well. I think Dan Simmons did a similar thing with Hyperion where he has a frame story for the first book which gets abandoned in the second book/half.
So looks like that bit of blood he got off the dead man has made him start growing resistance to being controlled. He lets the Hope's wife(?) and son go in spite of the compulsion.
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It also seems that it was indeed the plan for the "parasites" to take Vaelin - though they seem to have given up on that plan now.
Strong start. Vaelin is still badass, although everything important he does is dictated by his 'Blood Song' which is lazy writing imo. Frentis' parts have been disappointing. His being controlled by the 'woman' is like Vaelin's Blood Song only worse, he's done virtually nothing on his own initiative throughout the entire section. Reva's a really cool and complicated character. I didn't expect to like her but she's won me over. Psyched to see Lyrna POV's, one of my favourite characters in book 1. I'm really not liking the Volarian empire as the villains. A generic evil empire who seem to exist only to invade the heroes kingdom and be obsessed with slavery. I miss the complex moral and political situation of the war against the Alpiran empire in book 1. Also, it turns out that the 'Hope' was really a wanker. That's disappointing, I always considered his death at the hands of Vaelin a really poignant image and a really cool illustration of the moral ambiguity of the war.
The new POV system has slowed the plot down a bit but I'm enjoying it. Maybe if I went straight from book 1 to this one the change would have been more jarring. I don't think I've ever seen a change in the plot structure like this between books in a series before. I guess the success of Blood Song kind of caught Ryan out and he hadn't really planned this far ahead.
Sky wrote: "She did mention something about him letting his body grow old, and he said that she was still holding onto the same shell... I'm imagining that they're both body hoppers of some type, who also have..."Nice post. I was going to discuss this but you've covered it more eloquently than I would have.
I'm still in Chapter 3, so I am not going to read the posts above but have some general questions, not sure if they will be explained later or I missed something along the way:It seems the power they control frentis with is the same power Sella had, once you touch someone they are under your control?
What is the significance of the scars on frentis and his new owner? At first i thought they controlled him through the scars, but it seems like it may not be the case? He said he got snatched by shaking hands with a volarian after disarming him
So Volaria is off to the right of Alperia, they were hanging around when the Realm invaded Alperia in BS and snatched up Frentis?
The historian in the intro was captured by Volarians during some future Volarian invasion of the Realm, but in the first few chapters we are back in the past when Vaelin first returned to the Realm?
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The control of Frentis and his scars was never really explained to my satisfaction.
And yeah, I think there are some flashbacks from the interludes like the last book.
Conor wrote: "Strong start. Vaelin is still badass, although everything important he does is dictated by his 'Blood Song' which is lazy writing imo. Frentis' parts have been disappointing. His being controlled b..."As much as I ragged on this first section because of the kind of heavy-handed use of the blood song, I ended up enjoying the book as a whole very much. If the first section had been handled a little bit more elegantly, it would have gotten 5 stars from me for sure.
I'm with you on the Volarian empire, though. A little bit too evil-for-evil's-sake. No delusions that they were making these peoples' lives better by taking over, no moral compulsion to bring them to the "true" religion, just evil. Even their super-elite emotionless soldiers were never all that interesting, since any of the main characters could kill approximately a bazillion of them without really breaking a sweat.
Bad guys are definitely more fun when they have a legitimate reason for thinking that they're the good guys.
Sky wrote: "At first i thought they controlled him through the scars, but it seems like it may not be the case? He said he got snatched by shaking hands with a volarian after disarming him"The scars are like runes which someone with the magical know-how can activate - that's how I thought of it. The woman controlling Frentis had matching scars if you remember from when she fought him naked in the slave pit. I thought this implied that she could also be controlled, or maybe had been controlled similarly in the past.
Sky wrote: "Conor wrote: "Strong start. Vaelin is still badass, although everything important he does is dictated by his 'Blood Song' which is lazy writing imo. Frentis' parts have been disappointing. His bein..." I'm a massive fan of villains with redeeming qualities. One of the things I loved so much about book 1 was the war with the Alpiran empire. I've hardly ever seen a situation in fantasy where the 'good guys' were invading another country. It was a complex, realistic political situation that wasn't just good vs. evil. I've only just started part 2 of TL but it seems that the main conflict is going to be a really generic, black and white 'evil empire invading good feudal kingdom' bit. I'm still really enjoying it though.
Finally finished part 1.Yeah still confused on how Frentis is controlled - The runes, or by touch. There was a quote in the book about him coming under the influence of the Volarians after getting touched, but his runes do burn when her will is getting imposed on him. One-eye had the power to immobilize Vaelin though Vaelin had no runes. But I guess immobilization is different than control.
So the assassin lady can inherit the gifts of those she kills and drinks their blood...Now she has 2 (or 3?)...Blood Song, shoot fire, and control of Frentis, though maybe this is not a power like Sella's if it is based on the carvings on his body.
Who is this Ally dude? Is he the "He" the one who waits mentions in BS? Do all, including assassin lady and one who waits, serve the Ally? Or are the Ally and One Who Waits the same person? It seems the assassin lady has rebelled against the Ally, after serving him for many years? Who boarded the boat Vernier was on before the breaching of Altus? The One Who Waits has possessed Reva's sister, that seems clear. The whole ally/one who waits/He thing confuses me as to who the actual players are, but its entirely fascinating
What is this seed the old man left with Frentis? Will it eventually break his bond to the assassin, or give him fire magic as well? Since powers are passed down by blood, he didnt drink the blood but getting it smeared on him seems enough to plant some small power that will grow. It seems to be healing his scars so if his scars heal and it breaks the control that might answer that question.
The women in the book really like to ravage their men in bed...The Lornak, the assassin. All except for Lyrna who apparently is a virgin. Seems kind of like typical male POV writing but then I'm not complaining.
I was a little sad the see Reva and Vaelin split ways, their interaction was really cute.
One aspect of the books I am enjoying is Vaelin learning his whole faith is a lie, Reva becoming slowly becoming similarly disenchanted. Its pretty cool to see. I wonder if there is a real "god" or religion in this mythos or they all have it wrong?
POV switching always seems to slow a book down somewhat, but I do like getting to read more of Reva and Lyrna and see things from their POV. Frentis as others pointed out not as much since nothing he does is of his own free will, but i still find this sub-plot intriguing. Interested to see how it will develop.
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And I think you got the name wrong Riva doesn't have a sister/ I assume you mean Dortea or whatever the woman with Lyrna is.
Rob wrote: "I took the allies to be the lady controlling Frentis, the guy controlling Barkus in the last book. I assumed they are working for the One Who Waits. But others seem to think ally is just another na..."yeah, sorry....The sister of the Lonak woman with Lyrna was controlled by OWW (or the witch's son, depending on if they are the same or diff people).
1) Someone can inhabit peoples bodies. In BS when Barkus was talking, he talked of another "He" in the beyond, that reaped eternal pain on those that displease him. So I am not even clear if the witch's son from the fairy tale that is running rampant possessing people is OWW, or works for OWW
2) The assassin lady is working on a list, which i believe was given to her by the Ally. She doesnt seem to be as under direct control by the ally as she once was. She seems about ready to go her separate ways once the list is done. She alluded to working for him in the past, together with the old man she killed + took the fire gift from
Not sure where I am going here, but I guess I feel that if the Ally is the same person as the OWW, then the OWW is not the same as the witch's son, the person inhabiting Barkus. This person seems a little more sadistic/vindictive, not so much the planning long game type I get the impression the Ally is.
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I think he's different from TOWW.
Yeah, I agree the are most likely not all one and the same.Hopefully this gets sorted out in the rest of TL and we dont have to wait for book 3!
So now there is not only The Ally but Messengers as well??? well I guess that goes in part 2 and i'll have to wait until I finish that section.
Been a while since I read this but IIRC it was the demon(?) thing that possessed Barkus throughout the previous book, now in possession of someone else and still in the service of The One Who Waits (caps to show how evil that entity is).
So I'm thinking that the woman with Frentis will eventually inhabit Lyrna. Then she will kill her brother and become Queen of Fire and force Vaelin to marry her, thus fulfilling prophecy (and the next book's title). Although she loves Frentis so much right now I assume he dies at some point which makes me really sad, maybe willst killing Lyrna's brother. Really enjoying this book, much more than Blood Song so far.
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Please keep all discussion and speculation to the events of the chapters of Part 1.
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