Book Review: Queen of Fire, by: Anthony Ryan I give Queen of Fire four out of five stars for a large ending to a wonderful series. Ryan has a clear narrative voice, and is a master at constructing battle scenes. I enjoyed the characters in this series and all the adapted myth’s and intersecting alternative histories portrayed. I leave this series content with the answers provided to the many mysteries that bind the Raven’s Shadow trilogy together. Blood Song was a story told from a single point of view, with a beautiful plot arch. Tower Lord expanded the mystery’s found in Blood Song and provided more point of views, and a fast paced engrossing story. Hold onto your mind when you start Queen of Fire, and be prepared for information propelled via fire hose. Game of thrones fans would pass out if they were given a sixteenth of the plot work that Ryan revealed in this one book. It’s not to say I’m one hundred percent happy with the answers given to the many plot questions. I’m merely content. I still want to know where the ancient woman, her husband, and her brother came from. The alien’s, turned demons, turned afterlife power eater, turned creature afraid of hungry things in rocks, was a little much for me. Especially when this was contrasted against the trilogy’s exploration of faith and the afterlife, with cursory looks at real world current and dead spiritual beliefs. This is message fiction with a fractured twist, and it will leave you with less hope than the message fiction of C.S. Lewis. I like books with lots of characters. I also like books that take me to new places, and have battle scenes. I never thought I would complain about a book giving me too much of any of these things, but Queen of Fire was too much. I think Ryan could have pared or combined these elements, or just written more. Written more, yes I know don’t hit me, this is epic fantasy people, and there were times where I swear I caught sight of evidence that an editor’s blade had hacked at Ryan’s brilliance. The well set pace found in the first two books was very off in this one. Anyway more or less would have improved the strength of this book. After awhile I was thinking, “Another tribe? We’re meeting another northern tribe? Haven’t we already covered all the ancient native tribes of Canada and Alaska?” Or “Another battle in the empire? Will this be a battle where key supporting characters get killed?” Battle, after battle, after battle grinding everybody into submission, but with majority of the named characters walking away alive each time, the dramatic effect of the battle scenes wore off. In the end I wanted to get drunk with Norte and yell at Ryan because I too was mad that he killed my cat. Overall the series is a great story, and I can’t wait to see what author Anthony Ryan writes next.

Book Review: Dead in the Water by: Carol Davis

I give this book five out of five stars for being a book you will pick up and freak out if you have to put it down, well defined characters, impeccable dialog, and tale that combines my favorite parts of investigation and the paranormal. The read was refreshingly good with characters making choices you were begging them not to make, and internal drama that overlapped with the ongoing action.

What I loved about this book:

1) The characters were engaging and full of things to love and hate. I liked how the ongoing action brought up thoughts and memories of the past within each character point of view. Each character presented was interesting and the more I learned the more I wanted to know about them.

2) Author Carol Davis has a gift for dialog. There was not a single line that rang as contrived or false. I was laughing along with the internal character thoughts, and chuckling at the banter between the main characters. Both added such a nice layer of authenticity to the relationships.

3) The pacing of the story was spot on. There were nice twists and unexpected revelations as the action progressed. Transitions were well timed, and the various point of views worked well.

This is the first book I’ve read by Davis, and I know I will seek out more of her work in the future. I hope she decides to write more books about the lives and investigations of Terry and Nick, I for sure would be eager to read them.

You can find out more about author Carol Davis and her books HERE.

 

Book Review: Tower Lord (Raven’s Shadow #2) by: Anthony Ryan

I gave this book five out of five stars for amazing characters, a hearty dose of action, and a beautiful balance of fantastic and reality. The focus of Tower Lord expands from the unified realm to cover the different people around the realm as well as a terrifying invading force. It’s an epic journey, and one so interesting you hate to see it end.

What I loved:

1) Strong female characters, they are not troupe laden, and they are not without faults. I feel Ryan takes great care in presenting all of his characters, but it was so refreshing to see the women in his cast were not overlooked.

2) Vaelin Al Sorna’s story continues, and everything gets bigger. I liked the meshing of Vaelin’s narrative with three others. Ryan had a mountain of political and fantastic information to convey and it’s a wonder he pulled it off so well with only four narratives. What happened to Frentis at the end of Blood Song broke my heart, and I was immediately taken by his story when he was reintroduced. Princess Lyrna became an even greater force to be admired and reckoned with, and it was wonderful to see her wits pitted up against physically overpowering situations. Reva had a beautiful character arc and it was lovely to see the connections she made with her family after being forcibly estranged from them.

3) Some of the mysteries from Blood Song are revealed. Of course a few more are added, but Ryan’s proven to his readers that the wait is worth it. I thought I planned better by reading this book right before the release of book three Queen of Fire. I did, the release is only a few weeks away, but it’s going to be a long few weeks for me. I can’t wait to read the third book.