Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Aug 17, 2014 Purple rated it really liked it

I have a love/hate relationship with epic fantasy. The thick volume, the numerous characters, the bl0od and g0re, t0 name a few. M0stly they make me anxious, s0 much so this is just my 5th b0ok in this genre. The three was a series I had painfully finished at varying degrees of anguish, while the other 0ne I couldnt quite c0ntinue because my heart isnt str0ng en0ugh.

Enter the Tower Lord, 2nd b0ok in a series. With four main characters, Reva,Vaelin, Lyrna, and Frentis. It was n0t what I expected. ...more

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Oct 23, 2013 Arushi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: grimdark

There are some books that you think you can put down. That give you the feeling that you are in control, when in truth, you aren't. This is one of those. It took me days to finish The Tower Lord. Not because I could not read it faster, but because I wanted to read each word carefully, understand the implications of it before moving ahead.

Every mention of the past had me wanting to go back and read the Blood Song again. And I probably will. Soon.

This book is again set in a meandering timeline a There are some books that you think you can put down. That give you the feeling that you are in control, when in truth, you aren't. This is one of those. It took me days to finish The Tower Lord. Not because I could not read it faster, but because I wanted to read each word carefully, understand the implications of it before moving ahead.

Every mention of the past had me wanting to go back and read the Blood Song again. And I probably will. Soon.

This book is again set in a meandering timeline and it takes a while to figure it out. The first is Vernier's account. He is a slave now, captured 'somewhere' and part of the siege being laid on Alltor in Cumbrael by the Volarions. Cumbrael - the people who named Vaelin al Sorna the Darkblade - now have a 'Witch' they're rallying to. She is the one who is holding the city against the Volarians.

Then the story starts a few months after it left off from Blood Song. Vaelin Al Sorna has reached his motherland and he wants to do nothing with any of it anymore. Of course, such respite cannot be afforded to one such as him. His fame or infamy, depending on who you ask, comes at a price. And so the King makes him the Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches and Vaelin goes to the North with his sisters - one of his blood and the one that he found long the way.

It is the sister that he found along the way, an assassin who was sent to kill him, and who leaves him long before they reach the North, that is one of the characters that grows the most in this book. Reva.

The other character who grows so much is Princess Lyrna.

The book is truly filled with surprises. Not only in the name of character growth which is there - from Frentis and his merry band, to the Northerners and Vaelin, the Cumbraelins and all the rest, but also in the way the story plays out. From the way Alltor chooses to fight and the how Lyrna rises to the challenge - every single one of them - including finding the Shield.

One of my favorite times in this book is that every time someone realized the Volarians might go North, they all basically had a "I'd like to see that" reaction. Vaelin's reputation, well earned, definitely, is really well spread too. Not to mention, every person who knew Vaelin, knew he would come to Alltor. They knew with absolute conviction that he was on his way and that the Volarians would have hell to pay when he got there.

It is that kind of trust which makes him a person who deserves the loyalty he generates. But with this book, he is not the only one. Lyrna, Reva, Dahrena, Frentis, the Shield, Nortah - one by one - they are people worth looking up to and they are all choosing to stand up for what they believe in and for the people they wish to protect.

This book has built upon the extremely elaborate and solid foundation laid out by the first and I really really look forward to the next one. ...more

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Dec 14, 2019 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Story of the Tower Lord

Book 2 takes a closer look at Lord AL Siena and the lives he has touched.

We meet Reva who has bern beaten and shaped into a weapon to be used in the destruction of AL Soria.

HIS sister a budding artist and a gentle soul .

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Jun 03, 2014 Bianca rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2014

3,5 stars
Took me ages to finish this book, not that it's not a good book, but the death and destruction IRL (MH17 / Gaza) made reading a book with death and destruction hard at times. I wasn't as interested in certain points of view in the story either.
Still 3,5 stars though because I couldn't put the book down in the last 20% and I love Vaelin! I want to read his pov more in the next book. ...more

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Jul 21, 2014 Jesslyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook-whispersync-companion, cat-series-ongoing, audio-book, reviewed, cat-series-not-a-cliffhanger, cat-epic-fantasy, cat-will-reread, z2014-kindle-reads, z2015-kindle-reads, audiobook-great-narration

REREAD 2016: Loved it just as much as the 1st time. I want more from Mr Ryan.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Loved, loved, loved--and shocked that I did. Very much looking forward to the next book in the (what I hope is) a trilogy.

The narrator was quite good--I'll be picking up the print version as well because these books will be on my 'Will Re-read' list. ...more

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