[SPOILERS] Tower Lord: Book 2 of Raven's Shadow

[john]

I finished it. It was pretty good. Certainly didn't enjoy it as much as the first one.

The format - I can't really see the need for the change. It would have worked perfectly well again with Vaelin telling his story to Verniers in Alltor and you could have had him include a few chapters from Lyrna and Frentis to fill in the blanks. Reva wasn't even necessary as a pov. It's like Ryan wanted to write a traditional multiple pov fantasy but he didn't have the time or couldn't be bothered making it work when he was self publishing so he just wrote a straight forward story about one guy instead. Then abandoned that to go back to his original idea.

I did enjoy Reva but she was far too skilled far too quickly. She hadn't even used a sword at the beginning and she's cutting down multiple Kuritai who've trained for it since birth by the end? Maybe she has some kind of gift too, or really is blessed by the Father.

We didn't really find out much more about the rift between Caenis and Vaelin. From the first book it seemed like he was gonna be a main adversary but maybe that's still to come.

And is Lyrna supposed to be totally healed now? How's she going to be the Queen of Fire if she's not burned any more? It also seemed like Weaver was saving up his healing for that moment so where is he getting his guidance from?

[Mexal]

All good questions on Lyrna. No idea. Also, good points on Caenis/Vaelin. I thought that was a missed opportunity. With all the focus on Reva/Frentis, we really missed out on what could have been a very interesting subplot with Caenis/Vaelin. I do think it'll be picked up in the third book since they're all traveling together to Varinshold and likely into Volaria/Alpiran Empire. This is when the story likely picks up on the threads hinted at in book 1 and everything converges. Book 2 really did have a middle book feel.

As for Reva, I agree she got too skilled too quickly but we see that all the time in fantasy. She obviously had been trained since a very young age in a harsh environment, similar to what the brothers went through in the order house. It wasn't as extensive, but she was clearly already very skilled with the knife and in hand to hand. It's not a terrible stretch that because her instincts were already honed, that introducing another weapon wouldn't take her that long to pick up, especially when facing Vaelin every day/night for weeks on end.

[Corvinus85]

I finished it. It was pretty good. Certainly didn't enjoy it as much as the first one.

The format - I can't really see the need for the change. It would have worked perfectly well again with Vaelin telling his story to Verniers in Alltor and you could have had him include a few chapters from Lyrna and Frentis to fill in the blanks. Reva wasn't even necessary as a pov. It's like Ryan wanted to write a traditional multiple pov fantasy but he didn't have the time or couldn't be bothered making it work when he was self publishing so he just wrote a straight forward story about one guy instead. Then abandoned that to go back to his original idea.

I did enjoy Reva but she was far too skilled far too quickly. She hadn't even used a sword at the beginning and she's cutting down multiple Kuritai who've trained for it since birth by the end? Maybe she has some kind of gift too, or really is blessed by the Father.

We didn't really find out much more about the rift between Caenis and Vaelin. From the first book it seemed like he was gonna be a main adversary but maybe that's still to come.

And is Lyrna supposed to be totally healed now? How's she going to be the Queen of Fire if she's not burned any more? It also seemed like Weaver was saving up his healing for that moment so where is he getting his guidance from?

All good questions on Lyrna. No idea. Also, good points on Caenis/Vaelin. I thought that was a missed opportunity. With all the focus on Reva/Frentis, we really missed out on what could have been a very interesting subplot with Caenis/Vaelin. I do think it'll be picked up in the third book since they're all traveling together to Varinshold and likely into Volaria/Alpiran Empire. This is when the story likely picks up on the threads hinted at in book 1 and everything converges. Book 2 really did have a middle book feel.

As for Reva, I agree she got too skilled too quickly but we see that all the time in fantasy. She obviously had been trained since a very young age in a harsh environment, similar to what the brothers went through in the order house. It wasn't as extensive, but she was clearly already very skilled with the knife and in hand to hand. It's not a terrible stretch that because her instincts were already honed, that introducing another weapon wouldn't take her that long to pick up, especially when facing Vaelin every day/night for weeks on end.

I pretty much agree with both of you on the Caenis/Vaelin relationship.

Another missed opportunity I think deals with the Northern Reaches. There is still a lot of mystery there, and considering the book title, I would have hoped to see more of Vaelin being the Tower Lord; more about the Seventh Order, more about the gifted. And though the reveal that the Horde is really just running from the Volarians was fine with me, I fully expected to see a battle in the Northern Reaches with the Volarians. Alas, it did not happen.

[Mudguard]

I also liked Tower Lord, but not as much as the first book. Of the new POVs, I liked Lyrna's the most. I also agree with others that having Reva become a sword master and bow master over the course of several months was way to quick. Maybe it would have been better for the priest to have trained her in everything. It's not like she would have had a chance to kill Vaelin with full training anyway.

I'm not sure how everything can be wrapped up in one more book. Is this still supposed to be a trilogy? Taking the fight to the Volarians and defeating the Ally seems like a lot to squeeze into one more book. We still don't even really know much about the Ally at this point. The Hope's wife and the Alpirans have been set up to be allies against the Volarians and the Ally, and that storyline seems like it will need quite a bit of time to develop.

I didn't make a connection until the end of the book, but I think Lady Veliss is the whore used by Janus in book 1 as a spy and that Vaelin let go. If this is the case, I wonder what significance that will have in the next book.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

What happened to Sister Sherin ? Did Ryan maybe kill her off-stage ? :P IIRC,not a single mention of her in Book 2 .

What a great book! I was wondering are we going to see more of sherin in the next book?

Anthony RyanJuly 11th, 2014 at 8:24 am

Wouldn’t count on it .

[john]

I didn't make a connection until the end of the book, but I think Lady Veliss is the whore used by Janus in book 1 as a spy and that Vaelin let go. If this is the case, I wonder what significance that will have in the next book.

I wondered about this too, I even searched for that scene in the first book. I'm not sure it's the case though, they seem different and neither Veliss or Vaelin mentions anything about it. Does seem a bit odd having two such similar characters though.

What happened to Sister Sherin ? Did Ryan maybe kill her off-stage ? :P IIRC,not a single mention of her in Book 2 .

She is mentioned. Vaelin looked for her with his song. She was sad for a while then she met another guy. Last time he checked she was happy and he didn't check again. Looks like the Lyrna/Vaelin relationship is going to be pushed in the next book.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

She is mentioned. Vaelin looked for her with his song. She was sad for a while then she met another guy. Last time he checked she was happy and he didn't check again. Looks like the Lyrna/Vaelin relationship is going to be pushed in the next book.

ah, what i actually meant to say was that apart from reaching out to her via his 'Song',no direct or even indirect confirmation about what happened to her via other characters etc. So most probably written out of the story as i think Vaelin will most likely die in the last book.Of course i could be totally wrong but i feel like he's not going to survive.

[Mudguard]

I wondered about this too, I even searched for that scene in the first book. I'm not sure it's the case though, they seem different and neither Veliss or Vaelin mentions anything about it. Does seem a bit odd having two such similar characters though.

I also wondered why there wasn't any mention of her trying to avoid Vaelin as well. Maybe Vaelin was so out of it at the end that he didn't notice her, so it wasn't mentioned from his POV. But the line at the end about Veliss avoiding Lyrna's gaze made it seem like she was trying to avoid recognition. That's what triggered me to look up the previous scene.

There's not that much physical description of both characters, but what little there is matches up. Both are buxom and talk with a rough accent, and both are very intelligent. I think the hair color might be different, but the hair color of the prostitute/spy was described as dyed so it could have be any color naturally.

Veliss mentions that she used to be a prostitute but something happened in her past that forced her to leave Varinshold, which lines up with how the spy had to leave in Blood Song. The spy had nobles as clients, so it's not surprising that the spy would know Reva's uncle. There seems to be too many similarities to be a coincidence.

[Gaston de Foix]

Strengths of the book include pacing and reasonably good character development; I liked the depiction of Malcius as King.

Weaknesses include no summaries or refreshers (I was struggling to keep the Lonak and the Seordah Sil and all the rest distinctly pictured in my mind and the Cumbraelin characters had all been forgotton) very little links to the original story (after the reveal of the identity of the Aspect of the Seventh Order, I went back to Book 1 to find clues I overlooked, but nada), the disappearance of Sister Sherin, and Reva's super duper fighting skills.

Also it was kind of hinted that Lyrna was going to learn magic after Vaelin told her about the tale of One Eye, to become the Queen of Fire, but she did precisely nothing with that information.

All in all, Tower Lord is a bad title for a book that had significant strengths and was more polished than the first book, but lacked the flair and addictiveness of the original.

[Faint]

What is the deal with Frentis' "wife"? Is she the sister that Lyrna was told she would not want to meet?

[john]

What is the deal with Frentis' "wife"? Is she the sister that Lyrna was told she would not want to meet?

Yeah, she must be. The evilest of the three creatures the Ally has doing his bidding. She also seems to have the long lifespan that the Volarian red coats get, unlike her siblings. And she has the blood song, whether that was her gift when she died or just the gift of the shell she took over I don't think we know. Vaelin also spoke to her in his little room after he "died."

All in all, Tower Lord is a bad title for a book that had significant strengths and was more polished than the first book, but lacked the flair and addictiveness of the original.

Good summary.

[Faint]

Yeah, she must be. The evilest of the three creatures the Ally has doing his bidding. She also seems to have the long lifespan that the Volarian red coats get, unlike her siblings. And she has the blood song, whether that was her gift when she died or just the gift of the shell she took over I don't think we know. Vaelin also spoke to her in his little room after he "died."

See, it was much too long since I read the first book in the series, so now I'm confused about several points relating to the villains in the series.

I really need to re-read the first book but here are the questions that continue to puzzle me:

What distinguishes One-Eye from Frentis' "wife" and the general's wife from either of them?

Is the Ally the witch's bastard? Or was that the thing that was Barkus?

Who was the man who visited the general and his wife on their ship?

What is the relationship of the siblings (i.e., two brothers and the sister) to the Ally?

Was the thing that was Dakova's sister one and the same as the thing that was Barkus?

[The Flayed Men]

Absolutely loved the book but I agree it did take a fair while to get going. Was also glad to see Ryan not going down GRRM's route of seemingly making bad things happen for the sake of it, which is what I thought was going to happen when Lyrna first got taken!

However one thing I cant figure out is who is the 'foul smelling man' from the first two Verniers chapters? He isn't mentioned after the second Verniers Account, and I thought he was going to play a pivotal role in the book when Vaelin arrived at Alltor but, 'poof' no mention of him at all. Have I missed something or has this been bothering others as well?

Would also be interesting to see if Vaelin recovers his 'song' in the third book as this is essentially the only reason he is so important to the realm and without it he's basically another man

[Corvinus85]

See, it was much too long since I read the first book in the series, so now I'm confused about several points relating to the villains in the series.

I really need to re-read the first book but here are the questions that continue to puzzle me:

What distinguishes One-Eye from Frentis' "wife" and the general's wife from either of them?

One-Eye was possessed by the Witch's bastard. He and presumably the "wife" are Departed that belong to the Ally. The general's wife, and also the general, too, seem to have gained some form of prolonged life through a deal with the Ally

Is the Ally the witch's bastard? Or was that the thing that was Barkus?

No, see above. The witch's bastard was Barkus. The witch's bastard seems to have a certain hatred for Vaelin, probably because of his foiled plans during the attack on the Aspects in the first book

Who was the man who visited the general and his wife on their ship?

My guess is it was the witch's bastard. He asked info about Vaelin, and as I said above, he seems to hate Vaelin.

What is the relationship of the siblings (i.e., two brothers and the sister) to the Ally?

Don't know. This has only been revealed in this book. Also, I don't really think they are siblings in the traditional sense. They were all gifted people, who gave themselves to the Ally at one point in time.

Was the thing that was Dakova's sister one and the same as the thing that was Barkus?

She was the weaker of the three siblings, capable of only possessing women. This is according to the Mahleesa (spelling?) And speaking of the High Priestess of the Lonak, she too seems to be a spirit that possess people, but she is probably an enemy of the Ally.

[The Flayed Men]

Is the Ally the witch's bastard? Or was that the thing that was Barkus?

Was the thing that was Dakova's sister one and the same as the thing that was Barkus?

Unfortunately I think I can only answer a couple of your questions, the thing that infested Barkus is one of 3 siblings who are in service to the Ally (unsure as to why though), the other two are the one in Davoka's sister and Frentis' 'companion' (I think, not 100% sure on this though). The thing in Davoka's sister is the youngest and weakest of the three, only being able to occupy a single body at a time, the one that was in Barkus is the next most powerful, being able to occupy multiple bodies over a very long period of time. Finally the Volarian assassin (if she is one of them) is the most powerful, I believe the Mahleesa states this when Lyrna meets her.

There's obviously a lot going on behind the scenes in the books that has yet to be revealed

[ljkeane]

Yeah, she must be. The evilest of the three creatures the Ally has doing his bidding. She also seems to have the long lifespan that the Volarian red coats get, unlike her siblings. And she has the blood song, whether that was her gift when she died or just the gift of the shell she took over I don't think we know. Vaelin also spoke to her in his little room after he "died."

I don't think that's necessarily the case is it? It seems like she was one of the Volarian upper class who've been given a significantly extended lifespan through their deal with the Ally if her father was a Volarian general. She might just happen to be gifted as well.

[Faint]

I think it a pretty fair assumption that the man that visited the general and his wife is one and the same thing as whatever possessed Barkus. And, if I remember correctly, that makes him the Witch's bastard -- and "One-Eye" if Corvinus is correct.

The confusion I have is whether he is one of the three siblings. The Flayed Man claims he is but I am not exactly sure about this. If he is, I suppose that makes him the older "brother."

And the more I ponder the issue, I do not think Frentis' "wife" is the sister. It just does not fit with what we know about her, although I could be wrong.

So, to recap, I suppose it goes something like this:

Ally

|
|

Older Brother (Witch's Basard/Barkus/One-Eye/'Foul Smelling Man') --- Sister --- Younger Brother (Dakova's Sister)

|

|

Frentis' "Wife" -- The General's Wife -- Other Volarians

Everyone is free to tell me differently, I just want to get a better picture of things, although either way it looks like I am going to be forced to re-read the first book.

[The Flayed Men]

And the more I ponder the issue, I do not think Frentis' "wife" is the sister. It just does not fit with what we know about her, although I could be wro

Just re-read the last Vaelin Chapter after he has passed out im pretty sure the woman he meets in the cell is the Volarian Assassin ( she says 'tell your brother he could kill me a thousand times over and nothing would change'). So this suggests that she is not one of the siblings as she is in some form or another trapped in the beyond which I doubt would happen to the siblings as they are the Allies 'minions' as it were in the real world

[trickster]

See, it was much too long since I read the first book in the series, so now I'm confused about several points relating to the villains in the series.

I really need to re-read the first book but here are the questions that continue to puzzle me:

What distinguishes One-Eye from Frentis' "wife" and the general's wife from either of them?

Is the Ally the witch's bastard? Or was that the thing that was Barkus?

Who was the man who visited the general and his wife on their ship?

What is the relationship of the siblings (i.e., two brothers and the sister) to the Ally?

Was the thing that was Dakova's sister one and the same as the thing that was Barkus?

The ally is an old entity, "the one who waits". A gifted from the past, much older than the three siblings.

The general, his wife and some of the bigwigs of Volarian empire have long life spans, probably a gift from the ally. They do not necessarily have to be gifted imo.

The three siblings are

Frentis' "wife" : I think she may have been occupying that body for a long time. She is the sister that you don't want to meet. She was the woman Vaelin talks to in the Beyond.

Witch's bastard: occupies Barkus, One-eye, Reva's father, the assassin's Vaelin foils at the hold of the Fifth Order in book 1. I think he is the man who visited the ship.

Davoka's sister: appears to be the weakest one.

The Lonak high priestess is opposing the ally. See seems to be about as old as the ally. The gifted that heals Frentis before he gets killed had been a minion of the ally like the three siblings imo. But he deserted them and became one of the good guys.

[trickster]

Just re-read the last Vaelin Chapter after he has passed out im pretty sure the woman he meets in the cell is the Volarian Assassin ( she says 'tell your brother he could kill me a thousand times over and nothing would change'). So this suggests that she is not one of the siblings as she is in some form or another trapped in the beyond which I doubt would happen to the siblings as they are the Allies 'minions' as it were in the real world

The ally keeps them there in between body snatching to punish them. She is definitely the sister you don't want to meet.