≫ Read Queen of Fire A Raven Shadow Novel Book 3 eBook Anthony Ryan

Queen of Fire A Raven Shadow Novel Book 3 eBook Anthony Ryan

Download As PDF : Queen of Fire A Raven Shadow Novel Book 3 eBook Anthony Ryan

Queen of Fire A Raven Shadow Novel Book 3 eBook Anthony Ryan

If I had to describe Queen of Fire in one sentence it would be: "It was…ok?"

I would rate QOF 2.5 stars if possible, but on the strength of my man-crush for Vaelin, I'm bumping it up to three. If I had to guess, most of the "real" reviews will be giving it two stars. And by "real", I mean the reviews with detailed criticisms, and not the upcoming massive flood of one-liners that will be rating it five stars. Let's be clear: This is not a five star novel, but it isn't a one star novel either. I would say mostly twos and threes. Which of course is a PROFOUND disappointment! Like many of you, I fell in love with Blood Song. It still remains the best novel I've ever read. It is the standard to which I compare other fantasy novels and almost all of them fall short.

Anyway, I loathe spoilers so I'll try to stay away from anything major. In fact, I'm not going to go into many plot specifics at all. This is simply an honest opinion from someone who knows nothing about what it takes to write a novel or write a thorough review.

One of the major problems from Tower Lord resurfaces here in Queen of Fire, and that's the complete and utter lack of character development. It's essentially non-existent, which is a great shame because that's one of the things AR did so well in Blood Song. After 100 pages in Blood Song, who would have thought that pompous jerk Nortah would have turned into the man he eventually became? But we watched it unfold through Vaelin's eyes and it was 100% believable (I picked Nortah because he's an easy example, but anyone will do). There's none of that in Tower Lord, and it's even worse in Queen of Fire.

And it's this lack of character development that ultimately led me to the sad realization that I simply didn't care about most of the newer characters. There are so many side characters that I have a hard time remembering them all. Unless your name is Vaelin, Frentis, or a few others, I just didn't care what happened to you.

It's almost as if I was in the middle of a cruel joke: I had to read page after page of our POV characters interacting with all these indistinguishable side characters who speak with the same voice and have no traits to set themselves apart from one another, while the ones I do care about (Nortah, Caenis, the Aspects, etc), receive little to no screen time. And when they do, their personalities are a shell of what they once were! Especially Sollis. The Sollis I read about in TL/QOF felt like a completely different Sollis than the one in Blood Song, and that's such a shame. And Reva! Ugh, how I hated reading her chapters. Everything about her is contrived and unbelievable, and I found myself skimming every time I saw her name. The "development" we saw from her was an insult to the work put into crafting the characters in Blood Song. At least there was less of her in QOF compared to TL.

I have other criticisms, but to write about them would be to reveal major plot spoilers, which I don't want to do. Suffice it to say that I find it very annoying that characters with unique "gifts" can be created straight from deux ex machina land simply to advance the plot.

I'm being pretty brutal. Look, there were definitely some things I liked. AR is a very skilled writer, and even with all these criticisms, I still enjoyed reading QOF. He's just beginning his writing career and he has so much room for growth. I've read many fantasy novels and his writing is above average compared to others. I truly am excited about reading his future novels. And what he DIDN'T do in QOF is just as important as what he did do. There aren't any shocking character deaths. Yes a few characters die, but he didn't pull a GRRM on us. And we do get a sense of resolution after the climax. There aren't too many unfinished plot threads. Sure there's a setup for a future installment which will annoy some readers, but I didn't find it a big deal.

Another bright spot for me was Verniers. I LOVED reading his POV. Why? Well, say what you want about the guy, but when you're reading his POV, you know it's his POV. Blood Song was so strong because each character had a distinct "feel". But as I discussed previously, that "feel" all but vanished in TL/QOF. Verniers was one of the few exceptions, and that's why I enjoyed his character so much. The dude had personality. The new mental connection between Frentis and his former master was enjoyable to read as well.

Also, I'm sure many will disagree, but I enjoyed reading about the Ally and his origins (you will learn everything you want to know). Without going into spoilers, I thought it was entertaining how Vaelin got the Ally to reveal himself. And I enjoyed the role a certain ageless character had to play in all of it. But unfortunately with that praise, comes another criticism. I found the Ally and his motives very….weak? We spent all this time reading about the buildup and then…this is why you're causing death and destruction? That's it? Come on man!

Wow, I am rambling. Let's sum this up:

TL:DR - If you didn't enjoy Tower Lord, you probably won't enjoy Queen of Fire, as many of the same issues that plagued the second novel still exist in the third. And while TL/QOF don't even come close to Blood Song, the finale was…ok. It could have been worse and it's better than a lot of what's out there.

On the strength of Blood Song alone, I will gobble up anything Anthony Ryan releases in the future in the hopes of seeing him return to his former glory.


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Queen of Fire A Raven Shadow Novel Book 3 eBook Anthony Ryan Reviews

Classic example of someone who had the world by balls(with Blood Song) and frittered away perhaps his only chance at long term fame.

I won’t go into the issues. There has been enough said on the multiple POV structure and loss of character development which has been the most annoying part of books 2 & 3.

I will save my critique for Ryan and the publisher.

If it was indeed Penguin that moved Ryan off his winning style from the first book I can see the following scene after a few years of complete obscurity for Ryan.

Ryan talking to a guy in a trench coat and fedora in the back of a Cadillac.

“Whyja make me do it Pen, it was my day, I coulda had class…… I coulda bin a contenda……I coulda been sumbody……………instead of a bum”

Pen’s response “It’s all about the money Anthony…it’s always all about the money”
I rarely post reviews, so I don't know the etiquette regarding potential spoilers. So, if anyone actually reads this, proceed at your own peril!

I was very disappointed in Queen of Fire. Blood Song was a very good story, centered around a very compelling character in Vaelin. We met him as a young child and accompanied him as he grew to adulthood. We watched him learn of his gift and saw his awareness and control over it steadily evolve even into the second book, Tower Lord.

After a book and a half spent developing the power and scope of Vaelin's gift, can I be blamed for thinking the author was building it up for some major plot purpose? But, no, instead we read how Vaelin essentially burned out his gift by over-using it in one battle. Even then, his use of it didn't seem to have very major impact -- he pretty much used it to break an opening through a battle line and then, with the aid of several thousand warriors, he fought to the center of the city to rescue his "sister" Reva. Kind of neat, I guess, but other characters throughout the second and third books seemed able to do as well without any gift at all. Reva, Frentis, Davoka, Rensial -- all seemed invincible in fighting no matter the odds. Same as Vaelin.

But Vaelin's gift was so essential a component of the first two books, I felt certain he would regain his powers in the final book. I kept waiting for one of the mystical people he met along the way, in particular the shaman Wise Bear, to restore his gift. Never happens. Much is made over Vaelin being the Raven's Shadow of ancient prophecy, come to save the Wolf people of the Ice. But what does he do for them? Arrange battle lines and not much more. Vaelin becomes an afterthought to the plot in the third book, even showing up late to rescue Reva the second time around.

There are plenty of other plot holes, some hastily patched and some not, in an effort to wrap up the story. In sum, a trilogy that started with a bang ended with a whimper. I haven't been this disappointed in how a promising first book fizzled into drivel since reading Terry Goodkind's "Wizard's First Rule" series (the only book series to date that I sincerely regret finishing).
If I had to describe Queen of Fire in one sentence it would be "It was…ok?"

I would rate QOF 2.5 stars if possible, but on the strength of my man-crush for Vaelin, I'm bumping it up to three. If I had to guess, most of the "real" reviews will be giving it two stars. And by "real", I mean the reviews with detailed criticisms, and not the upcoming massive flood of one-liners that will be rating it five stars. Let's be clear This is not a five star novel, but it isn't a one star novel either. I would say mostly twos and threes. Which of course is a PROFOUND disappointment! Like many of you, I fell in love with Blood Song. It still remains the best novel I've ever read. It is the standard to which I compare other fantasy novels and almost all of them fall short.

Anyway, I loathe spoilers so I'll try to stay away from anything major. In fact, I'm not going to go into many plot specifics at all. This is simply an honest opinion from someone who knows nothing about what it takes to write a novel or write a thorough review.

One of the major problems from Tower Lord resurfaces here in Queen of Fire, and that's the complete and utter lack of character development. It's essentially non-existent, which is a great shame because that's one of the things AR did so well in Blood Song. After 100 pages in Blood Song, who would have thought that pompous jerk Nortah would have turned into the man he eventually became? But we watched it unfold through Vaelin's eyes and it was 100% believable (I picked Nortah because he's an easy example, but anyone will do). There's none of that in Tower Lord, and it's even worse in Queen of Fire.

And it's this lack of character development that ultimately led me to the sad realization that I simply didn't care about most of the newer characters. There are so many side characters that I have a hard time remembering them all. Unless your name is Vaelin, Frentis, or a few others, I just didn't care what happened to you.

It's almost as if I was in the middle of a cruel joke I had to read page after page of our POV characters interacting with all these indistinguishable side characters who speak with the same voice and have no traits to set themselves apart from one another, while the ones I do care about (Nortah, Caenis, the Aspects, etc), receive little to no screen time. And when they do, their personalities are a shell of what they once were! Especially Sollis. The Sollis I read about in TL/QOF felt like a completely different Sollis than the one in Blood Song, and that's such a shame. And Reva! Ugh, how I hated reading her chapters. Everything about her is contrived and unbelievable, and I found myself skimming every time I saw her name. The "development" we saw from her was an insult to the work put into crafting the characters in Blood Song. At least there was less of her in QOF compared to TL.

I have other criticisms, but to write about them would be to reveal major plot spoilers, which I don't want to do. Suffice it to say that I find it very annoying that characters with unique "gifts" can be created straight from deux ex machina land simply to advance the plot.

I'm being pretty brutal. Look, there were definitely some things I liked. AR is a very skilled writer, and even with all these criticisms, I still enjoyed reading QOF. He's just beginning his writing career and he has so much room for growth. I've read many fantasy novels and his writing is above average compared to others. I truly am excited about reading his future novels. And what he DIDN'T do in QOF is just as important as what he did do. There aren't any shocking character deaths. Yes a few characters die, but he didn't pull a GRRM on us. And we do get a sense of resolution after the climax. There aren't too many unfinished plot threads. Sure there's a setup for a future installment which will annoy some readers, but I didn't find it a big deal.

Another bright spot for me was Verniers. I LOVED reading his POV. Why? Well, say what you want about the guy, but when you're reading his POV, you know it's his POV. Blood Song was so strong because each character had a distinct "feel". But as I discussed previously, that "feel" all but vanished in TL/QOF. Verniers was one of the few exceptions, and that's why I enjoyed his character so much. The dude had personality. The new mental connection between Frentis and his former master was enjoyable to read as well.

Also, I'm sure many will disagree, but I enjoyed reading about the Ally and his origins (you will learn everything you want to know). Without going into spoilers, I thought it was entertaining how Vaelin got the Ally to reveal himself. And I enjoyed the role a certain ageless character had to play in all of it. But unfortunately with that praise, comes another criticism. I found the Ally and his motives very….weak? We spent all this time reading about the buildup and then…this is why you're causing death and destruction? That's it? Come on man!

Wow, I am rambling. Let's sum this up

TLDR - If you didn't enjoy Tower Lord, you probably won't enjoy Queen of Fire, as many of the same issues that plagued the second novel still exist in the third. And while TL/QOF don't even come close to Blood Song, the finale was…ok. It could have been worse and it's better than a lot of what's out there.

On the strength of Blood Song alone, I will gobble up anything Anthony Ryan releases in the future in the hopes of seeing him return to his former glory.