A Time of Dread: 1 (Of Blood & Bone)

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A Time of Dread: 1 (Of Blood & Bone)

A Time of Dread: 1 (Of Blood & Bone)

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Set in the same world as the Faithful and the Fallen quartet, the first novel in John Gwynne's Of Blood and Bone series, A Time of Dread, takes place one hundred years after the end of Wrath. I feel like there are very few gaps in my knowledge about what happened to the individual characters we followed in the first series after they separated from the Ben Elim – that was something I really appreciated. You will also find familiar elements like the Warrior trials, the Shield Wall, the Sword dance, the giants’ Segul, Wolven… (the mention of these names alone made me tear up inconsolably! Just from looking at the cover, it’s quite obvious there is a huge contrast between Gwynne’s debut, Malice, and A Time of Dread. From the first book of Malice through to this gem, it is hard to believe that John's skill at writing has become stronger and even more fluid.

So series extensions usually means taking a huge risk, because if you as an author messed up the extension, it would mess the original series too which sucks! disclaimer: this series is a spin-off to The Faithful and the Fallen Series by John Gwynne – be warned if you haven’t read that this review will spoil you on that series and nothing I say will make any sense to you.Yes Riv is very annoying but her POV contains most of what is going on at Drassil which is integral to the story, though it is expanded upon with Belda's. It is, on some level, a book that treats the reader gently, even as it carries them through scenes both tragic and triumphant. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. There was also less humor and relief, for this is indeed a time of dread, with nothing except the bittersweet, warm memories and the unbreakable family links to alleviate the darkness.

This isn't the book where you put it down and go, 'wow, I can't believe someone wrote something that dark'. These books have been very short so far, and I have a hard time seeing how he’s going to wrap up the plot of book two in only one more book – but I have high hopes!The book starts off a little slow, but then soon after I became completely immersed in this brilliant and brutal world that the author created. The Ben Elim have gone so far as to even lie and say that Corban, their Bright Star, the rallying force that brought many countries and people together to take down the Dread Kadoshim, had little to no part in actually taking them down. What I will say is that we are following two really different storylines of people having to deal with the same situation in the land of the fallen. It was immensely hard for me to put down the book every time I start reading it; and when I did put it down, I couldn’t help reaching for it like I was having withdrawals.

I flew through this one, and I did rate it five stars, but I really want to talk in depth about this book because while I rated it as five (because I feel overall the quality of the world, writing, plot, and characters is above the rest in the fantasy genre) I did leave book one feeling a little disappointed. But despite its narrower scope, a Time of Dread hinted at unexpected alliances and betrayals, gory action and epic battles coming our way in the sequels. And the action… John Gwynne keeps on reminding us that he is second to none in the this department, whether it is large scale battles or mano a mano, his writing is so immersive and vivid that you cannot help but be transported to the scene of the violent, gory action.The giant clans were some of my favorite aspects of the original series, so it was nice to see that carry over into this book too. The quality of writing, the plot, the characters, and the development of the world were all so so good and I am so happy that I was able to read more John Gwynne books. The four main characters have the nuance and troublesome qualities we expect from modern fantasy novels, and yet they retain just enough of the classic heroism that got so many of us into the genre in the first place. And there definitely is nuance, particularly on the "good" side where the issue of how much personal freedom must be ceded in the name of the greater good is put under the microscope.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
  • Sold by: Fruugo

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