Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superior fantasy, 14 Jun 2008
This is no frills, no gimmicks, straight up classic fantasy, and it is quite simply brilliant.
There is a lot of competition in the world of fantasy currently, with the bar having been raised by the likes of Martin and newcommers Abercrombie and Campbell, but this book easily holds its own. It builds on the strengths of the first book, whilst making solid improvements - the writing was a little clunky in parts of book 1, but in this one Ruckley has found his groove, writing with confidence and maturity. There really is a lot going for this book:
The world is great; very detailed, gritty, feeling something like Scotland somewhere between the dark ages and medieval periods. Ruckley very cleverly builds his world and the markedly different cultures within it, never once feeling like 'info dump.' The Kyrinin are particularly well written, a race that resemble native american's like the Mohawk and Huron more than anything else, but who are essentially Ruckley's 'elves,' although certainly not in the Tolkien sense.
The characters are excellent. There is a clear, traditional 'hero,' but fortunately one who is not superhuman, and a very fine supporting cast around him. One of my favourites is an expanded character from book 1, Taim Narran. There are also a number of well-written 'bad guys,' some of them winning a degree of your sympathy, such as Kanin oc Horin-Gyre and his sister Wain, and others building that 'love to hate' feeling, such as Aeglyss. All of the central characters have clear arcs, which is a considerable accomplishment, with no-one feeling flat or 2-dimensional.
The plot is tight and gripping, managing to combine multiple plots and behind-the-scenes political rivalries.
What sets this book so high is the quality of writing. You are really grabbed and dragged into this world, with a clear sense of no-one-is-safe tension, and also that all-important caring about the characters. The battle-scenes are superb; whether single-combat, or full-on, epic battle, they are vivid, in your face, Braveheart-type affairs. It really is brilliant - everything about it is near perfect for a fantasy novel. If I were to moan at all, it would be that there is a cetain lack of humour, unlike other newcommers Abercrombie and Campbell, who manage to inject some light entertainment within and between the drama. Having said that, this is a very grim tale indeed, with pretty much everything going from bad to worse, but still, a little humour in places would have helped, i think. Also, there are a few sections which drag, just a little. But these really are minor quibbles.
I've heard Ruckley compared to Gemmel, but I think Ruckley is much better (not that I dislike Gemmel; on the contrary, I have read and enjoyed lots of his stuff, esp. the 'Rigante' series)- there is just far more depth and detail to Ruckley's writing. If i were to compare him to anyone, it would probably be J. V. Jones' latest work, the 'Sword of Shadows' series, with a dash of Tad williams and George R. R. Martin thrown in, although without Martin's excessively adult themes and language.
To sum up; brilliant! I am horrified at having to wait a year to read the concluding book.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than original, 7 Jul 2008
With the second offering from Brian we come to what many would see as a quandary ie is it the book that proves the oft held theory that everyone has one book in them or will it continue to prove the readers faith with the new author? With this tale the descriptiveness from the first offering is toned down the magic amped up and the characters continue in their growth allowing the reader to see more of the carefully built world expand with the passing of each page as the majority of the world having already been explained in the first offering allows this to be action all the way
Each subsequent chapter takes the reader on a ride of high octane where more drops of blood are spilt than by a single rainstorm. The brutal godless world is brought to full life where blood appears to be the currency to which all the races adhere and makes this a thoroughly enjoyable tale. However if you're new to Brians work please remember to start with the first book Winterbirth as you won't get the full picture which would perhaps be the greatest crime a reader can commit.
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1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
He bloody did it again..., 11 Nov 2008
Like in the last book, Ruckley manages to finish this one with yet another totally shameless cliff-hanger-style ending. And that is cliff-hanger in the good way, not the bloody awful Sly movie.
That, however, is also pretty much the only bad thing about this book. Ruckley has managed to write yet another great book in his new series (I know it says trilogy on the cover, but you can always hope I guess).
The promise of Winterbirth has been fulfilled, and perhaps even exceeded, in Bloodheir. The characters continue their development and the story grows ever more intense. I'm not entirely sure how Ruckley manages to do it, but whenever our heroes are about to begin the inevitable (or is it?) march to the final triumph of good over the forces of evil, the baddies manage to win another victory and the nastiness gets even nastier. Never mind that the baddies don't exactly get along, the good guys aren't all that good at it either. Nor are they necessarily all that good, by the way.
The plot twists along the way ensure that you can never really expect anything in this book.
A word of advice though, read Winterbirth first!
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