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Title:
Tower Lord
Series: A Raven’s Shadow
#2
Author: Anthony Ryan
Rating: 1 of 5
Stars DNF@74%
Genre: Fantasy
Pages:
638 / 471
Words: 239K / 176K
Publish: 2014
Due
to some of the moral subject matters brought up in this story, I
decided to dnf this book and to add Ryan to my list of authors to
avoid in the future. I am leaving the synopsis unhidden so this post isn't just 5 words long :-/
★☆☆☆☆
From
Fandom.com
The
book follows four POV characters, each with their own separate plot
lines that overlap and interweave to tell the story: Vaelin Al
Sorna, Frentis, Princess Lyrna Al Nieren, and new
character Reva Mustor. The chapters are divided into sections,
each proceeded by a first person narrative recounting from Lord
Verniers, the Alpiran Imperial Chronicler (much like Blood Song).
Lord Verniers is in the captivity of a high-ranking Volarian noble,
who commands the army attacking Alltor, and his wife.
Vaelin returns
to the Realm determined to reunite with his sister and find his lost
brother Frentis. After he disembarks from a ship, presumably from the
Alpiran Empire, he encounters Reva, who is given the task of
retrieving the sword of the deceased Trueblade, her father Hentes
Mustor. Reva detests him at first, but gradually accepts his
companionship and training when Vaelin tells her he knows where the
sword can be found. She is confused as to why he trains her when she
plans to kill him, but the blood song tells him it will be necessary
later. They travel together until by complete happenstance, they meet
Vaelin's old sergeant turned traveling minstrel Janril Norin and his
wife, Ellora. They eventually reach Varinshold, where Vaelin finds
his sister Alornis and Alucius Al Hestian, a former soldier and
companion to Princess Lyrna, residing in his family's old run-down
estate.
Vaelin
attempted to keep his return to the realm a secret until this point,
but he has no choice but to reveal his identity to petition for his
sister and their family estate. He meets with King Malcius and his
queen, who apparently is not of the Faith, and swears his loyalty to
them. He requests the opportunity to search for Brother Frentis,
however the well-meaning but weak King Malcius Al Nieren has
other ideas, and appoints him Tower Lord of the Northern
Reaches. Vaelin is initially tempted to refuse, but the blood song
tells him to accept. After he consults with Alornis' master, the
famed artist Master Lenial, and brief meetings with Brother Caenis
(now Brother Commander), Aspect Tendris al Forne and Aspect Arlyn,
they depart for the North, much to the reluctance of Alornis. Along
the way, Vaelin reveals the truth about the Trueblade's sword to
Reva, telling her he doesn't know where the sword is. He tries to
convince her to leave her old ways and join them as a true friend and
sister, but her internal conflict overpowers her and she flees, now
armed with great skill in combat due to Vaelin's training. Alornis,
who grew fond of Reva, is upset about this, but Vaelin soothes over
her anger by telling her his complete history, including the details
of his blood song and how it instructed him to let her go. In the
north, Vaelin proves himself a peacemaker among the many Dark gifted
people, despite his reputation and their initial uncertainty and
hostility towards him.
We
follow Princess Lyrna on her journey as an ambassador to
the High Priestess of the Lonak. Her journey opens her
eyes to many things, she meets a minion of the One Who
Waits and finally finds proof that the Dark exists.
However, she has countless more new questions than answers.
Reva,
the orphaned daughter of the Trueblade, has been pushed to seek
revenge for her father’s death, but after an encounter with Vaelin
she begins to question many facts about her life. When she foils an
assassination attempt on her estranged uncle, the Fief Lord
of Cumbrael, she finally breaks from her past, and finds a
family and a future as heir to the Fief Lord.
And
finally, Frentis is in fact alive, and finds himself
magically enslaved by a mysterious woman on an
assassination spree all across the world in preparation for a dark
purpose. The purpose is finally revealed when Frentis’s journey
ends in the Unified Realm where he is forced to kill King
Malcius, triggering the massive invasion of the Realm by the Volarian
Empire.
Vaelin learns
of the invasion from his Blood Song, and gathers an eclectic
army of North Guards, some gifted
northerners, Eorhil horsemen, Seordah warriors,
the remnants of the Realm Guard, and his old friends and former
brothers Caenis and Nortah.
Meanwhile, Princess
Lyrna is taken captive by the Volarians like many of her people,
but no one knows who she is because her face was badly burned during
the initial attack. Thanks to her shrewdness and intelligence, and a
surprisingly friendly shark, she escapes to the Meldenean
Islands, where she and the Shield destroy the Volarian
fleet.
At
last Frentis has escaped his magical enslavement, and
fights a desperate guerrilla war against the Volarians, during which
he finally learns who is the mysterious Aspect of
the Seventh Order.
The
action culminates at the siege of the Cumbraelin capital Alltor,
where Reva fights a desperate defence of the city against
the Volarian host. Just as Alltor seems lost, Vaelin and his host,
and Princess Lyrna and her Meldenean fleet, arrive and crush the
Volarians.
As she walks ashore after the
victory, Princess Lyrna is recognised as the new Queen of the Unified
Realm. Now all she needs to do is free Asreal from the enemy, deal
with the traitorous Renfaelins, and ultimately destroy the
Volarian Empire and their ally the One Who Waits. At her side
will be the ultimate warrior Vaelin Al Sorna, although he seems to
have lost his Blood Song. What could possibly go wrong?
