Started: 29/05/21
Finsihed: 01/06/21
Spoilers: No
Thoroughly enjoyable, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book, but Kings of the Wlyd is such a perfect book that I didn’t expect to like it more, tbh.
Characters
It took me a little while to connect with the characters, but once I did, I loved them. The one I loved the least was actually Tam, which was unfortunate, considering she’s the story’s protagonist. She definitely grew on me, especially towards the end and in the final battle. But for a long time, I found her quite bland. To go from such a strong, multi-layered character like Clay in book one, to Tam in book two felt like a jarring shift. I mean, I did enjoy her in the end and think she had a cool arc, but I guess I initially expected the POV character to be Rose.
The best part for me was seeing Gabe and Moog and Clay again. The biggest smile on my face. But then chapter 43 happened and I swinging between emotional rage and just plain emotion.
Roderick was fucking fabulous.
And on a side note, it's oddly appreciating to see a man writing female characters who actually have periods. I've read so many female characters written by men who don't seem to acknowledge this very basic thing that all females do. It doesn't bother me when it's not mentioned, but on the rare occasion that it is I'm like, 'oh yeah. Girls do that, even in fantasy books.' Thank you Nicholas Eames for understanding some of the natural nuisances women deal with.
Plot
I didn't connect with this one as quickly as I did in Kings of the Wyld. In book 1, the stakes and the story's plot going forward is established very earlier on (within the first few chapters if I remember rightly) but I feel like the stakes in book 2 weren't established until chapter 36 when things went south for the band. I was never totally sure why they had to go and kill the dragon eater or what the stakes were if they didn’t kill it.
Fable started off by fighting in various arenas. This kind of thing (contest fighting/gladiatorial fighting/magical competitions) is not really my jam. I generally find this kind of plot boring. My own personal taste. So I was more than ready from the meat of the story, and main objectives, to begin.
Maybe my lack of connection was because I found Tam a bit of a lame protagonist. Maybe it's because I did this on audiobook and didn't totally connect with the narrator and all her voices. Or maybe it was because, even now, I'm still suffering a terrible book hangover from the last series I read and I'm finding it very hard to move on.
I think perhaps it's a combination of all these things that are holding me back just a bit from truly investing myself in this book, despite how much I dearly wish to love this as much as the first book.
I may just be reading this at the wrong time, and that's certainly not the book's fault.
Setting
This is such a lush, full, fit to bursting world. There's so much in it. What Nicholas Eames does really well is his use of creatures. There are so many different races of creatures in this world, not just your standard humans, and it fleshes out the world fantastically. I haven’t read any other series that utilises fantasy races quite as well as this.
And I absolutely love the sneaky music references that get slipped into the world. For instance the merc band Men Without Helmets, clearly a play on Man Without Hats who sang the classic Safety Dance. So great.
Writing Style
I didn't feel as much humour in Bloody Rose off the bat, compared to Kings of the Wyld. I remember the latter making me laugh quite regularly. There was definitely humour in Bloody Rose and there were moments in the latter half of the book that made me laugh out loud, but it didn't feel as strong as the humour of Kings of the Wyld.
The writing itself, however, is very good, very clean. Not clean as in lacking profanity (it has plenty of that), but clean as in very easy to read. I fell into this world without a problem, without needing to adjust to a quirky writing style. Just an incredibly easy book to pick up and enjoy for any reader, I think.
Final Impression
Without a doubt, I’ll be continuing the series. I think with such an amazing world, Nicholas Eames could easily keep continuing this series and it’ll never feel old.
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