Book Review: Tyrant’s Blood by Fiona McIntosh

Title: Tyrant’s Blood

Author: Fiona McIntosh

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: HarperVoyager

Publishing Date: Sep 2009

Hardcover: 512 pages

Series: Book 2 of the Valisar Trilogy

Summary

Ten years later, Leothar, the barbarian emperor is a changed man. The wounds caused by his savage army have healed, the commerce has flourished and the peoples of Set and the Steppes have been integrating into a new style of life promoted carefully by their leader. However the Valisar heir lives and he’s no longer a boy. Would Leothar’s new image and his way of leading be enough to appease the rebellion that’s been brewing slowly?

Don’t Judge A Book By It But...

Even though I’m not a huge fan of cover arts displaying a lone caped figure, I must admit that I like the covers created for the Valisar Trilogy. I also think that Tyrant's Blood's cover looks nicer than the first book’s. The colour scheme and the movement of the character make this cover more attractive. I wonder what’s the third book’s cover is going to look like.

Review

I reviewed Royal Exile, the first book of the Valisar Trilogy, 2 months ago. When I finished and put down the book, I felt (or maybe I hoped) that there were more to be discovered in this story in terms of depth. If I had had the second book in my library at that time then I would have started it straightaway.

Well... I’m glad to see that my instincts weren't wrong. Tyrant’s Blood definitely raises the bar. Fiona McIntosh’s usual smooth style coupled with a better-developed storyline creates an easy-to-read page-turner.

Because the story is more mature, requiring fewer introductions, the multiple story lines are more captivating than the first book. I find the sections, switching between various story threads, well balanced, pushing the reader constantly forward. Additionally, the characters are further developed, some becoming more irritating and some more surprising. But the two things that I enjoyed the most were the unexpected twists and the magic system.

Yes! Even though, in the beginning, it looks like McIntosh is preparing us some fantasy clichés, she twists the story to create more than one surprising moments, including the end of the book. I really enjoyed these turns of events. Additionally, we learn more about the magic system in Tyrant’s Blood. It is not that unusual to read about a system where magic is costly to its wielder however McIntosh creates an interesting derivative that’s not so clear-cut. Furthermore she tells us more about the Valisar magic.

Tyrant’s Blood was a page-turner for me. I really enjoyed it and needless to say I’m looking forward to the last installment. One thing that I’d like to recommend is for you to consider the first two books as one and read them together. And if the next book is better than Tyrant’s Blood then it’s going to be a hell of an ending.

Rating: 8.5/10

Quote

"As it turned out, revenge is always a cold satisfaction; it never quite lives up to the anticipation" - Loethar

Upcoming Reviews

First, let's start with the real excuse behind this post. I mean, a post that talks about upcoming reviews rather than the reviews themselves is a bit strange, I admit. However I'll be on holidays before the end of the week and I have to finish the project that I'm working on. So far, this has meant working very hard including the last two weekends and late nights.

Anyway, I have my review notes on three books that I really liked. I just need the time to go through them to organize my thoughts:

• Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
• Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
• Transformation by Carol Berg

And the books that I'm currently reading:

• Tyrant's Blood by Fiona McIntosh
• Songs of the Dying Earth edited by G. R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois
• Like Mayflies In A Stream by Shauna Roberts

So... I'm going to be mostly quiet during the first three weeks of December however I'm going to post 6 reviews before the end of the year... This is the plan, anyway :).

Books Received

It's time for me to start to read the books that I very recently received:

Tyrant's Blood by Fiona McIntosh

Tyrant's Blood is the second book of the Valisar Trilogy. I reviewed the first book, Royal Exile, last month and since then I had been looking forward to read it.

Blurb

The second instalment of Fiona McIntosh's gripping epic fantasy, set in a world torn by revenge, love and ancient magic. Ten years have passed since Loethar, the barbarian warlord from the Likurian steppes, devoured the Devona Set with his army of mercenaries, decimating their ruling families and settling in their primary kingdom of Penraven. Believing the Valisar heirs of Penraven to be dead, he has styled himself as emperor and continues his efforts to integrate his people into the native population. But abandoning his more violent methods of persuasion hasn't quelled the undercurrent of rebellion; for the Valisar heirs do live. Hidden from the barbarian's wrath by loyal allies who risk everything for the future of their kingdom, they are bound to return and seek a tyrant's blood for the havoc he has wreaked.

Songs of the Dying Earth (Stories in Honour of Jack Vance)

This anthology simply looks amazing. With contributors like Neil Gaiman, Tad Williams, Dan Simmons and George R.R. Martin, it promises to be a delight.

Blurb

Return to the unique and evocative world of The Dying Earth in this tribute anthology featuring the most distinguished fantasists of our day. A dim place, ancient beyond knowledge. The sun is feeble and red. A million cities have fallen to dust. Here live a few thousand souls, dying, as the Earth dies beneath them. Just a few short decades remain to the long history of our world. At the last, science and magic are one, and there is evil on Earth, distilled by time ! Earth is dying. Half a century ago, Jack Vance created the world of the Dying Earth, and fantasy has never been the same. Now, for the first time, Jack has agreed to open this intriguing and darkly beautiful world to other fantasists, to play in as their very own. The list of twenty-two contributors eager to honour Jack Vance by writing for this anthology includes Neil Gaiman, Tad Williams, Elizabeth Hand, Tanith Lee, Dan Simmons, Robert Silverberg, and George R.R. Martin himself.

Like Mayflies in a Stream by Shauna Roberts

I really like historical fiction and Shauna Roberts' Like Mayflies in a Stream is one such book. Ancient history of Mesopotamia has always intrigued me so I'm looking forward to read the Epic of Gilgamesh with Shauna Roberts' touch.

Blurb

In the great city of Uruk, there is no peace when Gilgamesh is restless, and he is never at rest. Shamhat, a priestess of Inanna, goes into the wilderness to find and civilize a match for Uruk's violently active God-King. Like Mayflies in a Stream brings new life to the Epic of Gilgamesh, diving into one of the earliest conflicts between civilization and wilderness, civic order and freedom, romance and sexuality.

Malazan Quotes: Memories of Ice

"In a world full of pitfalls and sinkholes, you dance around the edges. Only fools jump feet first, and fools don't live long besides." - Ganoes Paran

"The soldier's moment, now, before the battle begins - who would choose such a life? You stand with others, all facing the same threat, all feeling so very alone. In the cold embrace of fear, that sense that all that you are might end in moments. Gods, I've no envy for a soldier's life" - Gruntle

"Every gift is edged." - Tool

"Names are not for the asking, mortal. Names are earned." - Tool

"The harder the world, the fiercer the honour." - Dancer

"As my father warned us - in success, we shall find seeds of despair." - Cafal (son of Humbrall Taur)

"Never admit your unwillingness to rule, Malazan. What you fear in yourself will cloud your judgement of all that your successor does. Your fear will blind you to his wisdom and stupidity both." - Humbrall Taur

"You are the plains bear at our side, urging us to lock talons with the southern tiger. A hunter always knows the mind of a tiger, but never the mind of a plains bear." - Humbrall Taur

"Teach him what? How to live beneath the burden of command? That's something I can't manage myself. I need only look into Whiskeyjack's face to understand that no-one can - no-one who has a heart, anyway. We learn to achieve but one thing: the ability to hide our thoughts, to mask our feelings, to bury our humanity deep in our souls. And that can't be taught, only shown." - Paran

"If you can, dear friends, do not live through a siege" - Ubilast (the Legless)

"Fights like a boar? Gods, no, this man is a big, plains-hunting cat. He has bulk, aye, but it passes unnoticed behind a deadly grace. Fener save us all, the Tiger of Summer's ghost walks in this man's shadow." - Itkovian

"Thick silence, swirling as if not yet settled by the sounds of violence, as if somehow still trembling, still shivering..." - Whiskeyjack

"Sooner or later, she now understood, we are all naught but food. Wolves or worms, the end abrupt or lingering, it mattered not in the least." - Mhybe

"What the soul can house, flesh cannot fathom." - Imarak, First Destriant

"The void of lost faith is filled with your swollen self." - A long-dead Destriant

"We are all pushed into a world of madness, yet it must now fall to each of us to pull back from this Abyss, to drag ourselves free of the descending spiral. From horror, grief must be fashioned, and from grief, compassion." - Itkovian

"The loss fills the shadows we cast. Know this, soldier, the enemy you left to us was brittle." - The Barghast Spokesman

"Victory is an illusion. In all things." - Mhybe

"Hood's marble balls on an anvil..." - Whiskeyjack

"And it seems you've no idea of how to forgive - not her, not yourself. Guilt has become a chasm-" - Paran

"The heart of wisdom is tolerance" - Paran

'If that would help. More directly, however, you seem to forget my… experience. For all that I seem to grate upon all of you, I have walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?'

'Yes. You never learn, Kallor.' - Kallor & Caladan Brood

"We were brittle. Destroyed months ago, outside Pale, it's just taken this long for the few of us left to realize it. Hedge, Trotts, Detoran. Corpses who kept saluting-" - Picker

K'ell Hunter

I don't know you, but when I read a novel, I always have a clear enough picture of the protagonists. The same goes for the different races in fantasy novels. I'm about to finish Steven Erikson's Memories of Ice (the 3rd book of the Malazan book of the Fallen series). One of the races that I keep hearing is the K'ell Hunter (K'Chain Che'Malle - the first race on the Malazan world to evolve intelligence).

Here's a representation from Spindrift: K'ell Hunter. I think it's very good!

Malazan Twibbon

The Malazan community on twitter has been very active and rapidly growing. So, if you're a Malazan fan and if you have a twitter account, this could be of interest to you:

Malazan Twibbon

When you accept and click on "show my support now", this application will simply modify your twitter avatar.

MalazanTweeps.com

Over the last few weeks, I've been connecting with more and more Malazan fans on Twitter. They are really a great bunch of people. One of the first ones that I had the pleasure to meet was Rahul Vohra.

Recently, Rahul had the brilliant idea of putting together a Web site that aggregates Malazan-related tweets: malazantweeps.com.

malazantweeps.com is a great tool to see who else is reading Steven Erikson's and Ian Cameron Esslemont's Malazan books and what they're thinking about them. Furthermore, it also allows one to selectively connect with like-minded people because most of these guys and gals are avid (fantasy & sci-fi) readers.

There also seems to be a group of gamers among us. I'm not counting myself in this group as my last serious gaming attempts died down after my college years. When it's about video games, I have an addictive personality and it looks like I change universe or dimension because 20 minutes of game time take approximately 2 hours in the real world. I never know when to stop... Actually I have to correct this: I know when to stop: in 20 minutes, which translates into sleepless nights and zombie-mode unpleasant work days. So I opted out! I'm not a gamer, full stop. :)

Anyway! Give malazantweeps.com a try when you get a chance!