Review: Thorns of War by João F. Silva
Blurb:
One breath. One jump. One death.
The Known World is in peril once again. Old grudges are made anew and settled only on the battlefield, with threads of smoke flowing in the air.
Gimlore saved her town and her family, and she has even learned that trusting people may not always be a bad thing. But with ancient powers stirring, her whole world is shaken again, and the pains of the past come back stronger than ever.
Rednow's retirement plan was successful but didn't last long. He is both in the eye of the storm, and the storm itself. Blessed or cursed by powers he wants to reject, he questions whether the faith everyone seems to deposit in him is even warranted. After all, he's still just an old man with bad lungs.
Orberesis blossoms under the tutelage of a new master and awakens ancient, forgotten arts. He rose from thief to the impersonator of a god, and now true divinity might just be well within his grasp.
Review:
Thorns of War is a thrilling sequel that has one of my favorite magic systems that has been written. The smoke magic from the initial Seeds of War is something that is extremely visual and a powerful type of magic that elicits chills as they come into the battlefield. The sequel brings the return of the characters that I thoroughly enjoyed, a little while after the epic conclusion of the first novel. The author doesn’t waste time in upping the stakes and getting the reader back into the thick of a world that is being torn apart from two warring god-like entities. The characters really make the stakes come to life, pulling on the emotions of the reader, hoping to see them accomplish the things that they want to do.
The strength of the novel definitely are the characters. Each of them take a turn as the highlight of who I wanted to stay focused on. It was a little different from the first novel as it is much more evident of how the actions of one character influences what happens with another. There is the addition of a couple more POV characters in this novel that provide a breath of fresh air in adding another layer of intrigue and wonder. The one thing that pulled me out of the novel consistently was the time jumps. It was not explicitly explained how much time had passed when jumping from a point of view to another. These jumps, for one reason or another, hit me differently than I would normally expect. I honestly believe this is more of a personal issue rather than a major issue of the novel. It did not take long for me to get back into the story. I did not find the story to suck me in as much as the first one, but it was still a great continuation to the whole story. I think that readers that are able to read them back to back will find it an extremely enjoyable adventure.
The author has created something that is truly epic in scope and brings it to life in a brilliant and exciting way. The stakes are much higher and it is easier to see where the story is going with all of the characters being moved to different areas and learning more abilities. Some of the characters really grow in surprising ways and can become new favorites very quickly. There are also some incredibly heart wrenching moments that occur in the novel that will leave readers in a state of shock. Once again, the smoke magic plays a part, but did seem to be a little less involved than in the first one. But when it makes an appearance, it is definitely worth the wait. This novel is a worthy sequel and one that readers and fans of the first novel will not be disappointed by.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!
