Fiona McIntosh: A Tyrant's Blood

Hi

This review is about the second novel in the Valisar Trilogy.
It has 425 pages and I read it in Dutch.
You can find all my Fiona McIntosh reviews here.

I still can’t make up my mind whether I like this series or not.

* MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD! *

It takes some time to get into the novel. The first chapter is very strange and I thought they printed the wrong text for the cover. Secondly, 10 years passed since the first novel and that is not clearly stated at the beginning.

A Tyrant’s Blood is not a boring book; far from it I must say. It is a constant succession of action, flight and interrogation. Not a dull moment to be found in this book.

But a lot changes from the first novel, and in my opinion it’s all a bit too much. Good characters turn out to be bad; a moronic child becomes a smart 15-year old boy, some people turn out to be gifted etc. I think there is too much going on in such a small book.
She should have made the series bigger or the plot less complicated.

There are characters I loved one chapter, I hated the next and I forgave the one after that. I had mixed emotions throughout the entire novel! If that was what she aimed to write, she clearly succeeded!

The last 50 or so pages jump around a lot. About every other page is told from the perspective of another person. It can be confusing.

A very engrossing series, nicely written and so very captivating though a bit unbelievable.

Happy reading.
Helena