Anthony Ryan first stunned readers with his fantasy debut
Blood Song in 2012. With Ryan's smooth prose, interesting characters, well
developed magic and diverse worlds, the debut was a major win for the fantasy
genre. After two years, the much awaited sequel was finally released in June.
The second book, in comparison, was tonally, structurally
and narratively so different that it is almost like reading a different series.
To date, none of the fantasy series I have read have ever exhibited such an
abrupt change between volumes that appears almost schizophrenic.
Narratively, the story transformed from a single character's
coming of age tale a la The Kingkiller Chronicles, into a multiple POV
character story, a style akin to a Song of Ice and Fire. There are alternating
chapters between Frentis, the street urchin turned brother in the first book,
Reva, a random woman Vaelin met on an assassination attempt who became crucial
to the story later on, Lyrna, the ruthless princess we know from the first book
and lastly, Vaelin.
The multiple POV structure allows the author the opportunity
to develop a wider fantasy world and delve into events covering widespread
geographies over a short period of time. This is structurally very different
from linear timeline we spent with Vaelin in the first book – a decade training
in the 6th Order, and the second decade over his adventures in the
King's services.
In Tower Lord, Lyrna's travels offer insight into Lonak
culture, Frentis's journey allows us a closer inspection of the Volarian and
Alphiran Empires, and Reva offers perspectives from native Cumbraelins and their
social conflict with the overlord Asrael (think Scotland and UK). By contrast,
Vaelin spends much of the book travelling to become the Tower Lord, meeting old
acquaintances and administrating his estate. In other words, a distinctive
misuse of a character readers had fallen in love with from the first book.
While the geographically diverse POVs were interesting in
developing the broader fantasy world, it took a good half of the book to go
over the background of the new characters, often in side plots that seemed to
meander endlessly. By far the character I disliked most was Reva. I am not able
to buy into her beliefs and internal conflicts, and had no desire to, in part
due to the limited time Ryan had to flesh out this new character introduced so
late into the series. It also seemed miraculous given how much progress Reva
had with the sword and bow, after training with Vaelin for just around a month,
whereas it took Vaelin and his brothers a decade to gain a level of acceptable
mastery in the 6th order.
Although Tower Lord picks up right after Blood Song ended,
the series essentially skipped a full 5 years of events which occurred during
the time of Vaelin's imprisonment. The events have deep repercussions on the
characters of Caenis, Lyrna, Vaelin and Frentis. However, readers hoping to
find out what had happened in the interim 5 years would have to content
themselves with infrequent flashbacks and minimal hints. Readers also were
given little insight as to why the series is titled "Raven's Song",
when legends of the Blood Song revealed so far have shown little connection to
the bird.
The world we see in Tower Lord is rich in culture, history
and diversity. However, the magical system created by the book is not as well
fleshed out as some fantasy fans would have liked. Magical individuals in the
world have unique gifts of their own, including abilities that enable weather
control and invisibility. Using their abilities brought about physical
consequences such as nose bleeds, fatigue and eventually death if taxed to a
certain limit. Between Blood Song and Tower Lord, readers were cheated of how
Vaelin mastered his song, mainly during the years he spent in the jail. At
times, Vaelin's abilities seem to be more of an overdeveloped instinct, bordering
on prophetic. While Vaelin relies on the instinct to guide him in life, the
limited chapters on Vaelin in Tower Lord lack sufficient opportunities for
readers to understand the full extent of his abilities and how integral his
abilities are with his life and who he is. By the time the final conflict, the
blood song had taken on the hue of a deus ex machina, and no real loss from the
perspective of the reader.
To name this book "Tower Lord" when only 25% of
the book involves the 'Tower Lord' in question is terribly deceitful and a
gross overstatement. Tower Lord can generally be considered a failure as a
sequel, and would probably be more appropriately classified as a 'spin off'.
