276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Bloody Rose: The Band, Book Two

£4.995£9.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

His powers include not being qualified (or interested) in having anything to do with the realities of life, and so he spends his time reading and writing and gaming, with occasional breaks for work and family. I can always rely on your reviews to be honest and I’m glad to hear it’s somehow impossibly even better than Kings of the Wyld, which was one of my best reads of 2017 and my first step into fantasy. It’s not grandiose or full of pomp and she speaks plainly but it is from the heart, full of feeling and poignant as she talks about why people join bands, that your bandmates become more than just a group, that they become family and people for whom you would willingly die for and it serves to really highlight the power of the written word in the hands of Eames truly showing what a tremendous storyteller he is. Fable’s task, as we soon learn, is to journey far to the north *SPOILER BEGINS* to battle a creature that even dragons fear, *SPOILER ENDS* despite the overwhelming fact that every other mercenary in the land is tying their laces and whetting their blades to fight a new monstrous horde heading south.

It’s enough to make me want to track down a copy of Kings of the Wyld sometime, and I’ll eagerly look forward to the third book in the series (whenever it comes out). What few records survived through the Reign of Blood suggest that she served as Alicia Dominica's champion, and that when the reformer Sebastian Thor's armies descended upon Terra she slew some of the mightiest invading warriors in hand-to-hand combat. She reached the next street as the first argosy was approaching and wormed her way to the front of the crowd. I do look forward to the next book but for me personally, more of the first book please, not the second. I’ve got a beast on hand that’ll wow the crowd and have Rat Salad on the tongue of every bard between here and the Summer Souk!

Brune’s a shaman who can shape-change into a bear; Cura summons creatures from the tattoos on her skin; Freecloud is a druin, one of the last of a dying race with the gift to see things a few moments before they happen; and Bloody Rose is just an average human with a gift for killing, who also happens to be the daughter of Golden Gabe, perhaps the most famous mercenary who ever lived. The roof was ringed by crenellations of rusted iron, and crossbow turrets were mounted on all four corners.

And you could argue that Eames did that by continuing his stories of mercenary bands roaming the Heartwyld and its environs. Bloody Rose has so many excellent qualities, it’s impossible to include them all in this review (since you should be reading the book by now anyhow).David's favorite authors include Grandfather Tolkien, Uncle Steve (Erikson), and that weird cousin with the crazy hair, Neil. Emotional moments snuck up on me and hit me hard, though I usually found myself bursting with laughter on the very next page. Or that a seamstress who killed her husband down in Rutherford is claiming to be the Winter Queen herself? One account -- albeit riddled with inconsistencies -- suggests that she duelled with the leader of the Custodians who entered the Ecclesiarchal Palace during the siege, and that the two fought to a standstill before words of an alliance were finally spoken. This is strange, as Fable claims to have a gig that’s in the exact opposite direction of the monstrous horde that threatens the world and has every other band eager to fight for glory.

The whole ‘musicians with swords’ gimmick is a tricky one to manage without getting too goofy with it, but Eames thankfully never devolves into the “Hey, look at THIS reference! Also, since Tam would likely spend her whole life slinging drinks and playing lute for coppers here in wintry Ardburg, a stroll through the Monster Market was the closest she’d ever come to adventure. The xenos creatures honed in on the Bloody Rose's position and descended upon the planet in great waves.

You only have to look at the tagline for the book “girls just want to have fun” which is a 1983 Cyndi Lauper hit and it is bloody brilliant for it. Which is great, because everyone, from the wranglers to the bookers to the arena managers—heck, sometimes even the mercs themselves—get paid, and the rest of us get a hell of a show. and Tam, our main character, who is employed as Fable’s bard (Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t think Fable have the same reputation with bards as Saga did). I’m hoping to get my copy this week and I can’t even describe my excitement at the thought of reading it, more so after reading your review. There are many stellar sentences, paragraphs and passages in Bloody Rose that evoke emotion in the reader, be it making you laugh, hitting you in the feels or getting you excited and pumped up for the coming combat.

Terrified mutants and witches fall before its blessing, as ground won for the Emperor is consecrated in sweeps of viscera. So, you commit yourself fully to this moment, soaking in every detail, absorbing and filing away each new wave of emotion, to be examined and analyzed and cherished later. Bloody Rose is a sequel to Kings of the Wyld, but at the same time it stands well enough on its own merits– a lucky thing too, as Bloody Rose was at the library but the first one wasn’t for whatever reason. That’s one example of many fine instances of author self-gratification, and I applaud Eames’ desire to continue in this way, and, more so, to improve at it. Another important theme in Bloody Rose is that, one way or another, we are all broken inside, like Tam’s depressed father above.Nevertheless, Bloody Rose is easily one of my favourite novels of the past few years, and is probably worth a reread soon. I don’t expect every author to go the Brandon Sanderson mile and explain every piece of pseudo-science behind their sorcery, but when magic exists only to be mysterious and powerful, it becomes frustrating, with a reader never knowing when the uber-wizard might sweep in and undo everything with the wave of a hand. There is a fight around halfway through the book against a gargantuan adversary or if you prefer a BFM ( big fucking monster) that is bold, bombastic, jaw-dropping and over the top in nature. David is usually obsessed with Dark Souls and Fire Emblem, though occasionally ventures into various Final Fantasy and Dragon Age territories. She works as a barmaid at The Cornerstone which is the main establishment where all the bands or warriors in town frequent, drink and fight.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment