Reviews tagging 'Gore'

A Time of Blood by John Gwynne

5 reviews

russelmcq's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

4.2/4.3 out of 5.

I am a Gwynne fan. I enjoy his fast-paced style, and ultimately I loved FATF. As mentioned in my review of the first book of this trilogy; I do quite enjoy this series, but to me, FATF was simply better.

With that being said, I have found myself much more engaged with the trilogy and its characters than I felt after the 1st.

If you like Gwynne and loved FATF, you will enjoy this trilogy. Very curious to see how if shakes out, as I will say this portion of the series does make it seem more grim than anything else.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pezzo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

josiah17's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think I'm gonna go 4 stars on this, which makes it my lowest rated Gwynne book so far. Still a great read, I just wasn't as enthralled by it as much as I was with A Time of Dread.

I greatly appreciated the decision to add another POV, this time an antagonist. That was the only element the previous installment lacked for me. I also continue to really enjoy the horror elements integrated into the Banished Lands. There are some purely chilling and frightening scenes in here. You could classify this as horror military fantasy if that's a thing.

Drem continues to be an absolutely wonderful character, and Riv even sailed into the spotlight too. And I'm pleased with where Bleda's character has progressed. However, I feel as though the large amount of action in this book didn't mesh super well with the slow character moments. I'm not sure I can explain it more efficiently than that.

Again, still a great read. No major criticisms other than I simply wasn't as entranced as I normally am with Gwynne. And maybe my expectations were just sky high after pleasantly loving A Time of Dread so much. But A Time of Courage will be insane after the third act in this book. Very excited, but also bittersweet, to read the final current installment in the Banished Lands.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

green_bone's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

constancefly's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings