Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Time Of Dread

(May bump down to 4.5 eventually because the dopamine rush is real right now)

Well, what a beginning to this sequel series. I just love the Banished Lands immensely. I'm very glad Gwynne decided to write this sequel series to The Faithful and The Fallen because there's absolutely a captivating and arguably necessary story to tell in this world after the results of the God-War. Evil forces are still at large, scheming their revenge in hopes to follow through with their original plans. And there's strife amongst occupying forces after the God-War.

I really did enjoy the new cast of characters. Especially Drem and his father Olin, who I latched onto immediately. They're one of my favorite father-son duos I've ever read.

(but thanks for ruining it John!)

I also still cannot express how good Gwynne is with his action scenes. Best in modern fantasy. Period.

Additionally, there were some noteable horror elements introduced to the Banished Lands with this book. It felt refreshing in this classic fantasy landscape and upped the stakes in the post God-War environment. It also offered a great source of intrigue/mystery. I was speculating often throughout the book, and I'm very interested to see where Gwynne takes the horror in the rest of the trilogy.

And of course, a big part of me loving this book was the references to the Faithful and the Fallen series, as well as some reappearing characters. I could go on and on about how much I love these books. Gwynne is one of the few authors who writes characters in a way that makes them feel like they're truly your family. Like you're right there with them along for the ride. It's wonderful.

Can't wait to see where this goes after the wild ending. But I will find Gwynne someday and tell him of the trauma he's given me with his book conclusions because this was no exception.

Content Warnings

green_bone's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

Amazing last quarter of the book and plot twists at the very end. Great cast of characters.

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constancefly's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

5.0

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bookishchef's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Nothing special unfortunately. It's just nothing I haven't seen done before. Quite predictable too.

There's also this plothole:

If Fritha was part of the bad guys all along, why were the bad guys harassing her on the street? Why did Drem need to step in to rescue her at the beginning of the book? The twist doesn't make sense?

So yeah. Not that impressed, unfortunately. There's also an instance where an androgynous person gets reffered to as "it".... Like, come on John. 'They' is right there...

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