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hostral's review
4.0
Note: I received a copy of this book for editing/proof-reading purposes.
First thing's first, if you haven't read The Pale Hand of God then go back and read that first, this is the second half of the same story.
Where The Pale Hand is about actions, The Dark Arm is about consequences.
The city of Iban Su has fallen, and humanity finds itself blessed with magical powers. A struggle for power ensues across the land, with different lands finding different ways to deal with their powers and the old systems being rendered almost pointless.
All the old characters that survived the first book return: the troubled Lainn Sevai, the even more troubled Kinlan and the despicable Sagnier amongst others.
The premise of the tale starts quite simply: how are these people going to survive with power/magic now sweeping the land?
We are then introduced to two very important characters indeed: two would-be emperors who have had the fortune of being bestowed with great power. Two emperors who must eventually wage war against each other to determine who will be the ruler of this new world that the unleashing of God has created.
The Dark Arm of God is about mirrors, with the trials and struggles of the characters often being the same, but their response to it being very different: most notably Sagnier's struggles with the corrupting influence of his new-found power.
One other major character is introduced to us, a tribal chieftain of a war-like dark race who have been driven away from society. These outcasts are bound together under one flag in a crusade given the mandate of God according to their leader.
The scope is epic, the prose is solid and has White's usual descriptive and macabre style to it, so why four stars instead of five?
Well firstly I edited it, so I had to proof-read constantly over the course of several months rather than read it like an ordinary book. This was frustrating as I really enjoyed the story and the characters and felt I would have got more out of it had I just read it as a fan.
Instead I will list the problems I had with the story spoiler-free rather than complain about any technical issues that my revising has addressed. All of my complaints are under the proviso that you understand my adoration for S.M. White's style of prose. The man can write a mean fantasy tale, as has been evidenced multiple times in the past.
The tribal race felt like an aside from the main plot line, and their resolution felt largely pointless and shoehorned in the grand scope of things.
Two of the primary antagonists of the story only appear within the last few chapters of the tale (one with practically no foreshadowing), which is disappointing given the length of the other antagonist Sagnier's arc. I would have preferred Sagnier to have had an even more prominent role in the tale, but I understand that there was a transference of sorts in his later chapters through his typically despicable actions.
The love scenes were dealt with effectively, but I felt that some of them were a bit rushed for the sake of moving the story along.
The ending itself confused me, and I felt that there needed to be an extended epilogue to cover the various surviving characters in the aftermath. The lack of one meant that after the great conflict's resolution the book stopped abruptly and the result was jarring. I kept thumbing through in the hopes there was more, but I was met with 'The End' repeatedly.
I also felt that the story was either too long for the amount of ground it didn't expand upon, or too short for all the material it did cover. This is more of a minor quibble though and it may have been because I spent so long editing over the course of months instead of reading it in days.
Overall The Dark Arm of God is a solid sequel that deals with the aftermath of its predecessor with great effectiveness. It's an enjoyable read and if you've already ventured into S.M. White's previous writings then I highly recommend that you pick this one up too.
First thing's first, if you haven't read The Pale Hand of God then go back and read that first, this is the second half of the same story.
Where The Pale Hand is about actions, The Dark Arm is about consequences.
The city of Iban Su has fallen, and humanity finds itself blessed with magical powers. A struggle for power ensues across the land, with different lands finding different ways to deal with their powers and the old systems being rendered almost pointless.
All the old characters that survived the first book return: the troubled Lainn Sevai, the even more troubled Kinlan and the despicable Sagnier amongst others.
The premise of the tale starts quite simply: how are these people going to survive with power/magic now sweeping the land?
We are then introduced to two very important characters indeed: two would-be emperors who have had the fortune of being bestowed with great power. Two emperors who must eventually wage war against each other to determine who will be the ruler of this new world that the unleashing of God has created.
The Dark Arm of God is about mirrors, with the trials and struggles of the characters often being the same, but their response to it being very different: most notably Sagnier's struggles with the corrupting influence of his new-found power.
One other major character is introduced to us, a tribal chieftain of a war-like dark race who have been driven away from society. These outcasts are bound together under one flag in a crusade given the mandate of God according to their leader.
The scope is epic, the prose is solid and has White's usual descriptive and macabre style to it, so why four stars instead of five?
Well firstly I edited it, so I had to proof-read constantly over the course of several months rather than read it like an ordinary book. This was frustrating as I really enjoyed the story and the characters and felt I would have got more out of it had I just read it as a fan.
Instead I will list the problems I had with the story spoiler-free rather than complain about any technical issues that my revising has addressed. All of my complaints are under the proviso that you understand my adoration for S.M. White's style of prose. The man can write a mean fantasy tale, as has been evidenced multiple times in the past.
The tribal race felt like an aside from the main plot line, and their resolution felt largely pointless and shoehorned in the grand scope of things.
Two of the primary antagonists of the story only appear within the last few chapters of the tale (one with practically no foreshadowing), which is disappointing given the length of the other antagonist Sagnier's arc. I would have preferred Sagnier to have had an even more prominent role in the tale, but I understand that there was a transference of sorts in his later chapters through his typically despicable actions.
The love scenes were dealt with effectively, but I felt that some of them were a bit rushed for the sake of moving the story along.
The ending itself confused me, and I felt that there needed to be an extended epilogue to cover the various surviving characters in the aftermath. The lack of one meant that after the great conflict's resolution the book stopped abruptly and the result was jarring. I kept thumbing through in the hopes there was more, but I was met with 'The End' repeatedly.
I also felt that the story was either too long for the amount of ground it didn't expand upon, or too short for all the material it did cover. This is more of a minor quibble though and it may have been because I spent so long editing over the course of months instead of reading it in days.
Overall The Dark Arm of God is a solid sequel that deals with the aftermath of its predecessor with great effectiveness. It's an enjoyable read and if you've already ventured into S.M. White's previous writings then I highly recommend that you pick this one up too.
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