Scan barcode
jessicafee86's review against another edition
5.0
More in depth review to come in the next couple of days. I enjoyed A Star Reckoner's Lot, but An Ill Fated Sky is even better!
Edit: Full Review
My least favorite character in the first book of the series (A Star Reckoner's Lot) was Tirdad, so it's no wonder that I waited for over a year to read the sequel that follows his life. But oh, how wrong I was, and I so wish that I hadn't put it off for so long. Before I get started I need to warn you that this review has some pretty mighty spoilers for the first book, and the first book is well worth reading, so skip this review and go check it out!
Now for the rest of the review:
An Ill Fated Sky starts exactly where A Star Reckoner's lot ended, with Ashtadukht dying and leaving us alone with boring, honorable Tirdad, and he's in pretty bad shape. Not only is he alone and emotionally destroyed over murdering his cousin, but he's also somehow inherited her planet reckoning abilities through the sword that killed her.
What happens next is hard to tell without spoilers, and minor as they may be, it can still change some of the feelings that you have while reading the book. So I'm going to keep my summary of the plot as is. In the end I found myself becoming way more attached to the character of Tirdad than I thought I would be. In the first book I found it difficult to become attached to anyone that wasn't Waray, but An Ill Fated Sky brought all three of it's main characters to life. I loved them all and felt a real connection with Tirdad. Life can be dark and full of suffering, but if you have the ones you love by your side, none of that matters. This is a love story, a redemption story, and a bloody, epic adventure all rolled into one. I can't wait to see where the next book leads.
Full review can be found on the blog: http://bookstocombattherain.blogspot.com/2018/06/an-ill-fated-sky-by-darrell-drake.html
Edit: Full Review
My least favorite character in the first book of the series (A Star Reckoner's Lot) was Tirdad, so it's no wonder that I waited for over a year to read the sequel that follows his life. But oh, how wrong I was, and I so wish that I hadn't put it off for so long. Before I get started I need to warn you that this review has some pretty mighty spoilers for the first book, and the first book is well worth reading, so skip this review and go check it out!
Now for the rest of the review:
An Ill Fated Sky starts exactly where A Star Reckoner's lot ended, with Ashtadukht dying and leaving us alone with boring, honorable Tirdad, and he's in pretty bad shape. Not only is he alone and emotionally destroyed over murdering his cousin, but he's also somehow inherited her planet reckoning abilities through the sword that killed her.
What happens next is hard to tell without spoilers, and minor as they may be, it can still change some of the feelings that you have while reading the book. So I'm going to keep my summary of the plot as is. In the end I found myself becoming way more attached to the character of Tirdad than I thought I would be. In the first book I found it difficult to become attached to anyone that wasn't Waray, but An Ill Fated Sky brought all three of it's main characters to life. I loved them all and felt a real connection with Tirdad. Life can be dark and full of suffering, but if you have the ones you love by your side, none of that matters. This is a love story, a redemption story, and a bloody, epic adventure all rolled into one. I can't wait to see where the next book leads.
Full review can be found on the blog: http://bookstocombattherain.blogspot.com/2018/06/an-ill-fated-sky-by-darrell-drake.html
silelda's review
5.0
*Book received from the author for an honest review.
There's a lot of reasons I'm giving this book a 5 out of 5. The characters were wonderful to read about. The dialogue had an enjoyable blend of exposition, character development and humor. The world was even more intriguing as I got to learn more about it.
It feels like there were a lot of improvements between this book and the one before it. In the previous book, the time skips would throw me off for several pages. In this book, everything flows. There was one point where Tirdad was re-living one of Ashtadukht's memories that threw me off for a bit, but to be fair, it threw him off as well. Also, the use of memories as an exposition tool really seemed to fit and, aside from that one moment, was executed really well.
What was also very endearing for me was the fact that both main characters were dealing with some pretty severe depression and in their own ways. Shkarag's philactory kept putting her back together, so suicide, self-harm and other reckless behaviors were her ways. Tirdad tries to hold onto the concept of honor to justify his actions, but ends up resorting to a lot of the same reckless behaviors as Shkarag. Then there's Ashtadukht's memories of depression that show that she resorted to lashing out at others, especially when she had no one supporting her.
The fight scenes were amazingly written and I could practically see the "dance" Tirdad and Shkarag did, working together to defeat bandits and armies. We get to see all of the Eshm sisters, each "worth 30 men", fighting alongside each other to powerful effect. And that final battle! I was fully entranced. Fair warning to anyone who is squeamish, there is a fair amount of blood and bloodlust in this book. It's not gratuitous gore, but if you're sensitive to it, it might not be your thing.
Overall, I'm very happy to read this book. This is a wonderful sequel that I actually don't think you need to have read the first one for. It might help with a few gaps, but I really feel this is a standalone sequel.
There's a lot of reasons I'm giving this book a 5 out of 5. The characters were wonderful to read about. The dialogue had an enjoyable blend of exposition, character development and humor. The world was even more intriguing as I got to learn more about it.
It feels like there were a lot of improvements between this book and the one before it. In the previous book, the time skips would throw me off for several pages. In this book, everything flows. There was one point where Tirdad was re-living one of Ashtadukht's memories that threw me off for a bit, but to be fair, it threw him off as well. Also, the use of memories as an exposition tool really seemed to fit and, aside from that one moment, was executed really well.
What was also very endearing for me was the fact that both main characters were dealing with some pretty severe depression and in their own ways. Shkarag's philactory kept putting her back together, so suicide, self-harm and other reckless behaviors were her ways. Tirdad tries to hold onto the concept of honor to justify his actions, but ends up resorting to a lot of the same reckless behaviors as Shkarag. Then there's Ashtadukht's memories of depression that show that she resorted to lashing out at others, especially when she had no one supporting her.
The fight scenes were amazingly written and I could practically see the "dance" Tirdad and Shkarag did, working together to defeat bandits and armies. We get to see all of the Eshm sisters, each "worth 30 men", fighting alongside each other to powerful effect. And that final battle! I was fully entranced. Fair warning to anyone who is squeamish, there is a fair amount of blood and bloodlust in this book. It's not gratuitous gore, but if you're sensitive to it, it might not be your thing.
Overall, I'm very happy to read this book. This is a wonderful sequel that I actually don't think you need to have read the first one for. It might help with a few gaps, but I really feel this is a standalone sequel.
More...