The Belly of the Bow

Fencer Trilogy #2

by K.J. Parker

Colours in the Steel, Volume One of the Fencer Trilogy, introduced a remarkable new voice in fantasy fiction. The Belly of the Bow confirms that rich promise and establishes K. J. Parker in the top rank of writers.The city of Perimadeia has fallen. Bardas Loredan, the man who was supposed to save it, is now living on the Island -- a recluce, living apart from his family in the mountains, with only a young apprentice for company. His life as a fencer-at-law is over. Instead, Loredon spends his days perfecting the art of bow-making. But his isolation will not last forever; and when the Island comes under attack, his skills as a soldier and general are once again called upon.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, War, Speculative Fiction, High Fantasy, Adult

530 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

K.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.

According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.

Reviews

[Allen Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5

I liked this book better than book 1 and it retroactively made book 1 better in my opinion as it answer some questions and settles some random stuff that didn't sit right with me in the first book. It also leaves some threads just hanging out to dry like a washerwoman's laundry.

Imagine a war over mortgages and a crappy island between a bank and a university run by bureaucrats whose only knowledge of war comes from the textbooks they teach out of. It should be funny, and it is--parts of it are hilarious, especially as Parker treats the subject with the utmost seriousness. And yet, this is a dark freaking book.

Not a lot happens in this book, but there's some dark themes explored, not the least of which is the toxic cement of family that bonds fates together. This isn't my favorite Parker book, but it is certainly one that will live in my brainspace for a long time.

[Shane Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best. Parker. Ending. Ever.

[Shaitarn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really 4 and a half stars, but still deserves the full compliment of stars.

Another one to add to my 'full review to come' list.

[Petra Eriksson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first book, the chracters the plot and the story. I had high hopes for this one. But really, what was the book about? I don't think I really know. I kept ion reading, waiting for something interesting to happen and suddenly I noticed I had almost finished the book and I just didn't have the energy to read about anymore. I think three chapters was about Bardas, maybe even less, rest of the book was about his wacked brother and a war with the most stupid people I have ever read about, there was a lot of such people in this book. And Bardas, in the end, well I don't really like him anymore. I said that the charcters was very realistic in the last book, I'm not sure i can say that about this one. perhpas if there wasn't so many of the same kind of people in one story I would have said the same about this one. But truly? How many wacked up or stupid people can there be in one book? Well a lot apparently. Well, I will read the last one and hope for better times, but I hate to be dissapointed again. I hope things actually happens in the last one. Lite less talk about their magic, lite less stupid people and perhaps a Bardas I can like again. Really...

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

TBOTB is the sophomore of Parker's first trilogy and unfortunately, the last volume is unobtainium. TBOTB starts off rather slow, and never really builds up much speed, but lots of snarky dialogue and philosophical meanderings move the tale along. Bardas Loredan, the infamous lawyer-fencer from the first volume now resides on Scona, a small island, where his sister runs the only real economic power there-- a bank. His brother Gorgas also lives on the island, serving as the military leader of the bank's militia (for lack of a better term). The next island over hosts 'the foundation', which is also basically a bank, and both banks are busy poaching each other's peasant mortgages from one another, leading to a low level war. Bardas, never friendly with his family (as we found out why from the last volume), takes a cabin in the woods and starts making bows. One thing Parker is particularly good at is the detailed description of how the bows are made; obviously, he has some experience in that regard.

Many of the older characters return, including the two 'wizards' from the first volume. The magic involved (the only known example of Parker utilizing magic in any from to my knowledge) concerns being able to 'nudge' events in the future, but no one really knows how it works and it often has disasterous outcomes when tried. In fact, the fall of the great city Perimadiea from the last volume may have been the result of a simple curse.

Anyway, it is not a spoiler to say that eventually, the soft war between banks eventually heats up, and the Loredan clan is stuck right in the middle of events yet again. The ending was unexpected to say the least. This was something of a let down from the first volume in the trilogy, but still worth a read. One novel aspect Parker builds here concerns 'The Island's political structure. The Island consists of basically merchants without any formal structure; something of a libertarian paradise, but one that also works. Parker's subtle critiques of government in any from percolate to the surface here, as in his other novels, along with the idea that war in any form is basically a waste. 3.5 stars.

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did NOT see that ending coming.

After the fall of Perimedeia in book one, Bardas Loredan finds himself a humble bowyer caught up in a new war between the militant scholarly Foundation of Shastel and his siblings' equally militant Bank of Scona.

Gorgas Loredan makes for a fascinating villain. I completely misread him and yet he makes absolute sense.

I do wish the author would decide once and for all how the puzzling abstract philosophy that passes for magic works; he seems to be making it up as he goes along. This would be a big problem if "the Principle" were more plot critical.

[lärm · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a lot of questions from Colours in the Steel get answered in this this book, it's still a bit of a let down. The first book was a real pageturner while this one takes a far slower pace. Maybe it's because I read it in English instead of Dutch. Nevertheless I enjoyed reading it.

Parker has the striking ability to introduce minor actors in the play, make you feel sympathy for them, only to have them killed in some nasty way only a few pages further. I guess that's the mindfucking some people refer to.

Sometimes you think Parker makes the Loredans an unrealistic, cynical bunch. if you bare in mind they just might be deranged psychopaths, it makes a bit more sense, but still... the relative ease with which they kill family members and get over it is either psychotic or daft.

What makes absolutely no sense to me is the fact that Shastel only uses halberdiers to fight Scona, knowing that they have a bunch of skilled archers. It's like fighting tanks with a knife. Why not have archers yourself? Tradition? Apart from that, there's no real flaw in the story (in my humble opinion).

As much as i wanna know how all this will end, i'm gonna read something completely different now.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little on the fence with this one. On the one hand, it's the usual Parker style that I like, but on the other, it felt like it took a long time to get where it was going. Plus, there was that little "Oh." twist at the ending, but it felt unearned. It involved the Loredan brothers, and it felt like they had switched places. Neither action nor reaction felt right, and as much as I thought it served a place in the narrative, and effectively turned the tide of the story, it didn't feel right by the characters.

Like Colours in the Steel, The Belly of the Bow uses the metaphor of weapons to underscore the plot of the story, and I like how Parker puts it all together. It contributes to that "Oh." moment, and even gives it a touch of depth. I'm assuming Parker will do the same with The Proof House; I'm interested to learn what the heck a proof house even IS.

[Riko Stan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whole lot of nothing going on in this one, until close to the end when somebody does something totally out of character and totally unbelievable. It really made no sense at all and almost made me quit reading the series.


Hopefully the third one is better, if not, I might just be done with this author. The action I spoke about really, really made no sense in anyway. It was like the author took all the character building he had been doing and just threw it out the window and decided to start over.

[Molly Ison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This must be what is meant by the banality of evil.

[Karl Stark di Grande Inverno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buonissimo secondo romanzo della trilogia.
Parte piano, in sordina, ma dopo un'ottantina di pagine ingrana la quarta e non si ferma più.
Stessi personaggi del primo romanzo, con qualche new-entry azzeccata; stesse psicologie molto sfaccettate; stessa trama matura ed adulta.
Solo alcune piccole parti scorrono peggio delle altre: mi riferisco alle pagine impiegate a descrivere minuziosamente il procedimento di costruzione degli archi. Però è poca cosa rispetto alla maggior parte del libro, che si dimostra decisamente ben scritto ed avvincente.
Ho letto alcune recensioni qui su GR che lo hanno stroncato per via del colpo di scena finale: beh, è sicuramente un colpo ad effetto che non mi sarei mai aspettato, ma è anche vero che è perfettamente congruente con le personalità dei personaggi, è coerente con il tipo di mondo e di narrazione.
Quindi a mio avviso è perfetto, e non può essere minimamente motivo di stroncatura: questo non è un romanzo per ragazzi e non è nemmeno un high fantasy dove i buoni sono sempre belli e puliti nella loro armatura luccicante e i cattivi sono brutti, sporchi e fanno cose da cattivi perchè "si".
Credo che i vari Martin, Abercrombie, Morgan... abbiano letto Tom Holt (vero nome dell'autore) e ne abbiano tratto insegnamento.

[Llona ❤️ "Così tanti libri, così poco tempo." · Rating 1 out of 5]

non un fantasy.

TRAMA: manuale per la fabbricazione di archi scritto con cognizione di causa
(contiene tralci di Freddy Krueger)


PS: ho letto l'intera trilogia (mentre stavo male come mai prima nella vita) a piccoli pezzi tra lo scemare di una crisi e l'insorgere della successiva, sempre annebbiata da dolori forti e non so se ho davvero capito ciò che ho letto, la verità è che l'ho odiato e questo secondo volume è disgustoso)

[David B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really struggled with this book. It takes a while to get going and ends with a twist that - at least in my opinion - totally contradicts the character development of the main character of the series.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a big disappointment.

If you bother to make a trilogy, I would expect, as a reader, that it at least tries to follow the journey of characters and events in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, that's not happening here.

The Belly of the Bow drifts far from the tone and promise of Colours in the Steel. What began as a tight, coherent story about the philosophical concept known as the Principle, private feuds and strong characters in the first book morphs here into something whose threads barely connect. The rewriting of the meaning of the Principle (and the characters’ relationship to it) is capricious and unnecessary and the only purpose of it seems to be to add artificial dramatism. Experts on the topic in book one becomes amateurs in bon two, naturals pop out from under the rocks, in some cases retroactively and without any concern to even attempt to explain it out.

But not only we see this in regard to the Principle. Key characters who were clearly defined in book one become erratic and inconsistent in book two. I couldn't help wondering if the author simply had written an entirely different character at first and only decided to connect with Colours of the steel at since moment half book and decided to switch names. Can't begin to express how unsettling this is and how little it helps to carry the story forward.

The stakes feel arbitrarily inflated, the setting shift leaves the original’s momentum in the dust, and by the end you realise you’re no longer reading the same series you started. It feels as if the changes were driven more by the desire for melodrama and surprising twists than by trying to stick to the logical development of the story and characters.

At the end, I just felt I've read a bunch of to discontinuity and melodrama.

[Caroline Hodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm trying to review this from memory a looooong time ago...and I think the name of this book is what got me into the series as I'm an archer. That, and I was considering the law at the time.

I probably should not have, and *that* scene is just whole many levels of wrong, especially reading it as a teenager. To be honest this series is more like a slow descent into horror. I went on and read the third. I really should have left it here. Especially considering the nature of 3's plot. This is the last point Bardas makes any kind of sense, or any dimensionality, I think the author's obsession with fates, circles and families overtakes any logic to characters.
I then read the Scavenger series. I've not touched a Parker since. If you like your fantasy depressing and macabre read Parker, if not, it's not worth it, it' 'ok'.

[Dennis (nee) Hearon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This may be the most negative review I have ever posted on Goodreads! The sophomore effort by K.J. Parker (who now is an accomplished author and one who's work I generally find enjoyable), it is a shock that this book was ever published (and after which it is mystifying the publisher decided to issue a sequel).
The story is interspersed with good battle scenes bookended with obtuse expositions of a magical systems which frankly make no sense. What is worse, these expositions continue for 20 or 30 pages of single-spaced prose with little or no bearing on the flow of the storyline. Halfway through the book, I was tempted to shove it in a wood-chipper.
If you are a fan of good military fantasy, look elsewhere. Arghhh!

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the fall of Perimadeia we get more intimate with the movers and shakers of the world - at least until that point; Bardas tries and get some quiet but his family and him being the fulcrum of events do not let that happen; even darker and with the same superb understated prose another superb installment in the series

[Ee Cheng Ooi · Rating 4 out of 5]

People have rated this book poorly, with the claim that it violates the rule of heroic fantasy - that the hero has to be heroic. I don't hold to this in the slightest, and thus thoroughly enjoyed the novel.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

That ending was MESSED UP.

[Kiro Selanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

After one city falls, another is threatened. Bardas Loredan is now living on the island of Scona, where his brother and sister also reside. Bardas was half-kidnapped to the island by his sister (for his own safety she says), and he sulkingly retired to the mountains where he makes bows and avoids his siblings.

Scona is threatened by the much larger country of Shastel, home to the Foundation, a strange institution that is part bank and part university. Bardas's sister, Niessa, has founded a competing bank and took some business away from it (land mortgages, yawn). The Foundation insists on claiming back its business, even if it must use its army to do so. This means a strange sort of war between Shastel and Scona. Theoretically it's about where mortgages payments go, but in practice it means that Shastel sends raiding parties and Scona tries to stop them. Later these raids graduate into a full-fledged war.

Many things about this war are strange. Gorgas Loredan ably leads the Scona army. But Niessa, who is the de-facto leader of Scona, seems unsure that she even wants to fight a war; it's bad for business. Bardas, who had led the defense of Perimadeia in the previous book, is content to stay well out of this war. The tactics are also strange: Scona fields only archers and Shastel fields only halberdiers. Despite loss after loss the Shastel infantry soldiers never figure out that a shield might be useful against archers.

Another sort of war is fought in the Principle, that weird magic/philosophy hybrid. The Principle was unclear in the previous book and it remains unclear here, even though some characters claim to explain it thoroughly. The only thing that became clearer is that some users of the Principle understand it and use it to influence others, and others have a lot of power (they're "naturals") but they just serve as a battery for the more sophisticated users. For example, Niessa (a sophisticated user) uses Alexius (powerful but less sophisticated) for her forays into the Principle. But many things remain unclear. Many of the visions in the Principle are of events that never happen, but aren't they supposed to be of future "critical points"?. What exactly *can* Alexius and Dr. Gannadius do in the Principle, since they're not completely ignorant? *How* did Alexius curse Bardas in the previous book? I don't require formal systems of magic in my books: I actually prefer the "mysterious" form of magic. But here K. J. Parker describes a form of magic that he claims is perfectly clear while it's nothing of the sort. I feel like he's gaslighting us, and this annoyance is a big part of the reason that I knocked a star off the rating of this book.

There's some great writing in the book. The way the Foundation works is hilarious: there are many levels of academic bureaucracy; political factions; impassioned but cynical speechmaking; competitive one-upsmanship; and byzantine philosophical discussions featuring K. J. Parker's trademark tangle of made-up books and dead academics.

Some of the dialogues are positively delicious. Old Patriarch Alexius (retired) doesn't have a big role to play but whenever he appears he contributes his world-weary wit.

Bardas has only a small role in this book, which is surprising since he's the titular character of this series (it's called the "Fencer Trilogy"). Gorgas has the biggest part. Despite doing evil things, both in his youth and more recently (opening the gates of Perimadeia to the enemy), he considers himself a good person. Niessa is a disappointing character: she's always in control; always one step ahead of everyone else; and uses a heavy hand to force others to her will. Despite being Bardas's sister she's as much of a villain as the Foundation. More, really, because they're good-natured bumblers and Niessa comes across as an evil genius.

The book contains many detailed descriptions of bowmaking (a real-world hobby of K. J. Parker). I'm not a fan of this sort of thing, but it's less objectionable in this book than in the previous one because it's told in a more story-like fashion, e.g. when Bardas is teaching the profession to his young apprentice. Still, I hastened through those passages.

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect sequel.

This carries on where the last book left off, Bardas is no longer in the centre of things but he still appears pivotal.

We get to meet the whole Loredan family with Gorgas in particular taking centre stage for large parts of the story, most of the key characters from the previous book are here again still connected to Bardas.

This keeps the laid-back style of the first book with plenty of humour. The characters are likeable and quirky, the politics is written with a very high level of cynicism and the action is never over done.

We do get the see Bardas in a different light here, his relationship with his younger brother is difficult and in the end he stops being the hapless but likeable hero and becomes more like Gorgas.

The ending is exceptional; bizarre, over the top and certainly unforgettable.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the fantasy series about a very strange family, and how their interactions sway this particular fantasy world's geopolitics. For some reason, I was struck this time by how Parker's worlds are almost entirely devoid of emotions (and where there's emotion, it's mostly inferred rather than shown)--the characters all explain them strictly in rational terms, to the point where, if emotion does show up, it seems strangely out of place. At any rate, this series devotes a fair amount of attention to the building of weapons and to military tactics, and the former was particularly interesting; the "bow" metaphor didn't work quite as well as the "sword" metaphor from the previous book, though.

[Mark Redman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent second book in the Fencer trilogy. The focus shifts from fallen city Perimadeia to the Island of Scona. Parker demonstrates just how messed up The Loredan family is. A strange bunch, doomed by the consequences of past actions to endless attempts at reconciliation. The story this time is the technology of making longbows and recurve bows. It is about the consequences of magic--a pair of wizards who meddled in things they did not understand find themselves tinkering endlessly to make events less devastating, and running out of that luck which makes meddling possible. The ending to this book, let just say, it is one of the darkest endings it read in a book, one of the darkest revenge stories I’ve read.

[Seabright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I prefered this to the first though the pacing is so different it feels almost a different style, Bardas dealing with the fallout from Colours in the Steel is shown really well and I really like the way Parker shows Bardas trying to lie to himself about how his ideal life is working out for him.

The ending was a bit of a shocker and initally felt unearned, but looking back on the books and trying to think outside of Bardas' perspective I felt it actually fit really well.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parker's books are really marvelous examples of prose, engineering, warfare, politics, and human boneheadedness. This was no exception and I really enjoyed it. The huge twist at the end really hit me hard though. For the sake of my enjoyment of the book, I'm not sure if the impact of that moment was worth the horror I experienced, but I'm sure that's what Mr Parker was going for. The Loredan family really is broken.

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in The Fencer Trilogy.

All our favourite, and not so favourite characters have survived the downfall of Perimadeia and fate, or maybe someone tampering with The Principle, has brought them all back together again for another round of shenanigans, squabbles, battles, and all out war.

All good stuff.

And now it's on to the third and last book in the trilogy, The Proof House .

[C Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I like the exposition-style parts of the book, and the way the author uses multiple POVs to show the full sweep of the events that are occurring, I just don't care at all about any of the characters.

May as well as call the series "A History of the Loredan Family and their Fu*k Ups". With a warning that the series is as much fun as a kick in balls. Well written, but bleak.

[Ignasis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not expect that ending. I'm not a gullible reader, but that psychopathic act blindsided me. It felt like a stab in the back.

I wish there'd been more of Bardas in this, was what I was thinking while reading this book. I was also a bit confused about the summary of this book. It just doesn't seem to have been the focus of this story.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved Colours In The Steel, as a perfect KJ Parker style book (I had read the Engineer series first) but found this book hard going. A little too twisty, too many convenient characters with no name suddenly becoming linked up. Like KJ Parker set out to make a book “in the style of KJ Parker”.
Decided I’m not yet ready to read book 3, maybe when I run out of other books to read.

[Lera · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending

The book was really good - I don’t expect anything less from K J Parker at this point - but the ending sent a chill down my spine. I have admit, *the act* was shocking, and gruesome, especially because of the sequence preceding it chronologically. It was fantastic, in all its violent glory. I can’t wait to start the next book