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The Dance of Light #2
Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων
Ο Έλιοτ είναι πια μόνος. Έχει αφήσει το Έλμορ και τους φίλους του για τα Βουνά του Ξεχασμένου Κόσμου, ενώ η αποστολή που πρέπει να φέρει εις πέρας είναι σχεδόν ακατόρθωτη.
Οι Πρώτες Φυλές, τα πλάσματα που σύμφωνα με τους θρύλους είναι στοιχειωμένα από μια αρχαία κατάρα, είναι η μόνη του ελπίδα για να αντιμετωπίσει τον Walter. Κανείς δεν ξέρει αν ο Έλιοτ έχει τη δύναμη να σπάσει την κατάρα, ενώ η βασίλισσα Σοφί και ο λαός του Έλμορ στηρίζονται σε κείνον. Ο Walter μπορεί να ηττήθηκε στην τελευταία τους μάχη, όμως σύντομα θα επιστέψει πιο αποφασισμένος από ποτέ, θέλοντας να καταστρέψει τους τελευταίους του εχθρούς μια για πάντα.
Ο Έλιοτ χρειάζεται νέους συμμάχους, όμως τα πλάσματα που θέλει να πάρει με το μέρος του είναι πληγωμένα από τις πράξεις των ανθρώπων. Άραγε, θα καταφέρει να πείσει τις Πρώτες Φυλές πως ο ίδιος είναι διαφορετικός;
Το δεύτερο μέρος της σειράς, «Ο Χορός του Φωτός», θα σας καθηλώσει σε ένα ταξίδι γεμάτο αναπάντεχες εκπλήξεις μέχρι την τελευταία στιγμή.
Οι Πρώτες Φυλές, τα πλάσματα που σύμφωνα με τους θρύλους είναι στοιχειωμένα από μια αρχαία κατάρα, είναι η μόνη του ελπίδα για να αντιμετωπίσει τον Walter. Κανείς δεν ξέρει αν ο Έλιοτ έχει τη δύναμη να σπάσει την κατάρα, ενώ η βασίλισσα Σοφί και ο λαός του Έλμορ στηρίζονται σε κείνον. Ο Walter μπορεί να ηττήθηκε στην τελευταία τους μάχη, όμως σύντομα θα επιστέψει πιο αποφασισμένος από ποτέ, θέλοντας να καταστρέψει τους τελευταίους του εχθρούς μια για πάντα.
Ο Έλιοτ χρειάζεται νέους συμμάχους, όμως τα πλάσματα που θέλει να πάρει με το μέρος του είναι πληγωμένα από τις πράξεις των ανθρώπων. Άραγε, θα καταφέρει να πείσει τις Πρώτες Φυλές πως ο ίδιος είναι διαφορετικός;
Το δεύτερο μέρος της σειράς, «Ο Χορός του Φωτός», θα σας καθηλώσει σε ένα ταξίδι γεμάτο αναπάντεχες εκπλήξεις μέχρι την τελευταία στιγμή.
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First published May 10, 2024
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378 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Kontaxis
5 books130 followersDiscover the enchanting world of "The Dance of Light" epic fantasy series with a FREE prequel novella, "The Knight of the Moon." Join Gregory Kontaxis' mailing list now at https://gregorykontaxis.com/sign-up/ to claim your copy!
Gregory Kontaxis is a Greek epic fantasy author who writes about medieval wars, mythology, politics and epic adventures. His characters are ordinary and at the same time complex living with many challenges to face.
"The Return of the Knights" is the first part of his planned pentalogy “The Dance of Light”.
Gregory was born on 17th December 1989 in Athens. He studied Informatics and Finance in Greece and the United Kingdom and he has worked as a Financial Analyst in Vienna and London. He currently resides in London, where he is occupied with investment risk management and writing.
Gregory Kontaxis is a Greek epic fantasy author who writes about medieval wars, mythology, politics and epic adventures. His characters are ordinary and at the same time complex living with many challenges to face.
"The Return of the Knights" is the first part of his planned pentalogy “The Dance of Light”.
Gregory was born on 17th December 1989 in Athens. He studied Informatics and Finance in Greece and the United Kingdom and he has worked as a Financial Analyst in Vienna and London. He currently resides in London, where he is occupied with investment risk management and writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 26, 2024
My complete review is published at Grimdark Magazine.
The Fall of the Giants by Gregory Kontaxis is the second volume of his epic fantasy series, The Dance of Light, following up on his debut novel, The Return of the Knights. Originally published in Greek, The Fall of the Giants has been translated into English by Sophia Travlos and edited by K.E. Andrews, providing a polished reading experience that, for me, is indistinguishable from native English.
The scope of The Dance of Light series is enormous, filled to the brim with political intrigue and warring factions. Thankfully, Gregory Kontaxis includes a comprehensive list of characters and information on each kingdom at the beginning of the book. I found myself consulting the list frequently, especially during the early part of the book.
The Fall of the Giants brings greater nuance to all the principal characters of the series. I must confess that I was rather annoyed with the lead protagonist, Elliot, in The Return of the Knights, where he came across as brash and overconfident. I found Elliot to be much more realistic, and therefore more relatable, in this second book of the series.
As in The Return of the Knights, I enjoyed the over-the-top villainy of Walter Thorn, a local warlord trying to overthrow Queen Sophie of Knightdorn. Another favorite villain is John (the “Long Arm”), a former bounty hunter and member of Walter’s inner circle, whose backstory is given in the excellent prequel novella, The Knight of the Moon.
Nevertheless, my favorite character in The Fall of the Giants is Queen Sophie herself. She is, perhaps, the most complex character in the series, a lonely monarch who has lost most of her family and close allies. Sophie is weary from carrying the weight of a crown that she feels ambivalent about at best.
The main story of The Fall of the Giants concerns a competition between Elliot and Walter as they seek to form alliances with various legendary races. While Elliot strives to free the Elder Races, elwyn and elves, Walter pursues a fearsome set of allies in giants and their most loyal companions, the terrifying wyverns. With the power of giants and wyverns on his side, Walter could become unstoppable.
Kontaxis maintains a steady pace throughout this second volume of the series, never lagging as the story builds up to its striking climax. Despite the obvious comparisons to A Game of Thrones, Kontaxis has a tighter focus on the key storylines compared to George R.R. Martin. However, The Dance of Light series also dials back on elements of gray morality compared to Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Personally, I would have preferred a bit more moral ambiguity in the lead characters in The Fall of the Giants.
Overall, The Fall of the Giants improves upon The Return of the Knights in every way, delivering an impressive epic fantasy that brings new layers of nuance to both the characters and story.
The Fall of the Giants by Gregory Kontaxis is the second volume of his epic fantasy series, The Dance of Light, following up on his debut novel, The Return of the Knights. Originally published in Greek, The Fall of the Giants has been translated into English by Sophia Travlos and edited by K.E. Andrews, providing a polished reading experience that, for me, is indistinguishable from native English.
The scope of The Dance of Light series is enormous, filled to the brim with political intrigue and warring factions. Thankfully, Gregory Kontaxis includes a comprehensive list of characters and information on each kingdom at the beginning of the book. I found myself consulting the list frequently, especially during the early part of the book.
The Fall of the Giants brings greater nuance to all the principal characters of the series. I must confess that I was rather annoyed with the lead protagonist, Elliot, in The Return of the Knights, where he came across as brash and overconfident. I found Elliot to be much more realistic, and therefore more relatable, in this second book of the series.
As in The Return of the Knights, I enjoyed the over-the-top villainy of Walter Thorn, a local warlord trying to overthrow Queen Sophie of Knightdorn. Another favorite villain is John (the “Long Arm”), a former bounty hunter and member of Walter’s inner circle, whose backstory is given in the excellent prequel novella, The Knight of the Moon.
Nevertheless, my favorite character in The Fall of the Giants is Queen Sophie herself. She is, perhaps, the most complex character in the series, a lonely monarch who has lost most of her family and close allies. Sophie is weary from carrying the weight of a crown that she feels ambivalent about at best.
The main story of The Fall of the Giants concerns a competition between Elliot and Walter as they seek to form alliances with various legendary races. While Elliot strives to free the Elder Races, elwyn and elves, Walter pursues a fearsome set of allies in giants and their most loyal companions, the terrifying wyverns. With the power of giants and wyverns on his side, Walter could become unstoppable.
Kontaxis maintains a steady pace throughout this second volume of the series, never lagging as the story builds up to its striking climax. Despite the obvious comparisons to A Game of Thrones, Kontaxis has a tighter focus on the key storylines compared to George R.R. Martin. However, The Dance of Light series also dials back on elements of gray morality compared to Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Personally, I would have preferred a bit more moral ambiguity in the lead characters in The Fall of the Giants.
Overall, The Fall of the Giants improves upon The Return of the Knights in every way, delivering an impressive epic fantasy that brings new layers of nuance to both the characters and story.
May 7, 2024
It's been like 80 years y'all and the sequel is finally here, hurray!!!! I couldn't wait to get back into this world. Mr Kontaxis pleasantly surprised me by having a "previously on" type of segment to remind us what happened in the first book, which was very much needed. There's also a character list, like in book one. I didn't have to flip back and forth this time either. THERE'S ALSO ART INSIDE (near the end)!
The Fall of the Giants is a slower novel when compared to The Return of the Knights. That, in combination with May Day and Easter holidays, meant it took me a bit longer to read than it normally would have. But even with a slower pace it was still entertaining.
The gang all went their separate ways, which HURT, not gonna lie. I wanted to see them back together ASAP. But they all had things that needed doing so I get it. We got to follow each of them on their journeys, but the main focus was on Elliot and Walter (and Reynald).
Elliot had the biggest character development out of everyone, he got more mature as he trained and tried to free the Elder Races...I'm so proud of my boy. He's really becoming a true warrior. I may or may not have shed a tear during that scene with Thindor.
You know what I also cried at? Certain characters making their way to the realms of the dead. It's not like I wasn't expecting anyone to die, but the characters that did...even if they weren't my ultimate faves I was still attached to them.
I still love Walter, despite all his evil deeds. He's such an interesting character to follow and I can now firmly say that I'm hoping he makes it to the very end of the series (with John Long Arm too, don't worry I haven't forgotten him).
Reynald took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting to like him, but he really grew on me over the course of the book. I'm glad he got so many PoVs.
I also enjoyed getting to know the world better. The first half or so of the book had a lot of new lore to greet us with, we were learning it along with Elliot.
The pace really picked up in the last third, and especially at the end. We finally got to see some action and amazing battle scenes!! The very last page had me going DUN DUN DUN, it was literally the embodiment of that, please tell me you agree.
And now I once again can't wait for the next book. I have to know what's going to happen next, how they're going to fight Walter with the newest developments, who's going to survive and who's going to meet their end. If someone could fast forward to book three's release that'd be great.
*Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
The Fall of the Giants is a slower novel when compared to The Return of the Knights. That, in combination with May Day and Easter holidays, meant it took me a bit longer to read than it normally would have. But even with a slower pace it was still entertaining.
The gang all went their separate ways, which HURT, not gonna lie. I wanted to see them back together ASAP. But they all had things that needed doing so I get it. We got to follow each of them on their journeys, but the main focus was on Elliot and Walter (and Reynald).
Elliot had the biggest character development out of everyone, he got more mature as he trained and tried to free the Elder Races...I'm so proud of my boy. He's really becoming a true warrior. I may or may not have shed a tear during that scene with Thindor.
You know what I also cried at? Certain characters making their way to the realms of the dead. It's not like I wasn't expecting anyone to die, but the characters that did...even if they weren't my ultimate faves I was still attached to them.
I still love Walter, despite all his evil deeds. He's such an interesting character to follow and I can now firmly say that I'm hoping he makes it to the very end of the series (with John Long Arm too, don't worry I haven't forgotten him).
Reynald took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting to like him, but he really grew on me over the course of the book. I'm glad he got so many PoVs.
I also enjoyed getting to know the world better. The first half or so of the book had a lot of new lore to greet us with, we were learning it along with Elliot.
The pace really picked up in the last third, and especially at the end. We finally got to see some action and amazing battle scenes!! The very last page had me going DUN DUN DUN, it was literally the embodiment of that, please tell me you agree.
And now I once again can't wait for the next book. I have to know what's going to happen next, how they're going to fight Walter with the newest developments, who's going to survive and who's going to meet their end. If someone could fast forward to book three's release that'd be great.
*Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
May 10, 2024
Review originally on
JamReads
The Fall of the Giants is the second book in the epic fantasy series The Dance of Light, written by the Greek author Gregory Kontaxis; a saga where you can recognise the inspiration taken from its own mythology. Picking directly after the ending of The Return of the Knights, we have a sequel with a slower pacing but a bigger world, more nuanced but equally epic.
Elliot starts a journey to the Mountains of the Forgotten World, hoping to gather the support of the Elder Races to Sophie's cause; however, for that to happen, he will need to understand the curse that is afflicting them and break it. A really interesting arc that gives us more insight about the own world mythology and that finally portraits an Elliot that is experiencing difficulties. But if we have learnt something from our young knight is that he won't stop trying.
Meanwhile, the politics game is being played by those that still support Sophie, and not everybody will be easy to convince.
In comparison with the first book, we have a less action focused plot, putting more focus on the difficulties of making Sophie's cause survive; and even Walter's arc is quite hooking, with some twists I didn't expect at first glance.
The characters are better portrayed, with an extra layer of complexity; it's much easier to connect with them and their motivations, and the aura of invincibility is removed from others.
In general, The Fall of the Giants is a novel that shows the growth of Kontaxis as an author, a classic fantasy proposal that promises to become incredible, as the stakes have been raised during this second book; if you want to read some good old epic fantasy, you should pick The Dance of Light.
The Fall of the Giants is the second book in the epic fantasy series The Dance of Light, written by the Greek author Gregory Kontaxis; a saga where you can recognise the inspiration taken from its own mythology. Picking directly after the ending of The Return of the Knights, we have a sequel with a slower pacing but a bigger world, more nuanced but equally epic.
Elliot starts a journey to the Mountains of the Forgotten World, hoping to gather the support of the Elder Races to Sophie's cause; however, for that to happen, he will need to understand the curse that is afflicting them and break it. A really interesting arc that gives us more insight about the own world mythology and that finally portraits an Elliot that is experiencing difficulties. But if we have learnt something from our young knight is that he won't stop trying.
Meanwhile, the politics game is being played by those that still support Sophie, and not everybody will be easy to convince.
In comparison with the first book, we have a less action focused plot, putting more focus on the difficulties of making Sophie's cause survive; and even Walter's arc is quite hooking, with some twists I didn't expect at first glance.
The characters are better portrayed, with an extra layer of complexity; it's much easier to connect with them and their motivations, and the aura of invincibility is removed from others.
In general, The Fall of the Giants is a novel that shows the growth of Kontaxis as an author, a classic fantasy proposal that promises to become incredible, as the stakes have been raised during this second book; if you want to read some good old epic fantasy, you should pick The Dance of Light.
May 10, 2024
This review was originally published on Before We Go Blog
Gregory Kontaxis’ epic Dance of Light series continues with The Fall of the Giants, a thrilling and ambitious sequel that improves upon its predecessor in every single way imaginable.
Now, The Return of the Knights was a promising start to this series, but I am just going to be brutally honest and admit that I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back for more. However, I then read the prequel novella, The Knight of the Moon, and that impressed me so much that I simply couldn’t resist seeing how Kontaxis would step up his game in this second book. And holy smokes, am I glad I trusted the process, because this sequel absolutely blew me away!
One of my main critiques of the first instalment came down to the character work, as I felt that most characters were a bit one-dimensional and lacked true emotional depth. Though while we still have some mustache-twirling villains and overly naive heroic characters, The Fall of the Giants really changed the game for me and offered so much more nuance and depth. The character development in this sequel is simply astounding, and I loved how all their respective inner conflicts and emotional turmoil were depicted in such a painfully realistic way.
The pacing slows down significantly to allow for some great moments of introspection and soul-searching, which, combined with the much more expressive and evocative prose style compared to book 1, helped me to connect on a deeper level with each of the characters. Especially Elliot’s humbling journey into the Mountains of the Forgotten World and Eleanor’s powerful transformation really captivated me, providing some extremely satisfying and earned character growth.
Sometimes I did still feel like some (inter)actions felt a bit forced or out of left field, and some characters could definitely use some anger management therapy, but in a way it almost made them feel even more human. We are, after all, an unpredictable, flawed, and fallible species, and I appreciated how that was showcased in the most disturbing ways here. Themes of war, generational trauma, loss, loyalty, betrayal, redemption, legacy, and forgiveness are explored in surprisingly touching ways, which gave this sequel a lot of nuance, complexity, and heart.
To me, it feels like Kontaxis has now really found the voices for each of these characters, allowing this ambitious multi-POV narration to be executed with flawless grace. There really is no denying that the scope of this story is extremely vast, and the number of named characters is a lot to keep track of, but I personally didn’t feel overwhelmed or lost for a single minute.
See, even though there are a lot of moving pieces, each character’s personal arc really gets the time and attention it deserves. Moreover, actions are proven to have serious consequences, and I really loved how seemingly innocent decisions of one character could have major rippling effects throughout the entire world and have devastating impacts on other characters’ lives. So many seemingly separate threads got tied together so masterfully in the end, resulting in a pulse-pounding climax sequence that had my heart in my throat.
On top of all that, I also loved how organically the world building expanded in The Fall of the Giants, both in breadth and in depth. Even though this world has a brutal and complicated history that is steeped in blood, it is also filled with sparks of beauty and wonder. I especially enjoyed learning so much more about the Elder Races through Elliot’s perspective, and all of the newly introduced lore and mythical creatures filled me with equal parts awe and terror.
No, this story doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does what it sets out to do brilliantly. To me, The Dance of Light series feels like an exciting mash-up of A Song of Ice and Fire and The Faithful and the Fallen, while also being completely its own thing. Kontaxis has now proven that he is not afraid to go down some dark and unexpected paths, so I truly can’t wait to see what kind of devilishly dark twists and turns he has up his sleeve next.
The Fall of the Giants truly exceeded my expectations in every single way possible, and it has fully locked me in for the rest of the series. If you are looking for your next sprawling multi-POV epic fantasy full of diverse fantasy races, cutthroat political scheming, rich history and lore, cinematic battle sequences, and riveting levels of tension and intrigue, then you have to check out The Dance of Light series!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Gregory Kontaxis’ epic Dance of Light series continues with The Fall of the Giants, a thrilling and ambitious sequel that improves upon its predecessor in every single way imaginable.
Now, The Return of the Knights was a promising start to this series, but I am just going to be brutally honest and admit that I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back for more. However, I then read the prequel novella, The Knight of the Moon, and that impressed me so much that I simply couldn’t resist seeing how Kontaxis would step up his game in this second book. And holy smokes, am I glad I trusted the process, because this sequel absolutely blew me away!
One of my main critiques of the first instalment came down to the character work, as I felt that most characters were a bit one-dimensional and lacked true emotional depth. Though while we still have some mustache-twirling villains and overly naive heroic characters, The Fall of the Giants really changed the game for me and offered so much more nuance and depth. The character development in this sequel is simply astounding, and I loved how all their respective inner conflicts and emotional turmoil were depicted in such a painfully realistic way.
The pacing slows down significantly to allow for some great moments of introspection and soul-searching, which, combined with the much more expressive and evocative prose style compared to book 1, helped me to connect on a deeper level with each of the characters. Especially Elliot’s humbling journey into the Mountains of the Forgotten World and Eleanor’s powerful transformation really captivated me, providing some extremely satisfying and earned character growth.
Sometimes I did still feel like some (inter)actions felt a bit forced or out of left field, and some characters could definitely use some anger management therapy, but in a way it almost made them feel even more human. We are, after all, an unpredictable, flawed, and fallible species, and I appreciated how that was showcased in the most disturbing ways here. Themes of war, generational trauma, loss, loyalty, betrayal, redemption, legacy, and forgiveness are explored in surprisingly touching ways, which gave this sequel a lot of nuance, complexity, and heart.
To me, it feels like Kontaxis has now really found the voices for each of these characters, allowing this ambitious multi-POV narration to be executed with flawless grace. There really is no denying that the scope of this story is extremely vast, and the number of named characters is a lot to keep track of, but I personally didn’t feel overwhelmed or lost for a single minute.
See, even though there are a lot of moving pieces, each character’s personal arc really gets the time and attention it deserves. Moreover, actions are proven to have serious consequences, and I really loved how seemingly innocent decisions of one character could have major rippling effects throughout the entire world and have devastating impacts on other characters’ lives. So many seemingly separate threads got tied together so masterfully in the end, resulting in a pulse-pounding climax sequence that had my heart in my throat.
On top of all that, I also loved how organically the world building expanded in The Fall of the Giants, both in breadth and in depth. Even though this world has a brutal and complicated history that is steeped in blood, it is also filled with sparks of beauty and wonder. I especially enjoyed learning so much more about the Elder Races through Elliot’s perspective, and all of the newly introduced lore and mythical creatures filled me with equal parts awe and terror.
No, this story doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does what it sets out to do brilliantly. To me, The Dance of Light series feels like an exciting mash-up of A Song of Ice and Fire and The Faithful and the Fallen, while also being completely its own thing. Kontaxis has now proven that he is not afraid to go down some dark and unexpected paths, so I truly can’t wait to see what kind of devilishly dark twists and turns he has up his sleeve next.
The Fall of the Giants truly exceeded my expectations in every single way possible, and it has fully locked me in for the rest of the series. If you are looking for your next sprawling multi-POV epic fantasy full of diverse fantasy races, cutthroat political scheming, rich history and lore, cinematic battle sequences, and riveting levels of tension and intrigue, then you have to check out The Dance of Light series!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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May 10, 2024
Out today! 2nd in the series.
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October 29, 2024
If you prefer watching videos, I've posted a full, spoiler-free discussion about my experience with THE FALL OF THE GIANTS on my BookTube Channel!
The following is a brief summary of the transcript taken from the above referenced video review.
THE FALL OF THE GIANTS is the second installment in Gregory Kontaxis' Dance of Light series, a Greek mythology-inspired dark fantasy series that weaves an intricate tale of one man's bravery, his refusal to let go of hope, that in turn, inspires others. This series initially caught my attention not through the first book, THE RETURN OF THE KNIGHTS, but with its prequel novella, The Knight of the Moon, which added depth and backstory to one of the pivotal characters. That context enriched my experience and appreciation for the series, culminating in an even greater excitement for THE FALL OF THE GIANTS.
In this book, our core group of characters is split up to pursue separate missions, each aimed at strengthening their alliance against the villain, Walter Thorn. Among the standout points of view, we follow Elliot Edicoll on his quest to seek out the legendary Elder Races, cursed and secluded in the Forgotten Mountains. Elliot’s journey is deeply compelling, showcasing the author’s growth in character development as Elliot wrestles with doubts and fears, yet shows resilience in facing seemingly insurmountable odds. Other members of the cast, like John the Long Arm— a morally gray figure who is doing what he does best, looking out for #1 — and Eleanor, who is tasked with governing a neglected region of Elmore, add layers of intrigue, while also providing a larger view of this world.
The author’s narrative style, primarily driven by dialogue, is reminiscent of classic oral storytelling. This unique approach was initially an adjustment for me, but it’s one of the series' defining elements that adds elegance to the prose. With a balanced pacing that isn’t too fast, the series builds gradually, expanding in scope and depth. It leaves you with a tantalizing glimpse of the sweeping narrative yet to come, which I anticipate will shift into an even darker tone.
Narrated by Guy Barnes, the audiobook adds another layer to the experience, enhancing the story’s immersive quality.
I did receive a copy of this book from the author, at my request. All opinions discussed are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.
A heartfelt thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing!
Special thanks to my highest level Patrons: Ev, Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Amanda F., Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., & Ashley E.
The following is a brief summary of the transcript taken from the above referenced video review.
THE FALL OF THE GIANTS is the second installment in Gregory Kontaxis' Dance of Light series, a Greek mythology-inspired dark fantasy series that weaves an intricate tale of one man's bravery, his refusal to let go of hope, that in turn, inspires others. This series initially caught my attention not through the first book, THE RETURN OF THE KNIGHTS, but with its prequel novella, The Knight of the Moon, which added depth and backstory to one of the pivotal characters. That context enriched my experience and appreciation for the series, culminating in an even greater excitement for THE FALL OF THE GIANTS.
In this book, our core group of characters is split up to pursue separate missions, each aimed at strengthening their alliance against the villain, Walter Thorn. Among the standout points of view, we follow Elliot Edicoll on his quest to seek out the legendary Elder Races, cursed and secluded in the Forgotten Mountains. Elliot’s journey is deeply compelling, showcasing the author’s growth in character development as Elliot wrestles with doubts and fears, yet shows resilience in facing seemingly insurmountable odds. Other members of the cast, like John the Long Arm— a morally gray figure who is doing what he does best, looking out for #1 — and Eleanor, who is tasked with governing a neglected region of Elmore, add layers of intrigue, while also providing a larger view of this world.
The author’s narrative style, primarily driven by dialogue, is reminiscent of classic oral storytelling. This unique approach was initially an adjustment for me, but it’s one of the series' defining elements that adds elegance to the prose. With a balanced pacing that isn’t too fast, the series builds gradually, expanding in scope and depth. It leaves you with a tantalizing glimpse of the sweeping narrative yet to come, which I anticipate will shift into an even darker tone.
Narrated by Guy Barnes, the audiobook adds another layer to the experience, enhancing the story’s immersive quality.
I did receive a copy of this book from the author, at my request. All opinions discussed are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.
A heartfelt thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing!
Special thanks to my highest level Patrons: Ev, Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Amanda F., Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., & Ashley E.
May 20, 2024
I JUST WANT MORE, THAT ENDING 😭😭😭 I EXPECTED SOMETHING BUT I DID NOT EXPECT THIS. AAHH, I JUST WANT MORE. I NEED THE THIRD BOOK LIKE, RIGHT NOW. MY LOVE FOR THESE CHARACTERS AND OHMYGOD I LOVE THE CREATURES/SPECIES CREATED IN THIS SERIES SOSO MUCH. I REFUSE TO SPOILER ANYTHING BUT I'M LOOKING FORWARDS RO THE NEXT BOOK!
DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES!
[ The Fall of the Giants is the second installment of The Dance of Light series, the first book is titled The Return of the Knights. This series is for any NA Fantasy readers who enjoy adventure, secrets, betrayals, a lot of races and creatures, a little bit of romance and a good storyline with great twists. There's a lot of character growth happening in the second book, some characters more than others. Again, definitely recommend this series. Go get yourself a copy of The Return of the Knights if you haven't yet! ]
DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES!
[ The Fall of the Giants is the second installment of The Dance of Light series, the first book is titled The Return of the Knights. This series is for any NA Fantasy readers who enjoy adventure, secrets, betrayals, a lot of races and creatures, a little bit of romance and a good storyline with great twists. There's a lot of character growth happening in the second book, some characters more than others. Again, definitely recommend this series. Go get yourself a copy of The Return of the Knights if you haven't yet! ]
January 24, 2025
The Fall of the Giants was a great follow up to Return of the Knights!
Elliot has split from the group, determined to seek the help of the Elder races of this world. I loved the deepening of the lore that we get to experience in this second installment. The Elder races were fascinating and had me captivated when learning about them.
I also appreciate that the side characters get to come into their own, their stories unfolding as the bigger plot comes into play. Solid follow up, with that same, easy to read, classic fantasy feeling!
Elliot has split from the group, determined to seek the help of the Elder races of this world. I loved the deepening of the lore that we get to experience in this second installment. The Elder races were fascinating and had me captivated when learning about them.
I also appreciate that the side characters get to come into their own, their stories unfolding as the bigger plot comes into play. Solid follow up, with that same, easy to read, classic fantasy feeling!
April 3, 2024
With hopes fading a quest undertaken. One to undo a legacy of betrayal. Elsewhere, immense creatures of terror become plans of utter domination.
Fantastic sequel! Old school fantasy rich with devastating history.Great build to an amazing finish!
That cover!! Wow!
Much thanks to author for this ARC. :)
Fantastic sequel! Old school fantasy rich with devastating history.Great build to an amazing finish!
That cover!! Wow!
Much thanks to author for this ARC. :)
April 2, 2024
Στον δεύτερο τόμο της σειράς 'Ο Χορός του Φωτός' βλέπουμε ανατροπές, δράση, αγωνία, έναν κόσμο σκιαγραφημένο τόσο όμορφα και μια μοναδική αίσθηση που σε αφήνει σε αναμμένα κάρβουνα για τη συνέχεια της σειράς.
Μαζί με την Πτώση Των Γιγάντων, κυκλοφόρησε και το προοίμιο 'Ο ιππότης του φεγγαριού' το οποίο εμένα προσωπικά μ'αρέσει πολύ να υπάρχει στα επικά φαντασίας γιατί με βοηθάει ιδιαίτερα να κατανοήσω κάποια πράγματα και να καλυφθούν απορίες μου.
Εξαιρετικό!!!
Μαζί με την Πτώση Των Γιγάντων, κυκλοφόρησε και το προοίμιο 'Ο ιππότης του φεγγαριού' το οποίο εμένα προσωπικά μ'αρέσει πολύ να υπάρχει στα επικά φαντασίας γιατί με βοηθάει ιδιαίτερα να κατανοήσω κάποια πράγματα και να καλυφθούν απορίες μου.
Εξαιρετικό!!!
October 22, 2024
This review was originally posted on SFFINSIDERS.COM
As I said in my last review, I initially picked up this series because Gregory reached out. But I continued onto The Fall of the Giants because The Return of the Knights was good (and still a little because Gregory reached out and I said I would. But mostly because it was good!) So, we’re back in Knightdorn and everyone is everywhere…including not in Knightdorn but on the Ice Islands.
The first thing I noticed when I started The Fall of the Giants was how the writing improved. I think Gregory found his flow and rhythm earlier in this book, which allowed for the character development and world expansion we saw. My tiny little caveat to this is: because the writing was overall stronger, it meant the areas that weren’t as strong stood out more. It wasn't anything major but some phrasing or the speed of things felt less natural than they could have.
The Return of the Knights (I’m calling it RotK after this.I don’t want to keep typing it.) focused mainly on Elliot, Sophie, Syrella and Walter and we started to grow the cast of characters around them. This time, we get to spend more time with some of the supporting characters from RotK: Velhisya, Eleanor, Selwyn (kinda), and, my favourite, the Elder Races. Yes, we still see some of Sophie and Syrella and, of course, Walter, but we get a chance for the other characters to come through and with them build the wider world. “Do we not see Elliot?” We do. He’s generally with the Elder Races but I found him pretty whiny so he is in my mental box of shame for the purposes of this review.
After RotK, I said to Gregory I was most interested in Velhisya. He promised me she has a bigger role in this book. I was not lied to and I appreciate that. Velhisya is ready to fight, whether Syrella wants her to or not. Actually I’m going to pause here on that note.
One thing I am finding and loving is the strength and skill of Gregory’s female characters but also they know their strengths and they aren’t trying to hide them. Syrella and her daughters are undeniably fierce fighters, they know it and those around them know it. Velhisya is not sword strong, something that is mentioned a few times, but she is skilled in other areas and it’s acknowledged and applauded. Eleanor is a mix of both, skilled as a soldier, compassionate, clever and impressive such that Elliot believes she can lead a leaderless state in Knightdorn. Sophie and Syrella’s relationship is one that develops and their conflicts are political, not personal. They actually find a very strong relationship in this book and that was really nice to see. Gregory’s female characters are fully realised and developed but also have room for growth. This is something I think is lost on many authors, especially where their books have aspects of bodily assault mentioned (if you’re triggered by those kinds of mentions, please be cautious with this series. There is nothing overly graphic so far but words and threats are thrown around). Massive ticks in the strong, well developed and considered female characters of the world! Gold star for the books so far and hopefully more praise to come!
Onto my overall favourites: the Elder Races. Elliot is with the Elder Races this time. I’ve already said I found Elliot whiny and I’m standing by that. But I loved, loved, loved seeing the Elder Races. The elwyns, elves, giants and their stories. The curse they live with is fierce and painful. So many of their scenes broke my heart completely. I cannot wait for more from Alaric and Alysia. But the mermaids! I cannot wait for whatever is going to happen there. I am excited, I am ready for it and I am hoping for carnage. These are not your Disney mermaids. These are ‘ruin your day and maybe kill you’ mermaids.
While we focused on the supporting characters from the last book and we continued growing the world, I didn’t think we lost anything that made the first book captivating. The notes of ‘Oh that was good’ and *chef’s kiss* continue. Especially where I thought one confrontation was underwhelming but then all the pieces came together and oooooooooh, that was good. I’m going to be squinting and suspicious about so many things now. There is no little detail that is unimportant, even if it seems like it at the time.
Sequels/follow on books are kind of difficult to review without spoilers so the best round up I can offer to you all is this: On its own, I thought The Fall of Giants was a good read and following from RofK it complimented it well. I’m enjoying the series, I’m looking forward to the next book and I hope more people will join me in finding out if Sophie and her allies will triumph or are we headed for a proper Greek tragedy.
As I said in my last review, I initially picked up this series because Gregory reached out. But I continued onto The Fall of the Giants because The Return of the Knights was good (and still a little because Gregory reached out and I said I would. But mostly because it was good!) So, we’re back in Knightdorn and everyone is everywhere…including not in Knightdorn but on the Ice Islands.
The first thing I noticed when I started The Fall of the Giants was how the writing improved. I think Gregory found his flow and rhythm earlier in this book, which allowed for the character development and world expansion we saw. My tiny little caveat to this is: because the writing was overall stronger, it meant the areas that weren’t as strong stood out more. It wasn't anything major but some phrasing or the speed of things felt less natural than they could have.
The Return of the Knights (I’m calling it RotK after this.I don’t want to keep typing it.) focused mainly on Elliot, Sophie, Syrella and Walter and we started to grow the cast of characters around them. This time, we get to spend more time with some of the supporting characters from RotK: Velhisya, Eleanor, Selwyn (kinda), and, my favourite, the Elder Races. Yes, we still see some of Sophie and Syrella and, of course, Walter, but we get a chance for the other characters to come through and with them build the wider world. “Do we not see Elliot?” We do. He’s generally with the Elder Races but I found him pretty whiny so he is in my mental box of shame for the purposes of this review.
After RotK, I said to Gregory I was most interested in Velhisya. He promised me she has a bigger role in this book. I was not lied to and I appreciate that. Velhisya is ready to fight, whether Syrella wants her to or not. Actually I’m going to pause here on that note.
One thing I am finding and loving is the strength and skill of Gregory’s female characters but also they know their strengths and they aren’t trying to hide them. Syrella and her daughters are undeniably fierce fighters, they know it and those around them know it. Velhisya is not sword strong, something that is mentioned a few times, but she is skilled in other areas and it’s acknowledged and applauded. Eleanor is a mix of both, skilled as a soldier, compassionate, clever and impressive such that Elliot believes she can lead a leaderless state in Knightdorn. Sophie and Syrella’s relationship is one that develops and their conflicts are political, not personal. They actually find a very strong relationship in this book and that was really nice to see. Gregory’s female characters are fully realised and developed but also have room for growth. This is something I think is lost on many authors, especially where their books have aspects of bodily assault mentioned (if you’re triggered by those kinds of mentions, please be cautious with this series. There is nothing overly graphic so far but words and threats are thrown around). Massive ticks in the strong, well developed and considered female characters of the world! Gold star for the books so far and hopefully more praise to come!
Onto my overall favourites: the Elder Races. Elliot is with the Elder Races this time. I’ve already said I found Elliot whiny and I’m standing by that. But I loved, loved, loved seeing the Elder Races. The elwyns, elves, giants and their stories. The curse they live with is fierce and painful. So many of their scenes broke my heart completely. I cannot wait for more from Alaric and Alysia. But the mermaids! I cannot wait for whatever is going to happen there. I am excited, I am ready for it and I am hoping for carnage. These are not your Disney mermaids. These are ‘ruin your day and maybe kill you’ mermaids.
While we focused on the supporting characters from the last book and we continued growing the world, I didn’t think we lost anything that made the first book captivating. The notes of ‘Oh that was good’ and *chef’s kiss* continue. Especially where I thought one confrontation was underwhelming but then all the pieces came together and oooooooooh, that was good. I’m going to be squinting and suspicious about so many things now. There is no little detail that is unimportant, even if it seems like it at the time.
Sequels/follow on books are kind of difficult to review without spoilers so the best round up I can offer to you all is this: On its own, I thought The Fall of Giants was a good read and following from RofK it complimented it well. I’m enjoying the series, I’m looking forward to the next book and I hope more people will join me in finding out if Sophie and her allies will triumph or are we headed for a proper Greek tragedy.
August 11, 2024
The Fall of the Giants, book 2 in Kontaxis The Dance of Light series...now we're talking! Picking up right after book 1 and it's climatic end we are thrown right back into soup, and boy are things shaping up for a epic and brutal Saga ahead!
Joining back up with our group of MC's from book 1, we see the toll the events so far have on our favs and the decisions each now have to make to have a true shot at standing against the power of our villain and his followers. This is where we see this entry slow a bit from the pace of book 1, but this is actually what sets book 2 apart and improves on the slight shortcomings in The Return of the Knights. Character depth and creativity were two stand outs in my read during book 1, and with the scope of this entry and it's many PoV's , Kontaxis shows us that the writing groove found in his novella The Knight of the Moon has seamlessly made its way into The Fall of the Giants! World building, creativity, depth and brilliant foreshadowing has us turning the pages with baited breath to see how this political and emotional game of chess will play out for all involved. Personal journey and growth are the theme in this romp through brutality and power... humbling some while uniting others. We are in for a Epic ride through magic and fire!
This has definitely sold me on absolutely needing to continue this Saga to the very end! Gregory's writing has elevated to the heights this story demands and I can't wait to see it's progression as it continues! With one of the most chaotic and Epic endings I've read recently, a call to arms has been made, grab your weapons and find the strength to see yourself through the perils of war... hero's are born from these games of power, who's next to meet the challenge?! Very Game of Thrones similar again, but rapidly finding it's own personality! Dive in and choose your side! 🔥
4⭐ and climbing...this is getting good! 📚
Joining back up with our group of MC's from book 1, we see the toll the events so far have on our favs and the decisions each now have to make to have a true shot at standing against the power of our villain and his followers. This is where we see this entry slow a bit from the pace of book 1, but this is actually what sets book 2 apart and improves on the slight shortcomings in The Return of the Knights. Character depth and creativity were two stand outs in my read during book 1, and with the scope of this entry and it's many PoV's , Kontaxis shows us that the writing groove found in his novella The Knight of the Moon has seamlessly made its way into The Fall of the Giants! World building, creativity, depth and brilliant foreshadowing has us turning the pages with baited breath to see how this political and emotional game of chess will play out for all involved. Personal journey and growth are the theme in this romp through brutality and power... humbling some while uniting others. We are in for a Epic ride through magic and fire!
This has definitely sold me on absolutely needing to continue this Saga to the very end! Gregory's writing has elevated to the heights this story demands and I can't wait to see it's progression as it continues! With one of the most chaotic and Epic endings I've read recently, a call to arms has been made, grab your weapons and find the strength to see yourself through the perils of war... hero's are born from these games of power, who's next to meet the challenge?! Very Game of Thrones similar again, but rapidly finding it's own personality! Dive in and choose your side! 🔥
4⭐ and climbing...this is getting good! 📚
May 22, 2024
The wait is definitely worth it! I have been reading one epic fantasy to the other while waiting for this sequel and once I received the copy, devoured it right away. This is probably one of the rare times where I appreciate a fantasy book leaving enough room to tease the readers with its cinematic world building and transition flawlessly to a satisfactory ending.
The political schemes, the rich history and lore - definitely will keep me up for a long time. It's just that good
The political schemes, the rich history and lore - definitely will keep me up for a long time. It's just that good
May 9, 2024
This was an amazing book and an amazing continuation to a series. I loved the characters within this book so much. A lot happened within this book and with the twists and turns which occurred during this book. The way in which it was written I didn’t want to put it down. The events which occurred throughout this book a lot happened. Elliot had challenges to go through this book and it wasn’t easy for him which made reading what he was going through every intriguing. Along side Queen Sophie who also had challenges which she had to face through this book. And with the way the story ended I am excited to see what will happen next.
September 27, 2024
Another good book by this author. Its the second in the series and gives a short rundown of what happened in the first book before starting. This continues the epic journey of Elliott and is filled with more mythical creatures, magic and midevil lore. This is a wonderful fantasy story that has a nice mix of mythology with a game of Thrones vibe. I liked all the action, suspense and basically the journey. I listened to this on audio. Guy Barnes is the narrator who does an amazing job with all kinds of vocals for the plethora of characters.
March 17, 2024
I proofread this book - so I can’t really be unbiased. But go and read it for yourself and see how good it is!! The ending alone will blow you away.
For fans of George R. Martin style fantasy.
For fans of George R. Martin style fantasy.
February 9, 2025
Δείτε επίσης και στο Chill and read
Αγαπώ τα βιβλία φαντασίας και νομίζω ότι είναι ξεκάθαρο σε όσους με γνωρίζουν ή με διαβάζουν! Το φανταστικό σαν είδος είναι τεράστιο και τα υποείδη του πολλά, όμως πιο πολύ από όλα αγαπώ την επική φαντασία! Οπότε αν ένα βιβλίο ή μια σειρά έχει μεσαιωνικό υπόβαθρο, ιππότες, μαγικά πλάσματα και μαγεία, σίγουρα θα τραβήξει την προσοχή μου! Μια τέτοια σειρά είναι και «Ο Χορός της Φωτός» του Γρηγόρη Κονταξή, το πρώτο βιβλίο της οποίας διάβασα το Σεπτέμβρη του 2022, πρόκειται για το «Η επιστροφή των Ιπποτών» και από τότε ήθελα να επιστρέψω σε αυτόν το κόσμο. Το δεύτερο βιβλίο κυκλοφόρησε το 2023 και από τότε το έχω στα ράφια μου, όμως επειδή διαβάζω ανάλογα με το χρόνο και τη διάθεσή μου, έμεινε εκεί μέχρι πριν λίγες μέρες. Ντροπή μου, ναι το ξέρω, όμως είναι κάτι που συνεχώς συμβαίνει στα βιβλία που φτάνουν στα χέρια μου με τον έναν ή τον άλλο τρόπο, κάτι για το οποίο είμαι επίσης γνωστή! Τέλος πάντων! Ας είναι καλά το ταξίδι που αξιώθηκα να κάνω πρόσφατα και το πήρα μαζί μου! Και τώρα θέλω το επόμενο! Κλασσική εγώ!
Στο προηγούμενο βιβλίο είχαμε γνωρίσει τον κόσμο του Νάιτντορν, τα κάστρα και τις πόλεις του, ή έστω την πλειοψηφία αυτών. Μάθαμε ποιες είναι οι ισορροπίες σε αυτή την περιοχή αλλά και γίναμε μάρτυρες ενός πολέμου. Ένας πόλεμος που έχει τις ρίζες του βαθιά στο παρελθόν και σε πράξεις κάποιων βασιλέων που υπήρξαν είτε δίκαιοι, είτε άπληστοι. Βασιλέων που τιμωρήθηκαν αλλά και που προσπάθησαν να πάρουν εκδίκηση. Πλέον στο θρόνο του Νάιτντορν κάθεται μια γυναίκα, ή έστω καθόταν. Μετά την τελευταία μάχη τα πράγματα έχουν γίνει πιο περίπλοκα, όμως η Βασίλισσα Σοφί παραμένει βασίλισσα για τους πιστούς υπηκόους της αλλά και για τους πιστούς συμμάχους της.
Υπάρχει όμως ένας νέος που κανείς δεν γνώριζε την ύπαρξή του, ή σχεδόν κανείς. Αυτός ο άντρας φέρει στην πλάτη του πολλές υποσχέσεις και ένα όνομα με δύναμη και ιστορία, άλλες φορές καλή και δίκαιη και άλλες πιο σκοτεινή. Μπορεί στο πρώτο βιβλίο να έκανε φίλους και να δημιούργησε μια συντροφιά, όμως σε αυτό το δεύτερο βιβλίο βρίσκεται πλέον μόνος του και προσπαθεί να φέρει εις πέρας το καθήκον του, να ελευθερώσει τις Πρώτες Φυλές από την κατάρα που έχει πέσει πάνω τους εδώ και αιώνες και να νικήσει τον Γουόλτερ Θορν, που έχει γίνει ο φόβος και ο τρόμος του Νάιτντορν.
Όλα σχεδόν τα πλάσματα που προαναφέρθηκαν στο πρώτο βιβλίο, εδώ παίρνουν σάρκα και οστά και γίνονται μέρος της ιστορίας. Έλγουιν και ξωτικά, γίγαντες και γοργόνες, γουίβερν και μονόκεροι δραπετεύουν από τις σελίδες και από τη φαντασία του συγγραφέα και δίνουν πνοή στην ιστορία. Το κάθε ένα από αυτά τα μαγικά πλάσματα έχει ένα ή και παραπάνω ρόλους να παίξει στην πλοκή, άλλοτε πιο σημαντικό και άλλοτε αμελητέο, που όμως χωρίς αυτή τη μικρή συμμετοχή, η ιστορία που διαβάζουμε δε θα ήταν η ίδια!
Φυσικά και μετανιώνω που δεν το διάβασα νωρίτερα! Αλήθεια, πόσες φορές έχω γράψει αυτή τη φράση, ούτε εγώ δε θυμάμαι πια, και πάντα είναι αλήθεια! Ας είναι! Ανυπομονώ για τη συνέχεια γιατί φυσικά μας άφησε σε κρίσιμο σημείο!
April 16, 2024
Book Review - The Fall of the Giants
Rating 8.75/10 ⭐️
Firstly, let me start by thanking Gregory for kindly sending me a copy of his book to review.
When Gregory reached out and asked if I would be interested in reading his second release in the Dance of Light series, I jumped at the chance.
I was hugely impressed with book 1 in this series and have been eagerly awaiting the follow up.
I will start by saying it took me a minute to get back into this story, probably because of the time between books 1 & 2. I found myself rereading pages just to try and remember which characters was which and how they fit into the story.
Thank you Gregory for the characters list at the front of this book.
Once my memory kicked though, I was good to go.
In The Fall of the Giants we follow the story through multiple POVs. I lost count of the actual number but one was from the big bad, Walter. Walter is a real piece of work in this book, he is definitely a fantastic character in the written sense, but you also want someone to stab him, haha.
I know multi-POV can be a little scary at times but for a series this size it was definitely required. Each character had just the right page count to make the book feel very balanced.
The story starts pretty much right after the ending of book 1. Elliot, Long Arm, Elenor and Selwyn have all set out on their respective tasks set by Elliot at the end of the first book.
All these tasks will take our friends to different parts of Knightdorn, to try and gather potential allies for the eventual showdown against Walter.
A large chunk of this book consists of the trials and tribulations of said characters travelling and trying to achieve their individual tasks.
This gave us readers the perfect opportunity to really dive deep into the world created by Gregory.
Gregory has spent considerable time in this book on characterisation, the growth all of his characters went through was fantastic, particularly our main man Elliot.
What I really enjoyed in this book was getting to learn more about all the different races and mythology. We got to know more about the Elywn, Elves, giants, centaur, Wyverns and even a Pegasi.
There is significant less action in this book compared to book 1 but I feel that is due a lot of groundwork of the wider story arc being laid out. Plus the awesome character development has definitely been the main focus of this book, IMHO, I could be way off base.
The ending showed that Gregory can deliver some awesome action and I suspect this will be a highlight of the next book.
In this book Gregory has managed to further enhance a deeply rich story with complex characters and world building. Note this series is starting to turn up the notch in the Grimdark themes, so if you like that, you will probably love this series.
This was an awesome follow up to The Return of the Knights and I’m itching to find out what happens in the next book.
Rating 8.75/10 ⭐️
Firstly, let me start by thanking Gregory for kindly sending me a copy of his book to review.
When Gregory reached out and asked if I would be interested in reading his second release in the Dance of Light series, I jumped at the chance.
I was hugely impressed with book 1 in this series and have been eagerly awaiting the follow up.
I will start by saying it took me a minute to get back into this story, probably because of the time between books 1 & 2. I found myself rereading pages just to try and remember which characters was which and how they fit into the story.
Thank you Gregory for the characters list at the front of this book.
Once my memory kicked though, I was good to go.
In The Fall of the Giants we follow the story through multiple POVs. I lost count of the actual number but one was from the big bad, Walter. Walter is a real piece of work in this book, he is definitely a fantastic character in the written sense, but you also want someone to stab him, haha.
I know multi-POV can be a little scary at times but for a series this size it was definitely required. Each character had just the right page count to make the book feel very balanced.
The story starts pretty much right after the ending of book 1. Elliot, Long Arm, Elenor and Selwyn have all set out on their respective tasks set by Elliot at the end of the first book.
All these tasks will take our friends to different parts of Knightdorn, to try and gather potential allies for the eventual showdown against Walter.
A large chunk of this book consists of the trials and tribulations of said characters travelling and trying to achieve their individual tasks.
This gave us readers the perfect opportunity to really dive deep into the world created by Gregory.
Gregory has spent considerable time in this book on characterisation, the growth all of his characters went through was fantastic, particularly our main man Elliot.
What I really enjoyed in this book was getting to learn more about all the different races and mythology. We got to know more about the Elywn, Elves, giants, centaur, Wyverns and even a Pegasi.
There is significant less action in this book compared to book 1 but I feel that is due a lot of groundwork of the wider story arc being laid out. Plus the awesome character development has definitely been the main focus of this book, IMHO, I could be way off base.
The ending showed that Gregory can deliver some awesome action and I suspect this will be a highlight of the next book.
In this book Gregory has managed to further enhance a deeply rich story with complex characters and world building. Note this series is starting to turn up the notch in the Grimdark themes, so if you like that, you will probably love this series.
This was an awesome follow up to The Return of the Knights and I’m itching to find out what happens in the next book.
June 2, 2024
Firstly, thank you to Gregory Kontaxis for providing me a copy of the book to review. This of course does not in any way play a part in my thoughts about the book.
The Fall of Giants is the second book in a Greek inspired fantasy mythology series, originally published in Greek and translated into English.
After finishing The Return of the Knights, I was very excited for what was in store, after such an explosive ending. The Fall of Giants focused much more on the politics side of things, with both Elliot and his nemesis Walter aiming to form alliances to swing the tide of the war. Despite there being less action throughout the book, it delved much deeper into character development, interactions and world-building, which I loved. Kontaxis really expanded the world and showed how much depth it has. I will say he also created an “on the edge of a knife” type atmosphere throughout the book, really setting the scene for some potentially huge events in the sequels.
In the first book, I found Elliot a bit immature in his decision making. In The Fall of Giants, it’s obvious that Elliot has matured a lot more and continues to do so. I found his character to be much more likeable, and it was interesting to see his motivations and hardships up to that point. Walter, his arch nemesis and big bad, was as before a highly enjoyable villain to read about. Eleanor, continued to be a favourite of mine, showing a lot of character development throughout the story, while making her own alliances and war changing decisions.
I will say the scope of the series is quite huge, which is of course a positive, but at times a bit overwhelming with the amount of information, names and places thrown at the reader. Safe to say, however, this is most definitely an epic fantasy on a grand scale. There’s definitely many similarities to George RR Martin’s style of politics, epic battles, mythical beasts and strong cast of morally grey characters.
If you already read book one, then it’s a no brainer to continue this fantastic series. If you have yet to give it a go, and you’re interested in Greek inspired fantasy, with epic world-building, a strong cast of morally grey characters and lots of action, then I highly recommend giving The Return of the Knights a go!
The Fall of Giants is the second book in a Greek inspired fantasy mythology series, originally published in Greek and translated into English.
After finishing The Return of the Knights, I was very excited for what was in store, after such an explosive ending. The Fall of Giants focused much more on the politics side of things, with both Elliot and his nemesis Walter aiming to form alliances to swing the tide of the war. Despite there being less action throughout the book, it delved much deeper into character development, interactions and world-building, which I loved. Kontaxis really expanded the world and showed how much depth it has. I will say he also created an “on the edge of a knife” type atmosphere throughout the book, really setting the scene for some potentially huge events in the sequels.
In the first book, I found Elliot a bit immature in his decision making. In The Fall of Giants, it’s obvious that Elliot has matured a lot more and continues to do so. I found his character to be much more likeable, and it was interesting to see his motivations and hardships up to that point. Walter, his arch nemesis and big bad, was as before a highly enjoyable villain to read about. Eleanor, continued to be a favourite of mine, showing a lot of character development throughout the story, while making her own alliances and war changing decisions.
I will say the scope of the series is quite huge, which is of course a positive, but at times a bit overwhelming with the amount of information, names and places thrown at the reader. Safe to say, however, this is most definitely an epic fantasy on a grand scale. There’s definitely many similarities to George RR Martin’s style of politics, epic battles, mythical beasts and strong cast of morally grey characters.
If you already read book one, then it’s a no brainer to continue this fantastic series. If you have yet to give it a go, and you’re interested in Greek inspired fantasy, with epic world-building, a strong cast of morally grey characters and lots of action, then I highly recommend giving The Return of the Knights a go!
July 15, 2024
Ένα επικό ταξίδι φαντασίας σε έναν κόσμο γεμάτο θρύλους και μυθικά πλάσματα. Ένας φανταστικός κόσμος γεμάτος δράση, μυστήριο, μαγεία, εκπλήξεις και ανατροπές μέχρι την τελευταία σελίδα. Σε αυτόν τον φανταστικό κόσμο που έχει πλάσει μοναδικά ο συγγραφέας, όλα μπορούν να συμβούν. Με το απρόσμενο μάλιστα φινάλε του δεν ξέρει κανείς τι έπεται.
...μια συμμαχία στηρίζεται στην εμπιστοσύνη
...μια συμμαχία στηρίζεται στην εμπιστοσύνη
May 10, 2024
The tl;dr: Kontaxis is back in his greek mythology-inspired epic fantasy series with The Fall of the Giants. While the first book in the series was focused on the battles and actions, The Fall of the Giants is a slower paced story that works to build out the world and characters a bit more. While the characters are still a bit thinly drawn here (I compare them to how Robert Jordan wrote characters), the world and magic are so cool that readers will still be swept away by this book. I really want the next book to come soon because with a lot of the info-dumping out of the way in this book, it really feels like we are ready for the biggest and baddest parts of the story to come. Recommended for epic fantasy fans who like lots of magic, fantasy creatures, and that old-school, mysical, and epic storytelling vibes.
My review:
Last year Gregory Kontaxis began his Dance of the Light pentalogy with a bang; The Return of the Knights opened with an epic battle that most authors would reserve for a series climax and then never took its foot off the gas. While exciting, I was decidedly mixed on my reactions to ROTK because while I loved the worldbuilding and the military strategy, I found some of the dialogue to be clunky and the characters to be a bit underdeveloped. Now that Kontaxis is back with The Fall of the Giants, he nicely corrects some of those issues while still running into just a few issues with exploring and deepening the characters.
The most important thing to know going into The Fall of the Giants is that this is a very different book than its predecessor. This book is much slower and less action-heavy, which ultimately I think is to its benefit. ROTK came on SO strong with the action that Kontaxis didn’t really have time to maneuever in terms of characters and themes, but the more methodical and careful pacing of The Fall of the Giants makes for a deeper and emotionally captivating reading experience. There are still hiccups along the way, but Kontaxis seems much more confident here in his storytelling prowess, relying less on the “cool factor” of battle scenes as he starts to really get into the meat and heart of the story he is telling.
While the pacing is slower, this isn’t an example of “middle book” syndrome (especially since technically as the second book in a five book series we haven’t reached the middle yet!). A lot happens in this second book and the plot is pushed along, and Kontaxis already starts to harvest some of the plot seeds he plants in his first book. Much of The Fall of the Giants is the characters reacting to the end events of ROTK – Walter Thorn continues to be a massive military threat to all of the surrounding kingdoms, and the political stability of our protagonists is shaky at best. Thus, our character are in rebuilding mode here, trying to secure new alliances, weapons, and more to be able to withstand Thorn’s looming invasion. In classic epic fantasy fashion, Kontaxis spreads his characters into the wind, each with their own unique goals and adventures.
Spreading the characters out like this has its benefits and issues. On the positive side, we get to see so much more this world and its politics. Whie the over pastiche of the world remains a pretty generic European inspired setting, we get to better understand what makes Kontaxis’ world distinct from the rest of the epic fantasy series out there. This allowed me to “connect” with the story in The Fall of the Giants more than I did in the previous book; while in that first book I was swept away in the action, this book allowed me to “get” what Kontaxis was going for a bit better. I don’t think any storyline better illustrates this than what Elliot goes through in The Fall of the Giants. After the events of ROTK, Elliot is tasked with finding the ancient and hidden races (elves, giants, etc.), and in doing so learns a lot more about the history of his world, and his place in it (especially as he navigates his role as a potential pegasus rider from the end of the first book).
I’m going to warn you now, the Elliot chapters especially have a lot of info-dumping. Elliot’s new mentor spends copious pages explaining to Elliot the history and relationships between the different species, the gods and the invention of the world, and how the magic works. If you don’t like essentially being lectured at in your books, you are likely to bounce of this one. However, if you really don’re care and like learning about fictional worlds and magic systems, this book will have so much for you to hold onto. I personally don’t mind a bit of info-dumping, especially when that information is as interesting and captivating as this one. Yes, the magic can get a bit convoluted and there seem to be a lot of exceptions and loopholes that people on both sides of the conflict utilize, but overall I loved how cool the world and magic were here.
The worldbuilding is also not just window dressing or there for the “rule of cool” (although the wyverns, mermaids, pegasuses, blood magic, giants, elves, gods, and more are all pretty freaking cool), but Kontaxis also uses this history to deepen some of the characters and their relationships. We get Walter Thorn in some deliciously wicked POV chapters as he attempts to attain more power, and there is one half-giant character in particular who I emotionally connected with because of his unstable status in this world. So much of the worldbuilding done in The Fall of the Giants helped course-correct some of the issues with ROTK, and it makes this a much stornger book overall.
Having said all of that, the one major issue I had with the book continues to be some of the character work. While reading, I couldn’t help but draw a comparison between how Kontaxis writes characters with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. If you’ve read The Wheel of Time, I think you’ll have a good idea of whether the characaters will work well for you here or not. While the characters are more than just pawns in service of the story, they are still a bit thinly drawn. Part of this is because Kontaxis has so many POV characters in a medium length fantasy novel, part of this is because Kontaxis is going for a more “old-timey” prose style that elicits old-school epics (both old-school in the “ancient” meaning, and like, Tolkien) which has the consequence of distancing the reader from the story, and part of this is because the characters spend a lot of time yelling at each other (hence the Jordan comp). If you are a reader who needs to emotionally connect with complex characters you may not love this one, but if you can get past it just to enjoy the thrill of the plot and worldbuilding, The Fall of the Giants is a blast of a read.
In sum The Fall of the Giants is definitely a stronger book than The Return of the Knights. It builds off all of the cool stuff that happened in that book (and has some cool stuff happen here) while also spending more time to focus on the world and its characters. I’m excited to see where Kontaxis goes next because the end of The Fall of the Giants feels like we have finally concluded the “First Act” of this series. We’ve gotten the big worldbuilding/magic system stuff out of the way and now we can really focus on the story. I definitely recommend this for epic fantasy fans who are hungry for more magic and fantasy creatures/races in their books!
My review:
Last year Gregory Kontaxis began his Dance of the Light pentalogy with a bang; The Return of the Knights opened with an epic battle that most authors would reserve for a series climax and then never took its foot off the gas. While exciting, I was decidedly mixed on my reactions to ROTK because while I loved the worldbuilding and the military strategy, I found some of the dialogue to be clunky and the characters to be a bit underdeveloped. Now that Kontaxis is back with The Fall of the Giants, he nicely corrects some of those issues while still running into just a few issues with exploring and deepening the characters.
The most important thing to know going into The Fall of the Giants is that this is a very different book than its predecessor. This book is much slower and less action-heavy, which ultimately I think is to its benefit. ROTK came on SO strong with the action that Kontaxis didn’t really have time to maneuever in terms of characters and themes, but the more methodical and careful pacing of The Fall of the Giants makes for a deeper and emotionally captivating reading experience. There are still hiccups along the way, but Kontaxis seems much more confident here in his storytelling prowess, relying less on the “cool factor” of battle scenes as he starts to really get into the meat and heart of the story he is telling.
While the pacing is slower, this isn’t an example of “middle book” syndrome (especially since technically as the second book in a five book series we haven’t reached the middle yet!). A lot happens in this second book and the plot is pushed along, and Kontaxis already starts to harvest some of the plot seeds he plants in his first book. Much of The Fall of the Giants is the characters reacting to the end events of ROTK – Walter Thorn continues to be a massive military threat to all of the surrounding kingdoms, and the political stability of our protagonists is shaky at best. Thus, our character are in rebuilding mode here, trying to secure new alliances, weapons, and more to be able to withstand Thorn’s looming invasion. In classic epic fantasy fashion, Kontaxis spreads his characters into the wind, each with their own unique goals and adventures.
Spreading the characters out like this has its benefits and issues. On the positive side, we get to see so much more this world and its politics. Whie the over pastiche of the world remains a pretty generic European inspired setting, we get to better understand what makes Kontaxis’ world distinct from the rest of the epic fantasy series out there. This allowed me to “connect” with the story in The Fall of the Giants more than I did in the previous book; while in that first book I was swept away in the action, this book allowed me to “get” what Kontaxis was going for a bit better. I don’t think any storyline better illustrates this than what Elliot goes through in The Fall of the Giants. After the events of ROTK, Elliot is tasked with finding the ancient and hidden races (elves, giants, etc.), and in doing so learns a lot more about the history of his world, and his place in it (especially as he navigates his role as a potential pegasus rider from the end of the first book).
I’m going to warn you now, the Elliot chapters especially have a lot of info-dumping. Elliot’s new mentor spends copious pages explaining to Elliot the history and relationships between the different species, the gods and the invention of the world, and how the magic works. If you don’t like essentially being lectured at in your books, you are likely to bounce of this one. However, if you really don’re care and like learning about fictional worlds and magic systems, this book will have so much for you to hold onto. I personally don’t mind a bit of info-dumping, especially when that information is as interesting and captivating as this one. Yes, the magic can get a bit convoluted and there seem to be a lot of exceptions and loopholes that people on both sides of the conflict utilize, but overall I loved how cool the world and magic were here.
The worldbuilding is also not just window dressing or there for the “rule of cool” (although the wyverns, mermaids, pegasuses, blood magic, giants, elves, gods, and more are all pretty freaking cool), but Kontaxis also uses this history to deepen some of the characters and their relationships. We get Walter Thorn in some deliciously wicked POV chapters as he attempts to attain more power, and there is one half-giant character in particular who I emotionally connected with because of his unstable status in this world. So much of the worldbuilding done in The Fall of the Giants helped course-correct some of the issues with ROTK, and it makes this a much stornger book overall.
Having said all of that, the one major issue I had with the book continues to be some of the character work. While reading, I couldn’t help but draw a comparison between how Kontaxis writes characters with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. If you’ve read The Wheel of Time, I think you’ll have a good idea of whether the characaters will work well for you here or not. While the characters are more than just pawns in service of the story, they are still a bit thinly drawn. Part of this is because Kontaxis has so many POV characters in a medium length fantasy novel, part of this is because Kontaxis is going for a more “old-timey” prose style that elicits old-school epics (both old-school in the “ancient” meaning, and like, Tolkien) which has the consequence of distancing the reader from the story, and part of this is because the characters spend a lot of time yelling at each other (hence the Jordan comp). If you are a reader who needs to emotionally connect with complex characters you may not love this one, but if you can get past it just to enjoy the thrill of the plot and worldbuilding, The Fall of the Giants is a blast of a read.
In sum The Fall of the Giants is definitely a stronger book than The Return of the Knights. It builds off all of the cool stuff that happened in that book (and has some cool stuff happen here) while also spending more time to focus on the world and its characters. I’m excited to see where Kontaxis goes next because the end of The Fall of the Giants feels like we have finally concluded the “First Act” of this series. We’ve gotten the big worldbuilding/magic system stuff out of the way and now we can really focus on the story. I definitely recommend this for epic fantasy fans who are hungry for more magic and fantasy creatures/races in their books!
March 30, 2024
I was super excited to receive an ARC for this book. I’m a big fan of the series, and I consider Book 1 (The Return of the Knights) and Book 0.5 (The Knight of the Moon) to be strong 5 star reads. Accordingly, I was surprised and disappointed that I didn’t feel the same about my experience reading The Fall of the Giants.
First, let me highlight what continues to be great with this series: the plot. Gregory Kontaxis stays true to his series through-line, with we readers only knowing part of what’s going on, left to puzzle out what surprise, twist, or turn is coming next. He keeps us guessing in good ways, and the eventual reveals are again and again sensible and logical, but also delightful.
I also appreciate that the mystery still isn’t done. We’ve got more to learn, and there is clear reason laid out for us to eagerly wait for Book 3!
So with all that good, why only three stars? I discern that Kontaxis used this book to truly try to grow his core characters, each having gone off their own direction. It’s a clear theme of the book. However, to do so he REALLY leans into their initial naivety, quickness to jump to conclusions, short tempers, and illogical words and actions. In essence, he seemed to artificially enhance their flaws, really putting it in the readers face as to how great their weaknesses are. And then he shows events leading (most) of them to improve as people. The whole process was clunky, and lacked authenticity, and really took me out of the narrative again and again. I think I see what he was trying to do there, but it was too forced and unnatural, and stole from the beauty of the story as seen in the first book and the novella.
Does this destroy the story? No. I gave it three stars, an average read. This significant writing flaw simply brings the book down from the lofty heights of its predecessor. But the story is still rich, the world-building grand, and the mystery delightful. Should you read this book? Yes!
First, let me highlight what continues to be great with this series: the plot. Gregory Kontaxis stays true to his series through-line, with we readers only knowing part of what’s going on, left to puzzle out what surprise, twist, or turn is coming next. He keeps us guessing in good ways, and the eventual reveals are again and again sensible and logical, but also delightful.
I also appreciate that the mystery still isn’t done. We’ve got more to learn, and there is clear reason laid out for us to eagerly wait for Book 3!
So with all that good, why only three stars? I discern that Kontaxis used this book to truly try to grow his core characters, each having gone off their own direction. It’s a clear theme of the book. However, to do so he REALLY leans into their initial naivety, quickness to jump to conclusions, short tempers, and illogical words and actions. In essence, he seemed to artificially enhance their flaws, really putting it in the readers face as to how great their weaknesses are. And then he shows events leading (most) of them to improve as people. The whole process was clunky, and lacked authenticity, and really took me out of the narrative again and again. I think I see what he was trying to do there, but it was too forced and unnatural, and stole from the beauty of the story as seen in the first book and the novella.
Does this destroy the story? No. I gave it three stars, an average read. This significant writing flaw simply brings the book down from the lofty heights of its predecessor. But the story is still rich, the world-building grand, and the mystery delightful. Should you read this book? Yes!
March 25, 2024
Έχοντας διαβάσει το πρώτο βιβλίο της σειράς (Η Επιστροφή των Ιπποτών), το οποίο μου άφησε αρκετά καλή εντύπωση, δε θα μπορούσα παρά να διαβάσω και το δεύτερο μέρος. Και μάλλον θα συνεχίζω να διαβάζω! Ήδη από την νουβέλα (Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού), που είναι σαν prequel της σειράς, είχα καταλάβει πόσο είχε βελτιωθεί η γραφή του συγγραφέα. Άψογο από κάθε άποψη, μου άνοιξε την όρεξη. Άραγε μπορούσε να κρατήσει αυτό το ύφος σε μεγάλη φόρμα; Η απάντηση είναι ένα ΤΕΡΑΣΤΙΟ ΝΑΙ!
Τα όποια προβλήματα υπήρχαν στο πρώτο βιβλίο, εδώ εξαφανίζονται ή είναι πολύ πολύ μικρότερα. Η ίδια η ιστορία σε συναρπάζει και μαθαίνουμε πράγματα που δεν ξέραμε. Οι χαρακτήρες είναι αρκετά δουλεμένοι κάτι που ρους κάνει να ξεχωρίζουν. Τέλος στην ιστορία μπαίνει πολύ περισσότερη φαντασία. Γοργόνες, Ξωτικά, γίγαντες και ακόμη περισσότερα πλάσματα που απλά ακούγαμε στο πρώτο μέρος, εδώ φανερώνονται και παίρνουν πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο. Και αυτό το αγαπάμε σε βιβλία φαντασίας, σωστά; Ο συγγραφέας δείχνει ότι ξέρει που πηγαίνει η ιστορία του και την οδηγεί εκεί με μαεστρία. Τέτοια βιβλία μας κάνουν να αγαπάμε την ιπποτική λογοτεχνία. Το βιβλίο προχωράει σε μονοπάτια που δεν περίμενα προσωπικά και παρά τις σχεδόν 500 σελίδες του, δεν κουράζει καθόλου και με έκανε να θέλω να διαβάσω τη συνέχεια. Το θέμα με την κατάρα των Πρώτων Φυλών, ίσως ήθελε λίγο παραπάνω δουλειά, ειδικά το απότομο τέλος της, αλλά αυτό μάλλον είναι δικό μου κόλλημα. Πλούσια φαντασία, χωρίς υπερβολές, περιγραφές που γοητεύουν και μυστήριο που καθηλώνει. Ειδικά το τέλος! Δε θα κάνω spoiler για να απολαύσετε κι εσείς το βιβλίο, όσο κι εγώ.
Το ότι δεν τελειώνει η ιστορία σε δύο πολυσέλιδα βιβλία, ίσως χαλάσει κάποιους, αλλά αυτό είναι πρόβλημα του εκδοτικού. Πότε σταμάτησε αυτό έναν βιβλιοφάγο; Σίγουρα, μπορώ με σιγουριά να πω ότι οι σελίδες ρέουν με ταχύτητα. Αυτό είναι που έχει σημασία.
Τα όποια προβλήματα υπήρχαν στο πρώτο βιβλίο, εδώ εξαφανίζονται ή είναι πολύ πολύ μικρότερα. Η ίδια η ιστορία σε συναρπάζει και μαθαίνουμε πράγματα που δεν ξέραμε. Οι χαρακτήρες είναι αρκετά δουλεμένοι κάτι που ρους κάνει να ξεχωρίζουν. Τέλος στην ιστορία μπαίνει πολύ περισσότερη φαντασία. Γοργόνες, Ξωτικά, γίγαντες και ακόμη περισσότερα πλάσματα που απλά ακούγαμε στο πρώτο μέρος, εδώ φανερώνονται και παίρνουν πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο. Και αυτό το αγαπάμε σε βιβλία φαντασίας, σωστά; Ο συγγραφέας δείχνει ότι ξέρει που πηγαίνει η ιστορία του και την οδηγεί εκεί με μαεστρία. Τέτοια βιβλία μας κάνουν να αγαπάμε την ιπποτική λογοτεχνία. Το βιβλίο προχωράει σε μονοπάτια που δεν περίμενα προσωπικά και παρά τις σχεδόν 500 σελίδες του, δεν κουράζει καθόλου και με έκανε να θέλω να διαβάσω τη συνέχεια. Το θέμα με την κατάρα των Πρώτων Φυλών, ίσως ήθελε λίγο παραπάνω δουλειά, ειδικά το απότομο τέλος της, αλλά αυτό μάλλον είναι δικό μου κόλλημα. Πλούσια φαντασία, χωρίς υπερβολές, περιγραφές που γοητεύουν και μυστήριο που καθηλώνει. Ειδικά το τέλος! Δε θα κάνω spoiler για να απολαύσετε κι εσείς το βιβλίο, όσο κι εγώ.
Το ότι δεν τελειώνει η ιστορία σε δύο πολυσέλιδα βιβλία, ίσως χαλάσει κάποιους, αλλά αυτό είναι πρόβλημα του εκδοτικού. Πότε σταμάτησε αυτό έναν βιβλιοφάγο; Σίγουρα, μπορώ με σιγουριά να πω ότι οι σελίδες ρέουν με ταχύτητα. Αυτό είναι που έχει σημασία.
February 11, 2024
I can confidently say that the second book of "The Dance of Light" series certainly lived up to my expectations.
I loved how the core story became multidimensional with each main character having their own unique tale, giving Game of Thrones vibes!
I strongly recommend this book if you want to experience an emotional roller coster with epic battles and political games.
I loved how the core story became multidimensional with each main character having their own unique tale, giving Game of Thrones vibes!
I strongly recommend this book if you want to experience an emotional roller coster with epic battles and political games.
January 10, 2024
Πρώτη δημοσίευση εδώ: https://www.dominicamat.gr/2024/01/bl...
Νέα χρονιά... Νέες αναγνωστικές εμπειρίες... Καί το πρώτο άρθρο στο blog για το 2024 ήρθε κατόπιν δική σας επιλογής (εννοώ εσάς του αναγνωστικού κοινού του blog) καί αφορά ένα αφιέρωμα σε δύο νέα βιβλία ενός αγαπητού συγγραφέα. Με στηρίζετε έμπρακτα όλα αυτά τα χρόνια καί εγώ δεν μπορούσα να σας χαλάσω το χατίρι. Ποδαρικό, λοιπόν, για την καινούργια χρονιά στο blog, κάνουν τα βιβλία του συγγραφέα Γρηγόρη Κονταξή, με τίτλους ''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού" & ''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων", τα οποία κυκλοφόρησαν τον περασμένο Δεκέμβριο (του 2023) από τις εκδόσεις Οσελότος. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η νουβέλα ''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού'' αποτελεί το prequel της σειράς βιβλίων ''Ο Χορός του Φωτός" καί το βιβλίο ''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων'' είναι το δεύτερο της εν λόγω σειράς. Πάμε, όμως, να τα δούμε πιο αναλυτικά...
''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού"
Ελάτε. Ας πούμε αλήθειες... Πόσες φορές διαβάζοντας μία αγαπημένη σας σειρά βιβλίων, δεν έχετε εκφράσει την επιθυμία να μπορούσατε να ''χαθείτε'' στον κόσμο των προσώπων τους καί να μάθετε όλα όσα μπορεί να είχαν προηγηθεί καί το πως κατέληξαν, ώστε να είναι η αφετηρία για την εξιστόρηση των γεγονότων που διαβάζετε μέσα στις σελίδες των βιβλίων που κυκλοφορούν; Εμένα δεν μου συμβαίνει πάντα, αλλά θεωρώ πως είναι χρήσιμο να μας δίνονται κάποιες πληροφορίες για το παρελθόν της εκάστοτε υπόθεσης σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις -ειδικά όταν δεν μας παρέχονται μέσα στα βιβλία που διαβάζουμε- ούτως ώστε να έχουμε μία πιο πλήρη καί ολοκληρωμένη εικόνα. Βέβαια καί αυτό δεν παύει να χρήζει προσοχής! Οι συγγραφείς θα πρέπει να γνωρίζουν το πότε, το πως καί το γιατί, προτού να προβούν στη συγγραφή κάποιου prequel καί να μην το κάνουν, αποκλειστικά καί μόνο, γιατί η ιστορία μπορεί να είναι πολύ αγαπητή στο αναγνωστικό κοινό... Για μένα αυτό είναι λάθος καί ευτυχώς, ο συγγραφέας Γρηγόρης Κονταξής φαίνεται να προσπερνά αυτόν τον σκόπελο με μαεστρία μέσω της νουβέλας του ''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού'', που μας βοηθά να έχουμε μία ευρύτερη γνώση γύρω από όλο το κλίμα της υπόθεσης, αφού μας γυρίζει πίσω στον χρόνο καί πιο συγκεκριμένα δεκαεφτά χρόνια πριν τα γεγονότα του πρώτου βιβλίου ''Η Επιστροφή των Ιπποτών''...
Περιγραφή:
Ο Τζον, ο Μακρυχέρης, ζει τη ζωή του κυνηγού επικηρυγμένων στα Τρία Κεφάλια. Η φήμη του έχει απλωθεί σε ολόκληρο τον βορρά, ενώ αρκετό χρυσάφι έχει πια γεμίσει τις τσέπες του. Τα πάντα μοιάζουν να πηγαίνουν περίφημα για κείνον, ώσπου μια χούφτα στρατιώτες τον διατάζουν να αναλάβει μια νέα αποστολή. Αυτή τη φορά πρέπει να βρει έναν πολύ επικίνδυνο άντρα – έναν ιππότη που έχει απαρνηθεί τους όρκους του γυρνώντας την πλάτη του στην Γκάλντεθ και τον ηγεμόνα της. O Τζον θα έρθει αντιμέτωπος με τους δαίμονές του για να φέρει εις πέρας αυτή την αποστολή, ενώ θα κληθεί να επιλέξει το μονοπάτι που θέλει να ακολουθήσει. Άραγε, θα πάρει τον δρόμο της τιμής και της αφοσίωσης ή θα παραδοθεί στην μόνιμη δίψα του για πλούτο;
''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων"
Καί μετά το βιβλίο ''Η Επιστροφή των ιπποτών'' (διαβάστε την κριτική μου για το βιβλίο εδώ: https://www.dominicamat.gr/2023/01/bl... ), σειρά είχε το δεύτερο βιβλίο, με τίτλο ''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων''. Ο συγγραφέας έρχεται καί πάει όλη την ιστορία ένα βήμα παρακάτω. Σύμμαχός του, σε αυτό το ιδιαίτερο ''ταξίδι'', η εμφανής βελτίωση στον τρόπο γραφής του -χωρίς αυτό να σημαίνει πως δεν υπάρχουν περιθώρια συνεχόμενης εξέλιξης-, η πλούσια φαντασία, το ενισχυμένο πεδίο δράσης, οι ανατροπές, οι γλαφυρές περιγραφές εικόνων, οι εκπλήξεις καί η διάχυτη αίσθηση μυστηρίου, αγωνίας καί σασπένς, που φαίνεται πως δεν πρόκειται να μείνει κάποιος/α ανεπηρέαστος/η από το συνολικό κλίμα του βιβλίου. Ερωτήματα -που είχαν προκύψει στο πρώτο βιβλίο- εδώ απαντώνται καί νέα έρχονται να ''ταλανίσουν'' με οξυδερκή τρόπο τη σκέψη μας. Άραγε, πού θα καταλήξουμε; Ναι, μιλάμε για ένα βιβλίο που το διάβασα ευχάριστα μέσα σε ένα διάστημα δύο ημερών καί με έκανε να θέλω να μάθω περισσότερα...
Περιγραφή:
Ο Έλιοτ είναι πια μόνος. Έχει αφήσει το Έλμορ και τους φίλους του για τα Βουνά του Ξεχασμένου Κόσμου, ενώ η αποστολή που πρέπει να φέρει εις πέρας είναι σχεδόν ακατόρθωτη. Οι Πρώτες Φυλές, τα πλάσματα που σύμφωνα με τους θρύλους είναι στοιχειωμένα από μια αρχαία κατάρα, είναι η μόνη του ελπίδα για να αντιμετωπίσει τον Walter. Κανείς δεν ξέρει αν ο Έλιοτ έχει τη δύναμη να σπάσει την κατάρα, ενώ η βασίλισσα Σοφί και ο λαός του Έλμορ στηρίζονται σε κείνον. Ο Walter μπορεί να ηττήθηκε στην τελευταία τους μάχη, όμως σύντομα θα επιστέψει πιο αποφασισμένος από ποτέ, θέλοντας να καταστρέψει τους τελευταίους του εχθρούς μια για πάντα. Ο Έλιοτ χρειάζεται νέους συμμάχους, όμως τα πλάσματα που θέλει να πάρει με το μέρος του είναι πληγωμένα από τις πράξεις των ανθρώπων. Άραγε, θα καταφέρει να πείσει τις Πρώτες Φυλές πως ο ίδιος είναι διαφορετικός;
Εν κατακλείδι, θα σας πρότεινα -σε περίπτωση που δεν έχετε διαβάσει ούτε το πρώτο βιβλίο- να τα διαβάσετε όλα με τη σειρά, ξεκινώντας από τη νουβέλα καί μετά με τα άλλα δύο καί για εσάς που έχετε διαβάσει το πρώτο, να σπεύσετε να διαβάσετε καί τα άλλα δύο!
Καλή νέα αναγνωστική χρονιά να έχουμε!
Κυκλοφορούν από τις εκδόσεις Οσελότος.
https://vivliovamon.blogspot.com/2024...
Νέα χρονιά... Νέες αναγνωστικές εμπειρίες... Καί το πρώτο άρθρο στο blog για το 2024 ήρθε κατόπιν δική σας επιλογής (εννοώ εσάς του αναγνωστικού κοινού του blog) καί αφορά ένα αφιέρωμα σε δύο νέα βιβλία ενός αγαπητού συγγραφέα. Με στηρίζετε έμπρακτα όλα αυτά τα χρόνια καί εγώ δεν μπορούσα να σας χαλάσω το χατίρι. Ποδαρικό, λοιπόν, για την καινούργια χρονιά στο blog, κάνουν τα βιβλία του συγγραφέα Γρηγόρη Κονταξή, με τίτλους ''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού" & ''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων", τα οποία κυκλοφόρησαν τον περασμένο Δεκέμβριο (του 2023) από τις εκδόσεις Οσελότος. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η νουβέλα ''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού'' αποτελεί το prequel της σειράς βιβλίων ''Ο Χορός του Φωτός" καί το βιβλίο ''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων'' είναι το δεύτερο της εν λόγω σειράς. Πάμε, όμως, να τα δούμε πιο αναλυτικά...
''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού"
Ελάτε. Ας πούμε αλήθειες... Πόσες φορές διαβάζοντας μία αγαπημένη σας σειρά βιβλίων, δεν έχετε εκφράσει την επιθυμία να μπορούσατε να ''χαθείτε'' στον κόσμο των προσώπων τους καί να μάθετε όλα όσα μπορεί να είχαν προηγηθεί καί το πως κατέληξαν, ώστε να είναι η αφετηρία για την εξιστόρηση των γεγονότων που διαβάζετε μέσα στις σελίδες των βιβλίων που κυκλοφορούν; Εμένα δεν μου συμβαίνει πάντα, αλλά θεωρώ πως είναι χρήσιμο να μας δίνονται κάποιες πληροφορίες για το παρελθόν της εκάστοτε υπόθεσης σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις -ειδικά όταν δεν μας παρέχονται μέσα στα βιβλία που διαβάζουμε- ούτως ώστε να έχουμε μία πιο πλήρη καί ολοκληρωμένη εικόνα. Βέβαια καί αυτό δεν παύει να χρήζει προσοχής! Οι συγγραφείς θα πρέπει να γνωρίζουν το πότε, το πως καί το γιατί, προτού να προβούν στη συγγραφή κάποιου prequel καί να μην το κάνουν, αποκλειστικά καί μόνο, γιατί η ιστορία μπορεί να είναι πολύ αγαπητή στο αναγνωστικό κοινό... Για μένα αυτό είναι λάθος καί ευτυχώς, ο συγγραφέας Γρηγόρης Κονταξής φαίνεται να προσπερνά αυτόν τον σκόπελο με μαεστρία μέσω της νουβέλας του ''Ο Ιππότης του Φεγγαριού'', που μας βοηθά να έχουμε μία ευρύτερη γνώση γύρω από όλο το κλίμα της υπόθεσης, αφού μας γυρίζει πίσω στον χρόνο καί πιο συγκεκριμένα δεκαεφτά χρόνια πριν τα γεγονότα του πρώτου βιβλίου ''Η Επιστροφή των Ιπποτών''...
Περιγραφή:
Ο Τζον, ο Μακρυχέρης, ζει τη ζωή του κυνηγού επικηρυγμένων στα Τρία Κεφάλια. Η φήμη του έχει απλωθεί σε ολόκληρο τον βορρά, ενώ αρκετό χρυσάφι έχει πια γεμίσει τις τσέπες του. Τα πάντα μοιάζουν να πηγαίνουν περίφημα για κείνον, ώσπου μια χούφτα στρατιώτες τον διατάζουν να αναλάβει μια νέα αποστολή. Αυτή τη φορά πρέπει να βρει έναν πολύ επικίνδυνο άντρα – έναν ιππότη που έχει απαρνηθεί τους όρκους του γυρνώντας την πλάτη του στην Γκάλντεθ και τον ηγεμόνα της. O Τζον θα έρθει αντιμέτωπος με τους δαίμονές του για να φέρει εις πέρας αυτή την αποστολή, ενώ θα κληθεί να επιλέξει το μονοπάτι που θέλει να ακολουθήσει. Άραγε, θα πάρει τον δρόμο της τιμής και της αφοσίωσης ή θα παραδοθεί στην μόνιμη δίψα του για πλούτο;
''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων"
Καί μετά το βιβλίο ''Η Επιστροφή των ιπποτών'' (διαβάστε την κριτική μου για το βιβλίο εδώ: https://www.dominicamat.gr/2023/01/bl... ), σειρά είχε το δεύτερο βιβλίο, με τίτλο ''Η Πτώση των Γιγάντων''. Ο συγγραφέας έρχεται καί πάει όλη την ιστορία ένα βήμα παρακάτω. Σύμμαχός του, σε αυτό το ιδιαίτερο ''ταξίδι'', η εμφανής βελτίωση στον τρόπο γραφής του -χωρίς αυτό να σημαίνει πως δεν υπάρχουν περιθώρια συνεχόμενης εξέλιξης-, η πλούσια φαντασία, το ενισχυμένο πεδίο δράσης, οι ανατροπές, οι γλαφυρές περιγραφές εικόνων, οι εκπλήξεις καί η διάχυτη αίσθηση μυστηρίου, αγωνίας καί σασπένς, που φαίνεται πως δεν πρόκειται να μείνει κάποιος/α ανεπηρέαστος/η από το συνολικό κλίμα του βιβλίου. Ερωτήματα -που είχαν προκύψει στο πρώτο βιβλίο- εδώ απαντώνται καί νέα έρχονται να ''ταλανίσουν'' με οξυδερκή τρόπο τη σκέψη μας. Άραγε, πού θα καταλήξουμε; Ναι, μιλάμε για ένα βιβλίο που το διάβασα ευχάριστα μέσα σε ένα διάστημα δύο ημερών καί με έκανε να θέλω να μάθω περισσότερα...
Περιγραφή:
Ο Έλιοτ είναι πια μόνος. Έχει αφήσει το Έλμορ και τους φίλους του για τα Βουνά του Ξεχασμένου Κόσμου, ενώ η αποστολή που πρέπει να φέρει εις πέρας είναι σχεδόν ακατόρθωτη. Οι Πρώτες Φυλές, τα πλάσματα που σύμφωνα με τους θρύλους είναι στοιχειωμένα από μια αρχαία κατάρα, είναι η μόνη του ελπίδα για να αντιμετωπίσει τον Walter. Κανείς δεν ξέρει αν ο Έλιοτ έχει τη δύναμη να σπάσει την κατάρα, ενώ η βασίλισσα Σοφί και ο λαός του Έλμορ στηρίζονται σε κείνον. Ο Walter μπορεί να ηττήθηκε στην τελευταία τους μάχη, όμως σύντομα θα επιστέψει πιο αποφασισμένος από ποτέ, θέλοντας να καταστρέψει τους τελευταίους του εχθρούς μια για πάντα. Ο Έλιοτ χρειάζεται νέους συμμάχους, όμως τα πλάσματα που θέλει να πάρει με το μέρος του είναι πληγωμένα από τις πράξεις των ανθρώπων. Άραγε, θα καταφέρει να πείσει τις Πρώτες Φυλές πως ο ίδιος είναι διαφορετικός;
Εν κατακλείδι, θα σας πρότεινα -σε περίπτωση που δεν έχετε διαβάσει ούτε το πρώτο βιβλίο- να τα διαβάσετε όλα με τη σειρά, ξεκινώντας από τη νουβέλα καί μετά με τα άλλα δύο καί για εσάς που έχετε διαβάσει το πρώτο, να σπεύσετε να διαβάσετε καί τα άλλα δύο!
Καλή νέα αναγνωστική χρονιά να έχουμε!
Κυκλοφορούν από τις εκδόσεις Οσελότος.
https://vivliovamon.blogspot.com/2024...
September 1, 2024
This review was originally posted on SFF Insiders
This is one of the few novels I paradoxically knew was the continuation of a tale I’ve read before but don’t remember it to a full degree. Mainly due to me reading this back in the end of February, before the review site went up and I was just starting my humorful talks with authors. The gist of “The Return of the Knights”, the novel that predates this one, is thus:
The Fall of the Giants by Gregory Kontaxis
Random child by the name of Elliot wanders out of a village into the capitol Iovbridge, and relays a message from his master to the queen. The queen goes along with it after she sees the bladework, he wanders off with a motley crew, some of them die in battle, they reach Wirskworth, another battle ensues, more people die, and Elliot is on his way again with his motley crew and are about to split ways.
If asked for more details about “The Return of the Knights”, I’d have to reread it due to there being a 140 book gap between the first read and now. However, the second book, the second book I can say more about.
If I wanted to interest you in reading “The Fall of the Giants”, I’d give you this blurb:
“Elliot is heading out to the Mountains of the Forgotten World to claim a blade. The Warlord Walter continues his expansion of power. Care to know more?”
But like always, there is even more to the tale than just “he go there, the other guy go there”. So I’ll try to shine a light upon that in this review.
First of all, we have Elliot and Walter.
Elliot is of a line of Kings and Queens, the Egercolls. Walter is of another line, the Thorns. One of these two is a ruthless monster, the other is a mostly innocent child with barely any worldly experience. One doesn’t care who rules, the other wants to rule them all. Both are good with blades. Elliot grows a bit throughout the novel, learning a bit more about the elder races, and learns of their curse and how it should be broken. Walter is Walter throughout this one, murdering and rampaging throughout the country, taking more land to himself and garnering the power of the wyverns. He remains the same throughout the novel.
Then, we have worldbuilding. Like the previous novel, this one has maps, and the cities feel there. I enjoyed the travelling parts and the history parts, and I’ll have popcorn for book 3 when that comes out.
After that we have the magic. It’s tied to bloodlines and how demented one is willing to get. More the former than the latter, however the latter really does come into play when it comes to Walter and his psychopathic behaviour. If you’re tied to the Egercolls, you might be able to ride a pegasus. If you have the blood of wyverns or giants or other nasties running through your veins, and you are able to find a wyvern, you can ride that critter. Besides that, the elwyn, the precursors to the elves, marry for life and die when their loved ones do. And both the elwyn and the elves have magic, alongside the giants and wyverns.
Lastly, there’s the portrayal of absolute destruction and evil that Kontaxis paints with Walter that is reminiscent of Lord of the Rings and Sauron. Its done to a degree that when Walter went ahead and did something, I was expecting it to be evil, and was right on that account but not on the scale of that evil. Cannot wait to see how all of this culminates in the later novels.
There is a gripe or two I have with Kontaxis work. First of all, the dialogue felt stilted in some parts, and secondly, some parts felt more like information dumping instead of an actual story. Besides that though, I’d have to learn Greek and read the original, non translated version to get a full grasp on that, and since it takes a while to learn a new languages, that won’t be for some time.
If you are interested in fantasy, like pegasuses, wyverns and magical glowing blades, “The Return of the Knights” and therefore this one, “The Fall of the Giants”, is for you.
As always, thank you for reading this review, and I hope I’ve nudged you towards your next read. If this doesn’t sound like something you’d like to read, don’t worry, we have plenty of other content here for you to stare at as well, with reviews for books that are more in the space opera genre, or novels that go away from the epic fantasy and are instead more cosy to read,
Wherever you are reading this review, have a good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night!
This is one of the few novels I paradoxically knew was the continuation of a tale I’ve read before but don’t remember it to a full degree. Mainly due to me reading this back in the end of February, before the review site went up and I was just starting my humorful talks with authors. The gist of “The Return of the Knights”, the novel that predates this one, is thus:
The Fall of the Giants by Gregory Kontaxis
Random child by the name of Elliot wanders out of a village into the capitol Iovbridge, and relays a message from his master to the queen. The queen goes along with it after she sees the bladework, he wanders off with a motley crew, some of them die in battle, they reach Wirskworth, another battle ensues, more people die, and Elliot is on his way again with his motley crew and are about to split ways.
If asked for more details about “The Return of the Knights”, I’d have to reread it due to there being a 140 book gap between the first read and now. However, the second book, the second book I can say more about.
If I wanted to interest you in reading “The Fall of the Giants”, I’d give you this blurb:
“Elliot is heading out to the Mountains of the Forgotten World to claim a blade. The Warlord Walter continues his expansion of power. Care to know more?”
But like always, there is even more to the tale than just “he go there, the other guy go there”. So I’ll try to shine a light upon that in this review.
First of all, we have Elliot and Walter.
Elliot is of a line of Kings and Queens, the Egercolls. Walter is of another line, the Thorns. One of these two is a ruthless monster, the other is a mostly innocent child with barely any worldly experience. One doesn’t care who rules, the other wants to rule them all. Both are good with blades. Elliot grows a bit throughout the novel, learning a bit more about the elder races, and learns of their curse and how it should be broken. Walter is Walter throughout this one, murdering and rampaging throughout the country, taking more land to himself and garnering the power of the wyverns. He remains the same throughout the novel.
Then, we have worldbuilding. Like the previous novel, this one has maps, and the cities feel there. I enjoyed the travelling parts and the history parts, and I’ll have popcorn for book 3 when that comes out.
After that we have the magic. It’s tied to bloodlines and how demented one is willing to get. More the former than the latter, however the latter really does come into play when it comes to Walter and his psychopathic behaviour. If you’re tied to the Egercolls, you might be able to ride a pegasus. If you have the blood of wyverns or giants or other nasties running through your veins, and you are able to find a wyvern, you can ride that critter. Besides that, the elwyn, the precursors to the elves, marry for life and die when their loved ones do. And both the elwyn and the elves have magic, alongside the giants and wyverns.
Lastly, there’s the portrayal of absolute destruction and evil that Kontaxis paints with Walter that is reminiscent of Lord of the Rings and Sauron. Its done to a degree that when Walter went ahead and did something, I was expecting it to be evil, and was right on that account but not on the scale of that evil. Cannot wait to see how all of this culminates in the later novels.
There is a gripe or two I have with Kontaxis work. First of all, the dialogue felt stilted in some parts, and secondly, some parts felt more like information dumping instead of an actual story. Besides that though, I’d have to learn Greek and read the original, non translated version to get a full grasp on that, and since it takes a while to learn a new languages, that won’t be for some time.
If you are interested in fantasy, like pegasuses, wyverns and magical glowing blades, “The Return of the Knights” and therefore this one, “The Fall of the Giants”, is for you.
As always, thank you for reading this review, and I hope I’ve nudged you towards your next read. If this doesn’t sound like something you’d like to read, don’t worry, we have plenty of other content here for you to stare at as well, with reviews for books that are more in the space opera genre, or novels that go away from the epic fantasy and are instead more cosy to read,
Wherever you are reading this review, have a good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night!
July 25, 2025
⚠️Please note that this is the second book in The Dance of Light series and might contain spoilers if you have not read 'The Rise of knights'.⚠️
Getting ready for the third book in this series, 'The Rise of the West,' that is out on the 23rd of May, here is a review for the second book.😊
I loved the ‘This has happened so far ‘chapter’.
Sometimes, I read other books in between series due to book tours. A girl might forget.😂
The last we heard from our merry band was that they were heading out to their separate quests, all important if they are ever going to be able to save the realm from the claws of Walter Thorn.
Alone in the mountains trying to find the Elder Races in hopes of allies to beat Walter Thorn, we find Elliot.
Hungry. Cold. Alone. Still feeling the bite from the tiger, will he find them?
Velhisya misses Elliot. Still, there is not much she is allowed to do. I understand, though, that she is in danger in other ways than the straightforward ones.
Slowly, the rest of the band finds their destinations.
Will Selwyn be able to convince Lothar to be an ally?
Eleanor is a little uncertain if she can show her worth to govern another ally.
John Long Arm is in his version of heaven.
He is still not totally sure about Elliot. Does John have a point?
Reynald, on his way to Walter, will he be welcomed?
Now, one would think that Walter would be happy, having taken the throne as Iov, noooo more powers. Let's head over to Mountains of Darkness!🤭
While Elliot is trying to save Elwyn, Elves, Giants, and humans alike, the question arises. Will Elliot be their saviour or their destruction?
‘A tear rolled down her cheek, and she took a silent oath.'
Getting ready for the third book in this series, 'The Rise of the West,' that is out on the 23rd of May, here is a review for the second book.😊
I loved the ‘This has happened so far ‘chapter’.
Sometimes, I read other books in between series due to book tours. A girl might forget.😂
The last we heard from our merry band was that they were heading out to their separate quests, all important if they are ever going to be able to save the realm from the claws of Walter Thorn.
Alone in the mountains trying to find the Elder Races in hopes of allies to beat Walter Thorn, we find Elliot.
Hungry. Cold. Alone. Still feeling the bite from the tiger, will he find them?
Velhisya misses Elliot. Still, there is not much she is allowed to do. I understand, though, that she is in danger in other ways than the straightforward ones.
Slowly, the rest of the band finds their destinations.
Will Selwyn be able to convince Lothar to be an ally?
Eleanor is a little uncertain if she can show her worth to govern another ally.
John Long Arm is in his version of heaven.
He is still not totally sure about Elliot. Does John have a point?
Reynald, on his way to Walter, will he be welcomed?
Now, one would think that Walter would be happy, having taken the throne as Iov, noooo more powers. Let's head over to Mountains of Darkness!🤭
While Elliot is trying to save Elwyn, Elves, Giants, and humans alike, the question arises. Will Elliot be their saviour or their destruction?
‘A tear rolled down her cheek, and she took a silent oath.'
May 8, 2025
I am 78% through and I just have to write a review right now because I am really annoyed.
I legit have no positives to say about this book.
The story is only driven by characters, relationships and worldbuilding and all three of those make zero sense here.
The characters act randomly and like little children. For example when Elliot is with the Elders they argue and scream at each other for no reason. They legit have normal conversations and "snap" as the author calls it, out of nowhere. Just like Elliot somehow feels extremly guilty out of nowhere???
Just like Velhisya for example is randomly going on a trip to save someone while she has zero experience in fighting nor in anything else, atleast thats what the book is telling the reader.
Or when the two queens argue and Sophie is telling Syrella she knows about she knows about her affair while it makes no sense to tell her that.
This book seems to me like the author had some ideas in his mind where everyone should end up at the end but had no idea how to make them go there (if that makes sense).
I dont wanna be too toxic and I really liked the first book but sadly the second is a MAJOR letdown.
I legit have no positives to say about this book.
The story is only driven by characters, relationships and worldbuilding and all three of those make zero sense here.
The characters act randomly and like little children. For example when Elliot is with the Elders they argue and scream at each other for no reason. They legit have normal conversations and "snap" as the author calls it, out of nowhere. Just like Elliot somehow feels extremly guilty out of nowhere???
Just like Velhisya for example is randomly going on a trip to save someone while she has zero experience in fighting nor in anything else, atleast thats what the book is telling the reader.
Or when the two queens argue and Sophie is telling Syrella she knows about she knows about her affair while it makes no sense to tell her that.
This book seems to me like the author had some ideas in his mind where everyone should end up at the end but had no idea how to make them go there (if that makes sense).
I dont wanna be too toxic and I really liked the first book but sadly the second is a MAJOR letdown.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2024
This is an engaging story!
I read the first book about a year ago and I liked it lot. So, I was really looking forward for the 2nd book. Although, I liked the first book so much I noticed that the writer developed his writing techniques in this 2nd book, which made the story fascinating.
This book is character driven which brought me closer to the characters.
I was tottaly attached to Eleanor who in many cases reminded me of myself. Eleanor is transformed into a female role model in the second book and she revealed her strong leadership skills, her persuasion and wisdom.
As the story continued, some plot twists left me speechless. Furthermore, the prose and the flow of the story made me unwilling to stop turning pages until the very end.
I recommend this book to all the lovers of modern epic fantasy.
I read the first book about a year ago and I liked it lot. So, I was really looking forward for the 2nd book. Although, I liked the first book so much I noticed that the writer developed his writing techniques in this 2nd book, which made the story fascinating.
This book is character driven which brought me closer to the characters.
I was tottaly attached to Eleanor who in many cases reminded me of myself. Eleanor is transformed into a female role model in the second book and she revealed her strong leadership skills, her persuasion and wisdom.
As the story continued, some plot twists left me speechless. Furthermore, the prose and the flow of the story made me unwilling to stop turning pages until the very end.
I recommend this book to all the lovers of modern epic fantasy.
November 10, 2025
Elliot and his group, head off in different directions to find allies in the fight against Walter.
Elliot is misdirecting Walter to distract him from his goal.
Along the way Elliot has the opportunity to learn the secrets about the giants.
Spies, betrayal, secrets, makes this medieval fantasy story very intriguing.
Guy Barnes performance brings the energy, and life into all the characters. Each one had their own unique personality. Guy portrayed them with perfection.
It was very entertaining to listen to this fantasy. Very well done
#NorthernLakeAudio #TheFlockonTour
Elliot is misdirecting Walter to distract him from his goal.
Along the way Elliot has the opportunity to learn the secrets about the giants.
Spies, betrayal, secrets, makes this medieval fantasy story very intriguing.
Guy Barnes performance brings the energy, and life into all the characters. Each one had their own unique personality. Guy portrayed them with perfection.
It was very entertaining to listen to this fantasy. Very well done
#NorthernLakeAudio #TheFlockonTour
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