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Binding Tenets Trilogy
Bitter Ends
Noosemen. Blessed by the Six, cursed by their blood, loathed by their liege.
Dennick has only ever known the Noose, but when he takes matters into his own hands and kills a fellow member, he must decide between his loyalty to the King he serves, or the friends he's made.
All nooses are made from individual strands woven together but when doubt is threaded throughout, and faith and friendship are tested, even the most steadfast of Nooseman will find themselves choking from choice.
This is a tale of the King's Noose, and only one end is waiting for them all.
Dennick has only ever known the Noose, but when he takes matters into his own hands and kills a fellow member, he must decide between his loyalty to the King he serves, or the friends he's made.
All nooses are made from individual strands woven together but when doubt is threaded throughout, and faith and friendship are tested, even the most steadfast of Nooseman will find themselves choking from choice.
This is a tale of the King's Noose, and only one end is waiting for them all.
- GenresFantasy
81 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 15, 2024
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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December 8, 2024Read for SFINCS! Review to come.
September 30, 2024
Bitter Ends is an interesting novella which takes place before the main series and this reads more like a prologue than a prequel. Now, the premise is not really all that new with a dark academy setting which is training a group of assassins and they have something which reminds me of the blood magic in Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestors trilogy. Now, this book is very short so you don’t have time to explore magic systems and what not, but this was a close reminder of me and the next thing I could compare it to.
You follow one of these kids and it starts with him mkaing a rational decision of pushing his mother off a building. Not really. But someone is pushed. He gets acosted for it, and there’s this whole thing about who these very minor characters are but we don’t get into their heads as to why they’re doing the things they’re doing.
None of these children chose the fate of going to school to kill people and he’s presented with the question, and coming from a religious connotation in a way, a cultural taboo of not asking questions. In Christian circles for instance, if you suggest The Bible is not the word of God, you’ll get your ear swollen. Now, in a more historical setting, you cannot say, like in Korea, that the President of Korea can do anything wrong without getting hanged yourself. There is this subtle world building done in snippets to explain the severity of the world the characters are in.
Now for me, let me start off with a few things I didn’t care for. The character development was lackluster, in my opinion. The only person I really felt a connection to was Tomas, but he seemed to be more flushed out than our main character, Dennick.
I didn’t have an issue with the prose and thought it was probably the strong point for the novella up until the inclusing of the F-bombs. Now, if you’ve read anything I’ve written, I’m no stranger to the curse. But here is where I find issue: to me it read quite like the target audience was more for middle grade, and maybe scratched the surface into YA before the inclusion of the f-bomb. Now, I’m not a parent, but if I was, I wouldn’t want my kids reading this because of it. Now, this was shocking to me because there were opportunities of grit throughout the novella to set the tone and it missed that opportunity. There were some metaphors that sang well, and some that missed the mark completely.
The world building was there and I felt that the world building done in this book was probably intended to do work the other books didn’t do. To me, much of the grandiose building wasn’t there. I don’t know how big the world is, what kind of world I’m in, and I presume there are only humans in this place and so on. So, I think reading the other books first might be the move.
This is a novella, so I can’t really talk about the plot because then you might not want to read it, and despite its short comings, it was enjoyable if long. It kind of reminds of Chima Williams, “Demon King” where it started off painstakingly slow, but when you’re 300 pages in, it starts to really sing for you.
You follow one of these kids and it starts with him mkaing a rational decision of pushing his mother off a building. Not really. But someone is pushed. He gets acosted for it, and there’s this whole thing about who these very minor characters are but we don’t get into their heads as to why they’re doing the things they’re doing.
None of these children chose the fate of going to school to kill people and he’s presented with the question, and coming from a religious connotation in a way, a cultural taboo of not asking questions. In Christian circles for instance, if you suggest The Bible is not the word of God, you’ll get your ear swollen. Now, in a more historical setting, you cannot say, like in Korea, that the President of Korea can do anything wrong without getting hanged yourself. There is this subtle world building done in snippets to explain the severity of the world the characters are in.
Now for me, let me start off with a few things I didn’t care for. The character development was lackluster, in my opinion. The only person I really felt a connection to was Tomas, but he seemed to be more flushed out than our main character, Dennick.
I didn’t have an issue with the prose and thought it was probably the strong point for the novella up until the inclusing of the F-bombs. Now, if you’ve read anything I’ve written, I’m no stranger to the curse. But here is where I find issue: to me it read quite like the target audience was more for middle grade, and maybe scratched the surface into YA before the inclusion of the f-bomb. Now, I’m not a parent, but if I was, I wouldn’t want my kids reading this because of it. Now, this was shocking to me because there were opportunities of grit throughout the novella to set the tone and it missed that opportunity. There were some metaphors that sang well, and some that missed the mark completely.
The world building was there and I felt that the world building done in this book was probably intended to do work the other books didn’t do. To me, much of the grandiose building wasn’t there. I don’t know how big the world is, what kind of world I’m in, and I presume there are only humans in this place and so on. So, I think reading the other books first might be the move.
This is a novella, so I can’t really talk about the plot because then you might not want to read it, and despite its short comings, it was enjoyable if long. It kind of reminds of Chima Williams, “Demon King” where it started off painstakingly slow, but when you’re 300 pages in, it starts to really sing for you.
July 17, 2024
This is a prequel to Blood Woven - The Binding Tenets Book #1 although it can be read at any time.
This is the story of the Noosemen to the King and how they became as they are. Dennick is faced with some choices over his time of brutal training and he makes them despite the effect on all those around him. He sets his future on the outcome. He believes he's the best Noose and he is the chosen, he's likely at least a little insane. This is dark and brutal, but also has faith (blind at times) undertones. A very good set up for the story to continue in the novel.
This is the story of the Noosemen to the King and how they became as they are. Dennick is faced with some choices over his time of brutal training and he makes them despite the effect on all those around him. He sets his future on the outcome. He believes he's the best Noose and he is the chosen, he's likely at least a little insane. This is dark and brutal, but also has faith (blind at times) undertones. A very good set up for the story to continue in the novel.
February 3, 2025
Bitter Ends is my first experience of G.J. Terral's Binding Tenets trilogy, a prequel to the series proper, and it immediately made me curious about the world he has created. It is clearly a harsh and unforgiving world and I was intrigued by the ruling regime and how the importance of blind loyalty was interwoven with elements of a faith based magic system. I was impressed with the amount of character development that the author was able to work into such a short book and I think I will definitely have to read more of the series.
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November 3, 2024This novella can be read before or after Bloodwoven, but I personally recommend after, despite the events occurring chronologically before.
I loved visiting the world through the lens of an antagonist to Bloodwoven’s main character, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.
(This is free through my newsletter signup here— https://stationarymomentum.com/)
I loved visiting the world through the lens of an antagonist to Bloodwoven’s main character, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.
(This is free through my newsletter signup here— https://stationarymomentum.com/)
July 31, 2024
Beta read this one!
A really intriguing prequel that gives some background on the king's noose..
Terral continues to be amazing at writing character emotions, and he has the most thoughful, philosophic characters. His writing is just a treat to read.
A really intriguing prequel that gives some background on the king's noose..
Terral continues to be amazing at writing character emotions, and he has the most thoughful, philosophic characters. His writing is just a treat to read.
August 22, 2024
This novella will get you immerse really quick in the world built by Terral. The main character is complex and I was drawn into his mind, conflicts and internal questions.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Bloodwoven next!
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Bloodwoven next!
December 29, 2025
A nice introduction to Terral's world via a violent schooling. No need to read the series before but it is nice seeing some characters already met if you have read it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews