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The Lorradda Stone #1
Storms of Vengeance
It is a time of tremulous peace in the kingdom of Faranin. Centuries of bloody warfare have finally ended, and the lands have been united under one crown. This delicate balance is threatened when a daring attack on the capital leaves a prominent councilman dead, a host of unanswered questions, and indications that not everyone is content to live in peace. For Calton Relanas and Ratel Eresgot, two young guardians of the city, the attack signifies something opportunity. For Calton, it has given him the chance to show he is more than a simple farm boy; for Ratel, it means the opportunity to succeed without the aid of his famous family name--the chance to prove that he can make it on his own. Yet, what first appears to be an isolated incident soon turns into something far more complex--and insidious. Political backstabbing, greed, and ambition have combined with the forbidden art of magic to create a mystery and a threat deeper than anyone can suspect. A long-planned series of events has been set in motion, and time is running out. Both men race to uncover secrets buried beneath blood and time, intent on solving a mystery centuries in the making. Neither is prepared for the journey they will embark on, or for the dangers that await them. In a kingdom where everyone has something to hide and nothing is as it seems, the only certainty is that the storms of vengeance are coming.
- GenresFantasy
396 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2006
106 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 23, 2015
This was an excellent debut novel from John Beachem. I was very impressed, from the beginning.
This is a murder-whodunit mystery set in a fantasy setting. The characters are rich, and often humorous. I'm not sure that they intend to be funny, but the dialogue between them gave me many chuckles.
By the end of the novel, I realized two things. One, that John wasn't going to neatly wrap up all the mysteries and questions raised throughout the novel. He does bring it to a nice stopping point and answers some questions, but makes it obvious that this will be a much longer epic. That's the second thing: that while it seems to start out as a simple murder mystery, by the end there is so much history and political intrigue that this becomes a true epic fantasy.
If Agatha Christie had written the Shannara novels with perhaps just a touch of writing advice from Steven Erikson and George R.R. Martin, you might have a glimpse of Storms of Vengeance.
Oh, and I simply love John's take on elves! I won't way any more about that, but these elves certainly did not help a fat man in a red suit make a bunch of toys.....
This is a murder-whodunit mystery set in a fantasy setting. The characters are rich, and often humorous. I'm not sure that they intend to be funny, but the dialogue between them gave me many chuckles.
By the end of the novel, I realized two things. One, that John wasn't going to neatly wrap up all the mysteries and questions raised throughout the novel. He does bring it to a nice stopping point and answers some questions, but makes it obvious that this will be a much longer epic. That's the second thing: that while it seems to start out as a simple murder mystery, by the end there is so much history and political intrigue that this becomes a true epic fantasy.
If Agatha Christie had written the Shannara novels with perhaps just a touch of writing advice from Steven Erikson and George R.R. Martin, you might have a glimpse of Storms of Vengeance.
Oh, and I simply love John's take on elves! I won't way any more about that, but these elves certainly did not help a fat man in a red suit make a bunch of toys.....
April 20, 2010
Storms of Vengeance is a whodunnit story in a fantasy setting that I could not set down. The characters and their world are established excitingly and the story's pacing keeps you turning pages.
I enjoyed the book a lot and can't wait to get to know the characters better and see the story evolve.
The many typos put me off somewhat, but I'm rather sensitive to that. Better proof-reading for the second installment would be great.
I enjoyed the book a lot and can't wait to get to know the characters better and see the story evolve.
The many typos put me off somewhat, but I'm rather sensitive to that. Better proof-reading for the second installment would be great.
March 1, 2018
Rated it a 3.5 stars better than a 3 so it gets a 4 stars. This was a great read but the ending was like stopping in the middle of a book. Great charter development and great plot. Not only is it a good fantasy it is a good mystery. Starts with a bang but unfortunately it ends with a whimper. I may continue to read this series but it would be a long long time before I do.
November 14, 2011
This is the kind of book that could have been quite good, with a better editor and/or revisions process. As it was published, though, I can't give it much more than an "It was okay."
First off, this book has an issue with character introductions. We meet a dozen or so soldiers all at once, all of whom have similar ranks and 2 syllable names, and that makes it tricky to remember who's who in the beginning of the book. Not a fatal flaw, but it's a problem.
Secondly, we have the depiction of the villains. In the first bit, these are ultra-badass baddies who can pull of complex schemes with ease. The sort of people who have prepared for every possible outcome, able to operate in total secrecy and still remain flexible to deal with any unanticipated events.
At least, they are until the second they leave the city. Then they become incapable of getting a room in an inn without causing the destruction of an entire village. They tell each other about the dangers of areas they've traveled through before, and then fail to take the basic precautions required to avoid the dangers they described. If the first bit of the book is them as Darth Vader, they have screamed the credibility-shattering "Noooooo!" before they make it 5 days out of their awesome heist.
But the thing that really gets me is the trope of characters deciding to undertake ridiculous, dangerous journeys that could have been made much safer by waiting for, say, 6 hours. At first I thought this was a characterization thing: Hey, this character needs to be brash and reckless! Let's have him knock out half the town guard and run into the haunted forest at night instead of, I don't know, having a nap until the morning! But then a similar decision is made by a guy in charge of the supposedly spotless planning of an entire nation's army.
It's as though the author knew that, for plot reasons, he needed these characters to take this journey now so that the crazy plot thing could happen and leave them in a bind. But in doing that, he hit one of my pet peeves. The characters only seem to be doing it because the plot needed him to. Not because the character would, not because there was a major danger that required the main characters to leave right this second, but because the author needed them to be at Point B ASAP. And he forgot to give the characters a reason to need to go there themselves.
On the plus side, the writing is crisp and clean, and most of the scenes are well done. I have some hope for a second book. But this one, sad to say, really could have used a serious story edit.
First off, this book has an issue with character introductions. We meet a dozen or so soldiers all at once, all of whom have similar ranks and 2 syllable names, and that makes it tricky to remember who's who in the beginning of the book. Not a fatal flaw, but it's a problem.
Secondly, we have the depiction of the villains. In the first bit, these are ultra-badass baddies who can pull of complex schemes with ease. The sort of people who have prepared for every possible outcome, able to operate in total secrecy and still remain flexible to deal with any unanticipated events.
At least, they are until the second they leave the city. Then they become incapable of getting a room in an inn without causing the destruction of an entire village. They tell each other about the dangers of areas they've traveled through before, and then fail to take the basic precautions required to avoid the dangers they described. If the first bit of the book is them as Darth Vader, they have screamed the credibility-shattering "Noooooo!" before they make it 5 days out of their awesome heist.
But the thing that really gets me is the trope of characters deciding to undertake ridiculous, dangerous journeys that could have been made much safer by waiting for, say, 6 hours. At first I thought this was a characterization thing: Hey, this character needs to be brash and reckless! Let's have him knock out half the town guard and run into the haunted forest at night instead of, I don't know, having a nap until the morning! But then a similar decision is made by a guy in charge of the supposedly spotless planning of an entire nation's army.
It's as though the author knew that, for plot reasons, he needed these characters to take this journey now so that the crazy plot thing could happen and leave them in a bind. But in doing that, he hit one of my pet peeves. The characters only seem to be doing it because the plot needed him to. Not because the character would, not because there was a major danger that required the main characters to leave right this second, but because the author needed them to be at Point B ASAP. And he forgot to give the characters a reason to need to go there themselves.
On the plus side, the writing is crisp and clean, and most of the scenes are well done. I have some hope for a second book. But this one, sad to say, really could have used a serious story edit.
September 16, 2011
The first thing that annoyed me with this book was that I could not get it from Amazon on the kindle! I did find it (thanks to the author) on another site that had kindle format but I already have credit at Amazon so I was not all that anxious to go to another site, not to mention I like that amazon keeps my books for me so I don't have to keep them on my kindle all the time I can just go re download them whenever I want to. This is not really the authors fault tho I don't think so I won't hold it against him and the second book IS on the kindle!
At first I was not sure I could get into this book because a lot of characters were introduced very quickly and I was having trouble following and keeping every straight so I was getting a bit frustrated with the book at first. Also the author used Cycles as a time frame and I had no idea how long a cycle was so I wish that he had put that into the book somehow. I did end up writing him and asking and he quickly replied that a cycle was 28 days.
Now I do love fantasy books but have not read as many as I would like and do plan to read more so many both of these things are just something I must get used to, to be able to enjoy this genre IDK but I almost put this book down and to be honest the reason I didn't was because it did look interesting and the story was intriguing. It took me longer then usual to get into this book but I stuck with it and I am really glad I did because the story and the book (after I got used to who everyone was) was a very good read and well written. The editing irritated me at parts using wrong and misspelled words but not enough to make me just hate reading the book.
Whew I don't usually write reviews but I hope this one helped anyone considering buying this book.
At first I was not sure I could get into this book because a lot of characters were introduced very quickly and I was having trouble following and keeping every straight so I was getting a bit frustrated with the book at first. Also the author used Cycles as a time frame and I had no idea how long a cycle was so I wish that he had put that into the book somehow. I did end up writing him and asking and he quickly replied that a cycle was 28 days.
Now I do love fantasy books but have not read as many as I would like and do plan to read more so many both of these things are just something I must get used to, to be able to enjoy this genre IDK but I almost put this book down and to be honest the reason I didn't was because it did look interesting and the story was intriguing. It took me longer then usual to get into this book but I stuck with it and I am really glad I did because the story and the book (after I got used to who everyone was) was a very good read and well written. The editing irritated me at parts using wrong and misspelled words but not enough to make me just hate reading the book.
Whew I don't usually write reviews but I hope this one helped anyone considering buying this book.
May 25, 2014
Since I do believe in full disclosure I will tell you that the author is the son of one of my first cousins. This is an interesting tale where the "good" are not exactly all good and the "evil" are not entirely evil. There is a murder mystery to solve and one REALLY impressive river monster as well as a host of characters. There are several plots going on at the same time as characters separate to pursue different tasks. I am going to have to re-read this before I begin the next in this series.
October 12, 2013
Beachem develops his characters masterfully. Although this isn't a genre I normally read, I found this book to be intriguing, interesting, and very difficult to put down. The writing is intelligent, the storyline is fun, suspenseful and surprising. I highly recommend this book!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews