Tides of Blood

Dragonlance: The Minotaur Wars #2

by Richard A. Knaak

As the war of souls engulfs Ansalon, the minotaur empire and its ogre allies invade the stricken elven kingdom of Silvanesti. But blinded by his military successes, the minotaur Emperor Hotak ignores ominous signs of trouble within his realm.

And from the savage mining camps of the ogres rises an escaped minotaur slave with no ambitions of his own, save survival, a scion of the imperial bloddline whose course of action will push the empire to the brink of anarchy...

and with it the rest of Krynn.

Ricard A. Knaak is the New York Times best-selling author of numerous novels and short stories in the world of Dragonlance. TIDES OF BLOOD is the second installment in his ongoing Minotaur Wars trilogy, set in the post-War of Souls epoch.






(Description from back cover of mass market paperback)

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

371 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Richard A. Knaak is the bestselling author of Dragonlance novels, the Dragonrealm and Black City Saint series (his own creations), six novels for Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo series, and six works in the Warcraft universe. He has also written several non-series fantasy books.

Reviews

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, I just love the rebel led group, faros is magnificent even if he has become ruthless, the things he went through have made him what he has become. Bastion the only son worth his salt has been betrayed by his brother and his mother and the emperor is killed!! the protectors seem to be gaining in strength now that there is no one to stand in their way and their fanaticism will be the curse of the minotaur empire!!

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy continues to get better, and the plot continues to thicken. Just when you think things cannot get deeper they do. Faros, the young surviving scion of the old imperial line ends up a slave in the ogre camps after helping to lead an uprising at Vyrox, the minotaur mine camp. The slaves are recaptured and sent to ogre lands, part of what is revealed to be a dark deal between Emperor Hotak and the ogre nations to seal an alliance. Yes, the guy was selling his own for power, but like many tyrants who overreach, he misses a lot of what is happening under his nose. Meanwhile, his consort consolidates the power of her temple. And Hotak's sons vie for power, each following a different path. But it is not all as simple as that. The second part of the trilogy ends with a new turn, setting up well for the last part. Overall, I have found myself to be very engaged by this book. It is a good fantasy tale, but it also has the feel of reading an imperial epic with its subplots and intrigues. I am definitely glad I picked this set up. I am continuing on to the third and final volume.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

My actual rating is 3.5 stars. This takes place in the Dragonlance setting. It is a second book of a trilogy and the first one must be read for this one.

Hotok is now in power and he sets his eyes on Ansalon to expand the minotaur empire. Meanwhile, Faros has escaped the slave camp and is on his own in ogre territory.

I liked this one better than the first one. Since the characters are already established, the author could concentrate on the story. I liked the concept that even though Hotok is doing what he believe is right for his homeland, it is at a cost of his family. Also, I liked how Faros is just looking out for himself but responsibility is thrust upon him anyways. There are plenty of action scenes to keep the reader interested and the cliffhanger at the end left me wanting to jump into the third installment of this trilogy.

This trilogy is shaping up to be an enjoyable read.

[João Batista · Rating 4 out of 5]

More action-packed. This time, we see Faros fighting his way out of captivity at great costs. But he'll never forget the nightmares he endured at the ogre mining camp. Meanwhile, at the imperium, an army of the dead brings them news from afar. Elsewhere, Silvanesti is to be invaded by a stranger alliance yet... Can the dead messengers and their mistress predict what will come from the slave fields into the imperium? Faros versus Golgren, I still wish to see that outcome.

[Kereesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the narrative still bothers me, the pieces Knaak has been creating in the first one start to come together and make it a lot more interesting. Here's hoping for a spectacular finale!

[Tim Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the first part and it leaves the reader with an absolutely awesome cliffhanger for the third and final part.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good battles. Very disturbed hero that starts to recover slowly from his ordeals.

[DaveyNukes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one more than the first. This trilogy keeps getting better. A lot of twists and turns. A lot of action. I really liked how the story connected to the War of Souls. It was exciting to see the interaction of characters from the War of Souls even if it was brief. It gave it that Dragonlance feeling. Now to start part three!

[Alec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3-4 stars. I have enjoyed the first 2 books but does everyone have to keep dying. I tend not to like this plot device in novels I read.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slower than book or but a hell of an ending

[Steve T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Derivative but fun read. Didn't much feel like a Dragonlance book other than the location names. Violent.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in the first book of The Minotaur Wars, Night of Blood. Tides of Blood is a vast improvement over the first book in this series. The reader finally understands that Faros is the hero of this series and it gives them someone to latch on to. Yes, he is a moody main character and doesn't care about anybody but himself, yet he finds himself helping others, even if he doesn't mean to. This story focuses more on Faros than anybody else, which was greatly needed in the first book.

The action is definitely more defined and the pace of Tides of Blood is dramatically faster. The continuing battles between the rebels and Hotak's forces takes a back seat to the conflict within the royal family, like; Hotak missing his wife, Bastion killing rebels when Ardnor feels he should be too, Nephera neglecting her husband and duties, yet growing more and more in power, Ardnor plotting to kill his younger brother, and more dysfunctional family behavior (I'm glad I wasn't born into this family).

Overall, the feel and flow of Tides of Blood makes it a much better book than Night of Blood. I found the reading to be quite enjoyable and look forward to seeing how this is all wrapped up in the third and final book in this trilogy, Empire of Blood.

I rated this book a 7½ out of 10.

[Timothy McNeil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another generous instance of my giving a book two stars, Tides of Blood is only marginally saved in the last third where Knaak stops devoting most of his energy to wasting time and filling pages with nothing of import to the story or characters. What really hurts this book is the production/editing. Was the author not sent a proof-copy? Could he not be bothered to read it? Several times parts of words are missing (has becomes as, for instance), entire words are missing from sentences (though pesky verbs just get in the way), and most frustrating is the occurrence of the one-eyed character having both of his eyes swimming in blood. The missing one, sure, because it isn't in the socket. And the one he has, maybe, as part of the descriptive metaphor. But both of these things are not happening at once, and any writer or editor who let that go through should be swimming in shame.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunned. I just finished reading The Minotaur Wars Vol. 2: Tides of Blood. This might be one of the best Dragonlance books I’ve read! Continuing the saga begun with Vol. 1, we see Hotak try to maintain control over his imperium while rebels still gnaw at his sides. Faros really starts to stand out as a tortured, rebellious character, and Nephera and Ardnor follow their faith down an increasingly dark path. For me, the best parts of this were the minotaur incursion into Silvanesti and Faros fighting ogres at every chance. We see the minotaur conquering effort in other books, and I loved being able to put all that into perspective with these events. And Faros developed sooo much in this one! He was ok in book one, but he became so multi-faceted and real in this one. I cannot wait to read book three!

[S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I was being too harsh, but killing off a main rebel character? I had to stop there. Maybe I should have kept reading, but I got annoyed and picked up a different book

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a slow start, compared to the first book in the series, but it was a great ending.