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The Memory of Flames #2
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B пoлитe нa Гpъбнaĸa нa cвeтa ce paзгapят бyнтoвни oгньoвe. Πoжap, paзпaлeн oт дpeвнo пpopoчecтвo. Чepвeнитe eздaчи нacтъпвaт. A плaмъцитe, пoнeceни нa ĸpилeтe нa дpaĸoнитe, мoгaт дa пoгълнaт цeлия cвят.
Зaщoтo oт cлънцeтo щe изплyвa бял дpaĸoн, a нa бeлия дpaĸoн – чepвeн eздaч. Kpaдцитe и лъжцитe щe зaтpeпepят и зapидaят, зaщoтo eздaчът щe ce зoвe Πpaвдa, a дpaĸoнът – Bъзмeздиe.
Зaщoтo oт cлънцeтo щe изплyвa бял дpaĸoн, a нa бeлия дpaĸoн – чepвeн eздaч. Kpaдцитe и лъжцитe щe зaтpeпepят и зapидaят, зaщoтo eздaчът щe ce зoвe Πpaвдa, a дpaĸoнът – Bъзмeздиe.
518 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
20 people are currently reading
850 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Deas
29 books183 followersStephen Deas is an engineer in the aerospace industry, working on communications and imaging technology in the defence sector. He is married with two children and lives near Writtle in Essex.
Also writes as Nathan Hawke and S.J. Deas.
Also writes as Nathan Hawke and S.J. Deas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 2, 2019
I finished this one, but will not continue with the series. The problems I had with part one were worse in this installment. I just don't like how the human characters have no depth. It's not horrible, but I'm not reading #3.
January 26, 2018
A different take on dragons. I read this trilogy a few years ago and, though it took a bit to get into (for me), found it pretty darned good. Deas takes the overdone dragon story to a different realm and makes the dragon the main character. (Sounds weird, but he does- read to the end.) This was a pretty good story of backstabbing, plotting, and loss. Well worth the time.
December 31, 2010
http://www.rantingdragon.com/the-king...
It’s been three months since I enjoyed and reviewed The Adamantine Palace, book one of A Memory of Flames by Stephen Deas. Today, I review its sequel. The King of the Crags has everything The Adamantine Palace had and more. Though the story of Deas’ epic dragon trilogy continues in this book, I will limit this review to only very minor spoilers from the first volume.
Continuing in chaos
I said about the previous book, “Dragons, politics, intrigue, poison, mass murders and a dark past are just some of the words that come to mind when reading,” and all of them can be applied to The King of the Crags as well. This novel continues the events of its predecessor in an amazing fashion, showing the chaos those events have left behind, a chaos one couldn’t even have guessed at after finishing The Adamantine Palace.
Increasingly epic
This story has grown so much more epic in volume two. There were two problems I had with the previous volume: the very flat characters and the lack of world building. Though there is still only very minor world building going on in The King of the Crags, it becomes more obvious that this world is amazingly vast and well-envisioned. Through small hints, setting details and pieces of history – which, I must add, are very intriguing – the reader learns more and more about this world.
Through these hints, including some great foreshadowing, a stage is set rivaling a number of big fantasy series. Of course, being a trilogy of small books, Deas has clearly chosen a path of pacing as opposed to vast world building. That doesn’t change, however, that this book feels like it’s leading into a much bigger final volume. Many fantasy fans will remember when Peter Jackson’s Two Towers movie came out. He had left out a lot of storylines that were originally in the book, all of which he needed to put into The Return of the King. I remember thinking: “Oh boy, the next movie will be eight hours long!”
Many storylines
That was exactly how The King of the Crags left me feeling. There are so many storylines here, and so many more that are hinted at. Huge battles of dragons, both dragons with riders and very dangerous rogue dragons; a mysterious people with the illustrious-sounding name Taiytakei, who clearly have an agenda of their own; other secrets, some from the past, that may or may not be related… Yeah, this one was epic, and the next one, The Order of the Scales, promises to be even more so.
Individual characters
Speaking of Peter Jackson, I’d say he can ditch both Temeraire and The Hobbit’s Smaug, because Snow, the rogue white dragon, is the next big thing. That leads me to the second problem I had with The Adamantine Palace: that of flat characters. Apparently, Deas is one of those authors who get better with every book. The characters in The King of the Crags felt very real to me. Not just Snow, who is easily my favorite dragon ever written, but many of the human characters as well. While I thought all characters in the previous book were very much the same, Deas has managed to create individuals this time around.
Pacing problems
It wasn’t all good, however. There is one very big problem I have with this novel. While pacing was the biggest asset of the previous novel, I feel like The King of the Crags has shifted it up another gear. And frankly, it’s going too fast to truly enjoy the story. This is a story with short chapters and at least a dozen different points of view, that moves from action scene to action scene. That isn’t always a bad thing, but missing all that happens in the time between scenes, gaps of weeks or even months, sometimes left me with a headache.
Why should you read this book?
If you like epic fantasy or dragons, or even just like sharp dialogues or awesome battles, you should definitely read The Adamantine Palace. If you’ve read that one, and even slightly enjoyed it, you will probably love The King of the Crags. Stephen Deas has combined all that’s good in fantasy and spun it around in a thriller-paced tale that will leave you breathless.
It’s been three months since I enjoyed and reviewed The Adamantine Palace, book one of A Memory of Flames by Stephen Deas. Today, I review its sequel. The King of the Crags has everything The Adamantine Palace had and more. Though the story of Deas’ epic dragon trilogy continues in this book, I will limit this review to only very minor spoilers from the first volume.
Continuing in chaos
I said about the previous book, “Dragons, politics, intrigue, poison, mass murders and a dark past are just some of the words that come to mind when reading,” and all of them can be applied to The King of the Crags as well. This novel continues the events of its predecessor in an amazing fashion, showing the chaos those events have left behind, a chaos one couldn’t even have guessed at after finishing The Adamantine Palace.
Increasingly epic
This story has grown so much more epic in volume two. There were two problems I had with the previous volume: the very flat characters and the lack of world building. Though there is still only very minor world building going on in The King of the Crags, it becomes more obvious that this world is amazingly vast and well-envisioned. Through small hints, setting details and pieces of history – which, I must add, are very intriguing – the reader learns more and more about this world.
Through these hints, including some great foreshadowing, a stage is set rivaling a number of big fantasy series. Of course, being a trilogy of small books, Deas has clearly chosen a path of pacing as opposed to vast world building. That doesn’t change, however, that this book feels like it’s leading into a much bigger final volume. Many fantasy fans will remember when Peter Jackson’s Two Towers movie came out. He had left out a lot of storylines that were originally in the book, all of which he needed to put into The Return of the King. I remember thinking: “Oh boy, the next movie will be eight hours long!”
Many storylines
That was exactly how The King of the Crags left me feeling. There are so many storylines here, and so many more that are hinted at. Huge battles of dragons, both dragons with riders and very dangerous rogue dragons; a mysterious people with the illustrious-sounding name Taiytakei, who clearly have an agenda of their own; other secrets, some from the past, that may or may not be related… Yeah, this one was epic, and the next one, The Order of the Scales, promises to be even more so.
Individual characters
Speaking of Peter Jackson, I’d say he can ditch both Temeraire and The Hobbit’s Smaug, because Snow, the rogue white dragon, is the next big thing. That leads me to the second problem I had with The Adamantine Palace: that of flat characters. Apparently, Deas is one of those authors who get better with every book. The characters in The King of the Crags felt very real to me. Not just Snow, who is easily my favorite dragon ever written, but many of the human characters as well. While I thought all characters in the previous book were very much the same, Deas has managed to create individuals this time around.
Pacing problems
It wasn’t all good, however. There is one very big problem I have with this novel. While pacing was the biggest asset of the previous novel, I feel like The King of the Crags has shifted it up another gear. And frankly, it’s going too fast to truly enjoy the story. This is a story with short chapters and at least a dozen different points of view, that moves from action scene to action scene. That isn’t always a bad thing, but missing all that happens in the time between scenes, gaps of weeks or even months, sometimes left me with a headache.
Why should you read this book?
If you like epic fantasy or dragons, or even just like sharp dialogues or awesome battles, you should definitely read The Adamantine Palace. If you’ve read that one, and even slightly enjoyed it, you will probably love The King of the Crags. Stephen Deas has combined all that’s good in fantasy and spun it around in a thriller-paced tale that will leave you breathless.
January 3, 2019
I really enjoyed this book, most than the previous one. Not that the first was bad, but this had more action. Before i give my review i would like to mention something. Several have said that it's similar with Game Of Thrones. That's not even close to these books. They talked about characters dying so easily, even those that are important or kings or lords and ladies but that's realism. It's not a fantasy one that will have actions above the borders. The characters are not like jugglers that will jump from here to there or avoid death effortless...
So, i might contain a couple of spoilers, sorry for that. As i said on a previous review, while i was reading it, my favorite character Jehal had the baddest luck but he rewared at the end and i'm happy about it. It doesn't end there. One of his enemies i know it will do such a grim think for his loved ones. There were dragon battles, a war that's not end yet and one more that will come and is going to be bruttal, i'm sure for it. The description of the terrain and the map around this world is not tiring, i liked it very much and gives a good taste of the world. Stephen Deas build it very well !!!
The dialogues were giving me suspence and the description of the battles a good point of view. Also i liked that when a chapter focus on a character we can see it from his point of view. For example he/she might see a first character that he's/she's important and their presence pass like they were not important at all. That's because they all don't know each other. So i was nervous if they will meet or what will happen. I hope i said that clear and didn't focuse you.
It contains everything you wish to see about dragons and battles and plots and betreyals. I can't wait to read the next one and what's coming up !!!
So, i might contain a couple of spoilers, sorry for that. As i said on a previous review, while i was reading it, my favorite character Jehal had the baddest luck but he rewared at the end and i'm happy about it. It doesn't end there. One of his enemies i know it will do such a grim think for his loved ones. There were dragon battles, a war that's not end yet and one more that will come and is going to be bruttal, i'm sure for it. The description of the terrain and the map around this world is not tiring, i liked it very much and gives a good taste of the world. Stephen Deas build it very well !!!
The dialogues were giving me suspence and the description of the battles a good point of view. Also i liked that when a chapter focus on a character we can see it from his point of view. For example he/she might see a first character that he's/she's important and their presence pass like they were not important at all. That's because they all don't know each other. So i was nervous if they will meet or what will happen. I hope i said that clear and didn't focuse you.
It contains everything you wish to see about dragons and battles and plots and betreyals. I can't wait to read the next one and what's coming up !!!
July 19, 2017
"Foolish man. When the flood comes, you run. When the mountains topple, you run. When the earth cracks, you run. So it is when a dragon comes."
There was a lot of golden dragon-scale buried amongst the ash of this novel. I was frenzied with excitement to start it after what felt like aeons of nose-taps from my husband who read it first.
The court intrigue really steps up to outright war. "And here, Vale knew, was his strength, the strength of every man behind him. He looked for the fear that any normal man would feel in the presence of such a monster and found nothing. Nothing at all." There are some vertiginous dragon-back skirmishes filled with the crack of scorpion bolts and skull bones shattered against dragon scales. All of which, obviously, could have been avoided if Zafir had made decided to trust the bland, predictable northeners she knew so well rather than turning her own lover against her for the support of the enigmatic and manipulative Valmeyan of the Crags. Princess Jaslyn of the north is being equally unfathomable. She has decided to free her reborn dragon Silence, on some delusion that he will love her for it. It's not the dragon being deceptive, Silence makes it very clear he will eat her at the first opportunity he gets. "You would like to have me as I was. Stupified. I see it as a great desire in you. I am not some beast of burden. One day I will be reborn and you will be gone. Then, for a time, I will be free." Despite being spurned by Zafir, and having his cock blown off by Shezira, Jehal is still pulling all the strings at the Adamantine palace. "'I'm not really a knife person, Night Watchman. I prefer to watch them build their own pyre and then linger powerlessly on top for a wile while I carelessly play with matches beneath.'" And his rivalry with his antimatter-double, the upright and honest Night Watchman Vale Tassan is emerging into an intricate and well-balanced battle of merciless wits. "If I was a wizard I would flick you away as if brushing a fleck of shit from my sleeve." And for sarcasm alone, I think Meteroa has reached the silver medal position for favourite character. Yet next to Snow and her amazing alien mind, all of the politics seem somehow in consequential.
"When she tried, she could almost pretend that she was not a monster."
Snow and Kemir don't appear until almost half-way through the novel (despite being the best characters), and their plot is limited to a partially-successful attempt to lure out more dragons, a chase, and some casual butchering of a whale carcass. Yet they still manage to steal the show. "Sometimes he stared at the skies for hours and hours, just hoping to catch a glimpse of wings and fire." It was fascinating seeing Kemir become swayed by Snow's increasingly rational philosophy, the cold splendour of her form, and increasing alienation from humankind. There were some really brilliant conversations that I could believe came from a completely different type of sentience. "You, Kemir, would rather die trying and failing to take revenge than to live and forgive. Why is that? I do not understand forgiveness or revenge." "We are different, that is all. We are not eternal. When the world ends, we will end with it, as will all things." And Snow is growing, maturing, gaining the ethereal authority of a leader. A one-mind revolution. "We are old and wise in our ways yet we are impatient like children. Creatures of impulse and destruction and whim." I am a convert. She needs to be free and she needs to be able to reach her full intellectual potential, even if the small matter of wiping out humanity occurs as collateral. She has a beautiful, beautiful mind.
So why the low rating? I had to make several deductions, which is sad, as these are largely amateur editing errors which could have been totally avoided. I expected better from Gollancz. First, the pacing is all over the place. We spend the first third of the book following the rise of the Red Riders and Semian's cult, only for these to wane in significance to the point where it seems that there are mentions to the Red Riders merely to justify their relevance to the rest of the story. I'm with Vale. "'I believe in what my eyes can see and what my hands can touch. I believe in fire and steel and blood.'" I don't have a problem with small characters getting their own point of views in fantasy, but this has to be balanced throughout the narrative so not to interrupt the flow. Also, there are some serious inconsistencies in the world-building which an editor should have sorted out. At one point, the dragons are said to have emerged from the void, and yet at many other places it is claimed they were made to be riden by god-like creatures. Then there's Prince Tychane, who is already present at Zafir's council of kings, then re-arrives later in the book without apparently leaving and suddenly gains a presence. And in the previous book we were told the Silver King was killed at the alchemist's redoubt and his body remains there, yet in The King of the Crags, he was killed and entombed at the Pinnacles? The inaccuracies just take me out of the atmosphere. But the deduction was really made because of the scene in which Kemir attempts to rape a nameless dragon rider. To say this is 'out of character' is an insult to the scale of the crime. He also doesn't feel or think about it much ever again, and we don't even get a word or a gesture from the victim. Poorly thought-out and not necessary to include. This sort of thing is what gives contemporary fantasy a bad name that it doesn't deserve.
"After you burned a man's home to charcoal and his family to ash you could hardly bring them back and pretend it never happened. Let it go? He barely knew where to begin. You couldn't even say sorry. By then it was just an insult."
There was a lot of golden dragon-scale buried amongst the ash of this novel. I was frenzied with excitement to start it after what felt like aeons of nose-taps from my husband who read it first.
The court intrigue really steps up to outright war. "And here, Vale knew, was his strength, the strength of every man behind him. He looked for the fear that any normal man would feel in the presence of such a monster and found nothing. Nothing at all." There are some vertiginous dragon-back skirmishes filled with the crack of scorpion bolts and skull bones shattered against dragon scales. All of which, obviously, could have been avoided if Zafir had made decided to trust the bland, predictable northeners she knew so well rather than turning her own lover against her for the support of the enigmatic and manipulative Valmeyan of the Crags. Princess Jaslyn of the north is being equally unfathomable. She has decided to free her reborn dragon Silence, on some delusion that he will love her for it. It's not the dragon being deceptive, Silence makes it very clear he will eat her at the first opportunity he gets. "You would like to have me as I was. Stupified. I see it as a great desire in you. I am not some beast of burden. One day I will be reborn and you will be gone. Then, for a time, I will be free." Despite being spurned by Zafir, and having his cock blown off by Shezira, Jehal is still pulling all the strings at the Adamantine palace. "'I'm not really a knife person, Night Watchman. I prefer to watch them build their own pyre and then linger powerlessly on top for a wile while I carelessly play with matches beneath.'" And his rivalry with his antimatter-double, the upright and honest Night Watchman Vale Tassan is emerging into an intricate and well-balanced battle of merciless wits. "If I was a wizard I would flick you away as if brushing a fleck of shit from my sleeve." And for sarcasm alone, I think Meteroa has reached the silver medal position for favourite character. Yet next to Snow and her amazing alien mind, all of the politics seem somehow in consequential.
"When she tried, she could almost pretend that she was not a monster."
Snow and Kemir don't appear until almost half-way through the novel (despite being the best characters), and their plot is limited to a partially-successful attempt to lure out more dragons, a chase, and some casual butchering of a whale carcass. Yet they still manage to steal the show. "Sometimes he stared at the skies for hours and hours, just hoping to catch a glimpse of wings and fire." It was fascinating seeing Kemir become swayed by Snow's increasingly rational philosophy, the cold splendour of her form, and increasing alienation from humankind. There were some really brilliant conversations that I could believe came from a completely different type of sentience. "You, Kemir, would rather die trying and failing to take revenge than to live and forgive. Why is that? I do not understand forgiveness or revenge." "We are different, that is all. We are not eternal. When the world ends, we will end with it, as will all things." And Snow is growing, maturing, gaining the ethereal authority of a leader. A one-mind revolution. "We are old and wise in our ways yet we are impatient like children. Creatures of impulse and destruction and whim." I am a convert. She needs to be free and she needs to be able to reach her full intellectual potential, even if the small matter of wiping out humanity occurs as collateral. She has a beautiful, beautiful mind.
So why the low rating? I had to make several deductions, which is sad, as these are largely amateur editing errors which could have been totally avoided. I expected better from Gollancz. First, the pacing is all over the place. We spend the first third of the book following the rise of the Red Riders and Semian's cult, only for these to wane in significance to the point where it seems that there are mentions to the Red Riders merely to justify their relevance to the rest of the story. I'm with Vale. "'I believe in what my eyes can see and what my hands can touch. I believe in fire and steel and blood.'" I don't have a problem with small characters getting their own point of views in fantasy, but this has to be balanced throughout the narrative so not to interrupt the flow. Also, there are some serious inconsistencies in the world-building which an editor should have sorted out. At one point, the dragons are said to have emerged from the void, and yet at many other places it is claimed they were made to be riden by god-like creatures. Then there's Prince Tychane, who is already present at Zafir's council of kings, then re-arrives later in the book without apparently leaving and suddenly gains a presence. And in the previous book we were told the Silver King was killed at the alchemist's redoubt and his body remains there, yet in The King of the Crags, he was killed and entombed at the Pinnacles? The inaccuracies just take me out of the atmosphere. But the deduction was really made because of the scene in which Kemir attempts to rape a nameless dragon rider. To say this is 'out of character' is an insult to the scale of the crime. He also doesn't feel or think about it much ever again, and we don't even get a word or a gesture from the victim. Poorly thought-out and not necessary to include. This sort of thing is what gives contemporary fantasy a bad name that it doesn't deserve.
"After you burned a man's home to charcoal and his family to ash you could hardly bring them back and pretend it never happened. Let it go? He barely knew where to begin. You couldn't even say sorry. By then it was just an insult."
July 23, 2014
The King of Crags continues the story started in The Adamantine Palace, deepens it and enlarges it, while the last 50 pages are just awesome setting up a third novel that should be a cracker. In some ways The King of the Crags is a middle novel so the major threads (the human-dragon interaction and the fight for supremacy among the Dragon Kings and Queens) are not solved, but there are a lot of things happening too. The novel is even more brutal that the first one, darker and more cynical with no-nonsense and sentimentality; the awakened dragons still hate humans with a passion and eat them when they do not burn their cities, queens and kings die, cities are burned and the prize (if anything will remain intact of course) is still there for the taking.
May 25, 2017
"Fight your wars in the skies if you must, but do not bring them here or you will find that I have other names, and one of them I wear for war. The words of the Night Watchman, the Scorpion King."<\i>
Things are hotting up! War is coming, and the court intrigue tensions are now unsustainable. There are two main arcs of plot, one of which is court intrigue/war, and the other is more dragon oriented. The dragon arc is getting very exciting, and I'm excited to see where it leads, and how the two main pieces of the plot might fit together.
The quote above is from Vale, a very awesome "lord commander of the nights watch" kind of figure (his official title is Night Watchman). He is in charge of the defences of the main city, and the main anti-dragon weapon in this story is a large crossbow - a "scorpion". There are orders such as Vale's who are politically neutral, but hold power like kings and queens. I really enjoyed this quote. He would be welcome to a high-ranking place in my GoT Wall revolution planned for the end of the series.
There was another good quote somewhere towards the end, but I can't find it, or remember what it said or exactly where it is. So you will have to read it and enjoy yourself - maybe you'll put the quote into your goodreads review! <3
Things are hotting up! War is coming, and the court intrigue tensions are now unsustainable. There are two main arcs of plot, one of which is court intrigue/war, and the other is more dragon oriented. The dragon arc is getting very exciting, and I'm excited to see where it leads, and how the two main pieces of the plot might fit together.
The quote above is from Vale, a very awesome "lord commander of the nights watch" kind of figure (his official title is Night Watchman). He is in charge of the defences of the main city, and the main anti-dragon weapon in this story is a large crossbow - a "scorpion". There are orders such as Vale's who are politically neutral, but hold power like kings and queens. I really enjoyed this quote. He would be welcome to a high-ranking place in my GoT Wall revolution planned for the end of the series.
There was another good quote somewhere towards the end, but I can't find it, or remember what it said or exactly where it is. So you will have to read it and enjoy yourself - maybe you'll put the quote into your goodreads review! <3
August 31, 2010
What I Liked: The pace of the story is carefully measured, never too slow, often fast and always keeping you reading all the way through.
The characters, though not all likeable, are all thorough and believable and you find yourself endlessly curious about what each of them is plotting or planning against the others. Stephen Deas never gives too much away about any of them yet at the same time never makes them so closed that you don’t care for them either. I have a passionate dislike for a few characters and fondness for others – despite not really knowing, ultimately, who is good and who is bad.
I also love the fact that, for once, dragons are as dragons should be. They are not docile, friendly ‘pets’ or the slightly Disneyfied versions of dragons that we have been endlessly fed that don’t mind being used as glorified horses or have a random fondness for these small annoying human things that shout, wave pointy metal sticks and kill each other. No, in these books they think they are food. Which is a nice change. I like proper dragons.
What I Didn’t Like: Despite having read The Admantine Palace and King Of The Crags very close together I still ended up being a bit confused at times by who was married to who and who had feuds with which family and why. The family trees at the beginning of the book were useful to combat this but it was a bit frustrating to have to stop mid-action to flick back and find out just who Prince So-and-So was and why he was arguing with King Blah. This wasn’t a major flaw and it certainly didn’t stop my utter love for the books, indeed, it may well just have been down to my terrible memory for names.
The characters, though not all likeable, are all thorough and believable and you find yourself endlessly curious about what each of them is plotting or planning against the others. Stephen Deas never gives too much away about any of them yet at the same time never makes them so closed that you don’t care for them either. I have a passionate dislike for a few characters and fondness for others – despite not really knowing, ultimately, who is good and who is bad.
I also love the fact that, for once, dragons are as dragons should be. They are not docile, friendly ‘pets’ or the slightly Disneyfied versions of dragons that we have been endlessly fed that don’t mind being used as glorified horses or have a random fondness for these small annoying human things that shout, wave pointy metal sticks and kill each other. No, in these books they think they are food. Which is a nice change. I like proper dragons.
What I Didn’t Like: Despite having read The Admantine Palace and King Of The Crags very close together I still ended up being a bit confused at times by who was married to who and who had feuds with which family and why. The family trees at the beginning of the book were useful to combat this but it was a bit frustrating to have to stop mid-action to flick back and find out just who Prince So-and-So was and why he was arguing with King Blah. This wasn’t a major flaw and it certainly didn’t stop my utter love for the books, indeed, it may well just have been down to my terrible memory for names.
October 30, 2020
I think I mentioned in my review of the first book how I snagged a review copy of this second book when it was released (many, many moons ago) and liked it enough to buy a copy of the first book.
Younger me either had different tastes, was less judgmental (highly likely) or benefited immensely from not having read the first book about these characters. They were a pretty bad lot (bad as in unpleasant people bad) but not in a 'oh, this character is so evil I have to read on and find out if he/she gets their just desserts!' sort of way. More in a 'ugh, this guy is an annoying douche/this girl is a psycho and I really don't want to read any more about them' sort of way, and two books was enough to push my initial ambivalence into outright dislike of them.
The plot involves Jahel continuing his climb to power, both helped and hindered by lover/rival Zafir. And there's a bunch of rebels led (mostly) by the daughters of the murdered queen to contend with, as well as a few wild dragons who have shaken off the drugs that reduced them to dumb beasts of burden and are pretty freaking cross about it, and their religious crazy leaders.
There was quite a bit of action, lots of intrigue, and yet... and yet it bored me and I crawled through it wanting it to end.
This is one of the books I have to file under 'I don't know why this didn't work for me, but it didn't'. if you're mad crazy into dragons or it sounds like your sort of thing then by all means dive into it. Hell, PM me; I'll gladly send you my copies for the cost of the postage.
Younger me either had different tastes, was less judgmental (highly likely) or benefited immensely from not having read the first book about these characters. They were a pretty bad lot (bad as in unpleasant people bad) but not in a 'oh, this character is so evil I have to read on and find out if he/she gets their just desserts!' sort of way. More in a 'ugh, this guy is an annoying douche/this girl is a psycho and I really don't want to read any more about them' sort of way, and two books was enough to push my initial ambivalence into outright dislike of them.
The plot involves Jahel continuing his climb to power, both helped and hindered by lover/rival Zafir. And there's a bunch of rebels led (mostly) by the daughters of the murdered queen to contend with, as well as a few wild dragons who have shaken off the drugs that reduced them to dumb beasts of burden and are pretty freaking cross about it, and their religious crazy leaders.
There was quite a bit of action, lots of intrigue, and yet... and yet it bored me and I crawled through it wanting it to end.
This is one of the books I have to file under 'I don't know why this didn't work for me, but it didn't'. if you're mad crazy into dragons or it sounds like your sort of thing then by all means dive into it. Hell, PM me; I'll gladly send you my copies for the cost of the postage.
March 14, 2012
This book does not qualify as a fluffy dragon novel. Perhaps it's reading it on the heels of Last Argument of Kings, but I've had it about up to here with grim violence and gritty fantasy. The dragons were still fine, the characters were still interesting, but Deas doesn't have much of a snap to his writing, and he's trying to give things more weight (Night of Knives, Scorpion King, Justice and Vengeance) with capital letters than they merit. I'm reminded of Douglas Adams: “Capital Letters Were Always The Best Way Of Dealing With Things You Didn't Have A Good Answer To.”
I'm still interested in the story, but not immediately compelled to read on. I'm tired of keeping track of all the betrayals and nastiness. This book might get the better, fuller review after I get over being mad at Joe Abercrombie. But for now, I'm going to go read some nice comforting non-fiction. Maybe with a friendly dog in it. It'd be nice to spend some time with friendly animals, who don't eat humans.
I will say this for it though: It has truly lovely cover art.
I'm still interested in the story, but not immediately compelled to read on. I'm tired of keeping track of all the betrayals and nastiness. This book might get the better, fuller review after I get over being mad at Joe Abercrombie. But for now, I'm going to go read some nice comforting non-fiction. Maybe with a friendly dog in it. It'd be nice to spend some time with friendly animals, who don't eat humans.
I will say this for it though: It has truly lovely cover art.
March 25, 2013
Like the First Law Trilogy, this series got me interested and then proceeded to crush my soul. King of the Crags actually seems to bump up the stakes and pretty much no one gets out of this book without some sort of tragedy. Besides that, somehow the author manages to make you sympathize with the characters (even when they're terrible people)...just so it can hurt when he ruins them. I did not see some of the twists coming, I don't think it was possible for them to be seen, sometimes. The characters certainly didn't.
February 27, 2012
I read the first book in this series, decided to give the second book a shot. I won't include any spoilers, but I only got past the first division of this book. I just couldn't continue, since I absolutely did not care about a single character in the book. Again, the writing is good, the universe interesting, all the ingredients are there, except I just could not connect with a single character, and thus the story fell flat. I won't be buying any more of this author's works.
December 12, 2017
The dragon realms are moving towards war. Speaker Shezira has been deposed and is held prisoner in the Adamantine Palace, whilst her daughters summon their armies and dragons to free her. A religious fanatic is intent on seizing control of the rebel dragon army known as the Red Riders and unleashing fire and blood on those who do not accept the word of the Flames. And, amidst the towering peaks of the Worldspine, a dragon has freed itself from bondage and plots to free all of dragonkind from humanity's yoke once and for all.
The King of the Crags is the follow-up to last year's Adamantine Palace. In my review of the first book, I cited the author's furious pace as being a major plus, but it might have come at the expense of the more detailed worldbuilding required to make an epic fantasy novel really shine (although there are plenty of other fantasy books where such worldbuilding takes over and bogs down the narrative, so it's a difficult balancing act). Also, with 70 chapters in 350 pages, the pace was a little too fast and furious at times.
The sequel is a stronger work. 50 chapters in 370 pages means events are given more weight, characters have more time to develop and the world is able to come through a lot more. The addition of a map helps the reader place the various locations and work out the significance of one realm's power and allegiances over another, whilst characters are more fully fleshed-out and developed. Deas even has time for some metatextual commentary on how dragons are treated in other fantasy novels (the line about the docile dragons being ponies with wings was quite amusing, and a common criticism of other fantasy novels), which works better when we get to see the wild dragons, who are considerably more alien in thought and deed, in action.
Some of the criticism of the booking being too fast and furious remains, such as the fact that Princess Jaslyn still has very little page-time for an apparently major character and elements like the Taiytakei still feel somewhat under-developed (although that's probably deliberate in their case). But other characters like Jehal and Kemir shine, the world feels more solid and interesting, the battles are well-described and the various plots twists are more ruthless and startling than anything else this side of Paul Kearney and George RR Martin, and the wait for the third book feels a lot more onerous this time around.
The King of the Crags (****) is a strong, well-written epic fantasy novel and marks some major improvements in the author's style. The novel is available now in the UK from Gollancz and will be published by Roc in the USA in February 2011. A third book in the series is due in a year, whilst Deas has a not-entirely-unrelated YA fantasy novel, The Thief-Taker's Apprentice, due in the autumn.
The King of the Crags is the follow-up to last year's Adamantine Palace. In my review of the first book, I cited the author's furious pace as being a major plus, but it might have come at the expense of the more detailed worldbuilding required to make an epic fantasy novel really shine (although there are plenty of other fantasy books where such worldbuilding takes over and bogs down the narrative, so it's a difficult balancing act). Also, with 70 chapters in 350 pages, the pace was a little too fast and furious at times.
The sequel is a stronger work. 50 chapters in 370 pages means events are given more weight, characters have more time to develop and the world is able to come through a lot more. The addition of a map helps the reader place the various locations and work out the significance of one realm's power and allegiances over another, whilst characters are more fully fleshed-out and developed. Deas even has time for some metatextual commentary on how dragons are treated in other fantasy novels (the line about the docile dragons being ponies with wings was quite amusing, and a common criticism of other fantasy novels), which works better when we get to see the wild dragons, who are considerably more alien in thought and deed, in action.
Some of the criticism of the booking being too fast and furious remains, such as the fact that Princess Jaslyn still has very little page-time for an apparently major character and elements like the Taiytakei still feel somewhat under-developed (although that's probably deliberate in their case). But other characters like Jehal and Kemir shine, the world feels more solid and interesting, the battles are well-described and the various plots twists are more ruthless and startling than anything else this side of Paul Kearney and George RR Martin, and the wait for the third book feels a lot more onerous this time around.
The King of the Crags (****) is a strong, well-written epic fantasy novel and marks some major improvements in the author's style. The novel is available now in the UK from Gollancz and will be published by Roc in the USA in February 2011. A third book in the series is due in a year, whilst Deas has a not-entirely-unrelated YA fantasy novel, The Thief-Taker's Apprentice, due in the autumn.
September 24, 2021
GENRE
Fantasy
MY RATING
Main characters 3/5
Secondary characters 3/5
Storyline 3/5
Structure of novel 3/5
Overall rating 3/5
ABOUT THE BOOK
Prince Jehal has murdered, poisoned and betrayed his way to the top. There is a new speaker for the realms, his opposition has been crushed, now he just has to enjoy the fruits of power. And yet . . . He feels more for the wife he married for power than perhaps he should and his lover knows it.
And out in the realms those loyal to the old regime are still plotting. And there are rumours that the Red Riders, heralds of revolution and doom are on the ride.
And still no-one has found the famous white dragon. The dragon that, if it lived, will have long since recovered from the effects of the alchemical liquid fed to the dragons of the realms to keep them docile, to block their memories of a time when they ruled and the world burned . . .
MY THOUGHTS
After many years of peace under the reign of the Speakers of old, there has been a spark ignited between the lands, which fans the flames of war. Old grudges rear their heads and loyalties are tested at every turn. This book is so heavily focused on the politics of the realm and whilst the humans are squabbling amongst themselves, they don’t fully acknowledge the impending danger of the rogue dragons. Now, there was a lot of talk ABOUT dragons throughout this book however I had hoped for the storyline to be told from the perspective of the awakened dragons a lot more.
I found the chapter structure in this book to be much more organised than those of the first book. Each chapter actually focuses on a place or person, instead of jumping to and fro, which makes it easier to keep up with the storylines.
The one thought that I had throughout this novel was “STOP KILLING OFF THE CHARACTERS I ACTUALLY LIKE!!”. We will see how many of my favourite characters survive the third and final book.
Fantasy
MY RATING
Main characters 3/5
Secondary characters 3/5
Storyline 3/5
Structure of novel 3/5
Overall rating 3/5
ABOUT THE BOOK
Prince Jehal has murdered, poisoned and betrayed his way to the top. There is a new speaker for the realms, his opposition has been crushed, now he just has to enjoy the fruits of power. And yet . . . He feels more for the wife he married for power than perhaps he should and his lover knows it.
And out in the realms those loyal to the old regime are still plotting. And there are rumours that the Red Riders, heralds of revolution and doom are on the ride.
And still no-one has found the famous white dragon. The dragon that, if it lived, will have long since recovered from the effects of the alchemical liquid fed to the dragons of the realms to keep them docile, to block their memories of a time when they ruled and the world burned . . .
MY THOUGHTS
After many years of peace under the reign of the Speakers of old, there has been a spark ignited between the lands, which fans the flames of war. Old grudges rear their heads and loyalties are tested at every turn. This book is so heavily focused on the politics of the realm and whilst the humans are squabbling amongst themselves, they don’t fully acknowledge the impending danger of the rogue dragons. Now, there was a lot of talk ABOUT dragons throughout this book however I had hoped for the storyline to be told from the perspective of the awakened dragons a lot more.
I found the chapter structure in this book to be much more organised than those of the first book. Each chapter actually focuses on a place or person, instead of jumping to and fro, which makes it easier to keep up with the storylines.
The one thought that I had throughout this novel was “STOP KILLING OFF THE CHARACTERS I ACTUALLY LIKE!!”. We will see how many of my favourite characters survive the third and final book.
January 8, 2026
I'll be honest...I struggled to finish this one.
The world, the characters and the concept were great, but I felt like I was thrown back and forth between ever-changing perspectives and I couldn't keep track of who was who, who's loyalties lied with who, and just the world map in general.
The moments where the focus lay on the dragons and their wakening consciouness from the potions that the humans use to keep them docile held so much promise, but ultimately, I felt as though it became side-tracked by the politics and treachery of all the Kings and Queens present in the story. Speaking of, none of the human characters remotely stood out to me and again, there were too many to keep track of and they all blended into copies of each other; just with slight differences in their intentions towards the realms and who they currently despise enough to betray.
Overall, there are moments I enjoyed but it's overshadowed by the fact I carried on reading just to finish. I'm glad to have taken a chance on the The Adamantine Palace and The King of the Crags, but my journey with its story ends here at the second one.
The world, the characters and the concept were great, but I felt like I was thrown back and forth between ever-changing perspectives and I couldn't keep track of who was who, who's loyalties lied with who, and just the world map in general.
The moments where the focus lay on the dragons and their wakening consciouness from the potions that the humans use to keep them docile held so much promise, but ultimately, I felt as though it became side-tracked by the politics and treachery of all the Kings and Queens present in the story. Speaking of, none of the human characters remotely stood out to me and again, there were too many to keep track of and they all blended into copies of each other; just with slight differences in their intentions towards the realms and who they currently despise enough to betray.
Overall, there are moments I enjoyed but it's overshadowed by the fact I carried on reading just to finish. I'm glad to have taken a chance on the The Adamantine Palace and The King of the Crags, but my journey with its story ends here at the second one.
January 24, 2025
Un second tome qui m’as tout simplement conquise, des personnages encore plus détestables que dans le premier tome ( petit conseil ne vous attachez à personne). Les complots prennent en ampleur avec des trahison encore plus délicieuse. Le rythme est plus soutenu même si les entremêlements d’histoire peuvent un peu perturbé votre lecture néanmoins je les trouvais plus facile à suivre que le premier. Pour ce qui est des dragons petite frustration de ce côté là car l’intrigue se concentre surtout sur les jeux de cours. Une autres frustration plus personnelle c’est le fait de ne pas voir assez de Shezira qui ne revient que peut longtemps mais de manière complètement iconique comme la reine qu’elle est. Je vais clairement lire le tome 3 prochainement en espérant qu’il y aura encore plus de complot et de trahison. Petite dédicace à jehal qui est un antagoniste d’exception.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2025
It took me a while to get into this second book. The prologue was so good though. I really enjoyed Kermit and Snow. They have such entertaining conversations amidst all the back stabbing and betrayal going on.
You never knew who might stay alive or die. Most of those that died I didn’t care about. But there were a few characters although lesser ones who didn’t deserve it. But this is becoming the dragons’ world and dragons must eat.
Can Jaslyn convince Silence to work with her and create a new world where they all live together? The dragons don’t seem to want this after centuries of servitude.
How will the war of wills and deceit between Jehal and Zafir play out? Only one can win or maybe none?
And how will Kemir fit into the broader picture? And how do the Taiytakei play a part in all of this?
A good ending.
You never knew who might stay alive or die. Most of those that died I didn’t care about. But there were a few characters although lesser ones who didn’t deserve it. But this is becoming the dragons’ world and dragons must eat.
Can Jaslyn convince Silence to work with her and create a new world where they all live together? The dragons don’t seem to want this after centuries of servitude.
How will the war of wills and deceit between Jehal and Zafir play out? Only one can win or maybe none?
And how will Kemir fit into the broader picture? And how do the Taiytakei play a part in all of this?
A good ending.
April 23, 2019
The backstabbing, betraying, deceiving inhabitants of the Realms are back, and as busy double crossing each other as ever. Zafir is Speaker, thanks to Prince Jehal, but doing a terrible job, making the cunning prince question whether he made the right choice helping her gain power. War is threatening to erupt at any moment, and it will take more than a little careful manoeuvring of chess pieces to prevent it. But first, Jehal needs to decide what side he is on.
Fantastic blood and battles fantasy with a heavy dose of politics. You're never too sure where it's going next.
Fantastic blood and battles fantasy with a heavy dose of politics. You're never too sure where it's going next.
May 13, 2017
Хората се борят за власт. Драконите – за свобода. Политически игри и подмолни интереси. Жажда за мъст и справедливост. Поредицата „Спомен за пламъци” на Стивън Диас и „Студио Арт Лайн” продължава със „Скалният крал”! Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...
April 29, 2024
It gets more intriguing
It seems to be more intriguing by the page. An easy read, with a less anticipated plot twist here and there….particularly at the end, an almost Macbeth-esk misunderstanding by Semian…
Looking forward to the next instalment. I really don’t know why I waited to start reading the series…
It seems to be more intriguing by the page. An easy read, with a less anticipated plot twist here and there….particularly at the end, an almost Macbeth-esk misunderstanding by Semian…
Looking forward to the next instalment. I really don’t know why I waited to start reading the series…
June 2, 2019
while this was an excellent read it was a little hard to root for most of the characters as the vast majority were sociopaths or full blown psychopaths. At this point in the series I am rooting for the dragons.
September 23, 2019
Who would not love a mix of dragons and politics. Fascinating book.
January 5, 2020
Not bad. Plenty of dragons. =)
November 10, 2020
Sequel to Adamantine Palace. Good, same treacherous bunch. Do love those dragons.
August 11, 2021
Did not finished. I was hoping the character development would be better. It never happened.
May 20, 2024
I love fantasy but found this one a little slow.
April 11, 2025
A great follow up to a fantastic first book. Raced through this faster than the first, highly recommend again!
July 1, 2025
Same minor flaws I had with this as the first book but this was just as solid overall.
March 12, 2012
The second book of a trilogy is always intriguing. Will there be a change of tempo or a new direction, or will it simply carry on from the first book? In this case, the answer is - both. The prologue overlaps directly with the last section of book one, and is perhaps the second best opening I've ever encountered after 'Tigana', although - obviously - for very different reasons. It's funny and tragic at once, it summarises some of the story so far while also capturing the essence of the characters involved. I won't spoil the surprise by saying any more, but it is brilliantly funny, in a macabre sort of way.
And then it's straight into new characters, new directions, a new religion even, and the fallout from book one, and - hmm, suddenly it's all a bit dull. Whenever the dragons are around, it's terrific, but I'm just not that into the humans. Trouble is, they're either very mad or very shallow, and all of them are slightly flat, and when it's just the same old deviousness as in book one, it feels a bit repetitious.
The fast pace of the first book is much more uneven here, so that there are moments of breathtaking action interspersed with long passages of quite dull description ('To the north, he could see... And to the east...'). Yawn. Especially when a lot of it seemed to contradict the map (and I don't think I had the map upside down). And quite a lot of the backstory came out by means of one character explaining it at length to another, or, worse, soliloquising (or, as often seemed to happen, talking to himself in a dream - lots of dreams in this series). It's not that it was uninteresting, in fact some of it was fascinating (the bits about dragons - the family history was just laundry lists of names), but it did slow the action down. And sometimes in the middle of a solemn bit, there was a laugh out loud moment, or some really black humour, which felt a bit jarring, somehow.
But there are glimmerings of depth to some of the characters - Jaslyn, for instance, and (can it be possible?) Jehal. And Meteroa intrigues me. But the Nightwatchman needs to get a grip on himself - he takes the moral high ground at every step, and claims he only follows orders, when he seems to be as devious as anyone else. I'm not quite sure what he's trying to do, actually, or why, or whether his hypocrisy is no more than a convenient plot device.
And speaking of which, there wouldn't be much of a story without a great deal of stupidity on Zafir's part. In the first book, her motives were very plain. Not commendable, but understandable. But this time round, it's not clear to me that she's driven by anything more than irrational jealousy, which, given the likely outcome of her little schemes, boils down to plain stupidity. It is always difficult for an author to dream up convincing motivation, especially when the character is hellbent on war and general mayhem and a lot of slaughtering of royalty, but I don't really get what Zafir is up to, frankly. Or maybe it's all that inbreeding, and she's just barking, who knows. Insanity is another big feature of the series.
But whether because of Zafir or the dragons or (maybe) just because the author felt like it, a lot of characters die in this book, some of them quite abruptly. This is a technique which has its attractions - there's a certain exhilaration, I suppose, to bumping off main characters or having them horribly maimed, and the likes of George R R Martin have used it with abandon. But there is a downside. For the reader, it can have a disconnecting effect - why get invested in a character when her or she is quite likely to be dragon food a few chapters further on? Once or twice has shock value, but the more this happens, the greater the desensitising effect. I would have thought that authors actually want readers to care about the characters, and this is not the way to do it.
But there again, there's actually no one here who has a half-way decent impulse in them. All the main characters are devious, scheming, selfish bastards and it's tempting to say that, actually, they deserve everything they get. Even the dragon feels obliged to point this out. So yes, maybe dragon food is all they deserve to be. The ending is a veritable orgy of double crossing, so it's very hard to work out who (if anyone) is winning. And by this time, I'm not at all sure I much care. Let's hope the final volume hits the high spots again. Three stars.
And then it's straight into new characters, new directions, a new religion even, and the fallout from book one, and - hmm, suddenly it's all a bit dull. Whenever the dragons are around, it's terrific, but I'm just not that into the humans. Trouble is, they're either very mad or very shallow, and all of them are slightly flat, and when it's just the same old deviousness as in book one, it feels a bit repetitious.
The fast pace of the first book is much more uneven here, so that there are moments of breathtaking action interspersed with long passages of quite dull description ('To the north, he could see... And to the east...'). Yawn. Especially when a lot of it seemed to contradict the map (and I don't think I had the map upside down). And quite a lot of the backstory came out by means of one character explaining it at length to another, or, worse, soliloquising (or, as often seemed to happen, talking to himself in a dream - lots of dreams in this series). It's not that it was uninteresting, in fact some of it was fascinating (the bits about dragons - the family history was just laundry lists of names), but it did slow the action down. And sometimes in the middle of a solemn bit, there was a laugh out loud moment, or some really black humour, which felt a bit jarring, somehow.
But there are glimmerings of depth to some of the characters - Jaslyn, for instance, and (can it be possible?) Jehal. And Meteroa intrigues me. But the Nightwatchman needs to get a grip on himself - he takes the moral high ground at every step, and claims he only follows orders, when he seems to be as devious as anyone else. I'm not quite sure what he's trying to do, actually, or why, or whether his hypocrisy is no more than a convenient plot device.
And speaking of which, there wouldn't be much of a story without a great deal of stupidity on Zafir's part. In the first book, her motives were very plain. Not commendable, but understandable. But this time round, it's not clear to me that she's driven by anything more than irrational jealousy, which, given the likely outcome of her little schemes, boils down to plain stupidity. It is always difficult for an author to dream up convincing motivation, especially when the character is hellbent on war and general mayhem and a lot of slaughtering of royalty, but I don't really get what Zafir is up to, frankly. Or maybe it's all that inbreeding, and she's just barking, who knows. Insanity is another big feature of the series.
But whether because of Zafir or the dragons or (maybe) just because the author felt like it, a lot of characters die in this book, some of them quite abruptly. This is a technique which has its attractions - there's a certain exhilaration, I suppose, to bumping off main characters or having them horribly maimed, and the likes of George R R Martin have used it with abandon. But there is a downside. For the reader, it can have a disconnecting effect - why get invested in a character when her or she is quite likely to be dragon food a few chapters further on? Once or twice has shock value, but the more this happens, the greater the desensitising effect. I would have thought that authors actually want readers to care about the characters, and this is not the way to do it.
But there again, there's actually no one here who has a half-way decent impulse in them. All the main characters are devious, scheming, selfish bastards and it's tempting to say that, actually, they deserve everything they get. Even the dragon feels obliged to point this out. So yes, maybe dragon food is all they deserve to be. The ending is a veritable orgy of double crossing, so it's very hard to work out who (if anyone) is winning. And by this time, I'm not at all sure I much care. Let's hope the final volume hits the high spots again. Three stars.
October 24, 2023
The King of the Crags is a big step in the right direction for this series. The main improvement being the characters. Where in the first book they were all shallow and completely evil and selfish, it seems that at least five of them are not completely terrible. They are given depth throughout the story and show a side of them that is actually a bit likeable. Of course I can’t help but think of their antics in the first book which undermines what this book does with them, but it is still an improvement. The dragons in this book, more precisely Snow and her companion Kemir are by far the best characters in the book. The entire dragon worldview is so alien and terrifying it leads to truly great interactions, including a scene that truly shocked me. The ‘good guys’ mostly being terrible people and the dragons being super interesting still has me rooting for the ‘villains’.
Just like the first book this book follows two main plotlines. The dragon snow has awakened and is looking for vengeance with her reluctant companion Kemir, while the rest of the realms chooses to ignore this threat and just want to kill each other off. And they do. A lot of people die in this book, substantially more than in the first one. Every death here feels pretty substantial, surprising and moves the plot forward in a good way. It reminds me a lot of how ASoIaF does things.
The book does have weird pacing. It is substantially quicker than the first book. No two chapters go by without at least some battle/action. This isn’t really a problem, but what is, is the structure of the book. It opens with more than 50 pages of just focusing of a complete reversal of character traits for a single character without a single mention of way more interesting and important characters. Also the two best characters, Snow and Kemir, don’t show up for half of the book.
The title of this book also bugs me. The King of the Crags himself is almost absent in this book and all he does is screw everything up and then leave.
Overall this book is good and a lot better than the first but it still has a lot of issues that keep it from being great.
Just like the first book this book follows two main plotlines. The dragon snow has awakened and is looking for vengeance with her reluctant companion Kemir, while the rest of the realms chooses to ignore this threat and just want to kill each other off. And they do. A lot of people die in this book, substantially more than in the first one. Every death here feels pretty substantial, surprising and moves the plot forward in a good way. It reminds me a lot of how ASoIaF does things.
The book does have weird pacing. It is substantially quicker than the first book. No two chapters go by without at least some battle/action. This isn’t really a problem, but what is, is the structure of the book. It opens with more than 50 pages of just focusing of a complete reversal of character traits for a single character without a single mention of way more interesting and important characters. Also the two best characters, Snow and Kemir, don’t show up for half of the book.
The title of this book also bugs me. The King of the Crags himself is almost absent in this book and all he does is screw everything up and then leave.
Overall this book is good and a lot better than the first but it still has a lot of issues that keep it from being great.
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