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A Requiem for Heroes #2
The Wrath of Heroes
The High King is dead. The Necrists and the Spider King wage war upon the kingdom while a mad general casts Rune's soldiers to their deaths like stones to the sea. Desperation weighs heavily upon those few heroes who remain.
Lannick and Brugan ride to rally an army of deserters. Zandrachus Bale seeks a banished Sentinel upon the dangerous steppes of Arranan. And Fencress Fallcrow watches in horror as Karnag succumbs to the demon possessing him.
What faith survives in the absence of hope?
Lannick and Brugan ride to rally an army of deserters. Zandrachus Bale seeks a banished Sentinel upon the dangerous steppes of Arranan. And Fencress Fallcrow watches in horror as Karnag succumbs to the demon possessing him.
What faith survives in the absence of hope?
- GenresFantasy
Paperback
Published December 19, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 20, 2018
A Requiem for Heroes is one of the best takes on "heroic" fantasy I have read and I think it will upend this genre.
Why do I think so? - It is a combination of a good storyline with excellent characters and riveting action in a world which is deceptively simple.
Now, since I read What Remains of Heroes & The Wrath of Heroes back to back, I will be combining the reviews for both these books.
The main characters are comprised of people who are 'broken' in one way or another and yet, strive to be better. These characters range from the wicked to the virtuous (but mostly some kind of realistic moral compass - what we like to call 'shades of gray' ) and their betterment is not simply fighting against all odds and winning by the strength of their hand. Rather, each of them has a different set of weaknesses - moral, spiritual, physical. They find a point in their lives where they are forced to introspect and start their difficult journey for redemption of some sorts - be it the nominal hero or the villain. And this is why I think this series is such a unique take on what heroic fantasy.
David Benem's construction of these characters is so good that I actually started feeling antipathy towards the main character Lannick in the beginning. Later on, it changed a bit since we understand where Lannick is coming from. Other characters who stand out are Bale & Fenchress. But, do not take this to mean that the side characters are any less fleshed out. Even they have their own battles to fight. This is the clear USP of this series as far as I am concerned.
The world building seemed okay when I read the first book but by I time I finished the second one, I realised that what I had initially assumed 'to be' was not so. It was deceptively simple in the first and the complexity behind it comes out as you get further into the series.
The storyline is the same. When I started the first book, I thought it would be a run of the mill fantasy setting with some religion thrown in ala The Wheel of Time. But by the time I finished the second one, I was blown away by how things had changed. I do not want to bring in spoilers but let me just say that you will be rewarded if you have the patience to read the second book too.
As far as pacing is concerned, I found The Wrath of Heroes to be much better than What Remains of Heroes. WROH lost me in between, and it was touch and go whether I would continue. But the good thing is that somewhere towards the middle I started getting interested. I suppose I put down WROH maybe 3-4 times in between because it could not hold my attention during this time. But I did not put down TWOH even once due to boredom.
I am eagerly awaiting the third book in the series, whenever it may be.
Why do I think so? - It is a combination of a good storyline with excellent characters and riveting action in a world which is deceptively simple.
Now, since I read What Remains of Heroes & The Wrath of Heroes back to back, I will be combining the reviews for both these books.
The main characters are comprised of people who are 'broken' in one way or another and yet, strive to be better. These characters range from the wicked to the virtuous (but mostly some kind of realistic moral compass - what we like to call 'shades of gray' ) and their betterment is not simply fighting against all odds and winning by the strength of their hand. Rather, each of them has a different set of weaknesses - moral, spiritual, physical. They find a point in their lives where they are forced to introspect and start their difficult journey for redemption of some sorts - be it the nominal hero or the villain. And this is why I think this series is such a unique take on what heroic fantasy.
David Benem's construction of these characters is so good that I actually started feeling antipathy towards the main character Lannick in the beginning. Later on, it changed a bit since we understand where Lannick is coming from. Other characters who stand out are Bale & Fenchress. But, do not take this to mean that the side characters are any less fleshed out. Even they have their own battles to fight. This is the clear USP of this series as far as I am concerned.
The world building seemed okay when I read the first book but by I time I finished the second one, I realised that what I had initially assumed 'to be' was not so. It was deceptively simple in the first and the complexity behind it comes out as you get further into the series.
The storyline is the same. When I started the first book, I thought it would be a run of the mill fantasy setting with some religion thrown in ala The Wheel of Time. But by the time I finished the second one, I was blown away by how things had changed. I do not want to bring in spoilers but let me just say that you will be rewarded if you have the patience to read the second book too.
As far as pacing is concerned, I found The Wrath of Heroes to be much better than What Remains of Heroes. WROH lost me in between, and it was touch and go whether I would continue. But the good thing is that somewhere towards the middle I started getting interested. I suppose I put down WROH maybe 3-4 times in between because it could not hold my attention during this time. But I did not put down TWOH even once due to boredom.
I am eagerly awaiting the third book in the series, whenever it may be.
December 4, 2017
Gritty, exciting and utterly brutal - The Wrath of Heroes is the fantastic follow-up to What Remains of Heroes (a great debut novel), and is the second book in what has so far proven to be a enjoyable and satisfying dark fantasy trilogy.
January 3, 2018
Book two in this series is even better than the first. Taught storytelling, superb world building, and best of all...one heck of a yarn. Character development continued seamlessly and really complemented the unique characters and their motivations from the first book. And Benem continues with the dark epic tone that made the first book so enjoyable. This book has surprises that will delight anyone who enjoys great plot twists and unexpected turns of events. All this combined with some of the most mature and easy-flowing writing I've read in ages made for, once again, a delightfully enjoyable book that left me eagerly anticipating the next one...
If you liked the first book, you'll love The Wrath of Heroes.
If you liked the first book, you'll love The Wrath of Heroes.
October 3, 2018
After reading What Remains of Heroes I had high hopes for the sequel and Mr. Benem did not let me down. This was an excellent addition to A Requiem of Heroes.
We pick up right where book one left off and it is packed full of action and excitement the whole way through.
Characters:
We have Lannick who is in the process of being more of a hero and less of a drunk. He was my least favorite POV in book one but I enjoyed his story more in this book. There is a lot change to him as a character and I liked it. But it seems like no matter how hard he tries to get his life together, the worst always happens.
Bale an acolyte on an adventure to round up some sentinels. I really like Bale as a character and as a person. His part of the story is definitely important and interesting but it kind of took a backseat to all the action of the other story lines.
Gamghast is definitely interesting but I still don't feel like we heard as much about him as the others. I am still expecting him and the queen to play a larger role later in the series. But I felt like that at the end of book one and was wrong.
Karnag and Fencress were my favorites in the first book and they still are. Their story is fantastic and bloody and just all around great. By the end of this book their stories trajectory has changed the most by far. I am very excited to see where their paths take them in the next book.
We learn more about the powers some of the sentinels have bestowed upon their followers. We also learn some ore about what the necrists are capable of. I am really liking the necrists. The whole concept of how they work is awesome. I am hoping to learn more about them in the future.
The story is very well written and kept my interest throughout. The action scenes written in a way that made then very easy to visualize. This is always a huge plus for me.
There were some plot twists along the way and I have some theories about what I want to happen vs what will actually happen but at this point only Mr. Benem knows. So I will just have to wait and see whenever the next book is released.
I recommend this to any fan of fantasy genre. For me this fits in the standard fantasy genre as opposed to any of the sub genres. So if you like fantasy you should definitely give this series a try.
We pick up right where book one left off and it is packed full of action and excitement the whole way through.
Characters:
We have Lannick who is in the process of being more of a hero and less of a drunk. He was my least favorite POV in book one but I enjoyed his story more in this book. There is a lot change to him as a character and I liked it. But it seems like no matter how hard he tries to get his life together, the worst always happens.
Bale an acolyte on an adventure to round up some sentinels. I really like Bale as a character and as a person. His part of the story is definitely important and interesting but it kind of took a backseat to all the action of the other story lines.
Gamghast is definitely interesting but I still don't feel like we heard as much about him as the others. I am still expecting him and the queen to play a larger role later in the series. But I felt like that at the end of book one and was wrong.
Karnag and Fencress were my favorites in the first book and they still are. Their story is fantastic and bloody and just all around great. By the end of this book their stories trajectory has changed the most by far. I am very excited to see where their paths take them in the next book.
We learn more about the powers some of the sentinels have bestowed upon their followers. We also learn some ore about what the necrists are capable of. I am really liking the necrists. The whole concept of how they work is awesome. I am hoping to learn more about them in the future.
The story is very well written and kept my interest throughout. The action scenes written in a way that made then very easy to visualize. This is always a huge plus for me.
There were some plot twists along the way and I have some theories about what I want to happen vs what will actually happen but at this point only Mr. Benem knows. So I will just have to wait and see whenever the next book is released.
I recommend this to any fan of fantasy genre. For me this fits in the standard fantasy genre as opposed to any of the sub genres. So if you like fantasy you should definitely give this series a try.
August 27, 2019
This middle chapter had some suitably big moments near the end and lots of good trekking like book 1, and was a match in pace and style to The Remains of Heroes. My biggest challenge with it is the characters spend a lot of time thinking about what they're going to do, and the monologues get rather repetitive. There are some better ways to show and not tell, I think. Lannick and Bale are particularly prone to this.
Speaking of those two, Lannick's story was more enjoyable this time around, and Bale's upped the ante nicely - with a particularly dangerous chapter really getting its claws into me. Karnag and his disciples are still the best part of the story, particularly at the climax. At this point, Gamghast seemed one old man POV too many for me, but not such a big deal. Necrists were notably less cool as they became a bit a dime a dozen compared to their reveal in The Remains of Heroes, but the god lore got much more interesting throughout to counter this.
I'll be sure to grab #3!
Speaking of those two, Lannick's story was more enjoyable this time around, and Bale's upped the ante nicely - with a particularly dangerous chapter really getting its claws into me. Karnag and his disciples are still the best part of the story, particularly at the climax. At this point, Gamghast seemed one old man POV too many for me, but not such a big deal. Necrists were notably less cool as they became a bit a dime a dozen compared to their reveal in The Remains of Heroes, but the god lore got much more interesting throughout to counter this.
I'll be sure to grab #3!
April 17, 2018
I enjoyed the first book and the second installment of the series did not disappoint, even better than the first one! I was in a bit a reading rut before diving again into this series and it helped to jolt me out of my slump. I love the characters in this series, even though the author seems to really HATE Lannick ;)
Great action and pacing with a few cool twists at the end that makes me even more eager to read the next book whenever it comes out.
You can't go wrong with David Benem's series!
Great action and pacing with a few cool twists at the end that makes me even more eager to read the next book whenever it comes out.
You can't go wrong with David Benem's series!
January 8, 2018
Great Series Full of Blood, Guts, Pitfalls and Twists
Glad I waited for Book 2. Karnag's metamorphosis was especially good. Loved author's character development of Lannick. I recommend this book for mature teens and adults largely due to the amount of graphic violence. I look forward to book 3.
Glad I waited for Book 2. Karnag's metamorphosis was especially good. Loved author's character development of Lannick. I recommend this book for mature teens and adults largely due to the amount of graphic violence. I look forward to book 3.
February 18, 2018
Good, but not great
A nice continuation of the story, but falls a bit flat, somehow. Seems to be building up to a nice conclusion, so I will read the next one. One of the few times that more pages would be better, more worldbuilding and a bit more history would have helped draw me deeper into the world.
A nice continuation of the story, but falls a bit flat, somehow. Seems to be building up to a nice conclusion, so I will read the next one. One of the few times that more pages would be better, more worldbuilding and a bit more history would have helped draw me deeper into the world.
February 18, 2018
SPECTACULAR! Book two delivered. I was a big fan of WROH and have been eagerly waiting for this sequel. All I can say is that it was worth the wait. Book one did a great job setting up the diverse cast of characters and an intricate plot and book two was a great pay-off for all the setting up. Benem really is a great storyteller and I truly think these books will find their place in the Pantheon of Fantasy among all your greats! Thanks for the breathtaking story Mr Benem.
January 18, 2020
I loved the first one a lot more. This sequel didn't quite have the surprises, world building or snappy dialogue that it's predecessor did. Will still look to read the next in the series, but was slightly disappointed.
December 30, 2017
Honestly, can't wait for the third. Although I felt the ending was a little choppy and rushed, it is a solid and unique read compared to much of what is available today.
March 3, 2018
I had been looking forward to savouring this sequel, and it didn't disappoint. It had everything I enjoy about epic fantasy: a magic system that grew in complexity in the second novel, a medley of characters, a rich, dark setting. It was great to see favourite character Zandrachus Bale again, but Gamghast, Fencress, and especially, Karnag Mak Ragg really stole the show for me. The dialogue and the imagery were powerful and I enjoyed the language, often darkly poetic, particularly those Karnag scenes... "I will deliver a maelstrom of blood and broken bones..." so great! The end had a couple of unexpected surprises and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how things unfold, particularly for Fencress, in Book Three. A must read for fans of the genre.
September 29, 2018
The first book was great and entertaining. This second book picks right back up with great character building and suspenseful writing. The characters of Karnag and Lannick and their building storyline had me hard pressed to put this book down. This is a must read for anyone who loves sci-fi/fantasy books. A great accomplishment for this author.
April 25, 2019
Fun read.
The character development is excellent, and the plot takes pleasant surprises throughout. I was afraid the story finished with this book, which would have been a premature conclusion. So, while I’m not thrilled to have to wait for the release of book 3, I’ll gladly do so.
The character development is excellent, and the plot takes pleasant surprises throughout. I was afraid the story finished with this book, which would have been a premature conclusion. So, while I’m not thrilled to have to wait for the release of book 3, I’ll gladly do so.
October 27, 2019
David Benem kept the momentum going with this book. He employed some interesting writing strategies as well, keeping the reader on their toes with a "will he/won't he" hook in multiple places. The action builds up to an awesome crescendo when all the story lines begin to tie together. I am slavering for book 3, write faster!
August 26, 2018
Looking forward to the third in trilogy
Dark and sinister plots and schemes. Rich characters and scenes. Original enough that it keeps you guessing and looking forward to more.
Dark and sinister plots and schemes. Rich characters and scenes. Original enough that it keeps you guessing and looking forward to more.
February 27, 2019
A great read
A dark New world. Great characters and an interesting mythology kept me reading long after I should have gone to bed.
A dark New world. Great characters and an interesting mythology kept me reading long after I should have gone to bed.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews