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Overthrown #2
Before the Crow
An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.
The five provinces of Denoril are in peril. A dark force rots the realm from within, gathering strength and preparing for an assault that will topple it into chaos.
Only a handful of people stand between Denoril's annihilation and salvation. Roman and his friend Dennah are accused of vicious crimes they did not commit. One man can prove their innocence, but their desperate quest to find Frenin leaves them crushed between men seeking justice and an unforgiving blizzard. With nowhere else to run, their only salvation may lie with the law's darkest agent, the Crow.
Julian, the former initiate of the Silver Guard, then enslaved, was left for dead by his captors. He watched his best friend murdered to resurrect Denoril's overthrown King, Djaron Algast. Placing his life and trust in a mysterious and dark Nymradic, Julian must find a way to win his freedom and return to his beloved Tanea, before Craymore falls. But will he be forced to sacrifice too much?
Julian must embrace the darkness to realize his new purpose, while far to the south, in the snow, Roman must grasp his power to escape the darkness within.
The five provinces of Denoril are in peril. A dark force rots the realm from within, gathering strength and preparing for an assault that will topple it into chaos.
Only a handful of people stand between Denoril's annihilation and salvation. Roman and his friend Dennah are accused of vicious crimes they did not commit. One man can prove their innocence, but their desperate quest to find Frenin leaves them crushed between men seeking justice and an unforgiving blizzard. With nowhere else to run, their only salvation may lie with the law's darkest agent, the Crow.
Julian, the former initiate of the Silver Guard, then enslaved, was left for dead by his captors. He watched his best friend murdered to resurrect Denoril's overthrown King, Djaron Algast. Placing his life and trust in a mysterious and dark Nymradic, Julian must find a way to win his freedom and return to his beloved Tanea, before Craymore falls. But will he be forced to sacrifice too much?
Julian must embrace the darkness to realize his new purpose, while far to the south, in the snow, Roman must grasp his power to escape the darkness within.
- GenresFantasy
448 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2018
17 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Bunce
5 books82 followersAuthor Aaron Bunce started his academic career in criminal justice, but eventually connected his life-long love of literature with his passion for writing. After finishing his debut novel, Within, he attended and graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor's degree in English and creative writing, with a focus on fiction. He prefers darker, grittier stories, detailing the struggle of relatable characters set against fantastical backdrops. For more information on his Overthrown series, social media, and future titles, visit him online at: http://www.aaronbunce.com
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 21, 2025
“With high hopes for more positive points, especially for Henri to be reunited with his 3 children, I launched into the second book with gusto. I soon got mired in a long drawn out torture of our main characters.” -Goodreads Reviewer
This truly is such a beautiful, honest and heartfelt response to this book.
This series.
It is absolutely unkind to our heroes. This is an agonizing absolutely brutal land. Full of misery, pain and suffering.
Also gritty endurance and fighting spirit.
I mentioned in my previous review (The Winter of Swords) this hinted at classic fantasy. Let me tell you…if any halflings, kender or gnomes once inhabited these lands they all would have been savagely killed by now.
So it is bleak.
It is also fabulous. I can’t tell you how many times I gritted my teeth with descriptions of their misfortunes. It is a descriptive masterclass of action and perseverance.
I’ve felt such wonderful mysterious and downright scary horror. The unknown. It’s close to GRRM or JV Jones level. Creepy, unsettling and terrifying.
Before The Crow does peel back the curtain a little. We finally see what is going on with the rising evil in the realm.
It is a series of harsh climates, hard people and aggressive violent creatures. It is one of vengeful spirits and possession.
It is also one of blood.
It’s not all ghastly either. We do get small moments of light poking through the darkness.
Hang tight! 😂
I am so taken by this epic. It may just be the best I’ve read by an indie author. Top five for sure.
This truly is such a beautiful, honest and heartfelt response to this book.
This series.
It is absolutely unkind to our heroes. This is an agonizing absolutely brutal land. Full of misery, pain and suffering.
Also gritty endurance and fighting spirit.
I mentioned in my previous review (The Winter of Swords) this hinted at classic fantasy. Let me tell you…if any halflings, kender or gnomes once inhabited these lands they all would have been savagely killed by now.
So it is bleak.
It is also fabulous. I can’t tell you how many times I gritted my teeth with descriptions of their misfortunes. It is a descriptive masterclass of action and perseverance.
I’ve felt such wonderful mysterious and downright scary horror. The unknown. It’s close to GRRM or JV Jones level. Creepy, unsettling and terrifying.
Before The Crow does peel back the curtain a little. We finally see what is going on with the rising evil in the realm.
It is a series of harsh climates, hard people and aggressive violent creatures. It is one of vengeful spirits and possession.
It is also one of blood.
It’s not all ghastly either. We do get small moments of light poking through the darkness.
Hang tight! 😂
I am so taken by this epic. It may just be the best I’ve read by an indie author. Top five for sure.
May 25, 2019
While Crow carries forward the same characters and continues their story, that’s pretty much where the similarities end. The second volume in the series leans fully into its epic fantasy roots and tones back the horror elements. At the same time, it takes all those loose threads from the first book and begins to weave them together into a beautiful tapestry.
If possible, Denoril feels even more realized than before. While other authors use ephemera to add flavor to their worlds, Bunce dives deep into the history and mythology of the land and makes it relevant in ways vital to the story and to the magic.
I do have a confession to make: I read Before the Crow without rereading The Winter of Swords. This was because The Winter of Swords was just so emotionally difficult for me to read. I hate it when bad things happen to good people.
After finishing Crow, I sort of regret not refreshing my memory. That said, Bunce did a great job of conveying reminders and summaries in the text of Crow without derailing the story. Some books require you have an intimate understanding of the previous book(s) in the series, but Before the Crow doesn’t set that bar high. I wouldn’t skip reading the first book in the series, though. My feeling is that a lot of the hope and tone of Before the Crow works because of the tone set in The Winter of Swords.
I originally recommended The Winter of Swords for fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice, and I still make that recommendation; however, the tone of Before the Crow is much more hopeful than its predecessor, so if you felt like you couldn't put yourself through that emotional rollercoaster again (or bailed on G. R. R. Martin because of it) then Before the Crow could be the sweet spot you're looking for.
If possible, Denoril feels even more realized than before. While other authors use ephemera to add flavor to their worlds, Bunce dives deep into the history and mythology of the land and makes it relevant in ways vital to the story and to the magic.
I do have a confession to make: I read Before the Crow without rereading The Winter of Swords. This was because The Winter of Swords was just so emotionally difficult for me to read. I hate it when bad things happen to good people.
After finishing Crow, I sort of regret not refreshing my memory. That said, Bunce did a great job of conveying reminders and summaries in the text of Crow without derailing the story. Some books require you have an intimate understanding of the previous book(s) in the series, but Before the Crow doesn’t set that bar high. I wouldn’t skip reading the first book in the series, though. My feeling is that a lot of the hope and tone of Before the Crow works because of the tone set in The Winter of Swords.
I originally recommended The Winter of Swords for fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice, and I still make that recommendation; however, the tone of Before the Crow is much more hopeful than its predecessor, so if you felt like you couldn't put yourself through that emotional rollercoaster again (or bailed on G. R. R. Martin because of it) then Before the Crow could be the sweet spot you're looking for.
July 10, 2018
Excellent tale
A twisting of reality percieved. Things are not what they seem. Young heroines trying to even determine what is going on, this is only the beginning. Action at every turn, loved this book.
A twisting of reality percieved. Things are not what they seem. Young heroines trying to even determine what is going on, this is only the beginning. Action at every turn, loved this book.
December 1, 2019
A Dark and Dangerous World.....
...to get lost in! Aaron Bunce has done a great job of constructing a different world with some amazing characters that are so mesmerizing, I don’t want to leave to go back to my own world! Friends, battles, monsters and magic blending together so well and the story is one you hope doesn’t end soon!
...to get lost in! Aaron Bunce has done a great job of constructing a different world with some amazing characters that are so mesmerizing, I don’t want to leave to go back to my own world! Friends, battles, monsters and magic blending together so well and the story is one you hope doesn’t end soon!
May 7, 2017
This is the second of Aaron Bunce's Overthrown series. It immediately follows the events from Within. Actually that caused me some difficulty. It had been some time since I've read Within and I didn't remember the characters. This is not a book where you can come into it from the beginning, I feel that you should read Within first and move directly into this; it will make it a lot more enjoyable unless you have a good memory.
There is an obvious progression in the author's writing skills from the previous book. The descriptions are pretty solid and the action scenes were well-written. Instead of having a long series of chapters with the same POV, this goes through the different points of views rapidly. There are cases when the breaks are at chapters and sections, I couldn't really figure out the rhyme or reason to how they were broken.
The characters were interesting and fairly well-developed. They had distinct personalities and plots, though many of them had a bit of "same voice" in that I couldn't really distinguish them from each other from just dialog. I like how they progress and improve over time, though like the previous book, Roman has the most development and it shows.
I like the individual plots but the story loses some velocity with the number of distinct POVs that are shown.
I had trouble getting emotionally involved with the plot. There are many threads in this story. For the most part, they don't interact with each other until near the end of the book. There were quite a few times when I felt like the plots were just chugging forward with no obvious clear goal at the end.
Speaking of the ending, there really isn't one. Some things happen, powers are gained, people evolve, but this book didn't come to a satisfying ending. There was no point where I felt it was a good ending. Instead, it felt like it was a setup for what is going to be the third book.
The world-building is top notch. There are some nice ideas and I like the concepts with the various powers and progressions. There isn't a lot of overlap in individual abilities but it still reveals a richer world.
Overall, the book was well edited. I found some echo words and difficult sentences in the first fifty pages but didn't see anything that jarred me from reading from that point. It is always nice to see books from smaller presses that are fairly solid.
I read the hardback version of this book. The typesetting was fairly relaxes but the title font really jarred with the body text. It felt like fingernails whenever I noticed the header on the page but overall it was a relatively minor thing. The font was a trifle small but not too cramped.
There is an obvious progression in the author's writing skills from the previous book. The descriptions are pretty solid and the action scenes were well-written. Instead of having a long series of chapters with the same POV, this goes through the different points of views rapidly. There are cases when the breaks are at chapters and sections, I couldn't really figure out the rhyme or reason to how they were broken.
The characters were interesting and fairly well-developed. They had distinct personalities and plots, though many of them had a bit of "same voice" in that I couldn't really distinguish them from each other from just dialog. I like how they progress and improve over time, though like the previous book, Roman has the most development and it shows.
I like the individual plots but the story loses some velocity with the number of distinct POVs that are shown.
I had trouble getting emotionally involved with the plot. There are many threads in this story. For the most part, they don't interact with each other until near the end of the book. There were quite a few times when I felt like the plots were just chugging forward with no obvious clear goal at the end.
Speaking of the ending, there really isn't one. Some things happen, powers are gained, people evolve, but this book didn't come to a satisfying ending. There was no point where I felt it was a good ending. Instead, it felt like it was a setup for what is going to be the third book.
The world-building is top notch. There are some nice ideas and I like the concepts with the various powers and progressions. There isn't a lot of overlap in individual abilities but it still reveals a richer world.
Overall, the book was well edited. I found some echo words and difficult sentences in the first fifty pages but didn't see anything that jarred me from reading from that point. It is always nice to see books from smaller presses that are fairly solid.
I read the hardback version of this book. The typesetting was fairly relaxes but the title font really jarred with the body text. It felt like fingernails whenever I noticed the header on the page but overall it was a relatively minor thing. The font was a trifle small but not too cramped.
May 12, 2017
I loved how detailed this book was. I picked it up and could not put it down. It's going on my re-read shelf along with the first one.
December 18, 2016
With high hopes for more positive points especially for Henri to be reunited with his 3 children, I launched into the 2nd book with gusto. I soon got mired in a long drawn out torture of our main characters and also sufferings of new character. I soon realised that the light is further at the end of an elongated tunnel. Only towards the last 20% of the book was there an upswing to our heroes. The best part was when Roman was united with man's friend. Such positives were few and could hardly sustain my interest for a third book. I do wanted the author to write about Henri finding his children. It didn't happen. The many plots and characters remained diffused and not much cohesiveness since book one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews