A Time of Blood

Of Blood and Bone #2

by John Gwynne

'Reminds me of why I became a fantasy enthusiast in the first place. Fantasy can be an escape from reality, but some stories carry the reader to an enhanced reality, a place where the world seems to have brighter colours and sharper contrasts'
Robin Hobb on A Time of Dread (book one)


Defy the darkness. Defend the light . . . At the battle of Starstone Lake, Drem and his friends witnessed horrors they’ll never forget. They saw magic warping men into beasts and a demon rise from the dead, creating something new and terrifying. So they flee to warn the Order of the Bright Star. But the demons’ high priestess, Fritha, is determined to hunt them down. Concealed in Forn Forest, Riv struggles to understand her half-breed lineage. It represents the warrior angels’ most dangerous secret, so when their high captain tracks her down, he aims to kill. Meanwhile, demonic forces are gathering a mighty war-host, to crush their enemies and rule the world of man. And the angels are already fractured and facing betrayal. Like heroes of old, Riv, Drem and the Bright Star’s warriors must battle to save their land. But can the light triumph when the dark is rising? A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Book Two) is the spectacular follow-up to A Time of Dread by John Gwynne. 'A great read that accelerates the pace and goes one up on its excellent predecessor . . . Exciting, action-packed fantasy'
Mark Lawrence

'This is extraordinarily good, an epic feat of the imagination. In this series Gwynne is setting a new benchmark in fantasy. I’d love to see it on screen'
Giles Kristian

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Adult, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

474 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2019

About the author

I am the author of epic fantasy series The Faithful and the Fallen, Of Blood and Bone and The Bloodsworn Saga. I'm also a Viking re-enactor and enjoy nothing more than standing in the shield wall with my three sons, who are as passionate about swords and axes as I am (when I'm not stuck in my coat of mail; it's harder than it looks).
I live on the south coast of the UK with my beautiful wife, three sons and my daughter, and an assortment of animals (at the moment three dogs, a horse and a lamb who thinks she's a dog).
My dogs think I am their slave.

Malice, my debut novel, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2012 and went on to win the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Debut of 2012. That was a truly wonderful moment, as David Gemmell is a hero of mine and one of the reasons I write.

The following three books in the series - Valour, Ruin and Wrath, were all shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novels of 2014, 2015 and 2016, with Wrath winning the 2017 BookNest Awards for Best Traditionally Published Novel.

My second series, of Blood and Bone, is set in the Banished Lands, the same world as the first series. Book 1, A Time of Dread, begins 130 years after the events of the first series. A Time of Courage, book 3 Of Blood and Bone, made the Spiegel Bestseller's List in Germany.

My latest book, The Shadow of the Gods, book 1 of the Bloodsworn Saga, will be published in May 2021. It is inspired by Norse mythology, Beowulf and Ragnarök.

I am represented by Julie Crisp.

Reviews

[Mark Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a short distance this book looks like one long fight scene, which isn't a bad thing as Gwynne writes very good fight scenes, all the way from duels through skirmishes to pitched battles.

There are, however, a good number of pauses in which more character is built, and in which the plot is thickened and stirred.

A significant part of the book is also the literary equivalent of setting out your soldiers, something I used to do a lot as a little boy, arranging my armies of Airfix troops against each other before beginning the slaughter.

In terms of the book this setting up is very worthwhile as it adds considerable emotion to the battles where warriors are scythed down in large numbers.

We see the developing conflict from four points of view, three on the good side and one on the "baddies'" side. It's true that the dividing lines are not entirely black and white, and that the Ben Elim have some skeletons in their closet (or in a glade in a forest as it happens) but it is still essentially impossible to buy into the mind set of the baddie who doesn't think she is a baddie. We're not talking Starks vs Lannisters here, it's more Starks vs Ramsey Bolton.

The main feeling of the book to me is fun, not in the Kings of the Wyld comedic way, but in the way that I enjoyed the fantasy books of my youth. It's straight forward fantasy expertly executed. I would say that Gwynne is definitely the closest we have to an inheritor of David Gemmell's mantle, and I am a big fan of Gemmell's books.

When five hundred giants on massive bears charge a demonic army with the Order of the Bright Star screaming, "Truth and Courage!" it's hard to be cynical, so I wasn't, instead I flipped through the pages even faster and cheered them on.

The title is no lie. It's a time of blood. Lots of it. And our heroes take a pounding as they fight the good fight.

If you loved book 1, like I did, then book 2 will not disappoint!




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[Petrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher—Pan Macmillan— in exchange for an honest review.

A Time of Blood earned my absolutely undying praise for its impeccable, top-notch quality.

Currently, there are only three fantasy authors in the world who can compel me to drop every book in my reading plan and start their newest published work instead; John Gwynne is one of them. There will never be a shortage of praises I can give towards Gwynne’s books. I’m serious, I have insanely high expectations towards his books and yet somehow each of his newest works never fail to not only meet but also exceed my expectations. If you believe in my recommendations and somehow you still haven’t read any of Gwynne’s books, you need to redeem yourself immediately. A Time of Blood was such an incredible and riveting reading experience that I finished it in less than 24 hours; it made me totally ignore reality.

“There is much in life that is beyond our control, events that sweep us up and along, actions that wrap us tight in their consequences. Stop raging about the things you cannot change. Just be true to yourself and do what you can do. Love those worth loving, and to the Otherworld with the rest of it. That is all any of us can do.”

A Time of Blood is the second book in John Gwynne’s Of Blood and Bone trilogy and the story picks only a few days after A Time of Dread ends. Remember the wonderful pacing of Valor? That is exactly what you’re getting here: chapters ending in a cliffhanger, cinematic scenes being built up, and terrific action scenes written with sniper precision. Even when there was a respite from all the chaos, the story never stopped being interesting because these portions were used effectively to build the character development and relationships. The first book was mostly setup, and Gwynne phenomenally built upon the foundation he established to execute a fast-paced and brutal sequel full of dramatic revelations, engaging dialogues, and bloody warfare. Fans of The Faithful and the Fallen or A Time of Dread have nothing to worry about here; this installment doesn’t suffer the infamous middle book syndrome. Gwynne smartly used this book as a platform to prepare the story for the concluding third and final book while making sure this book doesn’t feel at all like filler.

“Each small step taken for a greater good, and then before you know it, you have walked a thousand leagues from where you used to be. And how do you return to that place, return to the person you were? Or if you cannot do that, how do you become the person that you wish to be?"

Just like my reviews for The Faithful and the Fallen, I’ll refrain from mentioning character names from the second book and so on in order to make my review as spoiler-free as possible. If you’re familiar with Gwynne’s work, you should know by now that he’s brutal with his characters and he’s not afraid to torture or kill them off. This is also why I utterly LOVE Gwynne’s books. Because of the horrible things he’s not afraid to put his characters through, a melody of dread seems to accompany these characters; I felt a healthy dose of fear for their fates as I turned every page. Their hatred, sorrow, and moral complexity were superbly written and they helped in developing the characters even more. However, it is once again their friendship, loyalty, and love for each other that made me truly care. The rise and fall of heroes and villains in the Banished Lands have always been something that feels personal to me, because Gwynne’s characters always feel so real, and A Time of Blood continued that tradition with finesse. The shifting of emotions that the characters felt were exceptionally portrayed and the characters’ motivations for their actions felt realistic. Because the characters were extremely well-written, the atmosphere of danger in the battle scenes became even more palpable.

“A person is made by their heart and their wits.’ He touched his one hand to his chest and then to his temple. ‘And by the deeds that they do. Their choices. Not whether they have pale skin or dark skin, wings or no wings. One hand or two.”

The scintillating quality of the action scenes in Gwynne’s books has always been a crucial factor that totally enhanced my reading experience and A Time of Blood displayed a lot of breathtaking battle scenes. Tension-packed chase, fatal archery, stunning airborne battle, deadly ancient magic, marvelous swordcraft/dance, magnificent duel, and savage beasts’ wrath; they’re all here. Even though A Time of Blood is not the last book of the trilogy, the action scenes—especially the final 100 pages which I blazed through in one sitting—could’ve easily worked as a final battle in your usual epic fantasy series. Mayhem and madness exploded as humans, ferals, giant, warriors of the Order, acolytes, wyrms, draigs, angels, and demons all fought in one epic battle. In this installment, Gwynne is back once again to show fantasy readers that he’s still the conqueror of close-quarter battle sequences. I’ve read more than two hundred fantasy books, and in my opinion there are less than five authors who can measure up to Gwynne’s unchallenged skill when it comes to writing vivid and heart-pounding close-quarter combat scenes. As the Kadoshim rises with explosive malice and the Ben Elim descend with their bloody justice, the Order of the Bright-Star must stand their ground with iron-forged determination in order to counter the tsunami of a bloodbath brought by the newly erupting war in the Banished Lands. I can’t emphasize enough the palpable thrill of reading the pulse-pounding climax sequences that were filled with a maelstrom of blood and the clashing steel of devastation in this book. The cinematic action scenes were absolutely fantastic and the heart-hammering climax sequences were completely world-class.

I mentioned this in my A Time of Dread review but it still holds true so I’ll say it again: EVERY single book by Gwynne is on my ‘favorite books of all time’ shelf. So far, no other author has ever achieved this kind of constant greatness for me. Not even some of my top favorite authors like Brandon Sanderson, Steven Erikson, or Joe Abercrombie have this kind of consistency. During my time reading A Time of Blood, I was an avatar of iron and the structure of the words written inside this book was a large-scale crimson magnetic field that compelled me to never stop reading. Every word in the book was brilliantly crafted to amaze readers with its superlative quality, and I consider myself blessed to have read this book.

Continuing the legacy left behind by legendary authors like J.R.R Tolkien, who rose to fame with his epic fantasies of light waging war against darkness, Gwynne steers the battle between good and evil in modern fantasy towards a perennially promising future. Brimming with astonishing plot, excellent characterizations, unputdownable pacing, vividly engaging prose, and full-throttle exhilarating action in a fully realized world; A Time of Blood is an irresistible jaw-dropping sequel that shows the importance of Gwynne’s role as an ever-burning bright star in modern fantasy. Fantasy fans, trust me when I say just pre-order or buy this book and read it as soon as possible. You won’t regret it. You’re missing out on one of the greatest books and series that fantasy has to offer if you should choose not to read it. The stage for the grand conclusion has been set, and I absolutely can’t wait to read how it all concludes in the final book of the trilogy, which I envision will solidify Of Blood and Bone as one of my favorite trilogies of all time. Thank you very much to John Gwynne for delivering another stupendous escapism experience!

"We live our lives by Truth and Courage. Love and loyalty, friendship and honor are our guiding lights.”

Official release date: April 18th (UK) and 16th (US), 2019

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

[John Gwynne]

A Time of Blood has hit 1000 ratings! Thanks to all of the warband who continue the story with Drem, Riv, Bleda and the others.

A Time of Courage is set for next Spring...

TRUTH AND COURAGE

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a tendency to use this gif a lot for my books because it says it all about how I feel 😉



BLOODY HELL!! This book freaking rocked! Of course I knew it would!!



There are so many people and things and animals I loved in this book!

Drem
Cullen
Keld
Fen
Hammer (Sig =( )
Rab
Flick
Riv
Bleda

There are many more!

Oh, that ending!! I’m worried for everyone. 😫 But I cant wait for the next book!! 🤔😉

Eh, here’s some pics and stuff.









Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out my YouTube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books as soon as I finish the book

Another masterpiece from John Gwynne - an author who seemingly is incapable of writing a book that isn't absolutely marvelous.

A Time of Blood is the second book in this series - a series that is set in the same world as The Faithful and the Fallen but ~150 years later. While I thought the first book in this series was slightly less quality than the 4 books in the previous series, I am overjoyed that this book is right back to perfection again. Everything about this book was better than the previous book.

Since we already know these characters, there is no setup needed and we are right into the action from the first few pages until the ending. Huge gripping battle sequences, mythic beasts, wonderful characters, and unexpected twists are heaped upon the reader with abundance, and it's one of those books that is virtually impossible to put down once beginning.

While the scope of this story is significantly tighter in scope than the first series, it's really starting to benefit this series due to the close focus you can put on all these characters, and really starting to feel them more. The cast is reduced, and while I appreciate both approaches, it's wonderful to read an author give you the best of both of these in these two series. It's a difficult task to write a sequel series with new characters, but the change in scope was a genius way to help keep things similar yet different.

Everyone knows that Gwynne is famous for his over-the-top action sequences that you would be hard pressed to find an author who can write better, and he is at the top of his game here. As is true with all his books, the last battle in this book is particularly spectacular, and would legitimate serve as a perfect ending for any normal book, let alone a middle book. He causes the reader enormous tension, with vivid explanation of what is happening so that you truly feel you are right there with these characters.

The characters in this book and the classic fight between "good" and "evil" has much greater blurred lines in this book as compared to his previous works, and while the idea of writing "morally grey" characters is a popular thing in fantasy currently, Gwynne does an incredible job here and really making the reader question their preconceived notions about who is right and who is wrong.

I have continued to state this about John Gwynne, but he truly is one of the greatest fantasy writers of all-time. Literally every single book of his is a home-run, and I cannot think of another author who is so consistent in delivering books of this quality. And while I do think there are some better books than John Gwynne's books, there is no fantasy author for me who is so consistent in their quality.

If you have not read a John Gwynne book yet, I plead with you to drop everything you are doing and start reading either or immediately. You will not regret it.

[James Tivendale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an uncorrected proof copy of A Time of Blood in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank John Gwynne and Pan Macmillian for the opportunity. This review will contain spoilers for A Time of Dread.

The second entry in the Of Blood and Bone trilogy starts one day after the legendary giant Sig's last stand against the Kadoshim forces. Her heroism granted her comrades enough time to escape and we pick up the action with Drem, Cullen and Keld. In the wake of the destruction and the horrors they have witnessed the group race towards sanctuary at the fortress of Dun Seren. Elsewhere, white-wing Riv and Sirak Prince Bleda are debating their options after the attack of the Ben Elim's stronghold of Drassil, taking into consideration the revelation that Riv is now clearly a winged half-breed. If she is seen in her current, true form the consequences would be drastic and Riv would be executed as an abomination.

Akin to A Time of Dread, this novel also follows four point of view perspectives. Readers will be familiar with the characters and viewpoints of the trapper Drem, the warrior Riv and the archer Bleda. A new perspective is that of Fritha - a priestess and captain of the Kadoshim's covens. This is our first insight into the mind of a player on the 'evil' side. Although she was featured in the first book - mainly as Drem's infatuation and ultimate betrayer - here, Gwynne fleshes her out as a character expertly. Throughout her chapters, she reflects about her upbringing, the loss of her child, her current motives and her overall mission objectives. We witness that she has legitimate reasons for her hatred and is not just a two-dimensional warped, pure evil lady. There is very little in Gwynne's The Banished Lands that is 100% good or 100% evil. The distinction is cloudier and greyer in this series than what came prior, with the Ben-Elim and Kadoshim now residing in the human world. The Ben-Elim are now intune with and tempted by a plethora of human-like emotions that they did not know in the Otherworld.

In my opinion, Gwynne does two things better than the majority of fantasy writers.

Firstly, making me truly, truly care about the characters he's constructed. There were many moments throughout this narrative where events from The Faithful and the Fallen were mentioned and just remembering the characters and the impact they had on me led to my tears actually blurring the words on the page I was reading before I realised it. After spending more time with Of Blood and Bone's ensemble - through battles, betrayals, will they/won't they love dramas, camaraderie and a sense of belonging - I care for the main and side players much more than I did in the first instalment. I've always enjoyed Gwynne's depiction of animals and the parts they play to the overall narrative. Here we have loyal wolven-hounds, talking birds, flirting bears and some crazy warped concoctions of monstrosities too.

Secondly, and I'll keep this one shortish because if you've read any of Gwynne's releases you'll be more than aware that he writes battles, duels, skirmishes and confrontations better than anyone in the business right now.

After epic battles galore, the final few moments are stunning and I have no idea what implications this event will cause for the series' final entry. I cannot wait at all! Hopefully, knowing John's work rate, the conclusion to the trilogy will arrive sometime next year (crosses fingers). Although this isn't my favourite of Gwynne's works, it is still pretty phenomenal. Gwynne is one of the finest modern fantasy writers around. The Order of the Bright Star shout 'Truth and Courage' when they charge into battle. Looking at the consistent, high quality of Gwynne's outings, I imagine when he writes he has a mantra that states 'anything below excellent is not good enough.'

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following on from the catastrophic finale of A Time of Dread, this is a high action, high tension blinder of a read. When you pick it up that first time be prepared not to put it down till the last page. It follows standard film sequel rules: bigger, bolder, bloodier. There are all kinds of monstrous creatures chucked in, perhaps running a little too far with it at times… I’m looking at you Ulf and crew. Still, it makes for some seriously incredible scenes, cinematic and deadly. Even with all this action, the absolute standout was the characters, or one in particular: Drem. He is the heart of this book, the one to stand with and cheer for. What he considers to be his limitations are the very reason his thoughts and actions are so meaningful, he overcomes them, pushing through his boundaries to be the hero everyone else knows him to be. He feels the most real, especially as he’s the one person who genuinely develops in this offering, there is real change and growth. If there is a Bright Star here, he’s it.

Which feeds right into the problem with this series, for me at least. I just don’t love these people anywhere near as much as I do those in the Faithful and the Fallen. Yes, yes, I know how rubbish a reader that makes me. It’s like I broke up with someone and can’t move on. But the memory of the past is too strong and its influence is everywhere, from the battle call ‘Truth and Courage’ to the statute of Corban and Storm that stands outside Dun Seren, from the sword dance to the shield wall. Details big and small pervade every aspect of this series, so much that the story actually relies on it. There is an inescapable commemoration of the people and events from the original series, it might be history here but it’s far from forgotten. The tales of heroism and sacrifice are not just myth, they remain in the memories of the long lived and have been passed down in ways which have ensured they form the political, cultural, and emotional foundations of society. Even when negatively framed, communities are still constructed as a direct response to the past. And all it does is make me miss it more. Intellectually, I know how ridiculous and unrealistic this is. John Gwynne can’t write about the same people forever no matter how much I want him to (and that kind of thing never works anyway), but I can’t help but feel the emotional connection is lacking in comparison. It’s exacerbated by the relative lightness of this series, there’s not as much time or space for development of new characters, again leaving them to be defined in part by the past. It circles round and round again.

In any case, if you know John Gwynne then you know that things end on a pretty dire note. And perhaps you also realise how much of an understatement that is. I think I can get away with saying that there are insane battles. That nobody is safe. And that I really hope John Gwynne knows how he’s going to get people out of this goddamn mess, because I sure don’t…

ARC via Netgalley

[Sebastien Castell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Time of Blood is the second book in John Gwynne's new fantasy epic of warring angelic beings, their demonic nemeses, and, most of all, the people caught in the middle. It's a tale of good versus evil, but not the kind I was expecting, which is why this book is so damned good.

The very idea of good versus evil strikes me as one of the most pernicious notions ever devised by human beings. It lets us burn a brand into the very soul of those we dislike and gives us the moral freedom to use whatever means, no matter how vile, to vanquish them. It turns our enemies into Tolkien's orcs – the infinitely abusable physical personifications of all we revile. Many fantasy authors nowadays, well aware of the clichéd baggage that comes along with "good versus evil" try to posit instead a kind of moral equivalency. It's a tactically useful device for modern fantasy, but one that's often unsatisfying because it removes any kind of real moral tension from the reader's experience. We're all bad. We're all good. So who cares? Just tell me who the enemy is and let’s go kill him.

Gwynne takes a different approach with A Time of Dread and especially the sequel, A Time of Blood. There's no real moral equivalency between the angelic Ben-Elim and the demonic Kadoshim. One views humanity as something to be protected, the other as something to be used or destroyed. But the Ben-Elim are . . . how shall I put this? Arseholes. They're so convinced of their inherent goodness and superiority that their notion of protecting humanity amounts to controlling everything about our lives even while they break their own laws in secret and force others to pay the price for those actions. It's through the gradual reveal of those actions that we see that the Ben-Elim have brought much of this unfolding war down on their own heads – as well as those of the human beings they claim to protect. Watching the human characters in the novel deal with those repercussions is what makes A Time of Blood so compelling.

Above all else, though, what you get from A Time of Blood is the sense of heart that runs throughout the book. No one escapes the consequences of their emotions, their loves and hates, their losses. There are moments of tremendous hope and scenes of terrible heartache. A Time of Blood is dark and wrenching and yet always promises there must be an answer somewhere – so long as the characters keep searching for something beyond the false morality of either of the two great forces bringing their world to war.

For all the angelic Ben-Elim and giants, the bat-winged Kadoshim and feral creatures, the magic and wondrous animals, A Time of Blood is a profoundly human story, told by an author who seems determined to make the reader reach for something deep inside themselves that is brave and virtuous, and above all, decent. John Gwynne writes fantasy with the heart of a hero and the inventiveness of a master mage.

[William Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Reading A Time of Blood again as part of The Brothers Gwynne read-along. Amazing to be back with these characters! Damien Lynch does an excellent job, and I just LOVE the new PoV added in A Time of Blood*

A Time of Blood paperback is out today!

A Time of Blood

A Time of Blood comes out today in the UK and has already been published in North America a few days ago. Very proud of my father John Gwynne as another book of his is released. His 6th book in total now and nearing the end of the second series.

Each book by him just gets better and better, so if you have enjoyed any work by John Gwynne, A Time of Blood will be a pleasure as well.

So happy publication day dad, I hope everyone who reads it loves it as much as I did.

[Hamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

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“We live our lives through Truth and Courage. Love and loyalty, friendship and honour are our guiding lights.”

Malice ★★★★ 1/4
Valour ★★★★ 3/4
Ruin ★★★★★
Wrath ★★★★★

A Time of Dread ★★★★ 1/2
A Time of Blood ★★★★ 1/2

There are not many consistent authors like Gwynne, he keeps producing high-quality books at a constant rate and I don’t understand how he does that!

A Time of Blood is the second book in the “Of Blood and Bone” series and takes place immediately after the epic battle that happened in book 1. I find it hard to talk about the plot without spoiling the book so I won’t, but it was fast-paced, full of action and awesome battle scenes and emotions, as expected from Gwynne.

The writing is great but that does not surprise me anymore, as I said above, I don’t know how Gwynne does it but he writes multiple POV and he weaves all the threads into one tale and I find that amazing! To be totally honest, I kind of preferred the first book in the series but only a bit more than this one and I gave both the same rating of 4.5 stars which means both were still pretty awesome.

“Stop raging about the things you cannot change. Just be true to yourself and do what you can do. Love those worth loving, and to the Otherworld with the rest of it. That is all any of us can do.”

The characters were all well written and I can’t decide which is my favorite POV because I did like Drem but also liked Riv and Bleda as much. Most of the chapters end with a cliffhanger which makes you care about all of them. I just think I was more connected to the first series’ characters more because they were as epic as they can be!

And I kind of found the plot twists in this book to be predictable, I don’t know if it is because I am used to the writing and twists from previous books or because I have a usually good eye for these things. But anyway, it is not something that bothered me because it was more about the journey and not the destination as they say and I think that those makes the plot advance in the best direction so why the hell not!

Summary: Epic, awesome, great as expected. The writing is good, the characters are well written and I did care about them. I am looking forward to book 3 for sure!

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilers for the prequel series The Faithful and the Fallen.

If you haven’t read TFatF yet, I highly recommend doing so before reading Of Blood and Bone as it will spoil the plot and ending of the prequel series; you’ll also know who lives and who dies.

The title really says it all. Lots and lots of blood is spilled. And it’s truly terrible to behold. And where there’s blood there is action – conflict follows conflict, topped off by two epic battles. If I’m being honest, it was almost too much action, character arcs being somewhat neglected in favor of a fast-paced plot. Don’t get me wrong, it made for an immersive, gripping reading experience but I would have liked to see more time invested in our characters. You will also see two major revelations, which sadly didn’t come as a surprise to me. I‘m never sure if I‘m disappointed or pleased with myself when I figure something out on my own. Here, I would have preferred to be surprised.

As much as I love this sequel series to The Faithful and the Fallen, I didn’t love everything. For one thing, the new PoV character is an antagonist, which I often have issues with – not because they don’t click with me, but mostly because they tend to make my blood boil. In this case, however, I’m not sure that the villain’s origin story worked for me as it was pretty obvious from the start (one of those revelations I mentioned before). The willingness to kill, torture, and experiment on countless people in general and children in particular, which they seem to take in stride despite their own history, did not really make sense to me. Sure, revenge is a pretty clear-cut motivation, but the levels to which they are prepared to go was just too much for me and I found myself dreading those PoV chapters, which is a first for me with Gwynne.

In addition to not caring about mutilating countless people, the villain also claims the Kadoshim are “not the monsters that the Ben-Elim make them out to be,”only to admit that “[w]ar makes monsters of us all.” So are they saying the Kadoshim are no monsters or that they are simply different kinds of monsters? Is it all moot because war allegedly is the great equalizer, making everyone a monster? (Though I would argue there are different kinds of monsters. Willingness to maim and torture goes beyond the “monstrosity” of killing in battle.) Is it just a case of semantics? In any case, these statements feel like a contradiction to me. In my eyes, the objective truth remains: The Kadoshim are monsters, and they create more monsters, both literally and figuratively. There’s no talking around that. Maybe the villain is just trying to justify their own monstrous behavior to themselves or maybe I’m just overthinking this. Which is also a real possibility. Moving on…

To my second issue. I’ve mentioned in my review of A Time of Dread that the Kadoshim have a new ability that felt OTT to me. It’s just something that has been done so often in film and literature that I kind of checked out when that ability is shown and shown to have devastating consequences. I can’t help but wonder if there could have been another way to make the bad guys even more powerful.

Now to an observation (not a complaint). I noticed that often when our MCs are vastly outnumbered or close to being overrun, another force intervenes, be it a friendly force or some neutral, external one (like an animal) so that they can escape or persevere by the skin of their teeth. I’ve gotten so used to it that I’m not that worried anymore when our heroes are in danger. Until, that is, someone is captured or killed. Well, then I feel suitably punished for my complacency. 😂

All in all, despite the fact that I had my issues with this novel, which occasionally took me out of the story, this was still a great book, John Gwynne is an amazing author, I seriously love him and I will always encourage anyone to read this series. And if you’ve loved The Faithful and the Fallen, I’m sure you’ll love this series too.

Onward!

1 A Time of Dread: 4.25 stars
2 A Time of Blood: 3.75 stars
3 A Time of Courage: TBD

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Suuuuuuuch a banger. Love the easter eggs (or should I say draig eggs?) to The Faithful and the Fallen and characters are just top tip. Nice one Papa Gwynne. *

I know this won't shock you guys, but I love this book. The characters are unique, flawed but so easy to get behind (or hate), the pacing is superb and the tension is REAL. No matter how many times you read this, you can't help but be sucked in by the immersion and experience what the characters are, often traumatically, going through.


The paperback of A Time of Blood is out today! One of the best covers I’ve seen, and the best book 2 of a trilogy I’ve ever read.

So proud to call the author my father. Read it!

Truth and courage!

[Nils | nilsreviewsit · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘“We live our lives by Truth and Courage. Love and loyalty, friendship and honour are our guiding lights.”’
~
John Gwynne must be a sorcerer because A Time of Blood is one hell of a monumental book. This sequel leaps straight into the action, and begins directly after the climax of the first book, A Time of Dread. Immediately there is plenty of tension and some more bloody and amazing battles which continue throughout. I was literally glued to this book and didn’t want it to end. All I want to do is shout GO READ THIS!
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Gwynne makes it harder to define good vs evil in this instalment. Both sides have done malicious acts, and therefore we cannot help but query the motives and the decisions made by both the Ben-Elim and the Kadoshim. I admire how Gwynne took the fantasy theme of good vs evil, twisted it and in turn blurred the lines of what is right and what is wrong; which made the reader feel conflicted. This is exactly what I look for in my fantasy books, where everything is so morally grey.
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“‘War makes monsters of us all,’ Fritha said. ’And the trouble with war is that it follows you. Sometimes there is no escaping it. Sometimes the only choice is to choose which side you stand on.’”
~
There was much journeying in this book, as characters travelled through the Banished Lands to warn of the Kadoshim’s threat, or other characters whom serve the Kadoshim, try to prevent this from occurring. However this never became tedious. The pace didn’t really slow as the four main characters faced betrayals, hardship, warfare, and even a variety of monstrous creatures along the way. There was always something happening to hold my intrigue. In fact, my heart was racing throughout the whole book, fearing for all my favourites! Gwynne‘s novels definitely should come with a health warning!
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As well as physical journeying, there was plenty of character exploration too. Once again Drem was my favourite. He was portrayed as vulnerable, and overwhelmed, as his previous sheltered life is torn away and he is suddenly catapulted into a dangerous quest. Drem displayed many characteristics of Autism, and through him is represented some of the difficulties Autistic people face. Despite these difficulties, at no point did his character ever give up or lose hope. He did what needed to be done even when it was completely out of his comfort zone. It made my heart so happy to see a type of disability finally portrayed in a positive way. This was definitely refreshing.
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Drem’s companions Keld, Cullen, and not forgetting my favourite animal characters Hammer and Rab, were all so entertaining. I adore the way Gwynne portrays friendship of humans and animals in all of his books, and I always look forward to seeing the bonds that they form. To cut through the dark themes of the book, these characters provided much banter and humour; especially Cullen whom was often completely insane! Again this is something I love to see.
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Riv, a character quick to anger, extremely stubborn and often immature; and the character Bleda; an emotionally guarded young warrior, grew on me so much more in this book. As the lies unfold and they both learn hard truths, their whole world is revealed to be not as black and white as they previously believed. Even though Riv retains her fiery spirit, she slowly begins to mature, and through her close friendship with Bleda, we see her gentle side.
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‘Each small step taken for the greater good, and then before you know it, you have walked a thousand leagues from where you used to be. And how do you return to that place, return to the person you were?’
~
What captivated me the most in this book was the way Gwynne built up the tension, the immense threat and created such a dark atmosphere throughout. All sides were preparing for war; dark fantastical creatures were coming into existence, hatred and the need for vengeance was spreading. Then in the last 100 pages of the book, BANG, everything exploded into complete chaos. This made for the most intense thrilling scenes.
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The whole book felt as though it was building to a truly epic conclusion, and I’m scared, but also very much looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
~
Arc provided by Tor UK (Pan Macmillan) in exchange for an honest review. All quotes used are taken from the arc, and are subject to change upon publication.
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A Time of Blood is out now!

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher (Orbit) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Oh man. I wish time travel was a thing so I could dart into the future and get my hands on the last book of this trilogy. I need the final installment immediately.

“We live our lives by Truth and Courage. Love and loyalty, friendship and honour are our guiding lights.”

I absolutely adored The Faithful and the Fallen. The entire quartet was insanely epic, and each book was better than the last. I was crazy excited to get my hands on A Time of Dread, the first book of Gwynne’s followup series Of Blood and Bone. As much as I enjoyed it, that book had more of a grimdark feel to it than the original series, which saddened me and kept me from loving it to quite the same extent, though I see now that it was a necessary writing decision. A Time of Blood more than made up for that. While still dark and definitely bloody, this second installment had more of the optimism that made TFatF so wonderful, shining a light into the darkness and fighting to overcome it. I was ecstatic to feel the return of that hopefulness even in the midst of dark and terrible times. Something that Gwynne does wonderfully well is balance sorrow with hope. We should mourn and avenge our fallen, but we should also preserve our memories of them and honor them by living life to the fullest.

“Life is harsh, and complicated…To survive each day and be with the ones you love, that is becoming enough for me.”

One of my favorite elements of TFatF was Gwynne’s inclusion of animal characters, and how he gave them loads of personality. The close ties between man and beast in the Banished Lands has proven incredibly moving, and I very much appreciate the crows and bears and wolven-hounds as they’ve been showcased. Not only do these animals seem like important characters in their own right, but their loyalty to and friendship with their humans is absolutely beautiful. When one of these animals dies, they are mourned just like any other fallen comrade. There’s a special place in my heart for Gwynne’s crows, the only animal characters with speaking lines. I love how very crow-like their dialogue reads, managing to convey thought and personality without ever seeming human.

“Moments like that, when you act when there is no room for thought, they show the truth of a person.”

Another element of TFatF that I absolutely loved that was carried into Of Blood and Bone is the almost Judeo-Christian feel of the war between good and evil. The Ben-Elim appear very angelic, and the Kadoshim are their malevolent counterparts. However, they are not so cut and dried as that. As we come to see in A Time of Dread and A Time of Blood, the Ben-Elim have flaws of their own, despite their apparent moral superiority and lovely white-feathered wings. Especially in A Time of Blood, we see how the Ben-Elim have not practiced what they preached, and have kept certain darker parts of themselves hidden. These darker parts are now coming to light, and suddenly they don’t seem all that different from their demonic rivals. In fact, through the eyes of one of our perspective characters, we see a loyalty to the Kadoshim that seems to be missing from the Ben-Elim. I love the spiritual warfare feel that this story brings, but I love even more that things aren’t as straightforward as they appear.

“War makes monsters of us all.”

Speaking of that perspective character, Gwynne did a great job crafting a disturbingly evil individual whose backstory nearly justifies their actions. As I always choose to do when reviewing Gwynne’s work, I won’t be naming names, but that character is among the most twisted sympathetic characters I’ve ever encountered. I found them demented and misguided and brilliant, and I truly felt for them and could see the reasoning behind their decisions even as I was horrified by them.

“Sometimes, dark deeds must be done to accomplish great ends.”

As always, Gwynne did a brilliant job of crafting his battle scenes. They were easy to follow and completely consuming. He does a wonderful job of conveying the emotions flowing through his characters in the midst of battle, and showing how those emotions must be dealt with quickly so that the characters can focus on the matter at hand. We see characters push through fear and rage and physical pain to continue fighting for what they believe in, and I have immense respect for that.

“Fear is not the enemy, it is the herald of danger, and that is only wisdom.”

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that left me this desperate for the next book, with no word of when that book will be published. The third installment of this trilogy is a book that I will be eagerly awaiting and will start reading as soon as I can get a copy. Everything else will have to wait. There was nothing about A Time of Blood that I would change. Not a single solitary thing. Gwynne has become on of those rare authors whose books I will immediately preorder as soon as they’re available. If he writes it, I’ll read it, no matter what it is. I don’t think I can give an author higher praise than that.

Truth and Courage!

All quotations are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change upon publication.

[Karina Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not often that I finish a book I love and struggle to articulate why everyone else will love it too. It’s been over twelve hours since I finished this masterpiece and my prevailing thought remains ‘it’s fantastic, read it, it’s fantastic, read it’… So I will do my best to explain why you should. I’d also like to note that while there are references to events and characters in Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen series, this series can be read without having read them.

A Time of Blood is the perfect sequel, it delivers more action, more tension, more bloody battles and further blurs the lines of good vs evil in a land where the heroes and villains of legend are still remembered, if not still alive. We continue to question motives and decisions and live in constant fear for the lives our favourites. Without the world building and character introductions necessary in a first book, A Time of Blood catapults us straight into the action and doesn’t let up, building tension for what promises to be a truly epic conclusion. Unputdownable, this novel is exactly what I look for in my fantasy reading and has gone straight onto my favourites shelf. 

We kick off where A Time of Dread finished, following four point of view characters as they discover truths, endure betrayals, fight against the odds (and many a fantastical creature) and traverse the landscape of the Banished Lands. I enjoy reading epic fantasy with multiple point of view character chapters but more often than not there is one storyline/character arc that’s perhaps a bit less interesting or whose narrative slows the pace and plot in general - I am happy to report that is not the case here. Each protagonist was engaging, well developed and put me right where I needed to be to see the whole picture. I would be remiss if I didn’t also praise the excellent non-POV characters too, in particular the animals. I have formed strong attachments to the non-human characters of this series, and considering some of them are non-verbal, that is a great feat. This series is very inclusive in that I feel like every character matters and has an important part to play, no one is anywhere by accident and their words, actions and histories will all impact on what’s to come. 

I would just like to take a moment to appreciate Drem’s characterisation, in particular though. As a man who was raised primarily by only his father, Drem gets nervous and overwhelmed in large, crowded places as well as when faced with difficult choices/impending peril. When placed in such circumstances, he reaches for his pulse in his neck. This happens often throughout the novel and each time I was struck by how realistic this made him. Often in fantasy, characters are placed in these life or death situations and are expected to be brave, fearless and driven by righteousness yet in reality, if any of us were in that position we would be terrified. I know I would, and to see this small gesture of anxiety occur for Drem not only in situations that would petrify the majority of us but also in regular, every day scenarios (like travelling through a new town) was really refreshing. Of course he’d be nervous, he’d never been around so many people before! It made sense for the character and it’s these little attentions to detail for all of his characters that really makes Gwynne a master of his craft. 

This brings me nicely to the writing. It continues to be superb. A Time of Blood jumps straight into the action and the pace doesn’t relent from there. The conflicts that I expected to occur as a culmination of the events at the end of A Time of Dread happened much sooner than I predicted. I loved that so early on I was thrown off kilter in my expectations and I could just sit back and enjoy the direction Gwynne took. The pacing is excellent, it kept me turning the pages whilst also remaining true to life, nothing felt coincidental or placed just to create extra drama, and the battle scenes continue to be breathtaking. You can tell Gwynne knows each weapon and how it works in the right (and wrong!) hands and reading the characters take on different roles and skills in each skirmish is impressive to behold. No one is safe and it is testament to the incredible writing that each casualty feels like a physical blow. I was wholly absorbed in the action and that is exactly what I am looking for in fantasy. I touched earlier on how there are no clear cut lines for the good guys and the villains, the characters have too much depth and complexity for that, but each character ultimately believes they are on the right side, yet still have moments where they question whether what they believe (or have been taught to believe) is the truth and with each new revelation we are more unsure who our allies are. See, I say our as if I’m actually part of the story - it’s that immersive. 

This instalment certainly lives up to its name, Gwynne continues to be unafraid to dish out war, brutality and loss and the climax does not disappoint. As expected, I was rapidly turning the pages, impatient to find out how these characters were going to triumph, or even if they would survive at all, and as usual I was left with an incredible finale that promises an explosive conclusion. I have no idea how Gwynne is going to manoeuvre his characters to conclude this epic series, but I have absolute faith that it will be a violent, emotional roller-coaster of excellence. I can’t wait.

Truth and Courage.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to Pan Macmillan and Tor UK for this. 

[Krell75 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genesi 6,4
"I giganti erano sulla terra in quei giorni, e anche dopo di allora, quando i figli degli elohim si univano alle figlie degli adam; allora a loro queste partorivano dei figli."

Ok John, ti trovi nella terribile situazione in cui il tuo editore ti ha commissionato una nuova serie di romanzi ambientati nelle Terre dell'Esilio per sfruttare il successo, a parer mio meritato, della prima saga ma sei completamente a corto di idee. Che fare?

Avendo già introdotto i Ben-Elim e i Kadoshim nella tua ambientazione, che sono a tutti gli effetti angeli e demoni, e non sapendo come procedere per questi nuovi romanzi, ti viene la originalissima idea di ispirarti a questo verso della Genesi puntanto sui mezzosangue angeli-umani. Eureka!
Ancora stordito da come tale incredibile idea ti sia giunta tutta in una volta, hai aggiunto anche la mai troppo abusata unione ibrida degli uomini bestia per fornire delle truppe speciali ai cattivi e sacrificabile carne da macello negli scontri. Davvero Stupefacente!
Ora aggiungiamo una spruzzatina di magia naturale per i buoni e di magia del sangue per i cattivi di turno, sia mai che qualcuno faccia confusione!

Un romanzo nato stanco, che rispecchia il limbo in cui arranca la creatività dello scrittore e completamente privo di una singola idea originale. Personaggi che non hanno voglia di collaborare con il lettore e fanno fatica a rendersi un minimo interessanti.
Quando non sa cosa scrivere ecco che iniziano i combattimenti. Scontri e combattimenti ogni due pagine per fare volume, riciclando mostri o creature già utilizzate nei romanzi precedenti.
E si John creare ambientazioni non è mai stato il tuo forte, quello lascialo fare a Brandon.
E' un copia e incolla di cose già viste: draig, orsi, wolven, serpenti giganti, tutta la fauna delle Terre dell'esilio si da appuntamento per rompere i cosiddetti ai protagonisti, a turno.
La trama è scontata e già letta mille altre volte. Il target è adolescenziale, rimpiango i tempi e i personaggi reali e veraci della prima saga. Sembra un film della Disney con gli amici animali e storielle amorose dove uno è sempre di troppo.

Il cursore del mio pc oscilla, indeciso se stroncarlo definitivamente con una miserabile stella: "terribile", o le due povere stelle: "deludente", almeno secondo il mio parametro di votazione.
Siamo al secondo romanzo di tre, per ora non infierisco maggiormente e concedo le due stelle, perché non sembra, ma sono buono.

Le cinque stelle per ora le do a me stesso per aver avuto la forza di giungere alla conclusione.
Spero che almeno questa mia, a differenza del romanzo, possa divertirvi.

------------------------------
Genesis 6.4
"The giants were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of the Elohim were joined to the daughters of the Adam; then they bore children to them."

Ok John, you find yourself in the terrible situation in which your publisher has commissioned you to write a new series of novels set in the Lands of Exile to exploit the success, in my opinion deserved, of the first saga but you are completely out of ideas. What to do?

Having already introduced the Ben-Elim and the Kadoshim into your setting, who are to all intents and purposes angels and demons, and not knowing how to proceed with these new novels, you come up with the very original idea of drawing inspiration from this verse of Genesis focusing on half-blood angels- humans. Eureka!
Still stunned by how such an incredible idea came to you all at once, you also added the never-too-abused hybrid union of beastmen to provide special troops for the bad guys and expendable cannon fodder in battles. Truly Amazing!
Now let's add a sprinkle of natural magic for the good guys and blood magic for the bad guys, just in case anyone messes up!

A novel born tired, which reflects the limbo in which the writer's creativity trudges and completely devoid of a single original idea. Characters who don't want to collaborate with the reader and struggle to make themselves even the slightest bit interesting.
When he doesn't know what to write, the fighting begins. Clashes and fights every two pages to create volume, recycling monsters or creatures already used in previous novels.
And yes John creating environments has never been your strong point, leave that to Brandon.
It's a copy and paste of things already seen: draigs, bears, wolvens, giant snakes, all the fauna of the Lands of Exile meet up to break the so-called protagonists, in turn.
The plot is obvious and already read a thousand other times. The target is adolescents, I miss the times and the real and truthful characters of the first saga. It seems like a Disney film with animal friends and love stories where one is always too many.

The cursor of my PC oscillates, undecided whether to definitively nip it with one miserable star: "terrible", or the two poor stars: "disappointing", at least according to my voting parameter.
We're on the second novel of three, for now I won't get any worse and I'll give two stars, because it doesn't seem like it, but I'm good.

For now I give the five stars to myself for having had the strength to reach the conclusion.
I hope that at least this one of mine, unlike the novel, can entertain you.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is much in life that is beyond our control, events that sweep us up and along, actions that wrap us tight in their consequences. Stop raging about the things you cannot change. Just be true to yourself and do what you can do. Love those worth living and to the Otherworld with the rest of it. That is all any of us can do.”

This book was so good! This was was an epic and action-packed fantasy about revenge, friendship, loyalty, love, and family. A Time of Blood follows Riv, Bleda and Drem as they continue to face new challenges fight to defeat the demons. Along the way they learn more about themselves and meet new allies and enemies.

It took me a while to become immersed in this book, but once I did I was completely transported into this epic and dark world. The pacing was a bit inconsistent in the beginning. The plot was interesting and engaging. There were several betrayals and plot twists that I didn't expect. The world building was awesome, the author created a unique of warrior angels, demons, giant bears, giants, giant snakes, talking crows, and warrior humans. The author created a unique language as well as an intriguing history.

The characters are complex and interesting. I loved Drem, he is kind, brave, strong, loyal and will do anything for the people he cares about. I can relate to Drem being close to his friends and family, I'm very close to my family and I would do anything for them. I loved watching Drem grow and realize that he has a lot of people who care about him and worth fighting for. I loved Belda, he is kind, smart, resilient, loyal and protective of Riv. Bleda's character development was excellent, he has a softer side to him and realized that it's important to fight for the people you love. I also loved Riv, she is stubborn, fierce, strong, kind and hot-headed. I really liked the side characters especially Cullen, Rad, Byrne, and Keld. I have mixed feelings about Fritha, on one hand she is ruthless, a villain and ambitious but at the same time she is trying to avenge the people who were taken from her.

The writing is excellent and so descriptive. The writing is very immersive, I was able to paint a vivid picture in my mind of what is happening in the book from the writing. I felt like I was watching a movie in my head and could almost smell and hear the events as they occurred. The author also wrote the characters very well, they came to life with the writing and they each had complex emotions. The story telling was great, the author brought the story and characters to life and kept me engaged throughout the book. The ending was so exciting and surprising. I can't wait to read the next book!

I recommend this book to anyone who love fantasy, awesome characters, amazing world building and excellent writing.

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me preface this review by stating that I have never given a John Gwynne book anything less than five stars. If you are doing the math, that's five books in total that all were pretty damn perfect in my opinion. Along with Tad Williams and Robin Hobb, Gwynne is one of the very few authors who literally makes me block out any outside stimuli when I'm reading one of his books, I'm that focused on them. His preceding series The Faithful and the Fallen is in my top 10 fantasy series of all-time and I'm actually planning on doing a reread of that one very soon. It's reasonable then to assume that I was more than a little excited to receive an advance copy of book two in John's Of Blood and Bone series A TIME OF BLOOD from the publisher Pan Macmillan. For those who follow my blog, you are already aware that the first book in this new series A Time of Dread was my #1 read of 2018. So now that my cards are all out on the table, here are my thoughts on A TIME OF BLOOD.

We pick up the story of A TIME OF BLOOD pretty much immediately after the events of the first book in the series A Time of Dread. Book one described a land torn apart by the war that took place over a century previous between the demonic Kadoshim and the angelic Ben-Elim. The last vestiges of the Kadoshim, appearing to have been mostly eradicated by the Ben-Elim and their allies, were being hunted in every secluded corner in and around The Banished Lands. Yet rumors still abounded of a group of Kadoshim holdouts who may or may not be growing in strength and numbers. The end of A Time of Dread was one of the more thrilling I have experienced and definitely set up the events in this second book tantalizingly well. Book two brings us back to The Banished Lands and the four main character viewpoints that are prevalent in this new series. The action in A TIME OF BLOOD has been ratcheted up considerably and the battles that the characters must endure, both physical and emotional, are just vintage John Gwynne. We continue to struggle with the Ben-Elim as "heroes" when often times their motives seem self-serving and they can tend to be rather ruthless in their supposed protection of their human beneficiaries. As in book one, we see that the Kadoshim are still ever present across the land and the threat that they pose is no longer whispered at but is gradually becoming a reality. Throughout the book, Drem and the other characters embark on an attempt to warn each city about the impending danger that may be coming. When ultimately a large force of the demon horde amasses at the foot of the Ben-Elim stronghold, war is all but certain again, but this time victory for the Ben-Elim may not be so easily won. You see,the Kadoshim have learned from their previous defeat and coupled with a new leader, may have discovered some secrets that could tip the balance in a potential new clash with the mighty Ben-Elim. If that final battle does come, who wins and who loses will be a question of who has enough strength, courage, and faith to throw back a faithless foe bent on nothing but death, subjugation, and destruction. What will be the ultimate result? You just have to pick up this series and read it from the beginning because I promise you that it will be an experience you will not soon forget..

I am continually impressed with John Gwynne's ability to deliver one top-notch brilliant fantasy book after another. A TIME OF BLOOD takes the Of Blood and Bone series to dizzying heights indeed. John has taken all of the fantastic elements from the first book and carried that into an action-packed second offering filled with battles and treachery aplenty. As with any John Gwynne book you also know there will be some heartache. The guy really knows how to get you emotionally invested in a character and then proceeds to put them in extreme mortal peril the entire time. That's where I believe A TIME OF BLOOD really stands above the majority of fantasy fiction today. The amount of distress I was put in as the reader (and believe me this isn't a bad thing at all in my opinion) was such that I almost turned every page with my eyes half-closed. Tell me how many books can achieve that? So many times I read books where you have no doubt that nothing bad will happen to the "good-guys". Everything works out way too perfectly and there's always an ending that is happy and neatly tied up in a bow. Well to be honest I can't stand books that don't put any of the characters in any real danger and even perish the thought, kill some off. It's exactly the reason why George RR Martin's books are so popular with the public and also critically acclaimed. You read his books never knowing if your favorite character will be dead by the next page. Gwynne has this knack and talent as well. Getting back to a TIME OF BLOOD, it was simply an amazing journey of a book. An added aspect that I found compelling and original is the Ben-Elim continue to be both protectors and almost semi-villains at the same time. The gray area that they occupy in so far as their motives go and the way they have been somewhat corrupted by their earlier success over the Kadoshim is a fascinating character study. We have all seen in real life where governments or leaders who claim to have the good of the people at heart actually end up being tainted and their biggest oppressors. To be able to write a book where even the protagonists may not be the saviors that they appear, is just a testament to the greatness of this book and of John Gwynne's writing as a whole. I also loved that the book was a seamless continuation of A Time of Dread and ended with so much up in the air in anticipation for book three. In closing, A TIME OF BLOOD is possibly one of the best fantasy books I have ever read and I full-throatedly recommend this and all of John's books in this continuing saga. I actually read the last 30 pages in three days because I simply did not want to turn the final page. You know that you've just read a magnificent book when that happens. A TIME OF BLOOD is due to be released next month on April 18, 2019, so do whatever you have to do to secure a copy whether that be preorder, running to a physical bookstore on publication day, whatever it takes just GET IT! It's a shining example of the very best that fantasy literature can offer when in the hands of a true master.

[Samir · Rating 5 out of 5]

My plan for today was to squeeze in a couple of pages after work. Well, as it turned out, I squeezed in about three hundred. It's midnight. My eyes are tired and sore. It was totally worth it.

[Deborah Obida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better a hard truth than a kind lie.


This book picked up exactly where A time of dread ended, with Drem and friends on the run, Bleda and Riv in the woods.
I don't know how the author does it but this is his fifth book that I'm reading and I love them all. This book is diverse and the fight scenes were well portrayed.


“A person is made by their heart and their wits.” He touched his one hand to his chest and then to his temple. “And by the deeds that they do. Their choices. Not whether they have pale skin or dark skin, wings or no wings. One hand or two.”


The world building is amazing which is not unexpected. Just like the first book this book is written in third person multiple POV with an additional POV, Now Fritha has a POV which is super cool, now we can finally know what goes on with the Kadoshims.


“There is much in life that is beyond our control, events that sweep us up and along, actions that wrap us tight in their consequences. Stop raging about the things you cannot change. Just be true to yourself and do what you can do. Love those worth loving, and to the Otherworld with the rest of it. That is all any of us can do.”


The Ben Elim is now ruled by Kol which I don't know whether its for the good or worse, he is what I call a grey character.


I didn't think it was possible to love Drem and Cullen more than I already do but it happened, Drem is more matured than before, he is even a better swordsman, unfortunately Cullen is still as hot headed as before.


The new Riv is way cooler than the hot headed pious girl from book one, she now knows that not everything is black and white. Considering the way book one ended. she finally found out who her father is and its Kol and Astra is her mother not sister


Bleda is as cool as ever, I'm really enjoying his character development, he is growing up to be an honourable young man.

I still hate Fritha, I finally know the reason why she hates the Ben Elim and the reason is as lame as ever. Its beyond ridiculous.

[Eon Windrunner · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dark blood drank he, from the demon welling."
The Volsung Saga

Superlative fantasy!

I cannot even begin to express my sheer excitement whenever I get the chance to read a book by John Gwynne. He is one of the few authors that I have read, who are an automatic buy for me on day one. Limited edition? Signed copy? Hello Splurgeville. Groceries?
Pffft. Who needs ‘em.

His debut series, The Faithful and the Fallen, is on my all time favourites list and when I heard he was writing a new series in the same world set about a century later, I was both ecstatic for the return and downhearted thinking about the inevitable march of time, and how this was going to impact the characters and world that I had come to love previously. I was also worried that it might not live up to The Faithful and the Fallen because of the well earned corner that series holds in my heart, but A Time of Dread was like a bridge over troubled water, it eased my mind and surpassed my expectations in every way, bringing back a few beloved characters, introducing new ones, and providing many reminiscences on characters from the age gone by. It is a fantastic piece of writing, weaving both old and new together to form a captivating story that slays any doubts there might be about returning to this familiar stomping ground. Look at me, I might just write a whole new review for that book!

A Time of Dread ended on a dire note, and the story here picks up shortly after that ending. I wont say much about it though, for fear of spoilers. Our heroes have just escaped from the clutches of the Kadoshim and ...other vile creatures. It is a tense and poignant opening as not all of them made it, but the title is not A Time of Bunnies, and for good reason. The survivors are racing to warn the forces at Dun Seren of the imminent danger, but they first have to outrun their pursuers.The Banished Lands is a hard place to survive in, and it will become much harder before the end of this story.

I have mentioned many a time that characterization is king for me, and Gwynne is a master of the art, once more expanding the list of characters I love and making me feel like a part of the family. I would fight for them. I would live for them. I would die for them. That right there feels like it encapsulates the cornerstone of his writing and the stories he tells. These characters would do anything for each other. Family, love, friendship, loyalty, honour, truth and courage - these are the foundations of their being and the stories Mr Gwynne writes.

While the story is told through the eyes of the protagonists once again, this time we get to experience an antagonist's viewpoint as well. It adds a very interesting counterpoint as we explore this person's motivations, and is an inspired decision on the author’s part, adding another layer to the story of good versus evil. Drem, who is on the autism spectrum, is the standout for me though. He has come so far since the first book and is developing into a marvelous character.

A Time of Blood is definitely a faster read than its predecessor, not wasting time getting things going, the action punching its claws in early on and never really releasing it’s grip with brisk pacing and succinct writing. The fighting, the battles, the duels - the author is singular in his writing where these are concerned. If you have not yet read a John Gwynne battle scene, then you are missing out on an exhibition of genius. A Time of Blood lives up to its name with numerous scenes that will have you holding your breath. There is a particular large scale battle at the end of this one though that is etched in my memory. With every moment impactful, gripping you in the tense life or death atmosphere accompanying the jarring of blades, axes, hammers; the bone-crunching confrontations, the eviscerating slices, bludgeonings, puncturing stabs and hair raising wails, the rending of flesh by ragged edged claw and razor sharp fang, howls and roars reverberating through the air, the dread of malicious, preternatural creatures approaching out of the murky, malevolent blackness. Every moment has been portrayed in exquisite, heart-stopping detail.

I had this plan to take my time and savour the story, stretching out the experience as long as possible. As with the best laid plans though… I felt like I had hardly started before only a few pages were left in my hand, the end in sight, and the wait for the final book on the horizon. That is how it always goes with the very best books though, right? They tend to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you long to get a chance to read them, and then the time finally arrives, bringing the ineffable euphoria of visiting a world and characters you want to stay with forever. On the other hand you cannot help but inhale the tale, you want to know how this ends, the pages turned in the blink of an eye, the book done and that sad sense of longing for more returned.

We are lovers of stories though. These may be our burdens, but they won't keep us away. When a Time of Courage arrives, I will be waiting in line with the rest of you.

Truth and courage!

Review for Book 1 - A Time of Dread

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

A fantastic sequel in the Of Blood and Bone trilogy, A Time of Blood is yet another testament to John Gwynne's extraordinary ability to write incredible stories.

The tone and direction of the narrative stayed true to Gwynne's approach of escalating the stakes, and ratcheting the tension to a penultimate cliffhanger ending that makes one go "Why are you doing this to me?"

One thing I have to note is that I enjoyed A Time of Dread just a bit more and now I realised that it has a lot to do with the nostalgia factor when the heroes from The Faithful and The Fallen were commemorated and spoken of. I felt a bit less attached to the new characters in this series, especially those which were not as connected to Corban and his legacy. With this, and coupled with the amount of heart evident in his story, Drem is definitely my favourite POV character. This is not to say that Riv and Bleda are poor characters, far from it, as Gwynne is very skillful in creating interesting and relatable characters. Their stories were compelling, even if I did not feel as much for them as I did for Drem. And the other thing that Gwynne is wont to do is making his characters suffer through pain, grief, loss, regret, torment, and all those wonderfully things. It is excruciating, but this also makes for an incredibly cathartic experience watching these characters pull together in adversity, supporting and watching out for each other's back, and coming out triumphant.

"We live our lives through Truth and Courage. Love and loyalty, friendship and honour are our guiding lights."

Speaking of his skill in writing characters, I applaud him the most in his portrayals of the animal characters. I am a huge animal lover, and Gwynne does them a whole lot of justice. I am not kidding, a lot of my emotional moments belonged to the crows, bears and wolven-hounds. They felt like real characters to me, and scenes of their interaction and connection with the humans are some of the most heartwarming, and heartwrenching, ones I've read in this book. They are not merely animals, or pets. They are friends.

"With friends like this, how could we ever lose?"

The Ben-Elim and the Kadoshim at first glance seemed to mirror the angels and fallen angels of our world. And perhaps they are meant to tell a deeper story than simply good vs evil. While the Kadoshims were indeed malevolent, the faithful and 'honourable angels of Elyon were not as benevolent as they were thought to be. A major part of the narrative in Of Blood and Bone dealt with the outcome of the Ben-Elim taking control over a large portion of The Banished Lands. Safe to say, it was not happily ever after.

The action scenes are classic Gwynne. Superbly written, they are intense, vivid and suspenseful. If you've read any of Gwynne's books before, you would know that no one is safe in The Banished Lands. In fact, Of Blood and Bone felt a lot darker, although not as epic as The Faithful and The Fallen at this stage. It is without a doubt very well-written, and the continuation of the story from the last series felt like a natural extension of the events in Wrath. These books also offer fans of The Faithful and The Fallen, yours truly included, a chance to reminisce about the old beloved characters; times which are often accompanied by a tear or two, or more.

With A Time of Blood, Gwynne paved the road to the end with his first-rate storytelling skills. The conclusion of Of Blood and Bone is going to be tremendously epic. I could feel it in my blood and bones.

You can purchase this book from: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Book Depository (Free shipping worldwide)

You can find this and my other reviews at Novel Notions.

[LordTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

Defy the darkness. Defend the light.

Drem and his friends flee the battle at Starstone Lake to warn the Order of the Bright Star. They’ve witnessed horrors they’ll never forget, such as magic warping men into beasts. But worst of all, they’ve seen a demon rise from the dead – making it even more powerful. Now Fritha, the demons’ high priestess, is hunting Drem’s party.

Concealed in Forn Forest, Riv struggles to understand her half-breed heritage. She represents the warrior angels’ biggest secret, one which could break their society. And when she’s found by the Ben-Elim’s high captain, he swoops in for the kill.

As demonic forces multiply, they send a mighty war-host to overthrow the angel’s stronghold. This could decimate the fractured Ben-Elim. And their allies in the Order may be too overwhelmed to send aid – with Fritha and her monstrous beasts closing in. Like heroes of old, Drem and the Bright Star’s warriors must battle to save their land. But can the light triumph when the dark is rising?

Review

Thanks to the publisher and author for a finished copy of A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) in exchange for an honest review. Receiving a copy of the book did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel.

Have I told you guys how much I love John Gwynne? His writing ability is obvious, but he is genuinely one of the nicest and most engaging human beings I have met via social media. He is one of only a handful of authors who will literally answer each and every tweet, DM, etc. sent his way, and I don’t mean with just a one or two word response. Can we have more authors like him?

A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) is an engaging and praiseworthy successor to the phenomenal A Time of Dread. Think of it like a 500 page ‘Battle of the Bastards’ but with angels and demons and bears, OH MY. Battle lines are drawn, armies are weaponized, and all-out chaos is on the brink. This is epic fantasy at its finest and we are not worthy.

What I really enjoy about Gwynne’s writing has to be his characters. Each one is fully fleshed-out with a backstory, present-tense engagement, and motivation for a future of their own making. While there is an overall tone of good vs evil, there is a harsh shade of gray that looms over the entire battlefield and its surrounding areas. We see characters with obvious external conflict, but also the internal as they attempt to pick a winning side or figure out just who they really are. Those we see as friends, some even becoming like family, have only schemed their way into the fold and their true colors are shown as the skies begin to darken.

Since Book 2 is practically a seamless transition from Book 1, the world-building schematics have already been laid out for your pleasure, but we dig a little deeper into certain sections this time around. A few things that are more built-on this time around are the characters and creatures of the world. Much like Book 1, we are given four (4) POVs, three (3) of which we are familiar with from the previous novel, and a new one which revolves around Fritha who is a priestess and captain of the Kadoshim’s covens. Though Drem is still my favorite (which it is difficult to not pick him), Fritha’s backstory and motivations are of high interest as the book plays out, giving us insight into her upbringing and what clicked to lead her down this path.

Oh, and I mentioned creatures. Holy moly, there are so many! Giants, giant worms, demons, bears, crows, ‘ferals’, etc. Has a very Tolkein-esque quality to it that I absolutely loved. Honestly, just missing wizards and hobbits, but I digress. Every single creature in this book plays a role, and several are given human-like qualities that actually give the reader a bit more engagement opportunity through emotional attachment.

Gwynne had firmly established himself as one of my go-to authors for epic fantasy after I read Malice (and no, I haven’t finished The Faithful and The Fallen series and I am a terrible book blogger), but Of Blood and Bone continues to cement him as a “drop everything you are doing right now” author and I can bet he will do the same for you.

[Lau ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second installment in Of Blood and Bone series (sequel of TFATF), A Time Of Blood gives you exactly what its title promises: fights, action and loads of pain. For better or worse, there wasn’t a moment to breathe and regroup; the characters kept jumping from one battle to another, their lives constantly at stake. Maybe that explains why I finished in two sittings yet I still felt a bit bittersweet about it.


I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it needs to be said again: it shows when an author knows what they are writing about. Not every author has wielded a sword and practiced the movements he’s writing about with his sons. I’ve never considered myself a fan of action-it’s still not my favorite part-, but I’m obsessed with the way Gwynne’s fights always come to life.


Another strong part of his works is the writing. I often struggle with fantasy storytelling, often too stilted and over-filled with descriptions. But Gwynne’s was polished through his debut series, TFATF, and now it has the right amount of personality without being too flowery.



While it’s a matter of taste, my main problem was how action-driven this was. I prefer character-driven stories; TFATF had for me the right amount of both. A Time Of Blood was so filled with battles that, although exciting and addicting, I never felt them in my bones the way I did in his previous books. While plenty of characters were likable, there weren’t many scenes outside the battles to feel them enough for your heart to race every time they were in danger. I found myself flying through the book, but never really caring about who was dying and who wasn’t-at least not in the way I cared in TFATF.


Correlated with the low amount of interactions between the characters outside the battlefield was the low amount of humor. I’m not someone who needs comedy in a fantasy but I like a book that can get a couple of laughs out of me. There was only one character who was sassy enough to give the book a bit of spice-the only one I refused to see dead.


‘Come on, Drem. () Let’s see how many bruises we can earn today.’
Drem looked at Riv and touched his temple.
‘I love Cullen like a brother (). But he’s totally mad. He doesn’t just like fighting, which is bad enough–he likes getting hit.’


Overall, although it may not seem like it, Gwynne is my favorite fantasy author and deserves every single praise I’ve given him in previous reviews. A Time of Blood was too action–packed for me but it shouldn’t be a problem if you are here only for the thrill of the battle. It was still addicting enough to be finished in a couple of sittings and leave me needing to see the final outcome.


PS: I wish I could kneel in front of Byrne to give her my oath.


‘But if–’
‘No. () Everything’s easy looking back at the path you’ve trod, and it’s a fool’s game to try.’


↬ The FaithFul and The Fallen (TFATF):
1. Malice: 4.25 stars
2. Valour: 4.25 stars
3. Ruin: 5 stars
4. Wrath: 5 stars

↬ Of Blood and Bone (sequel of TFATF):
1. A Time of Dread: 4.5 stars
2. A Time of Blood: 3.5 stars
3. A Time of Courage: 3.75 stars

[James Islington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent heroic fantasy – I really enjoyed A Time of Dread, but I think this book was even better. With the main characters already established, the story moves along at a terrific pace, with plenty of tension and rousing action to propel things forward. Character and plot development doesn’t fall by the wayside amidst it all, though, and by the end, everything’s set up beautifully for the final book.

I still have The Faithful and the Fallen, which is the precursor series to this one, sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read – something I’m very much looking forward to doing, when time finally allows – but as with A Time of Dread, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on important information by reading this series first.

A fantastic sequel, and the series is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys classic fantasy!

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Time of Blood is aptly named. There are great moments of triumph but there are also some heavy losses taken in this book as well. Deceptions, alliances and betrayals, along with a great rising of Kadoshim against the Ben-Elim and the land of the faithful.

I’ve found that in fantasy some of the best I’ve read have been because the author, through multiple PoVs is able to give you both sides of the story. John Gwynne does this easily by having multiple people relaying the story through their eyes.

While I enjoyed Drem, Riv and Bleda’s tellings of the story the new PoV of Fritha added some dimension to the fight of good against evil. Even though there really isn’t a wholly good side because the Ben-Elim seem just as corrupt in a slightly different way than the Kadoshim.

Fritha is in deep with Kadoshim, who are trying to resurrect Asroth the Lord of the Kadoshim currently in a frozen state locked in the Ben-Elim stronghold. The lengths she is willing to go in this story to capture Drem and make her ghastly new creations are horrible and mind boggling but captivating and as much as I want her demise I’m also strangely drawn to her character. I enjoyed learning more about her motivations and while I’m not playing for her team, she makes a good, smart villain.

Drem, that poor kid has learned and lost so much in a short time. He has gone from a mostly solitary life of trapping with his father to running from the Kadoshim with a small band of elite soldiers. This is a boy with a destiny and I’m not sure he will survive to the end of the series or go out in some blaze of glory. I love that with Gwynne’s writing you can’t be sure either way. As Drem travels to get word of the danger to the Order of the Bright Star he comes alone some creatures of tales and superstitions. Each battle is dynamic and entertaining.

Riv and Bleda’s story is kind of intertwined in some ways. They are dwarn to each other and became friends in A Time of Dread. I for one was hoping that would eventually bloom into more in this book even though Bleda has an arranged marriage to someone else. They are a good team and I think long term can teach each other a lot. I had some suspicions about Riv when her wings busted through in the prior books and there was a lot of movement on that front. Even though I don’t like the Ben-Elim either I do think the direction they took in this book was a move in the right direction. Still Kol, new leader of the Ben-Elim is on my top ten list of people I’d like to die in this series.

Bleda and Riv’s PoV each show us something different in the story. Riv lets us follow the happenings in the Ben-Elim inner circles while Bleda lets us know what is happening on the human front. As the threat draws nearer each with take bigger risks for the other and in so doing draw some lines in the sand that can never be taken back.

“There is much in life that is beyond our control, events that sweep us up and along, actions that wrap us tight in their consequences. Stop raging about the things you cannot change. Just be true to yourself and do what you can do. Love those worth loving, and to the Otherworld with the rest of it. That is all any of us can do.”

There is a lot of action leading up to the ending and Time of Blood is a very fitting title since there was a lot of it. This ended on a really dire kind of note and no one is safe leading into the next book. Gwynne has woven an intricate tale, with great world building and character development. We hit the ground running in this and so there isn’t much down time overall in the read.

Another wonderful tale from Gwynne. I’m very curious about the prequel series and I’m excited to start it as soon as the last of the audios comes out. I think it will add even more depth to the series.

[Library of a Viking · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Each small step taken for a greater good, and then before you know it, you have walked a thousand leagues from where you used to be. And how do you return to that place, return to the person you were? Or if you cannot do that, how do you become the person that you wish to be?”

To keep this review spoiler-free, I will not be including a summary or any characters names. I will split this review into two parts – What I loved and what did I not love?

What did I love?
Firstly, A Time of Blood will give you everything that you have come to expect from a John Gwynne book. This book has relentless pacing, short chapters that end in cliff-hangers, epic battles scenes filled with chaos and action, and terrific characters work. Gwynne is not afraid to put his characters through some awful things or even kill them off, which adds an element of realism to this story. Moreover, there are some genuinely shocking and satisfying plot twists that will leave the reader speechless. Gwynne is truly a master at writing epic fantasy with multiple POVs. Although there are many moving parts, the reader is not left confused about what is going on. The ending is phenomenal and makes me excited to pick up the last entry in this series.

What did I not love?
Unfortunately, this is my least favourite John Gwynne book so far. Let me be very clear that this was still a great read, but some aspects hold this book back from being a 5-star read. Firstly, this book felt a bit too familiar to some of the other books in The Banished Lands. Yes, some new and intriguing plot elements are introduced, but this book reads very much like Valour or Wrath. Moreover, I am not the biggest fan of the direction Gwynne decided to take this plot. Gwynne still kept me engaged throughout this book, but there is one particular plot element that I didn’t care for. Lastly, I struggled with one POV. I understand why Gwynne decided to add this POV, but I didn’t find that characters arc or journey very engaging.

Would I recommend this book?
If you are a fan of John Gwynne’s books or epic fantasy, I can highly recommend this book. A Time of Blood has everything fans of Gwynne’s book have come to expect, and I enjoyed it for the most part. Although this is my least favourite Gwynne book, I still had a great time reading it, and I can’t wait to see how this series will conclude. Now on to A Time of Courage!

3.5 / 5 stars

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Stop raging about the things you cannot change. Just be true to yourself and do what you can do. Love those worth loving, and to the Otherworld with the rest of it. That is all any of us can do.”

this sequel made me like all the characters even more, the action was so good as always. it was interesting to get a pov from the “enemy” side, it shed a lot of light on their motivations and makes you question everyone as a whole. most of what i want to say would be a spoiler, but im loving the character development and the direction the series is going. there were a few moments that surprised me and i can’t wait for the finale next.

[Mili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic sequel! Cullen and Drem are my favouritesss. Love their interaction and their personalities. I really enjoyed the intense moments in this book like my intense hate towards Kol 😂. But also the moments of struggle/ fighting and surviving! And the shady forests 😍 with its creatures. The focus on animal companions is Gwynne his thing and I love it too 🤗.
The book ends with a fitting cliffhanger. Can't believe we are back to A Time of Waiting 😂😭.
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'Every defeat is a lesson learned.'
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[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time of blood is an explosive and mighty sequel to Time of dread.

The events take place one month after the events of the first book. And even though little time had passed everything had changed for all the characters.

Riv , Bleda and Drem have mentally matured because of hardships. They must all learn to live with their past, their duty and some buried truths.
The banished lands are on the brink of war and blood feuds are still fresh between the allies.
Did their division may ring the bell of the end of the faithful and the rising of the fallen?

John Gwynne shows again in this book that he’s a true master of the fast and packing action story. Something I came to realize with the author it’s that he likes to play with the standards of the fantasy ´s story and surprise us. Never take my word for granted he must say to his readers.

Now the real question after this incredible ending it’s if the faithful will succeed to win over theirs foes again?

Buddy read with Aram 😇