What do you think?
Rate this book
Sweeny's Return: Pieces of the Valley book 4
Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2021
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 11, 2022
This was the final installment of the alternative/expanded Valley of the Soul. I am going to summarize my feelings for the 4 sections of Pieces of the Valley here, as really they should just all be together in one book. Pieces of the Valley fees like the campier, more gruesome version, with a darker twist at the end that was not in Valley of the Soul.
When I read the original Valley of the Soul, I liked it the least of the original 3 Dubric books, but still thought it was worthwhile and hoped, for YEARS, that the story would continue. So much was introduced in the original, and the same in this alternate, that never/hasn't yet been explored. And, much like the "first" time I read this story, despite being about 30% more material, it felt kind of incomplete, only now with Frankenstein-inspired corpse arts and crafts.
Lets talk about Dien. I have no sympathy for him this time around. I Can't remember my feelings the last time.
As a practical, blunt woman in her 40's, I have a hard time sympathizing with Dien's extreme, over the top, outright abusive behavior. It goes beyond protective father into outright illegal and abusive to multiple characters. He isn't a "bad guy", like Talmil or Jelke, he is a "good guy", who gets away with A LOT of things. Frankly, he deserved the sentence of hanging, but we have it shoved down our throats how Brushgar thinks commoners are worthless, and all the nobles tread Fyn like a slut, yada yada yada. And he bascially given a slap on the wrist because Dubric needs him.
And poor Otlee. Otlee needs therapy. His story was pushed way into the background here, and only trotted out occaisionally to remind us that he still exists and to remind us how understaffed Dubric is. I would love to return to Otlee's development in the future, how he manages, or fails to manage, his trauma, and how it interacts with what I can only assume, if the story expands, to be the return of a Mage powerful enough that Jess's magekiller skills become more central. Otlee's role, whatever it is, whatever side or sides he ends up on and his mental state, will force his character into difficult decisions.
Dubric is getting older, and, after the twist at the end with him willingly commuting a murder for his own gain, corrupted. I could see him becoming the antagonist in the future, and the inevitable showdown between him and his trusted squires and Jess.
I have not yet read the new branching story beginning with Ghosts in the Snow, so don't know if any of this will come up in that story line or if it truly diverges from the original. While the events of Pieces of the Valley are somewhat different from Valley of the Soul, they do not truly diverge as I had expected, and large sections are completely identical. It feels almost like the original vision had to be compressed for Valley of the Soul, and Pieces of the Valley is the original vision, complete with a cheesy monster in the basement making frankensteins.
When I read the original Valley of the Soul, I liked it the least of the original 3 Dubric books, but still thought it was worthwhile and hoped, for YEARS, that the story would continue. So much was introduced in the original, and the same in this alternate, that never/hasn't yet been explored. And, much like the "first" time I read this story, despite being about 30% more material, it felt kind of incomplete, only now with Frankenstein-inspired corpse arts and crafts.
Lets talk about Dien. I have no sympathy for him this time around. I Can't remember my feelings the last time.
As a practical, blunt woman in her 40's, I have a hard time sympathizing with Dien's extreme, over the top, outright abusive behavior. It goes beyond protective father into outright illegal and abusive to multiple characters. He isn't a "bad guy", like Talmil or Jelke, he is a "good guy", who gets away with A LOT of things. Frankly, he deserved the sentence of hanging, but we have it shoved down our throats how Brushgar thinks commoners are worthless, and all the nobles tread Fyn like a slut, yada yada yada. And he bascially given a slap on the wrist because Dubric needs him.
And poor Otlee. Otlee needs therapy. His story was pushed way into the background here, and only trotted out occaisionally to remind us that he still exists and to remind us how understaffed Dubric is. I would love to return to Otlee's development in the future, how he manages, or fails to manage, his trauma, and how it interacts with what I can only assume, if the story expands, to be the return of a Mage powerful enough that Jess's magekiller skills become more central. Otlee's role, whatever it is, whatever side or sides he ends up on and his mental state, will force his character into difficult decisions.
Dubric is getting older, and, after the twist at the end with him willingly commuting a murder for his own gain, corrupted. I could see him becoming the antagonist in the future, and the inevitable showdown between him and his trusted squires and Jess.
I have not yet read the new branching story beginning with Ghosts in the Snow, so don't know if any of this will come up in that story line or if it truly diverges from the original. While the events of Pieces of the Valley are somewhat different from Valley of the Soul, they do not truly diverge as I had expected, and large sections are completely identical. It feels almost like the original vision had to be compressed for Valley of the Soul, and Pieces of the Valley is the original vision, complete with a cheesy monster in the basement making frankensteins.
Displaying 1 of 1 review