The Banished Lands and The Bloodsworn discussion

This is a discussion where we can discuss the debut book by John Gwynne. Feel welcome to share any feelings or reactions about this novel.

Be aware that there might be spoilers :).

Who is your favourite character in Malice?

Corban..... loved him from the first page!

Kirstin wrote: "Corban..... loved him from the first page!"

Corban is a brilliant character. I love the development he has in Malice.

Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?

Will.J.R. wrote: "Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?"

Torn between Veradis and Camlin... I can't choose! There's too many great PoV's :D

Jade wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?"

Torn between Veradis and Camlin... I can't choose! There's too many great PoV's :D"

They are both great. To many to choose from :).

What are your favourite aspects of each character?

Jade wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?"

Torn between Veradis and Camlin... I can't choose! There's too many great PoV's :D"

Yay! My two favourites!! I loved Camlin more and more as the series progresses. I always had a soft spot for 'rogues with a heart of gold'.

TS wrote: "Jade wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?"

Torn between Veradis and Camlin... I can't choose! There's too many great PoV's :D"

Yay! My two favourites!! I loved Camlin m..."

I agree :) I love the character development of Camlin throughout the book and the devotion that Veradis has towards Nathair (even though I questioned some of his decisions). I loved reading both of their chapters as I couldn't wait to see what they would do next.

TS wrote: "Jade wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?"

Torn between Veradis and Camlin... I can't choose! There's too many great PoV's :D"

Yay! My two favourites!! I loved Camlin m..."

A great combination of characteristics. Love Camlin as well.

Jade wrote: "TS wrote: "Jade wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who was your favourite PoV in Malice?"

Torn between Veradis and Camlin... I can't choose! There's too many great PoV's :D"

Yay! My two favourites!! I lov..."

The loyalty Veradis has is admirable and made me adore the character. I love characters who value loyalty and honour and do their utmost to retain it.

I loved Malice as an audiobook. John Keating did an excellent job with the narration. Does anyone know if the rest of the series will be available as audiobooks anytime soon?

Monica **can't read fast enough** wrote: "I loved Malice as an audiobook. John Keating did an excellent job with the narration. Does anyone know if the rest of the series will be available as audiobooks anytime soon?"

As far as I know Malice on Audible US didn't reach their target so they haven't continued the series... a decision made by Audible US, unfortunately out of anyone's hands!

Edward wrote: "Monica **can't read fast enough** wrote: "I loved Malice as an audiobook. John Keating did an excellent job with the narration. Does anyone know if the rest of the series will be available as audio..."

Well, damn that stinks. But thanks for letting me know. I'll just go sulk for a bit.

Any particular scenes from Malice that have stuck in your mind?

I have a few scenes which have stuck in my mind.

(view spoiler)[Where Veradis finds the king dead - I immediately thought, was it Nathair?! And also a scene relating to this when Veradis was in the shield wall and then later executes the man i can't remember the name of! I felt like I was there with Veradis - all tensed up and afraid of what might happen. I also did not expect him to go through with killing that dude, so that scene shocked me and I felt sorry for the dead character.

Also the scene where Veradis witnesses the Ben-Elim open their wings. I literally said out loud "woah" and my mouth was hanging open. (hide spoiler)]

A particular favourite of mine was (view spoiler)[ the power of words that Thannon gave to Corban and did not go to plan haha (hide spoiler)]

Who is your favourite non PoV character?

I think mine could be Tull, the first sword of Ardan. Or perhaps Gar.

Will.J.R. wrote: "Who is your favourite character in Malice?"

Definitely Corban!! I was surprised at first of how young the main characters were, I always love a good coming-of-age type of story!

Will.J.R. wrote: "Who is your favourite non PoV character?

I think mine could be Tull, the first sword of Ardan. Or perhaps Gar."

Mine were Gar and Brina! Actually, I loved most of the characters from Dun Carreg, except for a few obvious exceptions.

Matías wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who is your favourite non PoV character?

I think mine could be Tull, the first sword of Ardan. Or perhaps Gar."

Mine were Gar and Brina! Actually, I loved most of the characters..."

Great choices! Brian is just so brilliant haha, of course with Craf as well.

Brina & Craf - a talking crow - you have to just love that!

Craf and Alcion. Love that crow!

Craf is so hilarious. And I love the giant as well.

Matías wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who is your favourite character in Malice?"

Definitely Corban!! I was surprised at first of how young the main characters were, I always love a good coming-of-age type of story!"

Huzzah! Corban is the best character. I love his development throughout Malice!

Michael wrote: "Craf and Alcion. Love that crow!"

Alcyon is brilliant, I love how he was portrayed in the Audiobook!

hi, hoping there's no spoilers above as I've just had to buy this book due to all library copies being withdrawn or missing! I had it on order for over a month, Valour arrived, but I can't read no. 2 without no. 1 lol! After my present read, this is my next book on the tbr pile, I've got it sitting facing me so I can anticipate the enjoyment!

Ruth wrote: "hi, hoping there's no spoilers above as I've just had to buy this book due to all library copies being withdrawn or missing! I had it on order for over a month, Valour arrived, but I can't read no...."

Brilliant. There are no spoilers above unless you click to see them :). Hope you enjoy Malice when you get round to it.

Ruth wrote: "hi, hoping there's no spoilers above as I've just had to buy this book due to all library copies being withdrawn or missing! I had it on order for over a month, Valour arrived, but I can't read no...."

Hi Ruth, I hope you enjoy Malice when you finally receive a copy. It starts off slowly while the author sets the scene and then it sucks you in and blows you away. This quartet gets better and better with each book, in my opinion.

I didn't find that it set off slowly, or any more so than most fantasy novels, though i understand your meaning! I've just written my review and have to say I loved this! I would have rushed straight into Valour, which I did get from the library, but I wanted the characters to marinate in my head for a bit first, so I've moved onto 'millenium', a non-fiction about the dark ages for a change - it's amazing reading books about history just how much fantasy pulls from it!
It helps that on the front of the copy I have, the name Conn Iggulden is reviewing, as he's one of my favourite historical fiction writers (who has branched into fantasy recently) - I bought his first novel in it's publication year and he's been a fave since! If you've never read him look for his C.F. Iggulden name on fantasy for his foray into this genre, or try his Emperor or Ghenghis historical fiction series' and see what you think! I'm gonna donate the copy of Malice I got to the library, as they seem to have run out of circulating copies, so it'd help if they had this, as series cannot be read without the first book!!

Ruth wrote: "I didn't find that it set off slowly, or any more so than most fantasy novels, though i understand your meaning! I've just written my review and have to say I loved this! I would have rushed straig..."

Ruth, that's great! I hope you enjoy Valour when you get to it. I have read Conn Iggulden's Ghengis Khan series and his roman one; not his fantasy yet though. I saw his name recommended in a book by my then favourite author David Gemmell. You might like to look him up sometime, he wrote great fantasy and finished up by writing his take on the historical trilogy of 'Troy' before his sad passing in 2008.

oh yes, I have some Gemmel, don't worry! I'm always on the hunt for good authors and books! It's great that his wife took the mantel up when he died and is now writing fantasy in her own right - if you haven't read her, give it a go, the two she's published so far (plus she finished the Troy series when her husband died) are amazing, can't wait for the next!

Is there anywhere I can find a spoilery and elaborate summary of Malice. I want to read Valour soon but it's been six months since I read Malice so the details are a bit hazy.

Its a really good excuse to read Malice again ! always a pleasure ! Truth and courage !

Natulcien_reads wrote: "Is there anywhere I can find a spoilery and elaborate summary of Malice. I want to read Valour soon but it's been six months since I read Malice so the details are a bit hazy."

petrie does great non-spoiler reviews. So if you cannot find a good "spoilery" review, check his out :)

Who is doing the Twitter Malice read along?

I wish I could, seems like a fun idea, but I am unavailable for reading atm for a month.

Marcos wrote: "I wish I could, seems like a fun idea, but I am unavailable for reading atm for a month."

No worries at all! They are doing a book a month to read the entirety of The Faithful and the Fallen, so if you feel like you'd like to and have the time to join at some point, the option is there :)

Will.J.R. wrote: "Who is doing the Twitter Malice read along?"

Aaah, I wish I knew about this before because I would have loved to join in! Whereabouts is it on Twitter? :)

Jade wrote: "Will.J.R. wrote: "Who is doing the Twitter Malice read along?"

Aaah, I wish I knew about this before because I would have loved to join in! Whereabouts is it on Twitter? :)"

FanFiAddict organised it. I'm sure if you message or tag him asking about it, he can add you to the group. They start discussing Malice at the end of this montH :).

So I started to scrapbook all of my 4 and 5 star books. Malice is the first one that I've done. All hand drawn and painted with gouache.
It's a double page spread that goes into Valour, the second book in the Faithful and the Fallen series.
I've included some of my favourite quotes and objects that represent the main characters.










I'm going to do Valour next :D

If you want to see more then find me on Instagram @green_wonderland_home

Hannah wrote: "So I started to scrapbook all of my 4 and 5 star books. Malice is the first one that I've done. All hand drawn and painted with gouache.
It's a double page spread that goes into Valour, the second..."

These are absolutely awesome!

TRUTH AND COURAGE

Hannah wrote: "So I started to scrapbook all of my 4 and 5 star books. Malice is the first one that I've done. All hand drawn and painted with gouache.
It's a double page spread that goes into Valour, the second..."

Looking forward to seeing more for Valour

Awesome

Will.J.R. wrote: "Hannah wrote: "So I started to scrapbook all of my 4 and 5 star books. Malice is the first one that I've done. All hand drawn and painted with gouache.
It's a double page spread that goes into Val..."

Thanks Will! Working on Ruin and Wrath at the moment then I feel I can finally start the 'Of Blood and Bone' series.

Holy crap this looks awesome! you are super talented, Hannah! Absolutely beautiful.

Maxime wrote: "Holy crap this looks awesome! you are super talented, Hannah! Absolutely beautiful."

Thank you Maxime!

Finished Malice last night and so enjoyed it!! So many great characters and loved all the shifting politics of the different kingdoms. Of course loved Storm so much and just damn Kastell!!! :( Veradis better start finding himself on the right side of things sooooooon!!! Can't wait to start Valor!!!

Just finished Malice and have to say this book is up there with my all time favorites. Great characters (good and bad) had be up late saying, "just one more chapter." I can't wait to get to book 2

Donna wrote: "Finished Malice last night and so enjoyed it!! So many great characters and loved all the shifting politics of the different kingdoms. Of course loved Storm so much and just damn Kastell!!! :( Vera..."

Glad you enjoyed the conclusion to Malice! It was one big punch of an ending!