Toil – unpredictable and dangerous even for an assassin, now wears the Princess of Blood on her jacket. Mercanery Lynx still has his doubts about her – but a new mission to escort a dignitary soon throws the old team back together. Travelling to an ancient city that conceals a mysterious labyrinth, the situations go from bad to worse, with new threats and worse horrors on every corner. The group argue and bicker as they go along – but will they be too concerned with their own disputes to see the far blacker evil that threatens to surround them?
| Princess of Blood by Tom Lloyd | |
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| Category: Fantasy | |
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Reviewer: Luke Marlowe
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| Summary: The second book in The God Fragments is a thrilling, heart racing ride, fast and furious fantasy fiction filled with three-dimensional characters and a plot that twists and turns to unexpected places. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 544 | Date: July 2017 |
| Publisher: Gollancz | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1473213203 | |
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Princess of Blood is the second in The God Fragments - a series that began with Stranger of Tempest. These books are eye catching for all the right reasons – original, stunning cover designs that draw the eye straight to them – and the stories inside aren't half bad either!
In Stranger of Tempest Lloyd kicked things off with a strong plot that managed to be immensely readable despite being filled with world building elements – so it's great that in Princess of Blood he's able to really focus on plot and character, his world having already been established. This also opens up for Lloyd to explore some of the mysteries that remained from the first instalment, elements like powers and magic getting some welcome attention, and to seed plenty of unanswered questions and plot strands for later instalments. Character interaction is particularly strong in Lloyd's writing – and the format of his group of characters allows for plenty of enjoyable debate and banter. It's lively, warming writing – making the reader feel like a part of this rag-tag bunch of mercenaries. In my review for Stranger of Tempest I mentioned that it sometimes felt like I was watching a sprawling, modern video game whilst reading, and that carries over to Princess of Blood – a sense similar to games like Dragon Age and Skyrim where one can root for characters but with a sense that something bad is always lurking round the corner…
In terms of character - Toil was a big, memorable character in Stranger of Tempest, but she's really pushed to the forefront here, as both her character and history are explored to a fascinating level. It makes her even more of an interesting character than she initially was – unpredictable and dangerous, but still (for the most part), wholly likeable. That unpredictability carries over to the plot too – a strong and surprising ending leaving things in a very interesting position to be picked up in the next instalment.
A hugely fun fantasy read, Princess of Blood is a strong second entry to what it looking to be a fantastic fantasy series. Many thanks to the publishers for the copy. I of course recommend checking out the , first book in the series as you'll be somewhat lost jumping straight into Book Two! Additionally, for a strong fantasy read with brilliantly drawn characters, Promise of Blood (Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan is a big recommendation of mine – one of the best fantasy series in recent years.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Princess of Blood by Tom Lloyd at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Princess of Blood by Tom Lloyd at Amazon.com.
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