In this enthralling second part of the Tears of Artamon series, we get a little more insight in the actual Tears of Artamon, the rubies that the Great Artamon left behind, and the legend that goes with it. As I said before: I’m a big, big fan of legends, history and voices from the past. I’m thrilled that the story revolves around this fascinating history of the Rossiyan Empire.And once again, there’s this wonderful building of characters. I’ve said it in the review about the first book and I’ll say it again about this one: some people just keep on surprising you.For instance: we get to follow Eugene and his life as the newly crowned Emperor of New Rossiya. I have to be honest, I didn’t like Eugene at all in the first book. I just can’t understand what gives certain people the right to say “Oh, won’t you look at that, that piece of land over there, I want it and I’ll take it. Because I can.” But now I’ve seen another side to Eugene. He’s actually quite nice. If he hadn’t had that unbearable urge to power, he would have been a monarch loved by everyone. Throughout the book I always wanted to give Eugene the benefit of the doubt, but he kept on pushing the good man in him aside, ‘because an Emperor has no such feelings’. That’s a shame, really, I think he’ll regret that.Also, Eugene’s first reaction to Kiukiu’s name made me laugh out loud, because that’s exactly what I thought the first time I heard the name, which I mentioned in my earlier review!There were some really cruel scenes in this book and I was waiting for someone to rescue the person who was suffering all these horrible things. But there was no rescue and I was positively surprised. In about all the books I’ve read and movies I’ve seen, there’s always something that’s about to happen to the main character and they always get saved at the last moment and they get away with just some cuts and bruises. In reality, there’s no such thing. It’s not likely you’ll get saved at the last minute. That fact gives this book so much more credibility than all the others. A big thumbs up.Another thing I’d really like to mention is how much I was invested in this story. I really felt like I belonged to the world Ms Ash created, that I was part of this incredible cast of people. When she described the Smarnan revolution, the adrenaline coursed through my body. I was ready to jump up and wave the Smarnan flag while chanting along with the other revolutionaries. I felt for the cause, I wanted them to succeed. I wanted them to be free.And that’s exactly one of the main things that makes a good book: you have to be sucked into the story and feel like you’re living alongside the characters. These are the stories that stick with you and ten years from now, you’ll still remember that one tale about Gavril, Kiukiu, Eugene and Astasia. About the deamons and the Tears of Artamon. About the gate and the little Karila with the mysterious disease.I’m completely in love with this series by now. I’d recommend it to everyone who’s into a darker side of fantasy and quality writing.Visit my Fantasy bookblog http://draumrkpa.blogspot.be/ for more reviews, new releases,...
"Not my favourite book. Gavril Nagarian - the hero. Whilst there is supposedly a secret sound track within each of the books I must be really really dense because I didn't pick up on any of it. ""'We've driven Eugene of Tielen out of Azhkendir. Now we must learn to fight without daemonic powers to protect us. To fight like men.' Sarah Ash is sister to Jessica Rydill who also is a fantasy author. This is another fantasy novel in which politics and intrigue are the main plot line. Ash's world is clearly, though loosely, based on Imperial Russia-- but a Russia which is divided by an ocean from the rest of ""Europe"", and in which the empire splintered, generations ago, into five independent Taken from an interview with Sarah Ash ""‘Artamon’ came partly from my love of Eastern European music and legends, and partly from my wish to explore a situation in which in a continent undergoing a period of scientific ‘enlightenment’ (very similar to our own eighteenth century northern Europe) comes face-to-face with raw and elemental magic which it can neither explain nor contain. From this idea grew the two opposing leaders : Eugene of Tielen, the rational, ambitious soldier-prince and Gavril Nagarian, the unwilling ruler of Azhkendir, the remote land of ‘snow and shadows’."
Do You like book Prisoner Of The Iron Tower (2005)?
Reviewing "Prisoner of the Iron Tower" and "Children of the Serpent Gate" together.These are #2 and #3 in the trilogy, and I feel much the same way about them as I did about the first book: I really liked them.Thee aren't books I would recommend to a non-fantasy fan in order to win them over to fantasy - but if you're a fan of long, complex fantasies with lots of plotting and politics as well as action and magic and just a little romance - well, these deliver. The ante is upped here, as more of the drakhaoul are released, and enter humans - giving their hosts the ability to shapeshift into a dragon of terrifying power. But such power comes with a price - and the dragons may have their own motivations and agenda.I felt that both books maintained the pacing set by the first in the series, and that the story was drawn to a satisfying conclusion. Enjoyable light reading - I'll be reading more from Ash in the future.
—Althea Ann
Well, book two is just as plot-driven as book one, Lord of Snow and Shadows. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but I wish the narrative hadn't move so far from Azhkendir and the ruined house of Arkhel. It might return to it, but it's starting to seem doubtful. I really do hope that Azhkendir, the blood feud between the Arkhels and Nagarians, Jaromir Arkhel, and little Stavyomir turn out to be more than elaborate plot devices used to make Gavril's parentage mysterious, force Gavril into his powers, cause Eugene to invade Azhkendir, and create doubt over the fidelity of the mistress to Gavril's late father, respectively. That would be disappointing.The characters feel a bit more developed, though their motivations are still a little vague. Gavril and Eugene are, by far, the best characters. They're the most developed and the most interesting. Something that has really started to bother me is the way scenes change after a page or two, often switching to another character's perspective. I'm all for getting the point of view of multiple characters, but it's hard to truly get lost in a story when the narrative is constantly jumping from place to place, head to head. Occasionally, a scene is even told from the point of view of a previously minor character. Annoying. Here are the characters whose points of view I think Ash should have stuck to: Gavril, Eugene, Astasia, Kiukiu, Elysia, and Andrei. Sure, that would make parts of the story hard to reveal, but that's the challenge of writing. You write yourself into a knot and take the easy way out, the reader will know it.I'm still going to read on to book three, Children of the Serpent Gate, though. Despite it's flaws, I like the story and I'm intrigued by these drakhoul creatures. I couldn't put this book down, just like I couldn't put the last book down. Ash has a gift for writing action and suspense, which can hook you despite yourself.
—Logan
