Glenda Larke, this is the second of her books I have read and I have to say I'm as disappointed as I am impressed with her ability to kill off characters at the drop of a hat! I'm not usually too fond of books where the story is told from different perspectives but she manages to do this as well as keeping the story moving forward. I find it easy to connect to most of the main characters and you even start to care for some of the minor ones. Just when you really get into a character, along comes a scimitar and lops their head off!! On a more serious note I do think she has been more realistic about the losses of war. Most books show the majority of the main character surviving (eg Harry Potter) but this is not the case here. Heart breaking but so much more realistic. My only real complaint is the direction Shale/Jaspers character seems to be going in. He's suddenly become really dependent on the other characters, what happened to the gibber grub who escaped imprisonment from a man much stronger without so much as a wisp of help? I hope he's given his back bone again in the last book. One of the things I most enjoy about Glenda Larke’s novels is that they’re easy to get back into if you can’t start the next book right away. She doesn’t spend the first few chapters recapping the events of the previous book, which I appreciate, but she also weaves in enough reminders and new information to trigger your memory of what happened before.The Ryka/Kaneth storylineRyka has been captured by the Reduners and is in the keeping of Davim’s heir, Ravard. She’s very pregnant, and after the head injury sustained in the last book, Kaneth has lost all his memories and is regarded by the Reduners as an idiot. They leave him alive, however, because of something he said that made them believed he is the reincarnation of Uthardim, a mythical hero in their culture. In order to protect her unborn child, Ryka sleeps with Ravard and pretends that the father of his child is dead. There’s an interesting dynamic going on here: Ravard is at times kind to her, and clearly desirous of pleasing her and winning her affection, but he’s also ruthless and cruel in his role as the heir. Ryka finds herself wanting to comfort him, then remembering his part in the fall of Breccia and her current position. If Kaneth had actually been dead, I’d have worried she’d have a Stockholm Syndrome plotline where Ravard is actually a viable love interest.Ryka’s interactions with Kaneth are moving, especially as he begins to remember bits and pieces of his past and she can’t trust him enough to tell him the truth of his identity. Ryka’s displays enormous strength and determination to protect the people she loves in a situation that would have broken most people from the start. She’s an amazing character, and every time she triumphed, I cheered for her!The Terelle/Russet storylineRusset forces Terelle to cross the Whiteout, a giant salt plain that borders Khromatis but proves deadly to travelers. Terelle has decided not to use her waterpainting abilities; after she painted herself free and the magic used an earthquake to bring it about, she knows that she cannot always predict how the magic will bring about the futures she paints.Though she’s aware of the ways of the world and what she’s been through has been intense, Terelle maintains an innocence and shies away from bloodshed. I was very pleased at how much stronger she was in the second book. She stands up to Russet and demands the secret of how to resist the waterpainting magic, and she’s able to travel back to where Shale is in order to help him.The Shale/Taquar storylineShale AKA Jasper Bloodstone is a fantastic character, and probably my favorite along with Ryka. He grew up poor, then he was kidnapped and isolated by Taquar, and now he’s learning to be a stormlord and a figurehead. Taquar attempts to manipulate and control him, but like a teenager testing the boundaries, Jasper refuses to be controlled. The guards and citizens like him because he’s friendly and caring, unlike Taquar, and he quickly gains the trust and respect of those around him. Jasper sends rain where he wants to, not where Taquar wants to, and also sends cloud messages (fantasy novel skywriting!) to various cities and encampments, encouraging them to come and back him against Taquar. He’s calm and collected for a young man, and his composure in all circumstances gives him an advantage when dealing with Taquar and Laisa. He keeps thwarting their attempts to dictate how he should be and really coming into his own. I can see him becoming a wise and capable Cloudmaster in the last book.I do have two complaints about the Jasper plotline. First, Senya manages to get Jasper to sleep with her, and you just KNOW that’s going to have consequences. I find it very difficult to believe that he “couldn’t help himself” and it seemed like a cheap way to achieve some leverage in the next book. Second, after Terelle joins the camp, she and Jasper work out a way to paint him cloudmaking, which he has been unable to do with Taquar’s help, thus freeing him from constant manipulation by Taquar. She’s also instrumental in their victory against the Reduners and it seems like waterpainting is getting to be a convenient cure-all without any consequences.Stormlord Rising was an excellent middle book: not everything was resolved and there are plenty of new things to tackle in the last book. For the most part, characters acted logically and in keeping with their personalities (with the Jasper-Senya thing being a notable and frustrating exception). I’m eager to move onto Stormlord’s Exile to see how it all works out!
Do You like book Stormlord Rising (2010)?
Not as good as the first one in the series, but still a very enjoyable read!
—Rhiana
Really liking this series, can't wait for book #3!!!
—Dman23
This was a worthy successor to the original.
—badgeros
