In Valor, fantasy novelist John
Gwynne continues his sweeping tale of The Faith and the Fallen.
This sequel, 650 pages in length, expanded the scope of the story,
introduced more characters, and painted shades of grimness and
darkness into its telling.
Synopsis:
In a Blitzkrieg, High King Nathair
stormed The Banished Lands with a formidable army, hammering his
opponents to the ground. In its aftermath, Nathair forged a powerful
alliance with Queen Rhin, who is ambitious, cunning, and as sly as a fox.
Who can stand against the might of
Nathair? Still, the secret identify of the Black Sun remains shrouded
in mystery, waiting to unleash the power of Asroth upon this troubled
land.
Meanwhile, together with a band of
exiles, the young warrior Corban fled his destroyed homeland, seeking
refuge in the realm of Domhain. In order to arrive at their chosen
sanctuary, however, Corban's small warband must cut through the heart
of peril, where giants, wolvens, and Rhin's warriors await in the
forest dark. Yet, Corban is still to face his greatest challenge; he
must become the man who everyone believes him to be – the Bright
Star – destined to be the avatar of Elyon, marking a return of the absent
god.
My thoughts on this book:
Valor
retains the same fast paced, character-driven storytelling from
Malice, where every chapter is narrated in 3rd
person POV. Other than a few newly introduced characters, many
beloved characters from Malice returned in this book, and they played central roles in the story. Needless to say, the character
development in Valor is top notch. From the villains to the
heroes, every character is portrayed vividly in great depth. In
Valor, they are wrestling with the past events from Malice,
while those circumstances gradually shaped their characters and
became a part of who they are. In this book, Corban is no longer a
naive boy from Malice; he has experienced losses and
sufferings, and Corban is starting to grasp his responsibility as the
Bright Star.
Surprisingly, my
favorite character is not Corban. Instead, as the story unfolded its
curtain, a character called Maquin stood out and grabbed my
attention. Maquin is an old warrior past his prime, who is seeking
vengeance for his murdered young lord. When Maquin first appeared in
Malice, he did not stand out in any special way. However, as
the story unfolded in Valor, Maquin began to display
qualities, qualities that made me root for his character. Without
loitering into the spoiler territory, let me just say in this book,
Maquin's tale twisted and turned in the most unexpected way – a
dozen story moments made my stomach churn, left me hanging and
worried for this grizzly old wolf. After I read Valor, Maquin
is now my favorite character in this series, hands down.
Meanwhile,
Veridas's character continues to fascinate me. This young warrior,
honest and courageous, is misguided by lies, and he is deceived into
fighting for the wrong side. Yet Veridas bears such fine qualities so
I keep the flame of hope afire for him. I am still hoping Veridas
would eventually discover the evidence, showing him that through
deception, Asroth's agent has manipulated him into serving the bad
guy.
Speaking of
Veridas, this is where Valor (and this series as a whole)
shines with brilliance. At the first glance, the story in The
Faithful and the Fallen appeared to be a rehash of good vs evil.
And yes, at its vein, this fantasy series is exactly that. But where
this series excels and differs from other Tolkien-like fantasy
novels, it is well-rounded characters. In this series, while the
distinction between the good side and the bad side is as clear as
black and white, but the author gave every character a believable
motive, strengths and flaws, making them very human. Through
masterful strokes of characterization, Gwynne is telling us an epic
story about how, despite having the best of intention, some people can
still land up championing for a harmful cause. I believe many readers
would root for a character such as Veridas, and eagerly anticipating
his redemption.
With excellent
characterizations, a compelling story, and picturesque depictions of
battle scenes, Valor proves itself to be a worthy sequel to
Malice. The story in Valor darkens with a shade of
violence, some characters unexpectedly met their tragic ends. When I
turned to the last page of this book, for a few minutes, I felt
scared and worried about the fate of my favorite characters, so I
hesitated at reaching my hands for its sequel, Ruin. But of
course I am continuing this series, it is irresistibly good! If you
like fantasy novels in the vein of A Song of Ice and Fire,
then make sure to add The Faithful and the Fallen to your TBR
list.
Until the next
time, happy reading!
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