Queen of Fire: Book 3 of Raven's Shadow

This series was awesome!!! If you are a fan of the fantasy genre then you will not be disappointed by this series! The main character is so awesome that it was a little disappointing when books #2 and #3 switch to multiple point of views, but all the characters are great and any true fantasy reader is used to the pro's and con's of following multiple characters.

I'm greatly perplexed by the vitriol of previous posts. This book is exactly what it purports to be: the conclusion of a trilogy. I found it to be an entertaining grimdark offer, consistent with its two predecessors. The fact that all characters are essentially carried forward through the the trilogy sort of obviates the need for redundant "character development" (as opposed to character growth). If you like this genre, and you enjoyed the top previous installments - don't hesitate to buy this book. In reality, a solid 4 star tale.

I read the first two books in this series without reading any reviews. I happened upon Anthony Ryan while I was searching for new fantasy authors, having read everything that my favorites had written to date. (Jordan, Sanderson, Hobb, Martin, Brent Weeks, Goodkind, et.al.) I would read (or half read and toss) five or six books written at a 5th grade level and then I would find a real gem (Mark Lawerence, J.V. Jones, Patrick Rothfuss, etc...) "Tower Lord" and "Blood Song" were exactly what I was looking for. Great writer, great story teller, great story. Then I happened to read the reviews for "Queen of Fire", which were for the most part, bad reviews. I was actually worried that "the ending" would be as horrible as was being said. So I read this book expecting the worst. I kept waiting for it to go bad, dreading this ending that was going to be just terrible. Didn't happen. Not sure what anybody could have found lacking.

So, if you're reading this review after reading the some of the same negative reviews that I read... Don't worry, it's great. If you liked the first two books, you'll like this one too. People are crazy, what can you do? To all of those that gave those reviews... I have a few authors for you to go read... Then tell me how you feel about "Queen of Fire". (Jonathan Krenshaw,Jeff Wilson, Brian Staveley) Good job Anthony Ryan! Now please hurry up and bless us with another release!

First of all, I do not understand the bad reviews as I thought Ryan executed the ending to this fantastic series excellently. There are some questions unanswered, yes, but those were the ones that could be woven into another book or just plain unanswered as the world is ANCIENT. The book was about the UNIFIED REALM, not just Vaelin but Vaelin still was the hero of the story as he was the one responsible for the ultimate downfall to the ultimate villian. I came into this reading fearing the worst because of the reviews but I do not, for one second, regret reading it as it was just as good as the other two.

never have i been so disappointed by an author. he gave us gold with blood song and then followed it up with a horrible sequel in tower lord and now gives us this abomination. vaelin is once again cast to the side and adds absolutely nothing to the story. The Ally was a huge letdown and his motivations were iffy at best. i ended up skipping every POV besides verniers and vaelin but even they're accounts were dreadfully boring. i simply didn't care about the characters anymore. i feel like i'm rambling at this point but i am just so disappointed i guess i needed to vent. i really wish i never read these last 2 books because they're destroyed one of my favorite characters of all time.

A good conclusion to the trilogy, but failed to live up to the first book's excitement. Worth reading to have closure to the story and definitely has some strong points, but keep copies of the first two nearby for cross-referencing people and places because it gets confusing quickly.

I love this series! The characters draw you into the plot, character development is complete and interesting, and the narrator is slowly drawn from his hate to resentful admiration of the lead. If you like your fantasy with complete world development, these books are for you.

I loved Blood Song. Tower Lord was pretty good, but this book was a massive disappointment- it drug on and on, and then the ending was rushed (and wrong). If you want to know what happens to the characters, just go with your own story. It will be 10x better than this version.

I bought this because I truly thought it couldn't possibly be worst than Tower Lord. I was wrong. Absolutely terrible. I'm as avid reader and will usually hang in there until the bitter end. Not this time. It was nothing but a jumbled mess so I just plain stopped trying to figure out what the hell was going on. One and only time I returned a book and got my money back.

I'm not sure I understand the 2-star hate for the book. The ending of the Raven's Shadow trilogy is definitely a flawed work, but it is hardly unreadable.I think the chief complaint is simply that it doesn't focus on one super-heroic figure with a talent that makes him super-cool and unbeatable. The second most common complaint is that the book's narrative isn't as lyrical as the first in the series. Both of these are true. However, the author's intention was clearly not to write a more personal story in this volume - it was to write an epic finish to the story of a large number of characters, when the plot was driven by all of those characters. I was surprised and gratified by the small number of perspectives the author limited himself to (Vaelin, Lyrna, Reva, and Frentis). I think the epic finish was definitely contrived, but worth reading all the same.

The book has some issues, there's no doubt of that. The pacing is very off - too fast in places, too slow in others. The characters' timelines are hard to put into context with one another, so a lot of what happens seems to be too conveniently timed, rather than showing a solid progression of where everyone is at the same moment in time. Travel is a bit part of that problem - there's no sense of how long it took to get anywhere, and the maps provided suggest that it should have taken characters a lot longer to get somewhere than it did.

I rather liked the idea that the main protagonist, Vaelin, lost his powers at the end of the last book. Unfortunately, rather than having him deal with that himself, the author provided surrogates with similar (if not identical) powers to do his tasks for him. While this could have been used as a way to develop his character in new ways, it really wasn't ever addressed in depth.

For characters, I can see why the lack of the lyrical narrative was such a shock. Almost everyone in the book came off as "matter of fact" - with no real emotion or drive. That's what I miss most from the first, and even the second book. In those volumes you could get a sense of the true depth of feelings and motivations that the characters had. In this book that got lost in the larger story.

The other problems were plot related, more than anything. Things happened, but why they happened were never really explained. Things were alluded to, the existence and creation of the "beyond" being a mistake for example, but never really explored or explained in any significant way. People went places, did things, and while the results were interesting, it would have been better if more time had been taken to explore why they were important. And yes, I will agree with other reviewers that Lyrna was NOT the massively intelligent chess player she was made out to be in the earlier books. She made far too many stupid decisions for that to have been true.

Overall - the book is very readable, and you get some sense of closure for the story. To me the ending left far more questions than it answered, especially around some of the "lesser" characters like Erlin and Weaver, but as others have said, it's a ready-made introduction to a sequel. If you're expecting a "super-hero saves the world" book, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

I did like most of this final installment. I don't understand some of the terrible reviews people have given this book and feel it's very unfair. The format is same as second book with different chapters showing alternate POV's. Readers complain of this preferring format of first book but many stories will do this as plot becomes more complex and major players are added. I will say I felt a bit buried in the amount of battles depicted. There was war but after a while all battles start to read the same. I feel like this didn't completely finish either but possibly author plans on revisiting this world and characters left. I would still read if this turned out to be true.

Outstanding. Really liked the book although I will say not as good as Blood Song but what is? Will there be another one. I thought from the ending that there would be. Either way I can't wait for Me. Ryan to write another book.

It's kind of sad actually. Book 1 in the series was brilliant. I was so excited for the remaining two after I read it. Sadly the last two books, especially this one are absolutely nothing like book one. It pains me to say it, but I found myself terribly bored and frustrated with this book to the point I wish I would have never wasted my time reading it.

I am not sure why the author switched up his formula after book one but it did not work. This just feels extremely rushed and incomplete. So many loose ends were not tied up. The resolutions that we do get almost feel cheap. This was not even close to something I would call a fitting conclusion to a trilogy.

As crazy as it sounds, I wish that I would have never read books 2 and 3 of this trilogy. The last two are so badly done that all they did was taint the fantastic first book.

If this were the first book of a trilogy, I would never finish the book, let alone the series. But if you've read the other two, I guess you need to waste your money and read this one. You won't enjoy it.

I struggle to begin to describe the feeling i had after reading this book, but i'll begin by saying i purchased it solely based on the absolute love i felt for Blood Song which i thought was a passionately written piece. I was apprehensive considering the fact i found Tower Lord to be a snooze fest, but i said to myself "Hey Blood Song was so good this author deserves another shot right?" Oh Boy was i wrong....

Vaelin: Treated like a side character, and when he did appear it almost felt like the author was punishing the character for his audiences love. The only thing in this book that really moved me was how bad i felt for Vaelin, after the author shat all over him.

Lyra: Tower Lord made Lyra likeable compared to the absolutely unsympathetic wretch in this book. The only thing i can imagine was the author wanting people to hate her.

Frentis: Bright spark of the whole thing, i found his chapters decent.

Everyone else: Why were they even there??????

I'd never burn a book (i got it on kindle anyway), but damn if this one wouldn't make me come close.

Worst part of it all is i'd still buy books "written" by Anthony Ryan simply because of the deep felt admiration i hold for Blood Song. I find it hard to believe the same person that wrote Blood Song could even conceive Tower Lord and Queen Of Fire. I don't what happened when he got a publisher, but they either put him on some wack drugs or brainwashed him into writing drivel.

There are a lot of wonderful things about and in this book. I loved "Blood Song" so much, I even enjoyed "Tower Lord" for it gave a bit more backstory. "Queen of fire" finished the tale, but fell quite short of the epic story that Blood song began and promised. All the enemies used to be brilliant, deadly, cunning beyond belief. Now the enemy's merely clever and even then mostly lucky. There's also a plethora of questions not answered and loose ends left untied. All the character points of view kind of seem like the same person. Even though they are supposed to be vastly different people. Still and amazing read worth your time and money.

It's really not as terrible as these reviews are making it out to be.

As with most others I loved BS. That said I did not hate TL as many others did, and found QoF good for the most part.

In the end I did feel a bit disappointed. The story simply did not pan out the way that I wanted to. There's a pretty standard fantasy plot-line where there hero rises up and vanquishes evil, and after reading BS this is what I was craving. In the end Ryan chose a slightly different tact and, as others have said, I felt like he gutted the Vaelin character. Int he end Vaelin's character was flat and uninteresting though his quest still held my attention. I think this neutering of the primary protagonist is what is causing a lot of folks to give unfavorable reviews.

Another minor irritation is the final battle scenes aren't as interesting as ones the reader has experienced prior. So that may be another source of frustration.

In the end however it's a good story, a solid conclusion, and I enjoyed reading it. I would freely recommend this novel and the series to others.

I debated whether to give this three or four stars. I admit myself disappointed. I loved the first Raven's shadow novel "Blood Song" and read it several times. The second "Tower Lord" was also good but the change in the format, alternating full sections to individual characters and the soul focus on their part of the story was not my favorite style of writing. The third and apparently last of the trilogy was disappointing in that he followed the same format and was not at all about the "Battle Lord" for whom the story was named. I felt that taking the focus away from Valen ruined the stories for me. The other problem I found was that things felt contrived and threads from the first book were left unfinished. The story of Sherrin and Ahm Lin just disappeared without finality and franklin this was not a story about the Battle Lord, it felt more like story about a queen and her foolishness and just dumb luck frankly. The ending was disappointing as well. I won't reread this one.

I don't write reviews. Not enough confidence and a fair bit of laziness gets in the way. But the discussion here is so off what I experienced I've decided to join in.

I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Queen of Fire which I had purchased months ago. When it came I dived in. And thoroughly enjoyed reading the story. Found myself wanting to rush back to it every time I had to put it down.

I do have a caveat. I think the first two books were some of the best I've ever read, full of complex characters and world, honest relationships, tense challenges and people I wanted to know how their problems were resolved. My problem with this was that it felt as if we were running through the landscape, racing to a finish. The nuances and depths that had been developed earlier disappeared. My understanding of Vaelin and Lyrna gained little, we never really found out any more about Caenis after the first surprise, Reva was very active but I didn't really see her changing, etc. The story needed more time and I think deserved either another book or a longer one to reach it conclusions. Why was Ell-Nestra so pissed off with the changes in Lyrna??

Let's get one thing straight: this book is not Blood Song. But nor is it Tower Lord. In "Lord," it seemed like author Anthony Ryan was experimenting with multiple points of view, in the style of "Song of Ice and Fire." It also seemed like he wasn't doing it particularly well. If "Lord" was a failed experiment in PoV plotting, though, this one is a success.

Gone is the emotional first-person perspective we had in Vaelin during Blood Song, true. But also gone are the boring, directionless characters of Tower Lord. Here we have a tentative return to the clever, skillfully drawn writing of Blood Song, and more importantly, a full and exciting return to Blood Song's world-building. Blood Song raised questions that this book answers -- almost -- with the remaining mysteries being forgivable omissions. I would liked to have seen more of some old favorite characters but their omission is reasonable.

Basically, what made Blood Song special was its "heart": the touching relationships between Vaelin, Barkus, Caenis, and Nortah. That was lacking in Tower Lord. Here, it's back. Kinda. I'm left with my faith in Anthony Ryan restored, but still missing Blood Song.

Okay here is the run down. I have read the other reviews (a lot of them negative), I see what people are complaining about: less character development, too many storylines, not enough focus on a particular character, no perfect bow on every loose end; and honestly if this was a video game transcript I would be pretty bummed out. But it’s not. When done right, Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels depict characters and situations that although involve unreal concepts (i.e. Magic, Warp Drive, etc.) speak universal and personal truths. Life doesn’t work out like a video game where you find the right tool just before it’s needed. Sometimes you meet people that you think are going to be important to your life, and maybe for a time they are, and sometimes they are not. And like it or not, rarely do you ever get some perfect resolution to any problem let alone every problem.

So here is what I will say about Raven’s Shadow. Blood Song takes place over decades of the main characters life; if that trend continued, by the time we got to Queen of Fire we would get to read the chapter where Vaelin couldn’t lift his sword anymore due to the crippling arthritis in his hands. Tower Lord and Queen of Fire together cover maybe two years. So naturally, the majority of the character development takes place during Blood Song. I would be incredibly irritated if characters radically changed in such a small period, especially when the characters do grow in the only way adults do, when they are forced into hard circumstances. But no, there is not a great deal of development in the last two books, but what development is there is at least believable and progresses the story. Also even though I am not particularly a fan of the multiple perspective device that gets used in the latter two books, I can appreciate that the story outgrew Vaelin. Which is more than I can say about other authors that throw it in when, I can only presume, they are bored with writing from a particular characters perspective. I also believe that each character has a distinct voice, yeah there is sometimes some overlap, but they are all performing essentially the same task, fighting a war. Which, as a veteran, I truly appreciate the thoughts and feeling the characters express that Anthony Ryan captures so perfectly through the narratives.

In conclusion, Raven’s Shadow is a wonderful trilogy. Anthony Ryan captures what it means to be a combatant, and wrote a story that was far from predictable. At no point do you get bored thinking, “I know what’s going to happen, let’s just get it over with so we can move on to the next thing”, and if you do feel that way keep reading, you’re wrong. The ending may not be perfect, but it is beautiful.

Anthony Ryan once again writes an exciting and thought provoking ending to his Raven's Shadow series. The action picks up right where The Tower Lord ended and it is not long before we see the Queen's next steps in ending the war. This book provides plenty of action as well as tells the stories of several different groups all working under the Queen's design. I will say that even though the ending concludes the biggest story lines, there really needs to be a follow-up book to tie everything up. Overall, a great read!

I don't think the book was quite as good as Blood Song, but it provided a good conclusion to the trilogy, and even left room for Ryan to return to the Unified Realm later on if he so chooses. It did tend to drag in the middle a bit, similar to Tower Lord, but I enjoyed the book overall and definitely recommend it to fans of the previous installments. Don't pass it up because of reviews. After reading the book, I was way more disappointed in the one star reviews than in the book. What did they expect? I was left with lots of questions at the end, but I didn't expect a disney type ending where we find out exactly what happens to everyone involved.

I was tempted to give it 5 stars just to counter some of the bad reviews but that wouldn't be the correct review. I almost didn't read this series because of the bad reviews for the 2nd book that turned even worse reviews for the 3rd book.

I am so glad I did.

I don't understand the bad reviews at all. The writing was just as good in the 3rd book as it was in the 1st book.

I am not sure if the book just wasn't as good as the first two or if my expectations were sky high but I found myself a little disappointed with the last installment. I felt that a number of sections were rushed and the closing left a good bit unfinished.

Overall it is still a fantastic series and I am looking forward to whatever he writes next.

I was disappointed in this installment. It seemed a lot more difficult to get through than the other two. The ending was....not as satisfying or as neat as I'd have liked but that's just me. Overall a grand adventure to end it all ...

Both Queen of Fire and Tower Lord take a dramatic turn in the narrative from Bloodsong. As with Tower Lord, the story is told from multiple points of view, changing from chapter to chapter, and Vaelin is only the primary character on occasion. Because the scope of the world in Queen of Fire expands in every direction, with many of our key characters sent out on various and differing missions, the changing perspective actually works well as we go on the journey of the vengeful campaign against Volaria and the Ally.

Anthony Ryan's writing is solid, as always, and the stories blend together with Verniers' Accounts between each section, as we experienced in the first two books. You come to learn more about the flaws of all the characters while they continue to fight within themselves to be better than vengeance they desire. Queen of Fire explores more of the world outside of the Unified Realm while shedding light on the differing people of the world in a situation where they are forced to work together.

If you enjoyed Tower Lord as much as I did, you will love Queen of Fire. However, if all you are looking for is the story of Vaelin, you will be sadly disappointed. Vaelin's story is there and its important, but it is not the primary focus and Vaelin is hardly ever at the center of the primary and ongoing war.

Queen of Fire wraps up the final chapter of the Volarian/Unified Realm war eloquently... though some questions are left unanswered. Like, what happened to sister Sherin?

I've read some of these reviews and it almost prevented me from buying the book. This is nonsense the book is awesome and builds and develops the storyline impeccably. It's spans continents and 1000s of years of evil/ conflict.
Shame on those who gave the ridiculously poor reviews .....I think they must be forgeries...serious

Loved the series. Couldn't put it down though this last book felt a bit rushed maybe at the end and maybe a bit fragmented? Truthfully I read it in installments and the ending probably required an undisturbed read. Hope there's another soon!!

I've been a huge fan of this series, and started when the first book was self-published. I am so happy for the success of this author, which is well deserved. While the first two books get 5 stars, this last book was a bit of a disappointment. I felt that there were endless battles and violence, and I didn't get to spend enough quality time with the characters I've grown to love so well, especially Vaelin. It is still a very good read.

Totally confused and saddened.

I tend not to read or put much stock into customer reviews or indeed write any of my own. However after reading the final page of Queen of Fire I felt like I had to say something. What the h*ll did I just read!?

I have written out line after line on this review just to delete it all and start again, I just cant seem to able to put into words the amount of frustration I felt after putting this book down, I should have seen it coming after the second novel but I thought I would give this book a go thinking it was just a hiccup after the wonderful first novel I read.

What happened man? The first novel was a joy to read and the characters were great and you had a real sense that this series was going to be something special to read. Unfortunately it just felt like the author gave up halfway through the story or was made to finish it up and get it out by his publishers. Its a shame because it was so good.

The Queen of Fire is a major disapointment, too many times it switches POV between characters and even then the scenes being played out before those characters eyes just havent been written as well as the first book. The plot just leaves too many unanswered questions, the final scenes were a major anti-climax and it just seemed rushed.

I feel for Anthony Ryan, I genuinely believe the first novel has the makings of a fantastic fantasy series and that maybe one day he can rerelease the series the way it was meant to be. Not this hastily put together conclusion, there was more meat to the story on the inside cover than in the whole book!

I loved this series, but this was probably my least favorite of the three books. I didn't think it flowed as well as the others, and it was harder to keep track of all the characters. I also didn't think it had a strong ending. It almost seemed open-ended, as if the author were thinking of continuing the story. If he does, I will gladly read it, though. I loved this story overall and thoroughly enjoyed these books.

Like numerous other reviewers, I loved Blood Song. Unlike many, I still liked Tower Lord, although it was admittedly a notch lower. This third instalment, however, is, by far, the weakest of the trilogy on at least three counts.

One is the characterisation. Other reviewers have already mentioned their disappointment. Rather than paraphrasing them, I will just stress two points. One is that this instalment is a missed opportunity. It could have lead the author to significantly enrich and further develop his existing characters and draw an in-depth portrait of some new ones – the so-called “Ally” in particular. Instead, very little is added to any of the main characters, whether Queen Lyrna, Frentis, Reva, Vaelin or any of the other “goodies”. Worse, Vaelin, who was very much the central character of the first book and even, to a lesser extent, of the second, becomes a side show. The main cast seems to be shared between Lyrna and Reva, with a touch of competition between “the girls” and a hint of jealousy, although neither theme is really explored. Then there is brother Frentis but also the chief pirate who does seem to do much apart from posing and flirting on his ship. I will not elaborate anymore about the characters except to state that, unlike in previous episodes (and unlike the first one in particular), they lack depth and are in a rather slap-dash way. As another reviewer mentioned, only the character of Lord Verniers the historian is really up to scratch and at the same high level as in Blood Song.

Which takes me to my second and related gripe: the plot is both very predictable and rather shallow. From the very beginning, it was crystal clear, at least to me, how the book was going to end. The only surprise I had was to discover which of the hero’s friends would inevitably get killed – a bit like one of these old Westerns of the late 50s and 60s where the hero’s “best friend” gets killed – heroically, of course. So, there were few surprises and even less suspense.

One of the strengths of the first volume had been the “world building”. I was expecting to learn much about the story of Volarian, how it became an Empire, what had happened to it, and so on. At times, I got glimpses here and there, but only glimpses, as if the author could not be bothered to develop his world in further detail. This was, in fact the same impression that I had had with the characterisation. The author seems to have considered that the bare minimum would suffice.

The problem with this kind of careless approach is that you end up with implausible characters, improbable events and holes in the plot. The most implausible of all characters are the “arch-villains” – “black-as-paint evil”, as another reviewer characterised them so well. They are so excessive that they become caricatures. They seem to do just about everything stupid move they can to lose, especially the – very conveniently - mad empress whose only monotonous response seems to be mass slaughter.

As the book develops, the narrative seems to degenerate into a long succession of somewhat repetitive and implausible battles. Of course, the “goodies” always seem to win them somehow. This is despite the slave-soldiers that oppose them being portrayed as the best of the world.

So, to summarise: mostly poor (or lack of) characterisation, mostly an unoriginal plot and not much world development. I am afraid this will have to be a two star rating, as opposed to three. What a pity…

This book didn't review very well, but I liked it anyway. I thought it was just as good as the first two. It didn't focus as much on the main characters, which is a complaint of some. On the other hand it fleshed out some secondary ones. I do have some minor bitches. It's a trilogy. Either stuff happened between book two and book three or I forgot things. I read for entertainment, I shouldn't have to memorize every detail as if there's going to be a test. (Reason umpteen that I hate trilogies.) There are a lot of characters with similar and multiple names. Sometimes it's like trying to decipher s Russian novel. If you've invested in the first two books you ought to get this one just to see how it ends. (Not a very ringing endorsement I know, but......) It does end, no cliffhanger or " to be continued" thank God.

As a huge fan of the entire trilogy, I was greatly impressed with this book. The only reason it does not get five stars is because of the anti climatic nature of the ending and the fact that character endings where not fully detailed. Some of the character endings are a bit to vague for my taste. However, the pacing is incredible, truly action packed from start to finish. A great end to the series.

I am sad for the story to end but it was an amazing ride. I thoroughly enjoyed this series. The characters had depth and I could relate to them. An amazingly well told story. I will be looking into this authors other work.

Loved it! A great read. Wish there was more books perhaps - more Vaelin please..

Still room for other places for Vaelin to explore in other books maybe?

"We will make an ending" keeps rebounding in my head after reading the final pages... an end it is...

This book has a bunch of real powerful characters who keep is consistently interesting and the pages turning. The author does a good job of going from situation to situation with her heroes and "villains" and even brings suspense.

As a lover of the politics of Game of Thrones, Books 1 & 2 kept me enthralled. I needed closure in Book 3 and it was given. I would have liked a brighter future for Vaelin - he who had given so much.

f your favorite character is Vaelin Al Sorna don't read this book. He get deconstructed fast and everything about him is taken away. He loses his gift, his natural ability with a sword (he does get it back), and his confidence. Eventually he's shuffled off to the Northern Reaches to play in the snow and doesn't come back until everything interesting is over with. He is irrelevant and it seems he's only there to help fill in some back story. Do not make the mistake of hoping that he will return to what he once was. I wish he had been killed instead of destroyed.

You will never be in doubt that the bad guy will lose.

There are way too many POVs in this book. It jumps around a lot.

Here we go... For the comments I'm about to make.... In our current political environment you are not allowed to notice the things I noticed without instantly being labeled a whining patriarchal turd. I'll do it anyway. I don't care if every character in the book is female, but is their only path to power (or showing they haver power) is at the cost of men? "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong". Powerful female characters should stand on their own.

Sometime between writing Blood Song and Queen Of Fire the author attended a few feminists (the bad kind) meetings, it seems. This book is filled with many examples. A couple of women are held in such awe that being in their presence causes men to stutter and forget themselves. Men, who are knights and soldiers, trained and accustomed to war and the possibility of dying literally wet themselves under the stern gaze of the queen. Weak-bladdered men are prominent in a few other scenes, too.

One woman doesn't know how to cook, so a boy is ordered to do the cooking while she is trained to hunt. She glares triumphantly while he complains of his lineage. This woman is of course quickly and unbelievably powered-up into a deadly warrior who was instantly killing seasoned veterans to include cutting down the elite slave kuritae.

Women punch men out and not a single thing happens to them, nor is a single thing said in return.

Rapists and murderers are executed while all other criminals are conscripted into a special unit of the Realm Guard that is reserved for criminals. Rape revenge is a common thing. Rapists should die for their crimes, I agree. It just that it is very prominent and obvious that the women are empowered by the murder of their rapists, take glee in killing them, and have suddenly gained the skills to torture, murder, and ambush trained soldiers. There is mention of male slaves being killed for spurning the advances of female slavers, but this is all; no revenge, no further mention.

Women finding that they can use their gift to command snow cats step forward in eager anticipation to do so while men hesitantly hold back.

The Sixth Order.... Boys trained from a very young age who undergo grueling, unforgiving and harsh daily training to become what they are. The strict testing and weeding out of non-hackers will finally produce a holy warrior who (even as novice teenage boys) are feared by the Realm Guard. Of course, now a very modern political conversation is had about how things need to change and a women should (at a very late age minus the training) be inducted into the Sixth Order. . This of course happens and in the manner of a few short months, this person is practically the equal of Frentis, who lived a hard life on the streets before under going the full course of training and upbringing and then after spending years further honing his skills in a Volarian Death Arena. An example is given of a late life inductee in the form of insane Master Rensial who takes care of the horses for the Order; which of course makes up for it.

A male shipwright, raised from birth in the craft, is outdone by a female artist who has never once been on a boat or lifted a hammer. She designs a ship vastly superior in cost and time to build without even the most basic knowledge in any skill required to do so.

Vaelin Al Sorna loses his song and is assigned a woman who has a song, so that he can be advised.

Reva is powered up beyond the limit of my love for fantasy and suspension of disbelief could tolerate. She trained only in the knife from a young age and after a few afternoon lessons she easily becomes one of the most revered and powerful swordswomen in the Realm.

Leader of the Realm - Lyrna (Female). Leader of the Alpirian - Empress Emeren I (Female). Leader of the Lonak - Mahalessa (Female). Leader of the Seordah - (Wise) Female. Leader of the Volarians - Empress Eleverah (Female). Leader of the Cumbraelins - Reva (female).

I generally do not find fantasy entertaining, I use to read a lot of David Gemmells books and enjoyed often the simplicity of the story. I enjoyed the whole series and in fact the moment the book became available I purchased it.

This suffers the same problem as the last book of the Wheel of Time (A Memory of Light.) It seems to utterly forestall any actual character development for the sake of moving the series to a conclusion. And of course MOAR BATTLES. Particularly reminiscent was the sudden appearance of new super weapons almost out of thin air, new abilities that haven't even been hinted at beforehand, and a rather flat confrontation with the big bad that basically amounts to some talking and then, oh I guess they're done now. At least that series made you wonder what happens to the characters afterwards, with Queen of Fire, I really have very little interest in the characters that become very 1 dimensional in this final book. Plus AMOL got the gimme that it was basically jammed together from notes and prewritten sequences with most of the mess set up by the original author with finishing author not given enough books to clean it all up. This does not have that excuse, it potentially could have introduced some actual character development and made for another book, but instead it was thrown out all flat.

A lot of people didn't like the second book in this series, they grew to love the main unbeatable character from the first book who was unable to lose a fight or make the wrong decision.

The second opened the world up and I loved it as well for different reasons. The intro of new characters and the growing of old was a great next step.

This third book follows that same avenue. The world gets bigger, more history is explained and a conclusion (albeit clunky) was brought forth.

While I love Anthony Ryan's style and flow I do feel kind of cheated by how the epic was wrapped up. Almost gave a feeling that the author had writers block and just finished the last three chapters on a deadline without explaining anything.

Even still it's a wonderful series and you don't really have a choice in reading book 3.

"Blood Song" was spectacular, "Tower Lord" left much to be desired, and now "Queen of Fire" completes the decline. How can so promising a trilogy end so dreadfully? This book is all over the place with horrible plot development and terrible characterizations. I had to drag myself through it and was left feeling disgusted that I had spent so much time on such an atrocious excuse for a book. I could give example after example, but I've already spent too much time on this mess.

Not a bad ending to an action-filled series, but definitely a looooooong one. While I definitely like books with lots of action and journeys and sacrifices and powerful ladies (looking at you, Illian!), I thought this book was waaaaay longer than it needed to be. There were some points were I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. Plus, some of the characters took some surprising tonal shifts that made me question what they were doing. I was okay with most of the character deaths, but there was, however, a character death that I thought was completely unnecessary and came out of left field. I wish there had been more focus on the magic and mythology, but it was still a mostly rewarding finale. It was great for someone looking to tackle a huge, epic fantasy with intense action and good characters.

Queen of Fire is the weakest of the three books. There were so much wars and constant battles with no real plot progression, only that they were getting closer to Volar. I know the name of the book is Queen of Fire, which implies that Lyrna should be the focus of the story, but her storyline was weak. As a matter of fact, everyone's besides Vaelin's story line felt meaningless. The multiple point of view does not work well in this book. It should have focused on Vaelin and gave more substance to the background of the Ally. Tower Lord was written in different POV out of necessity. Whereas QOF really didn't need it.

After reading the whole trilogy, I felt a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the story I felt was overall good, but it seems the story changed. Alot of things that seemed important in the beginning weren't. In Bloodsong, the rift between the different Orders was made to seem like it was going to play a bigger role. There was a meeting and one of the guys who was in the Order charged to hunt deniers basically voted himself to Aspect (forget the guy and name of the order). That arc went no where because the guy died offscreen in Tower Lord. They never really explained much about Nersus Sil Nin other than what's in Book II. The Lonak, the black concoction, and the Mahlessa is still a mystery and not expanded upon from whats in Book II.QOF definitely could have benefited from going back to one POV and fleshing out the background of some of the more ancient characters. I did hear something that there could be more books written in this universe and the ending definitely left room for it. Weaver is going to be the ultimate bad guy in the next trilogy set in this universe...I'm calling it.

I didn't like it. Thus the 2-star rating. The book was split into five sections each starting with a blurb of Verniers' Account in the same way the author did in Tower Lord. I didn't have a problem with this. However, it didn't do much for me either. Never has. I could care less about Verniers! And each of the sections was filled with one or more point-of-view (POV) chapters: Vaelin al Sorna, Reva Mustor, Lyrna al Nieren, Frentis, and Alucius al Hestian. I was a fan of the author's book Blood Song which did not use POV chapters. I don't like the POV chapter way of organizing a book. The chapters for Frentis and Alucius in the book being reviewed could have easily been left out and there would have been no loss to the story. Another bummer, Reva was not as cool in this book as she was in Tower Lord. And I didn't appreciate Lyrna reverting back to her nasty ways from Blood Song.

The author creates too much new in this book. As a result, it's not a page-turner. There are many new characters – so many the author felt it necessary to include an appendix to help the reader keep track of who was who. And a few of the critical names he leaves out of the appendix. Totally unfair!

The reader is kept in the dark for much of the book regarding who or what is really controlling the Volarian Empire (VE). Does the ruler of VE have an ally, or is The Ally the puppeteer of the VE? Since I didn't really know what was going on I had no reason to really care. Thus, this “keeping secrets” didn't really cause me to turn the pages any faster.

The critical POV chapters in this book were Vaelin's. And if you list all the chapter titles under their respective section headings, then you will see the Vaelin chapters are light in the book's early sections and heavy in the later sections. This organization of the chapters forces the reader to find the book slow in the beginning and picking up speed in the end. Unfortunately it didn't pick up all that much speed in the end because I had to read slow to understand who The Ally was, what he could do, what he was doing, and how he could ultimately be done away with. 2 stars!

One of my all time favorite fantasy. The book is a third in the series and a good rebound from the mediocre second installment. The first book was one of the best ever in this genre, and this one rises to the challenge and produces a satisfying conclusion to one war and a promise of a next war brewing. Great characters, great interaction, great battles and adventures, great read.

This book was terrible. written mostly in every other side characters perspective with only 14 chapters dedicated to Vaelin. I do not care what happens with alucius, frentis, or half the other useless static characters that could have been mostly killed off without changing much of the story. Only 14 chapters dedicated to what was the hero of the entire story out of a 700 page book... are you kidding me??? This author completely destroyed a great story by pretending to be George R. R. Martin.

Seriously avoid this book like it has the plague. completely ruined the entire series for me.

An apt conclusion to the Raven's Shadow trilogy. You won't be disappointed. Follow the lives of Vaelin, Lyrna, Alornis, Reva, Frentis, and all the rest as they battle the Volarian empire, along with its dark leader, the Ally.

The first two books in the series were incredible Well written with an intriguing plot and excellent character development I devoured each one. However, I can barely finish the third book. Boring sums it up well. I will finish it only if I don't find a better read.

While the first two books provided much more intrigue and were probably a little more entertaining as they introduced new characters and new places. This book provides the type of closure many books often forget. They don't just dot I's and cross T's they answer the questions you've had from the beginning and even provide room for more! I hope you keep writing books about Vaelin! Thank you, Anthony Ryan!

Greatly anticipated 3rd book in his trilogy - I just started reading it, so I still have high hopes. It has to be better than the 2nd book, which was a real let down after the 1st - I will keep an eye out for anything Ryan writes in the future.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series. It reminded me somewhat of Patrick Rothfuss's Name of the Wind, which is high praise as it is my favorite book! What I liked about the first book- the character-focused and -driven plot, the relatable characters- was completely missing from this book. Vaelin's chapters got fewer and farther between and suddenly the series wasn't about him any more. I didn't feel connected to any characters any more. Vaelin's relationship with Dahrena was not really relatable, because you barely get to read about her from his perspective. When you do, it is almost like he mentions it in passing. So when she died, I did not feel very sad because you really did not see much of their relationship at all. Throughout this entire book, I felt I could no longer connect with the characters. The entire first half actually bored me. I almost did not finish it. I think the story got quite larger in scope than the author could handle and, as a result, the personal touch and relateability with the characters you had in the first book was almost completely lost as so much of the book had to be spent on resolving the consequences of these world issues. The major villain- the Ally- was defeated quite easily in my opinion. It was very anticlimactic. The end of the book also seemed somewhat unresolved. I felt like I would have liked to see a more descriptive resolution other than the good guys win and Vaelin is the hero but is sad and alone.

The conclusion to the trilogy. Its another massive tome of 700 pages in small font making it hard to read.
On the one hand you want things to reach a climax but that would spell the end of the story so at other times you do not wish the tale to stop, but stop it did. Not the huge climax one would have expected, but good enough.
I guess its a lot to ask for, for the action to continue for another 700 pages, but it was exciting enough and a little hard to put down. Its not as gripping as the previous books but maybe I've read them all too close together and should have given it a rest.
Burned up most of a lazy Sunday for a good action read though.
I'll be seeking out more from this author.

This is just not a good book. It's slow, boring, and tedious reading. I feel betrayed. To market this book as a sequel to 'Blood Song' is really almost a bait and switch tactic. I'm truthfully shocked that publisher decided to print this and mass distribute it. I still have no idea what I just read. I'm waiting for the publisher to come out and say someone else finished writing this trilogy and they just still used Anthony Ryan's name as the author. That is really the only logical explanation I can come up with as to why we have been subjected to this book. So much is going on that makes NO sense..... and it never does make sense, because it's never explained. That's one of the more frustrating parts here. I trudged through this, hoping, praying that we would get some semblance of satisfying conclusions. I trudged for nothing. Dunno what else to say....

Anthony Ryan’s apocalypse is caused by a spirit already dead, the Ally, who is preparing for his return with other dead who have take over the minds of the living. They rule the Volarian Empire built on slavery. In the last tale, The Tower Lord (paper), the Volarians used treachery to conquer the United Realm. But Lyrna, the Queen of Fire (hard from TOR) wants not only to recover her country, she also wants to conquer Volarian and put an end to the Ally. A whole fleet has to be built, along with an army, but the whole world is at stake. The new Empress of Volaria is a body shifter and willing to kill her own citizens if they displease her. Battles, individual and group make for an exciting adventure. Add in the minor talents that can shift a battle and you have in interesting background. This is a solid ending to a fun series. Review printed by Philadelphia Weekly Press

I cannot believe that this book was written by the same author as Blood Song. The second book barely had Vaelin in it and i found myself skipping all of Reva's chapters a character I did not care about at all. What bothered me the most in Queen of Fire is that the author nerfed Vaelin by getting rid of his power instead of introducing a powerful antagonist that could challenge him at 100%. As a previous reviewer said the author further diminished the power of the blood song by having characters who were as good as Vaelin without the power (Reva and the Frentis). This is probably the most disappointing series I have ever read with the demon cycle coming in close second at the wasted potential. Where the first book was absolutely amazing and then the quality went downhill in the sequels. I now have to pretend that Blood Song is a stand alone and book 2 and 3 don't exist.

I am writing this review after the fact. I have just completed Queen of fire, the last 2 audiobooks in this series I had to wait impatiently for, on hold from my library. All I can say in awe of this trilogy is it is the best of its kind I have ever read. & I have been reading at least 3 books a week since I was 9 (54 now) Anthony Ryan is a amazing story teller, lore weaver, mythology creator, world builder & character god.....words can't even express the range of emotions I've experienced thru this Trilogy. I am only deeply saddened it's over please reconsider☹️ & continue this story

Loved it. Hope there is another trilogy in the works. Where does Vaelin goes next? To find his first love, Sister Sherin? And if he heads there will he run into his teacher of the song - Ahm Lin? Ahm Lin did say his song held no note of farewell and thought they might meet again. This last book only left me wanting for more so I'm reading the series agsin

This book was an absolute mess! Like everyone else, I thought Blood Song was an incredible book, Tower Lord was pretty bad, but this book was tedious. The last half of the book felt like it was all over the place. There were no clear rules to any of the magic systems and felt very contrived. Vaelin was completely neutered and had nothing compelling about him. Frentis became a lot more interesting. At times when I was reading about Lyrna or Reva, I felt like it was difficult to tell them apart if I forgot who's chapter it was. All of the side characters felt very similar and I struggled to remember who was who. I don't think I'll ever buy another Anthony Ryan book again.

Raven’s Shadow Series Review

Looking at the number of dislikes that positive reviews for Tower Lord and Queen of Fire have garnered, I probably am setting myself up for a drubbing by giving Anthony Ryan’s trilogy a 5 star rating. The obvious general consensus is that this series took a nosedive after book 1. Nevertheless, I really liked the series, and wish to articulate why. Hopefully this review will prove worthwhile even to those who disagree with my assessment.

I’ll start with a point of agreement I share with most readers: Books 2 and 3 are not as impressive as Ryan’s glorious debut. However, I consider these later novels better than advertised. Only Blood Song merits a 5 star rating, but I’m comfortable giving TL and QoF 4 stars each. Of course, one might fairly ask how I could defend a 5 star rating for a series whose later entries are admittedly slightly diminished.

The answer is that although Blood Song serves as strong standalone tale, Ryan also articulates a distinctive point of view that fully emerges only through reading the entire trilogy. I find this point of view commendable and humane, and it gives the trilogy a cohesion and a saving grace which ensures that-to me at least-the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Through his treatment of the Volarians and their partnership with the Ally, Ryan criticizes a society that has eradicated religious beliefs in order to pursue power without restraint. Such a society as portrayed by Ryan is hyper-exploitative, both internally and externally, and evinces inner rot. Even the higher-ups prove unhappy slaves; Ryan’s characters Fornella and “The Woman” are wonderfully rendered cautionary examples of a particular mindset that readers might recognize in our own increasingly secularized society.

The threat presented by the Volarians & the Ally to the Unified Realm and its neighbors is existential, and must be overcome. The situation helps bring about greater cooperation among disparate religious groups that have often been quite hostile to each other. Ryan, who demonstrates rich sympathy for a variety of points of view, utilizes this common challenge to articulate a positive vision. Ryan is clearly a fan of religious tolerance and mutual understanding/appreciation, and this trilogy at times reminded me of an old saying Joseph Campbell was fond of quoting: “Truth is one, sages speak of it by many names.” Many characters from different religious traditions in this series are clearly empowered and sustained by their cherished beliefs as they suffer and strive. Religion “works” for its adherents in a practical sense. And behind it all is a mysticism Ryan hints at through certain especially wise characters that both ennobles and delimits the various creeds and dogmatic formulations which serve as approaches to, but but do not entirely capture, reality. Religion may be “true,” but there is no “one true religion.” Such a knowing, ecumenical outlook is certainly compatible with participation in particular faith traditions. Interestingly enough, the longest lived character in the series, Erlin, who has experienced more and seen more than anyone, is ultimately content identifying with his inherited faith.

Raven’s Shadow’s generally pro-religious outlook comes with plenty of nuances and qualifications. Consider some of Ryan’s protagonists. Vaelin’s personal experiences lead him (unlike Erlin) to a clear-eyed abandonment of formal religion. Nortah and Sherin are characters guided by their faith who lose their status and their roles in society because they oppose despicable political and military actions cynically "justified" in the name of the faith. Erlin spends a lot of time protecting individuals persecuted by his own faith. Reva struggles to reconcile the religion that retains an inner claim on her with religiously taboo personal desires she similarly cannot escape, and also struggles with the fact that she tells religious lies that cost many lives in order to further a good cause. And Lyrna and Verniers seem naturally and contentedly areligious. So, Ryan does not shy away from confronting what he considers problematic aspects of religion, seems to hint that certain religious stances might be in need of reform, and is sympathetic to non-religious characters. Despite all this, though, Ryan presents the Volarians’ power hungry attempt to eradicate religion as a threat to genuinely human life. Perhaps this series’ outlook might be best described as anti-anti-religion.

Ryan strikes me as a writer who appreciates and is fond of human differences and cultural variety. And if I may be excused a bit of political editorializing, he has a much more tolerant outlook than many self-styled contemporary champions of diversity who really seem interested in stamping out genuine diversity and religious pluralism and replacing it with a monochromatic secularism enforced by enhanced governmental power.

To sum up: this trilogy consists of a great first book, two fairly solid and entertaining follow-ups, and a world view threaded into the larger story that seems thought provoking, humane, and timely. I really enjoyed it.

This review acknowledges but does not dwell on the fact that books 2 and 3 are, considered individually, lesser works than the debut. Setting aside the question of intrinsic quality, books 2 and 3 also violate some of the “ground rules” Ryan seems to lay down in Blood Song. (I’m thinking especially about how the time commitment and difficulty involved in becoming a top notch warrior we see in book 1 is conveniently set aside in the later volumes.) I can certainly understand why one might naturally focus on declining quality and/or inconsistency when evaluating this series, and am reconciled to the fact that my 5 star rating for Raven’s Shadow will always be a minority viewpoint. I merely wish to provide food for thought. However, regardless of whether or not one thinks that Ryan “lost his way” over the course of this series, the not uncommon notion that Ryan surrendered his artistic integrity after book 1 to rake in money with some quick sequels seems misguided to me. Anthony Ryan attempts a major statement through this trilogy.

Not nearly as bad as most of these other reviews make it out to be. Seems like most of the other reviewers are just disapointed b/c theres no super Vaelin doing super-Vaelin things. A lot better than most of the other fantasy out there this year, probably one of the top 3 or 5 books I've read this year.

Blood Song is by far and away one of the best epic fantasy books of our time. I think that is why readers have held Tower Lord and Queen of Fire to such high expectations. Blood Song was so good, that it would be next to impossible for the author to live up to our expectations. I get that, at first I was a little disappointed as well, but after re-reading them over and over I can appreciate how epic and complex the Raven's Shadow universe is.
If Queen of Fire was a stand alone book, it would have been amazing. If one can read it with a little bit of an open mind, the writing is beautiful and a lot of pieces fall into place. I would like to go out on a limb here and say that most of the negative reviews would have been tempered if Vaelin didn't lose his song and if he was reunited with Sherin and their child. I feel like she must have had Vaelin's baby, otherwise how could she be so content? Their love story is so brief but so emotional and moving at the same time, it is a travesty to me that they did not end up together.
Thank you Anthony for 3 incredible books and good luck with The Waking Dragon, part way through and totally love it!!

***Spoiler alert***
I think there is a big discrepancy -
Queen Lyrna uses the concoction on the arasai during the fight near the temple by spraying them from afar. However later in the book Kyrai uses exactly two drops to bring forth the ally saying something like one drop to purge, two to bring forth. That's the first time I heard that the liquid could bring forth the ally. If this was the case why didn't the arasai become possessed by the ally.

I've listened to the audiobook so please ignore any misspellings.

The only thing I don't like about this is ... that this concludes the story arc that began with Blood Song. I think people that are hating on this and Tower Lord would rather of seen a continuation of Vaelin Al Sorna's point of view and nothing else. To anyone who loved Blood Song and continued on with Tower Lord should ignore these 2.5 star reviews and GET THIS BOOK. This series was a great read, it's nice to see a good fantasy story and world fully developed and not seeing almost all the characters you get attached to get killed in terrible & horrible ways (Game of Thrones anyone?) I only hope that one day Mister Ryan will revisit this world with Vaelin, Reva, and Frentis with new stories and new evil to fight. If not ... this was a good ending to the story.

Terrific ending to an exciting trilogy. The writer balances all the various character's stories adeptly, adding just the right amount of complexity to create zero drag on the plot. Frentis' story is the best of the bunch, providing the most punch and heart. All the main characters are well rounded, and the consistent battle action is efficiently written.

Wow - I think this is a FANTASTIC book - maybe the best of the trilogy. I read a LOT, maybe 3-4 books a week. And I just could not put this one down - well, let me amend that, I put it down because I wanted to delay completing it! And I can count the number of books I have felt that way about on the fingers of one hand.

There are a lot of strong women and their roles that are more emphasized in this last book - and maybe that is not appealing to some folks. I thought it was great.

Just a great, great book.

This hurts as I discovered Blood Song when it was a self published book. I have read it through four times and loved it. The second book I though was very well done though felt like a bit of a tonal change. The issue here is this was a rushed book to wrap up a lot to finish a trilogy. Major characters die and it had no effect on me. I didn't care. There are comments made in the earlier books or things set up that never happen. Not sure Mr. Ryan knew were the book was going this felt a bit slap dash. In the end I forced my way through. Its a fast paced book but it felt like work reading it. It feels like there could be more to the story. Maybe things he wants to revisit but after two books I adored I just sat there going man this isn't good. I went on the store after finishing to see if I was crazy but it seems everyone agrees. Lacked the heart and just felt rushed

Queen of Fire is the third and final book in the Raven's Shadow series by Anthony Ryan. Blood Song, book one, and Tower Lord, book two, should definitely be read first. If you haven’t had the chance, start there. They are remarkable epic fantasies.

Queen Lyrna awakes to find she is miraculously healed through the power of one of the Gifted. Realizing these people are to be valued, not put to death as wielders of the Dark, she rescinds the old law at an assembly of her supporters and her newly unified army. There, she rallies her people to march to Varinshold and retake the Unified Realm's capital from the Volarian invaders, seeking justice for the death and torture inflicted upon them through the malignant machinations of the Ally . Lady Governess Reva Mustor, has warily accepted the mantle of Blessed Lady by the masses and makes plans to lead a contingency of her own to join the Queen's crusade. Meanwhile Frentis and his group of fighters also make for Varinshold, continuing on their quest to retake cities lost to the Volarian invasion along the way. Frentis is haunted by dreams of his former master, the woman who through a dark binding forced him on a rampage of murder that culminated in the assassination of King Malcius and his family and the horrific burning of Lyrna. He is well aware that when he reaches Varinshold and the Queen, he will face judgment for the crimes he committed, albeit against his will. Vaelin, the queen's Battle Lord, receives instructions to seek the Song of a man who cannot die, to learn the true nature of the immortal Ally in order to defeat him and bring balance back into the world. Since he no longer has a Song of his own, he must now rely on the aid of other Gifted to find the answers he seeks and his mission takes him on a hazardous journey far to the east. All paths are fraught with peril and bloodshed and ultimately lead to a final showdown at the great arena in Volar with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance.

Finishing Queen of Fire, the epic conclusion to Anthony Ryan's high fantasy trilogy, left me with a mixed bag of thoughts and feelings. Truth be told, I was slightly let down. Not because it was a bad book, or had a bad ending but because by the conclusion, many of the characters didn't matter to me. They seemed to have lost their heart and soul. Part of the problem was that there were so many characters that I had a hard time keeping track of who I was reading about. I understand why multiple POV's were introduced; the scope of this novel necessitated it. But when they died or suffered I felt no connection or loss. They failed to matter to me. Another problem was the war itself. Ryan did a fantastic job of describing the brutality and waste of human life that is war, but after a while it became business as usual. The shock value was lost to me, and so it seemed, to some of the story's characters.

That being said I was truly impressed with the novel's complexities and Ryan's masterful orchestration of its considerable characters and events. I loved the complicated relationship between Frentis and the horror show of a woman who was once his master. Their connection through dreams ranged from uncomfortable to perverse, but ultimately it was inspired. I found Queen Lyrna's inner dialogue fascinating as she experienced the power rush of her newly minted monarchy. I also really enjoyed Reva's story arc, and her character's strength of will and legendary fighting skills kept me rooting for her. On the other hand, I was disappointed that Vaelin, the darling of Blood Song, who after being sent out to the frozen wastelands to discover more about the Ally, became simply another ensemble player.

However, even with all my complaints I still think it's quality reading. Anthony Ryan will draw you into the world he created and it will hold you in its thrall. Ryan truly is a brilliant writer; Vaelin will always remain high on my list of favorite all-time literary characters. I would definitely recommend the series to lovers of high fantasy although, at 637 pages for this book alone, be prepared to invest a good chunk of time. I am truly looking forward to reading more from Anthony Ryan in the future.

It felt rushed and had to many point of views for no reason. The strenght of the first novel was the focus on 1 character and seeing his life unfold. I feel that Ryan's switch from this kind of fantasy to a big Epic fantasy just did not work. It might have worked if he had decided to write 6 book but with 2 (not counting first book in there since it is completely different) it just doesnt work and doesnt leave room for anything but a headlong rush to the finish that he had decided on. This whole book felt rushed and was jumping from point to point without any character development. This review has 3 stars because the writing itself remains very engaging. Here's to hoping that the next book from Mr. Ryan will have a different focus and that he will take the time to give us a book worthy of his talent.

Blood song was a fantastic novel. It folled the view of one person, and was a very coherant exciting read. So all of us waited with anticipation for tower lord which added views from several people. Al Sorna stopped being a hero here and just became some sword carrying general. He did not think for himself and that is where the disappointment starts. Hero becomes lacky. Then comes queen of fire. Now its everybodys point of view, dashing around the pages marching, killing. Marching, killing. Marching some more. Killing. All described in tedious detail. They end the ally, everybody says cool...and the book ends. ???? Makes me wonder if he will attempt to continue al sorna's tale, and if it will be worth reading if he does. This book is cluttered. That is the best way I can describe it. Marching and hacking. Sad.

For your adventure-fantasy reading pleasure add Queen of Fire to your summer-fall reading list. Make sure you read book 1 and 2 first because Queen of Fire picks up where Tower Lord left off. If you are in the habit of reading reviews before purchase, I strongly advise that you disregard the negative reviews found here. The truth is Queen of Fire is a 4-5 star read – bar none. I think the author of Queen of Fire is one of the best in his category. His battle scenes are explicit, personal and detailed to the point where you’ll be sweating the scene with the character. You’ll find yourself going back and re-reading the fight scene again to make sure you didn’t miss anything. But I must admit that due to the negative reviews, I kept searching the book for something obvious and confusing to pop up. All I found were well constructed scenes, well placed humor and memorable quotes. If you’re like me, chances are we like the same books and pine for more high quality and diverse authors to enter the adventure-fantasy arena. Queen of Fire was and still is on my top 10 reads for this year. I sat and waited for its release and now I am sorry I read those negative reviews and delayed buying it the first week.

The truth is the negative reviewers do have a right to their opinion, but they shouldn’t use it to needlessly harm others. Again, Queen of Fire picks up where Tower Lord left off. Also, I just can’t get over the notion that most must have skimmed over the book in an effort to get paid, proffer the beliefs of an obscure religious cult or obtain hits for a blog by stirring controversy. I really don’t have an answer for why some of them wrote what they did and made such an effort to diss an adventure-fantasy book. Maybe they mistook Queen of Fire for a political treatise. Whatever the case, I do know from experience that errors happen in judgment when you hold deep seeded prejudices then read a book that may trigger a few of them. For the record, I was not paid. I read the book for the purpose of enjoying an adventure - fantasy read while commuting.

Now let’s talk about why you would enjoy the book and the series. Queen of Fire is the culmination of a great personal journey for Vaelin, Lyrna, Reva, Frentis and Venier. In book one, Blood Song, we meet an emerging adult named Vaelin through the eyes of Venier. A lot happens, but Venier chronicles a very important part of the emerging adult Vaelin’s story – Vaelin kills a people’s living Hope! In book two, Tower Lord, each of our young adults meet-up with horrific odds that will have you up all night trying to identify the real enemy! Naturally, through suffering our heroes stop and question their lives and religious beliefs. They also find love in unconventional and strange places and with unlikely persons. Like the others, Vaelin suffers his own horror when he loses his mojo – the same mojo he used to kill Hope (Good Morning Alabama!). He too begins to question his life’s purpose and religious beliefs. In Book 3, Queen of Fire, we find our heroes overcoming challenging odds, evolving, maturing and applying a steady focus on learning about and defeating a ruthless, obscure enemy thus saving their world. Like the others, through love Vaelin recovers, learns to carry on, find wins without his mojo, embraces the path of normal men, and learns what it means to have … (must I spell it out?).

If you like adventure - fantasy books that have a lot of action, blood, guts, and a clear moral to the story, you will like Queen of Fire. And, if you like those types of stories where the heroes and their friends don’t often emerge alive or untouched by their choices or circumstance, this series is for you. Just remember to read Book 1 and 2 first because Queen of Fire picks up exactly where Tower Lord left off. Again, the book is well written, worthy of a 4-5 rating and I highly recommend the series to average, commuting to the day job, adventure-fantasy fanatics like me.

I'll be waiting for Anthony Ryan's next book!

There hasn't been a book, lately, that made my heart break, or made me cry for the characters. This one did. I would have given it the full 5 stars, if it weren't for the very long, very thorough battle scenes. I found myself putting the book down to find something else to do. They're very well written, and crucial enough not to miss, they're just apparently not my cup of tea.

Blood Song is one of my all time favorite books. It had a brilliant story, it was well told, developed at the perfect pace, great character development and interactions, and a character you fell in love with.

The second book was not as good. For me, too much time on other characters that, while interesting, just weren't as charming or charismatic. But it was still a good book that moved the story forward at a good pace.

This conclusion felt like an OK fan fiction. Didn't even feel like the same writer. It felt rushed... very rushed. Too many loose ends were tied up, and we were just told about it after the fact. I was really looking forward to this book, but I feel he should have said, "screw the deadline".

I will continue to recommend Blood Song as one of my favorite books, but with the caveat that they may want to think of it as a solo novel.

I can't remember ever being so thoroughly disappointed in the ending of a book series. The contrast between the first and last book in this series is extraordinary. The first flowed wonderfully and was completely engaging. The last was disjointed, obscure and annoying. The ending was unfulfilling and left so many loose ends as to make one wonder if the author just got sick of telling his own story. What a waste!

What a BUMMER!!

It was not a bad read, but nowhere close to being good. After reading the "Tower Lord" I was hoping, but didn't expect the same feel that the “Blood Song” had, but I did think the author would've given us a better ending to this trilogy.

It felt like somebody switched the author out for TL and TQOF books. All of he main characters lost their original voices and became empty shells of their former likable selves. Only to be replaced by FAR too many new characters with mediocre personas.

I really enjoyed the first two books but this book brought the series to a close on a definite low note. The main character in the first two books, the character that I grew to like, was basically rendered a bystander to other plotlines by the end of this book; this book could have, without too much effort, been written without Vaelin even being an active character.

I thought the 1st book in the series was great. Loved it. Left me wanting more. The 2nd book was OK but a let down compared to the 1st book, same thing with this book. Ugh. I love multibook series, but I have been struggling to finish this one....

I can't actually say that I give this a full three stars because iI was truly disappointed with the story.
I truly fell in love with the blood song novel and truly liked Tower Lord but was truly disappointed with the lack of explanation or closure on the books.
another thing is I wonder if you can consider Vaelin the main character anymore as Frentis seemed more important and Vaelin only seemed to be there to torture and Lyrna is completely changed in character for the worse.
basically we get no closure and only more questions unanswered anything that seemed like a foreshadowing in the other books was disregarded and just seemed hastily put together with no thought in it.

Most disappointing . Blood Song was amazing, The Tower Lord not so much but a decent read nevertheless but Queen of Fire is nothing but a drag. Its like another person has written this book. The characters are dull and uninteresting.The ally was a most disappointing villain. I honestly felt tired and bored a few chapters into this book like I have taken a trip through a dull,grey landscape and it does not get any better.

I absolutely loved book one of this series, I liked book two a great deal. Sadly book three lost all of the magic. I could hardly finish it. I hope Mr. Ryan continues to write. I just hope he has looked at these reviews and learned something.

I don't know what to say ... Anthony Ryan is a fantastic writer, but after finishing Queen of Fire, I think he may have bit off too much with story line. Too many characters that I had a hard time caring about and the "Ally" plot grew worse and worse as the book went on. I will read the first book of his next series and decide from there if I will continue, but this only worth reading if you have a burning desire to finish the series.

What a conclusion!! If you have read many of the other reviews and still aren't sure about reading this novel. It is worth the time, and yes it may start off slow, but understand when you are gathering information and resolution to avenge the empire that brutally abused your people, it would take some time to move the players across the world.
Often we look for novel series that come in threes to conclude with a bang and leave us pining for more from the characters. This isn't one of those series. That doesn't mean that you can't get some enjoyment from it though. There was a lot of things that had to happen to conclude this. Anthony Ryan was able to do that. I liked this finish. The story was a little slow at the start, but half way through it really moved to the end.

It is tough to give a 2 star rating to this book. I honestly wanted to give more as there were passages where the author's writing really came through. However, there were too many passages where the author could not deliver. I really liked Tower Lord even with the generally negative reviews. This book however was a significant step down.

I wasn't ready to comment on these books until all 3 have been out and I have the time to read through thoroughly. I hesitated in buying the 3rd book (had the first 2 in hardbacks) because of the bad reviews, so I borrowed it from a friend. I liked the 1st book even though it is kind of clichéd, especially the growing up and training. I really liked the 2nd book as we got to see the characters being developed and some of the plots clarified. Unfortunately, with the 3rd book everything went downhill; it is as if the author himself lost interest and thought of no way to finish the series. So he started killing off major characters abruptly or hardly mentioned them. When the book ends, so much was left unsaid or un-concluded that I started asking whether it was Anthony Ryan's intention to prolong the said 3 book series or was it just that he lost interest. What a disappointment with something so promising!

Loved the first two books,read them several times, so my expectations for this third book was quite high. I expected to be wowed and thrilled and all my questions answered and in only three short books, unlike GRRM , who i will die before i get all answers to questions in his book. Boy was i disappointed in this book. Nothing made sense. I found myself skipping more than reading. This stupid battle in volar was entirely too long and very very very unnecessary. Page after page after page of rambling nonsense i couldn't gove two effs about and i still dont know what anything had to do with anything. I.must admit that lryna who i never liked, i was waiting for something terrible to happen to her. Like the allys main goal was to hop into her body at the very end and she and vaelin would have an epic battle. sadly no. In my heart of hearts i hope she and vaelin never get to gether. I just hate that bitch. Another thing, whats the point of calling the ally the witches bastard when clearly we dont see how he was ever a witchs bastard. What about sherin and the baby. So many unanswered questions.

If you are home sick and you have no tv, friends or any other forms of entertainment,read this book. Otherwise dont waste your time. These are precious hours of your life you will never be able to get back.

Like a lot of the previous reviewers I found myself skipping large sections of the book and wondering what happened to the characters I started with. The ending left me questioning what happened more then it left me with a sense of completion. The series was carried by the strength of the first book.

My rating for this book is a honestly 2.5 stars, but my love for Bloodsong compelled me to round up! I am going to seriously strive not to sound like all of the other reviewers that have posted when I ask this one question: WHAT HAPPENED?!

I warn you now if you are reading this that there are some seriously spoilers in my review, but I am venting and need to get it off my chest. Be forewarned! I find it difficult to reconcile where this world and story stood at the end of Bloodsong and where it stands now. I don't want to sound melodramatic when I say I honestly feel cheated. I feel like Tower Lord and Queen of Fire diminished the magic that I felt for the world that gave us Vaelin in Bloodsong. It almost seems like Bloodsong was really just too good of a book and Ryan had trouble finding a way to adequately follow it up (sort of like Patrick Rothfuss after The Name of The Wind). I can seriously understand that notion because I (like many others) simply loved Bloodsong. It had all the elements that when correctly mixed in a Fantasy story, truly take you to a new and wonderful place you have never been before. Stories like that always leave me with a feeling like there are unseen wonders lurking in the shadows and bigger and even more incredible stories waiting to be told of that world in subsequent books. That mixture is difficult to create, but when it is done correctly in a story it elevates the story to something else entirely for me. It is truly an escape, not just an idle diversion. I think the sequels honestly suffered from that very thing. Ryan got so caught up in trying to overcompensate for Vaelin's prowess and awesomeness in Bloodsong that he decided to go the route that many epic fantasy authors always seem to go with their prophesied and too skilled protagonists, they widen the scope of the story and bring their main characters low.

We had an inkling of where the story was going when Vaelin lost his bloodsong in Tower Lord. Am I the only person who didn't understand that aspect of the story, by the way? The Ally's gifted servants return to new bodies from The Beyond with the gifts from their previous body, as well as the gifts of the new body. So why wouldn't Vaelin be the same way and still at least have his song when returned to his OWN body by Dahrena? I don't believe there was ever really an explanation for that. It was just another plot device to bring Vaelin back down to normal person status and push the plot down this weird path where other characters the reader didn't care about as much meant the same or more to the story than Vaelin did. Many parts of the story in Tower Lord and Queen of fire and the choices the author made really just baffled me. Why did Vaelin lose his Song and his certainty, other than to be a plot device that blighted the last two books? Vaelin's changes effectively changed how I viewed the world and the story. His pessimism and weariness became my own. I am okay adding points of view to a story to widen the scope, but not when if feels like you are losing the main character that made the first story great at the expense of that. It seemed like the author fell in love with some characters who most readers didn't even like and decided to tell their stories too, instead of concentrating on the characters who helped make the first book great. It felt like all our friends from Bloodsong, with the exception of Lyrna and sadly including Vaelin, took a backseat in this book (even more so than in Tower Lord).

Then we get to the weird romantic aspects of the story. I didn't mind the relationship between Vaelin and Dahrena except for the giant elephant in the room, being that Vaelin has somehow banished Sherin from his thoughts entirely after Tower Lord. Was Sherin even mentioned in once in the book except as thrown out in passing dialogue? Was she even mentioned once in one of Vaelin's too few sections of the story?! I feel like Vaelin somehow mysteriously gave up on the "love of his life" when he conveniently lost his song. He was ready to ride off into the sunset with Dahrena and get married if they lived through the war and not once even really thought of Sherin. It just sort of all felt contrived to me. Vaelin somehow became this shell of himself that had to accept his fate despite Vaelin from Bloodsong not being one to do such a thing without fighting it to the bitter end. This was all just extremely frustrating for me to read. Especially because I had to get to the end of the story in hopes of understanding what the heck was going on in the big picture.

The Ally's motive turned out be really just lame. Lyrna shows little growth by the end of the novel and is still her conniving and almost deluded self (how did she ever not stop and realize that maybe if she treated Vaelin like an actual person he might return some of her affection? It is pretty difficult to think about someone romantically when they see you as a piece on their giant chessboard. Yet Vaelin is the only one that she loves and yearns for? PSHH!) Lyrna is a Queen who isn't afraid to take her ravaged country on a war of "Justice" across an ocean and destroy an empire and kill a "god", yet she doesn't have the courage to tell the man she supposedly loves how she feels? By the end, it was all just simply too much for me! Some huge questions left unanswered, and others simply forgotten (like the blind woman who was the only being godlike enough to challenge The Ally? She is simply not mentioned again when you would think her existence would remain important).

The story felt only half told even though the trilogy was done, and what was told left me with a bad taste in your mouth. This reminded me of when I read the last book in the Inheritance Cycle and couldn't believe it was the conclusion to the story that Eragon started so well. I feel that way now, but maybe worse honestly. I truly like the author and don't want to sound so critical, yet I can't help it because of how attached I became to Vaelin and his story in Bloodsong. I honestly want to support Anthony Ryan because of the brilliance of his writing in Bloodsong, but I find myself tempted to return this book. Was it worth $13? I sincerely don't think so. I have to agree with other reviewers when they said in their reviews of Tower Lord that Mr. Ryan should not have signed with a publisher and stayed independent. The difference in quality between his independent work and his Published works are simply glaring. I hope Ryan takes the criticism to heart and gets back to the style that made hime one of my favorite authors in Bloodsong. Not every story needs to an epic fantasy that is huge in scope with multiple points of view to be good. The change in style felt forced and even the people who really liked Tower Lord and Queen of Fire will likely admit that with me. The question posed in the Epilogue about the entity in the other dimension felt like a forced opening for more books in this world and a continuation of the story. I will say now that unless any further books were to somehow to return back to the style that made the first book one of my favorite in years, then I will definitely not be buying any more books about the Unified Realm or maybe from Mr. Ryan entirely.

If any of you want to check out a book I read recently that I thought reminded me very much of Bloodsong and that I highly recommend, please check out Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw! It was a fantastic debut book by an independent author, and it had many of the same aspects that make Bloodsong one of my favorite books ever. A coming of age story that is done extremely well. Dawn of Wonder has easily been my favorite book this year so far. Check it out and help support independent fantasy authors!

Overall, I still think the series is quite good - though not on the merits of this final installment. Where did it go wrong? I suspect Ryan simply tried to accomplish too much in too short a space, in order to finish the trilogy as planned. The result feels disjointed, with all of the various characters and subplots being driven to the final, and simplistically obvious, denoument. This is definitely strange, as the author has been leaving breadcrumbs from the beginning leading to revelations made in this volume; so to finish with a series of "Spaghetti Gladiator Flick" confrontations where paragons of manhood and womanhood conquer inconceivable odds to finally face a single, one-dimensional embodiment of Evil seems disappointingly formulaic. The quality of writing is still there, to be sure, but the plot feels driven toward its own ending via battle after battle, rather than crafted in any creative manner. I was really hoping for an ending that would contain a lesson for modern humanity, perhaps re: the way we all perpetuate and participate in the very evils we denounce; but Ryan's version seems impelled by haste and fails to do justice to his creativity. I find myself wishing Ryan had decided to add a fourth book in order to do his story proper justice, rather than succumbing to the pressure of editorial deadlines or tiredness or whatever.

This is still a much better series than George Martin's vastly over-appreciated Thrones epic, and deserves to be read by anyone who admires good writing, complex subplots and nuanced themes. Had it lived up to its full potential, though, it would have been truly phenomenal.

I found myself feeling completely empty inside after I finished tis book. I have never written a review. If a book is great, I enjoy thinking about my good read many days after I finish. If a book is awful, I just let my mind wander on why the book did not live up to my expectations, and that's ok. This book goes beyond those thoughts. I feel betrayed by this crap I had to force myself to endure. If you have not read this book, stay far away.

Another series ruined by Penguin publishing. Anthony Ryan did well enough on his own, no I have a feeling he's just a poster boy for Penguin rather than the actual author.

And these 5 star one liner reviews are just seeded by Penguin.

For me, what made Bloodsong great was Vaelin and his natural affinity for honour, loyalty, and leadership. I wept for him and his brothers and worried for them. This admiration and attachment didn't carry over in the last two books, even less for QOF.

What I found lacking for each of these characters (Lyrna, Frentis, Reva, Vaelin) is that they all have no real climatic struggle to overcome. They all converge toward the war in Volar but all the obstacles are just mere speed bumps. Imagine getting through an isolated road paved with these. There's no satisfaction looking back.

Vaelin is emmasculated in this series. He seems to have been punished by the author for embracing his song. His beliefs in the Faith were shattered in Tower Lord and this, to me, was a glaring wound that never got resolved. On top of that he's around people that arent as likeable nor as friendly to him so his loyal nature isnt displayed. In fact, I found his remote loyalty to Reva off-putting. He also isnt as headstrong dealing with these other leader blowhards like Lyrna and every tribal machoman he trudged through on this tedious iceberg march.

I saw no reason for removing his bloodsong only to supplement it with another character. This new character was just a parrot and unnecessary. Because in the end he makes a crucial decision on his own gut instinct anyways. It would spare the readers from these additional characters with their sidestories. I couldnt help but notice how every new character had to be matched up with another new character like this is some cutesy vampire romance book.

There was not enough justification for Frentis to want to heal this hateful Empress near the end as well. I just wanted her dead and preferrably by the hand of Lyrna who out of all the characters this Empress wronged the most. The mild twist Frentis had made me dislike him and regret he still lived. Nothing of his ordeal in TL would hint that he'd be sympathetic. The story sufficiently made this Empress loathesome and tiresome, and unanimously plain annoying, that to have this one good guy do a slight 'hey guys, let's give her a chance' made me want to spit on him and kick him in a pit for being so stupid. With so few characters to like that seemed like a sloppy way to make him seem complex.

I missed the Lyrna from TL and thought healing her was premature. The arc with her and the Shield was intriguing but lost when she was reverted back to being pretty.

The untold story for me was between the brothers of the Sixth Order. After years of being apart, how would they reunite. How would their loyalty and friendship play out after experencing adulthood on their own. I adored Caenis and worried for his safety after Vaelin. I felt robbed, a mute witness to a brotherhood being dissolved like it never happened. In QoF, you'd never think Vaelin, Caenis, Nortah, and Frentis were inseparable friends growing up. Losing Dentos in Bloodsong was a tragic yet beautiful salute. I knew it would hurt even more to see another brother go especially since the remaining brothers are the most distinctive in the Order, yet QoF couldnt even honour that send off.

I finished this book by skimming over the last half dozen chapters. I just kept getting brainfog. All things considered, I did find the story absorbed me enough to complete it. I cant say the same for like Ender's Game where I hated the subsequent books so much I used the pages to line my dog's crate.

I loved Blood Song. Tower Lord was meh. This was a snoozefest. I couldn't keep my eyes open while reading so I quit around page 130. Nothing particularly bad here, just a boring, meandering narrative. I had high hopes for this one so I'm kind of bummed out.

Oh, how I waited for the release of this book! I checked my kindle every 30 minutes and then at 10:30 pm it had arrived. Now I wish it hadn't.
Bloodsong is one of my favorite books and I have read it several times. The characters were well defined, they had goals, passion, intellect. They were people who loved and hated, who had a past and worked toward their future. There were surprising twists and turns that kept me wanting for more.
The "more" I wanted is definitely not the "Queen of Fire" which should be renamed into "Maid of Fizzle." The conversations are inane. Most characters do not have a voice of their own, they sound so much alike that sometimes it is difficult to figure out who is speaking. Cookie-cutter gingerbread people. I am 25% through the book and I don't think I'll read the rest. So far, "Queen of Fire" has been mediocre and forgettable, which is the worst that can be said about a book.

** I did finish the book. It was ok but not in the same class as Bloodsong.

I have to say that I am somewhat confused by all these negative reviews on here and ashamed that I allowed them to keep me from reading this book for so long. And no I'm not a fanboy nor have I ever been of any author whatsoever. So please believe me when I say that the reviews here on the store aren't accurate and seem to be written by very ignorant people.

This book is certainly not what blood song was, it's more the same of book two but the author has created such a big story that covers a huge area so he had to use multiple POVs to give us a better understanding of the bigger picture. This book is not a bad book, maybe not as good as book one but it's still good and worth finishing the series. Plus it's a really cool concept. If you've read the other two don't listen to these bad reviews, read this book. It's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.

I found the bad reviews to be highly misleading. The book continued the excellence that I saw in both Blood Song and Tower Lord, as welling as adding in some well done complexities. Full review at: https://quilltolive.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/queen-of-fire-an-explosive-end-to-a-great-trilogy/

I could only bring myself to give this book one star. The only redeeming quality is his writing ability. The story is a solid one star! Thats not even when comparing it with Blood Song. There are enough long reviews that go into detail about the problems I had with this book. Anyone who gave this book a 5 star or even a 4 star review is kidding themselves. I can see how you maybe could get three stars if you were including the trilogy as a whole. It was just a downhill slope since blood song. But after the amazing original book, what could we really expect?

Anthony Ryan has to be a really good writer to get so many of us to read around 2,000 pages and then be so passionate in the reviews. I found Blood Song to be slow as he built his world, but by the end I was hooked. I am really glad I kept reading. Queen of Fire moves right along, chapters alternating among the characters as the war progressed. Lots of magic and good versus evil. I think Mr. Ryan left enough future for some of the characters to do another book if he so chooses. From the passion expressed by so many reviewers, we will be happy to learn more about our hero and see where life takes him next. There are some huh? moments, maybe even the end of the bad guy. I'm never happy when some of the good guys die, so beware, some do. Spoiler: Vaelin doesn't.

This series is a must read for fans of the fantasy genre. Please read in order. Due to the time delay I ended up reading book one and two again and it was worth the extra time. While the the first was the best of the series the third and final book in the series ties everything together and was an enjoyable read.

Overall I very much enjoyed this series but this was perhaps the weakest in the trilogy. This was the payback story as a new Queen comes to know what it is to rule and to take a war to an enemy. As with the previous book there is no pre-amble or summary, you jump straight in and it would have been of benefit to have a little reminder. This takes a while to warm up as the initial pace is slow and you are trying to remember who is who. Again we follow a number of different elements and people before it all comes together. Some interesting aspects are explored but not quite followed through, one minute Her Magesty is ruthless and the next all soft and understanding. There were hints that she was turning into what she was fighting against, but that is not realy followed through either.
We have moved a long way from the Warrior Monks of the first book, through conspiracy and exposure of those with 'gifts' but the story is resolved and most characters change during the final book and we leave them with the consequences of what they have done and endured.
Like I said, I really enjoyed the series, but this final book perhaps tried to do too much and in the end didn't quite do enough.

Overall I very much enjoyed this series but this was perhaps the weakest in the trilogy. This was the payback story as a new Queen comes to know what it is to rule and to take a war to an enemy. As with the previous book there is no pre-amble or summary, you jump straight in and it would have been of benefit to have a little reminder. This takes a while to warm up as the initial pace is slow and you are trying to remember who is who. Again we follow a number of different elements and people before it all comes together. Some interesting aspects are explored but not quite followed through, one minute Her Magesty is ruthless and the next all soft and understanding. There were hints that she was turning into what she was fighting against, but that is not realy followed through either.
We have moved a long way from the Warrior Monks of the first book, through conspiracy and exposure of those with 'gifts' but the story is resolved and most characters change during the final book and we leave them with the consequences of what they have done and endured.
Like I said, I really enjoyed the series, but this final book perhaps tried to do too much and in the end didn't quite do enough.

I am in a dilemma of giving it 1 star or 3 stars.... as other said you want and hope that this book was great and as good as the first book... but sadly it is not... I have no idea why anyone would give it 4 or 5 stars other than they were waiting for so long and then paid a ridiculous price for it that they are obligated to give it a great rating

I honestly wish I knew what happened from the 1st book to the 3rd book... Blood Song is in my top 10 of all time fun books to read... however that same author either had fame get to him or outsourced his writing...

Well many $ later at least the lesson I have learned is to wait for any of his next books to come out in the library or available for free reading before I buy anything from him... definitely any book after the first in a trilogy

I rated Anthony Ryan's writing as "great", which I think it can be. As with the rest of the reviewers, I loved Blood Song...I liked Tower Lord very much, too. I didn't mind the different POV's as the characters were all over the place. This one was a very big disappointment. I haven't finished it yet. If there is a chance for a #4, I hope Mr Ryan takes heed to the reviews...

After a second reading of all three in the series, I have to revise my comments about the "Queen of Fire". I enjoyed it so much more the 2nd time around. And will definitely read them again....I may upgrade it to a 4 star review by then!!

I wasn't thrilled with the format. Telling the story one characters' viewpoint at a time in chapters devoted solely to each one made it seem more disjointed than it probably could have been. Still a fan though.

I agree with the other poor reviews. This book is not good. As a long time fantasy reader I was happy to find Anthony Ryan. His first book was great - I am a bit amazed just how quickly he has gone from great to not worth reading.

I simply regret wasting my time reading this volume. There were so much promises in the first volume, I felt cheated reading Queen of fire. What a botched work. So many questions are left unanswered, the organization is poor and feels like free writing. Is it truly the same author?

The final book in the series does not disappoint. Anthony Ryan has won me over as a fan and will be a future reader of all his works. This last book and conclusion was very well done and I left very satisfied with the ending of an epic heroic fantasy medieval fantasy story. Thank you Anthony Ryan for the enjoyment.

There is no other way to describe this book except as a "bait and switch" scam!

First 2 books were about Vaelin and his growing powers. Obviously everyone loved it and rated it well, NYtimes bestseller etc etc.
So its a winning formula and then the perspective of the book changes, which is fine, but this is RIDICULOUS! There is almost nothing about Vaelin except him going on a trek across the ice and even then he does sweet F'all. I still don't get how he lost his song and why isn't there an opportunity to get it back? So I read a trilogy where the last book has practically none of the successful themes of the first 2 books, therefore it is a bait and switch scam right?

Possibly Spoilers
- The book is about a bunch of people who land on various parts of the continent and make their way to the capital and the challenges during their journey.
- They keep indicating this Queen is sinister and possibly cruel....and you keep waiting for something to manifest....(I'm still waiting and I have finished the book).
- They fought some slave owners and freed slaves. Repeat above process like 50x
- They go to the capital and fight the evil guy/girl in the most anti-climatic battle ever
- Everyone packs and goes home or goes about their own way.
The End

How frustrated i feel cannot be adequately described after reading this drivel. I really hope that they kidnapped the author and some other idiot wrote this, because there is no other feasible explanation for what we read.

This book sucked so bad it created a black hole of despair that came close to ending the universe.

Don't waste your money. I seriously wish he'd just killed off the main character in the first book and the other two had never been written.

The first book was brilliant. The last two were simply bad -- characters have become one-dimensional cardboard cutouts, the plot is tedious and frankly underwhelming. And after all of that, it's still anti-climactic. It's like the author said "scr$w it" and cashed his check. Honest to god it feels like the first book was written by someone else. Don't reward bad writing behavior by buying this book.

I am not a fan of the multiple character POV narrative style, fortunately, Mr. Ryan compensate with his simple yet elegant writing style and makes the story advance in a more or less fluent fashion (better here as in Tower Lord); nevertheless, I wish he had not swayed from his style in Blood Song. Granted that both book 2 and 3 failed to live up to the marvelous rebut, I'm satisfied with how the story is being brought to a conclusion; although, the brilliant character building Mr. Ryan previously exhibited (especially in Blood Song) was sadly missing. I have to revisit the trilogy without interruptions between the books soon and can't wait to see what Mr. Ryan comes up next.

I had trouble remembering the prior books, and this one started out too much like a Young Audience book for my taste. I stuck with it and it started to get better. Then about half way through this thing turned into a serious book! I can see why the ratings for both the print version and audible version are so high.

I'll just cut to the chase here: if you liked Tower Lord, you should like this one as well. I'm not one of those who was disappointed in the author's decision to make Vaelin share the spotlight with others; in fact I think it was necessary. There's an incredible amount of action packed into this book. There are just a couple of criticisms that I do agree with. First, I didn't like Lyrna's character in this book. And second, the cast of characters was extremely difficult to keep straight, even with the provided dramatis personae. Otherwise, a very good book.

Bloodsong is in my top 10 must read books. I don't know what happened with this progression as Tower Lord had hardly any of the action so loved in Bloodsong and this one was even more disappointing. It's truly sad when I think of how epic this story could have been based on book 1 only.

This story is well written, with interesting characters, a solid plot, and, apparently, an extremely divicive conclusion. So in case you are reading this but haven't read the other reviews yet, spoilers ahead!

Yes, the woman Vaelin loves dies. That is the nature of war, and it serves a very clear and important purpose. In order to craft sufficiently horrible, vile, and repulsive antagonists, they have to perform horrible, vile, and repulsive deeds. In order for them to be taken as a serious threat, they have to perform their vile deeds with skill and enough success that there is meaningful conflict. If the good guys always win and the only losses are minor characters, the reader loses a great deal of emotional investment in the story.

Yes, Caenis dies. And his death is glorious. No other character enjoys such a valiant, meaningful end. While the death of Vaelin's love shows us the horror of the antagonists, Caenis' death shows the valor of the protagonists.

I will concede that the explanation of the Ally is not great. As near as I can tell, the Ally was a remarkable man and a genius, given a gift with solely destructive uses. When the woman he loved died, he went crazy and decided to kill the world. The explanation of how he came to be stuck in the beyond is not great. There is no explanation whatsoever of how he became master of the beyond, and was able to snare the souls of the gifted there.

Finally, the greatest complaint seems to be that Vaelin never gets his song back. Well, ok, but what does the song really do for him? It makes him an outstanding swordsman, and it guides him to make good decisions. Even without it, Vaelin spends the story showing that he is still an excellent swordsman, and making good decisions. In fact, Vaelin is far more impressive without his song. After dropping his sword near the beginning of the book, his skill returns through hard work and training. Throughout the book, Vaelin leads his followers through danger, thwarting the Ally's plots and destroying his creatures wherever he encounters them. Hell, Vaelin's song provoked him to reckelessly charge through an army at the end of the previous book, which ultimately resulted in his death. Without his song, Vaelin actually seems to make better decisions. And that is the type of story this is: a story grounded in the recognition that even though there is magic in this world, truths based in reality still apply. Hard work and training make a good fighter, not drawing a sword from a stone or inheriting a magical trinket. Good people die in war. Good people are emotionally maimed by having to kill in war, even when that killing is both necessary and just. The characters in this book are believable because they are changed by their experiences, for good and ill, in realistic and rational ways.

This series was great. Loved all the twists and turns. I also like how each chapter followed a different person. The only drawback was that more of them weren't audio books. I do like audio books for multitasking.

It's a great book but I get why so many people are disappointed. Mild Spoilage... If you wanted to read a great book about the further adventures of Vaelin Al Sorna, this wasn't it. Vaelin is literally, in the middle of nowhere, for much of this book. The central focus is on Frentis and Reva. I found myself skimming the Vaelin parts to get to what was happening to the other characters. Even Lyrna's story was more interesting. However, Anthony Ryan is still a great writer, I found all the other characters' narratives, very compelling. I still highly recommend the book with the caveat that be prepared for a great book about Team Vaelin minus Vaelin.

I liked the book! I read all 3 of the books in about a week...maybe less. This book was better than people made it out to be. After reading the second book what did you people really expect? This book was good and it provides some wrap up to the story but its pretty obvious that the author has more to tell about the characters and the places. Anyway, if you like multiple characters points coming together to form an epic story this will fill the time nicely provided you have read the last 2 books of course.

like many reviewers, blood song was a five star book for me and quite possibly my favorite book ever. So I was sorely disappointed when tower lord came out and went well off the beaten path of what so many expected to be a continuation of Vailen's story, and instead gave us more characters and POVs, some of which people hate i.e. Reva. Anyone expecting this book to go back to being just Vailen's story was fooling themselves. While I am not finished with it, I can reasonably say this book so far is considerably better than tower lord from an action perspective and from an exploration of this created world perspective. I went into reading this knowing it was going to be more tower lord and less blood song, so with that in mind I have enjoyed it considerably so far. Give it a shot and don't be dissuaded by the one and two star reviews.

Moronic Singlemindedness People are those who rated this book less than a 4 star. The first book was solely about Vaelin and then he expanded on the characters and the world. Don't hate Ryan because he left your precious Vaelin Character and focused on more than what your mind could handle. If you only want the story to continue to follow only Vaelin, then stop and be happy with "Blood Song". But if you can handle multiple storylines, read the next two and you will be a happier person for it. Good job Ryan and continue to write!

I'm not sure why there are so many people upset with this book. Perhaps it's because it's not all done in the first person POV. Tower Lord was also a multi POV book. While at first I was mad about it and didn't like TL because the focus was not on Vealin upon my reread I appreciated it for the story once I set my prejudice aside. I hope others will feel the same way. Here are the non spoiler story arches.

Queen Lyrna is taking the battle to the Volarian Empire. She is filled with hate and wants "justice" for what the Empire did to the Unified Realm. Her goal is to slaughter everyone in her path. Yup, she goes a little crazy there.

Frentis is also on a campaign for Lyrna, only his is much more humane. He is ending slavery where ever he goes. He is picking up the newly free men to fight with him to help free other slaves as citizens of the Unified Realm. I love this arch in the story. Also intertwined in Frentis POV are snippets of crazy POV from his "beloved".

Reva gets waylaid from her original campaign for Lyrna. She still ends up kicking some butt in a hairy situation.

Lastly Vaelin. He has more chapters than he did in Tower Lord but I put him last in my POV order for a reason: he doesn't have much action going on. He's on another mission for Lyrna up on the Ice Pack. From the beginning his prophecy was to bring an end to the Ally.

As with any war, there are many casualties. Some will sadden you more than others.

I loved this conclusion to a great series! I've seen so many bad reviews picking apart things THEY wanted done differently. Ultimately, this book is for readers that understand that as in life, their characters can have flaws. You might not understand why the writer did something one way and you shouldn't in my opinion.

I read this after a reread of the other two books and I found a lot of little details that tie the smaller characters to main characters or settings.

There's still political intrigue, you just might not find it where you would expect based on the other two books. You might not like one of the villains, but if you pay attention you'll know why you seem to dislike them more this time around.

If you listen to other characters or are able to think back to the other books you'll be able to see growth in each character. It just might not in the way you wanted it go. Remember that hardships take things from the victim, whether it be a bit of their mind, their strength, faith, or conviction. You can find even small events that shape each character decisions. It's a book you really have to pay attention to.

I really enjoyed the entire series and hope that one day the author will revisit this world. There are many stories left to tell and small clues left throughout!

It's not as good as the first installment, that's been said enough times to be redundant. QOF is a descent book, not as a stand alone, but to complete the series. It did seem a bit rushed, and I would have liked to see the characters fleshed out a bit more, but I think Ryan is a very skilled author, and would like to see him write on the same level as Blood Song again. 4 stars for a semblance of closure for the series and so Ryan doesn't get discouraged and quit. Honestly though, this book sits around a 3 star.

NOTE: the review contains mild to major spoilers for previous volumes and the current story.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I’ve been waiting to read this book since I first finished Blood Song in 2012. There was a line in the book about a Queen Of Fire and of the Darkblade that was to serve her. When I learnt that the trilogy ending volume would be titled the same, I was extremely excited. As an Anthony Ryan fan, we have been waiting to what happens to Vaelin Al Sorna and the other characters from the unified realm and other areas. Be warned that since this is the concluding volume, my review will have spoilers for the preceding volumes and a bit for the current story as I will have to talk of certain events and characters.

When Tower Lord ended, we were shown that Queen Lyrna was attacked and “saved” by a special person. The Unified Realm is in a precarious situation as the Volarian invaders have ravaged it. However things aren’t lost as Tower Lord Vaelin Al Sorna managed to rescue the Cumbraelians and also saw the rise of Reva Mustor. She turned out to be as deadly a warrior as Vaelin. Lastly there’s Frentis who has been under the mental command of a Volarian assassin called Elverah and has been carrying out a savage murder spree. However her hold was weakened enough for him to regain his person and make his escape. Things however are dire as the unified realm is in shambles and no one knows what will happen next.

At the start of Queen Of Fire, we learn that Weaver has healed Queen Lyrna of her mental and physical scars. Vaelin has lost his song and finds himself much more human for the first time in his life. Reva is feted as a great warrior and championed by her people. Lyrna conscripts her in her campaign to attack Volaria. Frentis journeys back to join his brothers and what’s left of the order to help those afflicted by his actions. He however is very wary of the moment when he will have to explain his actions. Lastly there’s a new POV character in Alucius Al-Hestian who is forced to side with the traitorous Renfaelin lord Darnel. His father is also siding as his only son’s life hangs in the balance. That’s where all the plot threads in this concluding volume begin. What ends up happening is an insane action-packed volume wherein many secrets are revealed and many characters face deaths.

What do I say about this concluding volume, this is an action packed storyline very similar to Tower Lord. There’s a marked change in all of the characters who survived the events showcased in Tower Lord. Lyrna is far from the tempered character we met at the start of the second volume. Freshly healed, she’s back to her cold, calculating self that we first met in Blood Song and that’s a major plus point. Lyrna in many ways was the perfect foil to Vaelin, her brilliant acumen to his unsurpassed martial skills. Her faith in intelligence to that of his in people. In this volume, we finally get to see how dangerous she truly can be. Vaelin is Vaelin and with the loss of his Blood Song, he seems more conflicted with his choices and actions. Nevertheless he does whatever it takes to be the hero he’s meant to be. His journey is truly the best one in this as it’s via his chapters we get to know all the deep, dark secrets of the world.

Reva has another life-changing arc play out in this book. She’s thought of as a feared warrior equal only to Vaelin however with this book she faces the brunt of the expectations and faith that has been heaped upon her. Her skills get further refined with certain plot twists that happen in the second half of the story. For those who thought Reva had it rough, will be shocked to see what new tests she has to overcome. Then there’s Frentis and we finally get to see him unravel after the events of Tower Lord. Never one to shirk his duty, he does his best to aid his fellow warriors in the fight against the Volarians. However within his chapters we get to see his tenuous connection with the Volarian Empress and it’s via these sections that she is fleshed out to be more than just a caricature-ish villain.

Alucius was a surprise POV character and his arc plays out crucially not only for him but for his beloved. Lastly the surprise package in all of this is Verniers Alishe Someren. Again we only get his account in 5 mini-chapters at the start of each section but I believe his are the juiciest. Infact he even ends up getting one of his fervent wishes granted (for discerning readers, look up Blood Song, especially his conversations with Vaelin.) There’s also various other characters who make quick appearances and have to face various tribulations that see them either dead or refined. The character cast is at its widest in this volume and it will be good for readers to frequently check up the appendix to see who's who.

What are the best points of the story, firstly the author goes all out and lays out all the revelations that are related to the Ally and his machinations. And by everything I mean EVERY THING. We learn where exactly he came from, what did he do to gain his powers and what lead to the Volarians being the blood thirsty lot that they are shown to be. With this volume, Anthony Ryan leaves nothing behind with regards to the magic system, the hinted secrets of the world’s past and plot revelations such as who is Caenis truly and what does he know.

The truth about Caenis is something that had bugged a lot of readers (including me) in Tower Lord as he barely made an appearance and then disappeared from the storyline. In this book, I was expecting him to be a POV character and while that didn’t turn out to be the case. We do get to see his return and learn what he has kept secret for so long. There’s also another character that makes a return from Blood Song however it’s not the person you might think. Another plus point about this volume is the insane amount of action packed into the pages. Across each POV chapter we get to see either huge battles, or intrigue being played out. I was truly surprised that this book wasn’t broken in to two and kudos to the author for managing to combine everything but the kitchen sink into this story.

Now going to the points that didn’t quite make this an all-star read, firstly those readers unhappy with Tower Lord because of the loss of the tight focus found within Blood Song, will be unhappy similarly with this one. Secondly with the first book, there was a lot understated humor to the passages. There was a noticeable decline to that in the second book and it’s even less so in this one. Of course there’s a slightly logical reason, which is that all the characters are facing life-changing decisions and that doesn’t really come across through humor. I still wish that the author could have tried to bring some dark humor in the passages.

Another sticky point for me was the one that I mentioned earlier of Caenis not getting a POV. But the bigger issue is that his role in the book is wildly shorter than what I imagined it would be. Also Sherin surprisingly doesn’t have a role to play and that omission was out of the left field. Lastly the beginning of the book has a rather sedate pace and it’s only after the first hundred or so pages that the story truly gets going. This might hamper the read for many readers who are expecting for it to be fast-paced from the start like Blood Song.

There’s also an extra-ordinary amount of recall needed, as there are many minor characters and events that make an appearance and are referenced from the preceding volumes. I would sincerely recommend that readers at least read Tower Lord before beginning this volume so as to not get lost. I must reiterate how much story Anthony Ryan has crammed within these pages, I sincerely felt that this story could have been split into two and further fleshed out. Some reader might have grumbled but then many (like me) would have enjoyed the deep focus. However even with a single volume, the author brings to a spectacular conclusion the story that he began with his self-published bestseller Blood Song.

CONCLUSION: Queen Of Fire is an epic ending to one of the best debut epic fantasy trilogies that I’ve ever read. I was lucky that my quote graces the US cover and it’s a statement that I still heartily stand by: “Anthony Ryan is David Gemmell’s natural successor and epic fantasy’s best British talent”. Anthony Ryan ends his trilogy with a bang that doesn’t match his beginnings but is still a solid one that will resonate with all his fans.

As good as the first one? Nope. Disappointing? Not, really.
Has some flaws but still a great read. Could definitely use way more Vaelin and Frentis. That said, I still enjoyed it (just not as much as the first two).

Loved Blood Song (Michael Stockpole's Talion: Revenant is also an excellent book written in the same vein).

I have never not read a book because of reviews but I can say that I skipped book 2 and am now skipping book 3 because of them.

I was looking for a release date for Patrick's 3rd book and was upset to not see one yet - but now I am really glad I don't.

There seem to be a lot of haters out there. I enjoyed the entire series. People seem to be upset because Vaelin isn't the only character the book follows... I don't have enough time to address how stupid that is. There's things happening outside his perspective that the reader needs know, get over it. Also, everyone seems to feel the need bash Lyrna. Yes she's power hungry and seeking revenge, that's never been a secret. Do you know who her father was? Oh well, to each his own. Don't let the naysayers discourage you, read the book and decide for yourself!

Amazing conclusion to one of the greatest fantasy trilogies in recent history. There are a lot of haters, people who think they could have done it better than Ryan...they couldn't. Ryan created a new world that is incredibly vivid, the geography is easy to follow. Ryan also established a wide variety of people, with different beliefs and religions. I'm not going to spoil anything or write paragraphs, I'm simply here to say that this was a compelling trilogy from the beginning of book one all the way through book 3. Those who can't do criticise. Ryan created a world with heroes the like have never been seen before. If you pass up one moment of this trilogy you're missing out. Don't spend time on reviews. Book 1 is amazing and 2,3 live up to that.