Book 2 of The Sword Chronicles: Child of Sorrows, picks up soon after the end of book 1, Child of the Empire. The characters have started taking actions to correct the wrongs that were occurring in the empire. They are proceeding cautiously to make sure the kingdom doesn't collapse. There are people who are supporting the efforts, others who are struggling through the changes, and some who are opposed to what is happening.Characters
Michaelbrent Collins has the ability of creating characters with a lot of depth. Child of Sorrowsis another example of how he has characters with a large amount of backstory.
The main cast of characters from the first book of the Sword Chronicles are in Child of Sorrows. Each one has more of their personal story given as they become the point of view character in the telling of current events.
The lead character, Sword, focuses on her inner struggles. Her history was well represented in Child of the Empire and in this selection her story is more about how her past influences her desires, beliefs, and understanding of those struggles and the part she is playing in them. She has grown from when she was first introduced, and through the few days covered in this book her growth accelerates.
Style
Michaelbrent Collins has a definite direction he is taking throughout Child of Sorrows. He grabbed the story and pushed it forward. It was fast-paced. However, I felt the push to move through the story left gaps in the telling.
In Child of Sorrowsthere was a lot of backstory told that had little impact to the main storyline. I like characters with depth. He presents great depth to the characters, but it left me questioning why the character's information was presented. This may be because it is setup for book 3.
The push to the ending of Child of Sorrows felt contrived to ensure the cliffhanger for book 3. The hook is presented, but there are a number of storylines presented throughout the book that were left hanging.
This story is a tragedy. It ends at a low point for the characters and for me. I hope book 3 will be the climax expected, anticipated, and promised.
Overall
Child of Sorrowswas not as good as its predecessor, Child of the Kingdom. This is book 2 of a trilogy and has similar issues I've seen from other authors. This is a bridge book between the introductions and setup presented in book 1 to the promised conclusion in book 3.
I enjoyed book 1. I feel like I have made it through the muddled middle of the story with book 2. I'm still looking forward to reading book 3, but my anticipation has waned.
I give The Sword Chronicles: Child of Sorrow 3 out of 5.
This may be because my expectations were high after completing Child of the Kingdom.
About the Author (from the book)
Michaelbrent is an internationally-bestselling author, produced screenwriter, and member of the Writers Guild of America, but his greatest jobs are being a husband and father. See a complete list of Michaelbrent's books at writteninsomnia.com.
You can also find Michaelbrent Collings on Twitter (twitter.com/mbcollings) and Facebook (facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollins).
If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment