[5OH]∎ Read Gratis The Shattered Crown Steelhaven Richard Ford 9780755394067 Books

The Shattered Crown Steelhaven Richard Ford 9780755394067 Books

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The Shattered Crown Steelhaven Richard Ford 9780755394067 Books

Good grim fantasy


Tags : The Shattered Crown (Steelhaven) [Richard Ford] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Heroes must rise ...The King is dead. His daughter, untested and alone, now wears the Steel Crown. And a vast horde is steadily carving a bloody road south,Richard Ford,The Shattered Crown (Steelhaven),Headline Book Publishing,0755394062,Fantasy,Fiction Fantasy General

The Shattered Crown Steelhaven Richard Ford 9780755394067 Books Reviews

Writing 4/5
Imagination 4/5
Plot 5/5
Setting 4/5
Characters 5/5

My Overall Enjoyment 5/5

"Many more deaths." is how this second book in the Steelhaven series ends, and how appropriate for a book that makes you crave to find out more about it's excellent cast of characters. This is one of the best books I have read this year, and one of the best in the grimdark genre. The author accomplishes more in 400 pages than many do in twice as many. Richard Ford has become one of my favorite authors with this book. It is cleanly written, no unnecessary details, everything moves the stories or ads something to the character which helps the reader to know them better.

This book starts off great as opposed to the first one, Herald of the Storm, which took about 100 pages to take off and really hook me. From the get go in this book I was hooked, flying through, neglecting other much better known books, and when I was reading those, I thought about this book and the characters I loved, which were most of them. Before I knew it, there were 75 pages left and I realized everything has been building up for a magnificent and glorious ending in book 3. And for that, I'm glad. This book built and built, plots were hatched, major people were killed, revenge was enacted, people were reunited and betrayed. Good guys were bad, bad guys were good, much was pleasantly surprising and equally upsetting.

This is a dark and violent world, with a lot of anti-heros, and it most reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones) and even though grimdark fans will love it, it also has major crossover appeal to readers who enjoy that book. It's not senselessly brutal or violent, it's expertly written, with a bit more than a touch of magic but not overpowering as in traditional epic fantasy, there is a decent size cast of characters but not needlessly huge with tons of minor characters which is distracting to me, and even if a reader doesn't enjoy all the characters POVs as I do, they are all unique and include an elderly magus, a teenage girl in an underworld guild called Rag, several mercenaries, a queen, her elite bodyguards, a middle age ex-warrior named Nobul Jacks, the 7 foot tall Regulus Gor,whose tribe of warriors fight with teeth and claws as well as swords, the Father of Killers and his sons River and Forest, and several others. The fact I can remember all of these characters without any notes is testament to the power of this story. There are only a few other books I have read that I connected so well with and remembered so much about the story and characters. If real estate and fishing are about "location location location" then fantasy is "characters characters characters" and The Shattered Crown does a stellar job.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If I have to recommend a fantasy series from the past two years, this is in the top 10. This series is objectively as good, if not better than ASoIaF and I actually prefer it. More action, less confusing, quicker pace, less minor characters, and less politicking. Basically, everything I like in that series minus the things I didn't. I could see the sword and sorcery influences as well as David Gemmell , one of my favorite authors. If you are looking for something new, try this series. Start with book 1, Herald of the Storm because this book builds on that story.
I am afraid that volume 2 of the series did not work well for me, and was not as good as the first instalment, which itself was reasonably good but not original. The main item in favour of this book is the fast pace of the plot.

Even there, however, this is somewhat artificial, with the author managing to write some 391 pages without showing us once the fearsome invaders from the North who are expected any day but keep coming all through the book. This is a bit of a wasted opportunity and a pity. It also makes the story a bit inconsistent. By the end of Herald of the Storm, the northern invaders have vanquished. The king had been killed and his army shattered. Throughout this book, however, you get the distinct impression that the kingdom’s forces, while retreating to the capital, are still trying to stop the enemy, or at least fighting rear-guard actions. So, shattered or not so shattered? While this feature could have been intended to as a way to create suspense, the author has relied on it too much and it just did not work for me.

Another background feature that was largely missing was the defence of the capital city. I was expecting scenes of the walls and fortifications being repaired or strengthened. Convoys of supplies brought in by sea and land. The citizen militia would undergo hasty and summary weapon training. There is very little or even none of all that, with the story being mostly about the city’s criminal underworld (the Guild). Even the mercenaries who have supposedly flocked to the capital in search of employment are a rather pitiful lot and total just three companies and little over a hundred fighters altogether. In other words, certainly not enough to make a difference against the forty thousand enemies that are expected to besiege it. One hardly even sees why there should be any, given that the book keeps insisting that the city is doomed.

Apart from holes in the plot, and a plot that almost exclusively focuses on the interior enemies on the kingdom, there is also a bit of a problem with the characters. None are very original, from the young dissolute noble who has a big complex with overbearing daddy, to the young fat magician who keeps despising himself, to the fearless female bodyguard, full of self-righteousness. Then there is the veteran warrior who is a bit of a berserker, the young inexperienced queen and the super-assassin, her lover, who seems to come out straight from “Assassin Creed”. None of these characters are entirely credible and they are even annoying at times, especially those that tend to be self-conscious, self-centred and self-pitying. One point of note is the introduction of a handful of “beast warriors” who happen to be “goodies” but have trouble in getting their credentials recognised, largely because of their rather unsettling appearance.

There are a number of good scenes, with the prologue being one of them. There is plenty of action and quite a bit of interesting magic as well, to keep the reader of her/his toes. However, all of this felt artificial because, by the end of the book, nothing has fundamentally changed. The city is still just about to be besieged, with the northern invaders having (at last!) arrived. A few characters (one goodie and two or three baddies) have been killed off or killed each other, and that is about it. Two stars for a rather un-original filler.
Richard Ford has crafted the best book 2 of a series I have read in a long time. My disappointment at having to read a paperback aside, I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to book three.

The character development is excellent. It's action packed from beginning to end. "The Shattered Crown", like I said, is the best book 2 in a long time.
One of the best 2nd book I've ever read
Terrible ending for an posible amazing saga.
Good grim fantasy