Well written. Great character development. Interesting story. Fun read, and very adventurous. Pretty fast paced. I really enjoyed reading this book. The one thing I missed is elves and dwarves and dragons, because I really like fantasy involving those characters as well, but it was still really fun reading this first book and I will read the next one.
Well written with great character development. The different characters are presented in an interesting way that still comes together and works.
1000 years ago, one group of people invaded a land and dispossessed another group. This book deals with the remnants of that dispossessed and how some want revenge. The format was different. Each chapter, whether 1 page or 50 pages, followed one character. And it switched between at least 10 different characters. By the end of the book you began to see the hint of an outline of how all these different threads were coming together. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the rest of this trilogy.
The only thing that made me shake my head was, do people really hold on to a "national" grudge for 1000 years? In that time the conquerors would have been conquered by others and then become mingled with the original inhabitants. It just seems kind of a long time for such a feeling to still exist. That would be like me getting ticked off about the Battle of Hastings, or some such. Oh well, the author can make her characters feel whatever they want to I guess.
The only thing that made me shake my head was, do people really hold on to a "national" grudge for 1000 years? In that time the conquerors would have been conquered by others and then become mingled with the original inhabitants. It just seems kind of a long time for such a feeling to still exist. That would be like me getting ticked off about the Battle of Hastings, or some such. Oh well, the author can make her characters feel whatever they want to I guess.
The real strength of this book is in the vignettes involving minor characters - if you're looking for a fast-paced narrative, this isn't it. That's not a bad thing, but I almost wish Freeman had just kept writing slightly-connected scenes rather than trying to work it all into a converging plot. I found that it was more enjoyable to spend time with her "minor" characters, learning about their back stories, than to go back to the three "main" characters, none of whom stood out to me as particularly memorable.
Blood Ties is definitely a unique fantasy, and I'm thankful to Freeman for showing me a different way to approach world-building. If I see the second book in the series, I may pick it up
Blood Ties is definitely a unique fantasy, and I'm thankful to Freeman for showing me a different way to approach world-building. If I see the second book in the series, I may pick it up
