No Place for Peace

Well, I've done it. Here I am at the end of the sequel to The Look of a King. Wow. And just more wow. 

Tom Dumbrell takes every bit of the first book and just amps it up for the full effect in the sequel. This book carries heart, wonder, excitement, surprise. Get ready to be on the edge of your seat from page one. You'll get to see some characters you know and love, and meet even more along the way. Each character brings a purpose and poise to the story, building onto what other characters have laid out as the foundation. You'll laugh, you'll weep, you'll reread paragraphs and say, “wait WTF!?”! I am writing this literally seconds after finishing and I am already thinking about a reread. Don't even get me started on book three...



Mildly spoiler-y from here on out FYI:





One quote that really stopped me dead in my tracks (which rarely ever happens, if at all...) was:

“The Verderan army descended upon the city like red wine spilled over a tablecloth, tainting all in its path.”

Like I actually stopped and reread it, savoring it. There had just been description of the archers on the walls and soldiers being shot. I was actually mentally picturing people being shot and blood flowing. The likening of the men descending upon the city in droves to red wine, mixed with my mental picturing of the blood of war, just really hit so well for me. And let me tell you, what the author does here from around pages 245 to 275 is just truly something else. Something special. The action and tension and stress that is packed into this is something other writings try to do with hundreds of pages. Yet Tom does so with a nimbler hand. 


Many parts of the climax within this novel remind me of other things I love, and in the best way. The reserve guard at the keep just really speaks to my soul as a spiritual nod to the old men and children gathered to help in the battle of Helm's Deep. The archers on the walls certainly were described in a way that had me picturing the pouring rain in the Two Towers film as they yelled, “FIRE!” The catapults raining destruction on the city really felt like watching The Return of the King, or for an even more straightforward historical nod, the Kingdom of Heaven. Fran being missing/ as a character really reminds me of young Arya Stark, as well as Wendell just really giving me extreme Lord Varys vibes for the entirety of the time we spent with him. With all this being said, I mean it in the best way possible, as these things I saw as little links highly enhanced my enjoyment overall. 

This book certainly delivers on some added perspectives which was a desire I had after finishing book one. I'd once again like to double down that the author could add more and more and the tale would only become more intricate and beautiful. Just like the writing of George R. R. Martin, which is a writing style I likened the author too after finishing the first novel. 

As a novel, this is a 5/5* all day long. As a sequel, I wish I could give this novel a 6/5* for real. Don't hesitate, read this book. If you haven't read The Look of a King yet, there's still plenty of time, and they're really so worth it.