Horizon Storms - Kevin J Anderson

Published by Orbit Books/Hachette Book Group, Inc.: New York, NY, 2007 (2004).
Book Three of 'The Saga of Seven Suns' series: 'Hidden Empire'; 'A Forest of Stars'; 'Horizon Storms'; 'Scattered Suns'; 'Of Fire and Night'; 'Metal Swarm'; 'The Ashes of Worlds'.

Spoilers for the first two books.

Horizon Storms continues the story set up in the previous installments, with this one feeling perhaps a little more action-packed, now that the set-up has finished for many of the subplots. Particularly, the Klikiss robot subplot finally kicks into gear, with the robots beginning to turn against both the human and Ildiran races.

Jora'h gets a lot of focus in this installment as he steps into the role of Mage-Imperator, realising how much of his father's scheming he needs to continue (reluctantly) while also seeking to change many of the long-standing Ildiran traditions, almost as a reaction against his father's rule. One scene, involving an interaction between Jora'h and his daughter by Nira, Osira'h, allows Jora'h to show both his frustration at what has happened as well as his determination to do right by his people. Another subplot that develops in Horizon Storms is the rebellion of Jora'h's brother Rusa'h, which looks like it will cause far more conflict in future installments.

My only bigger complaint about this book (despite my earlier statement) is that it feels like it is still setting up the next books. This means that some arcs that are already set up - especially the ongoing conflict between Basil Wencelas and King Peter - don't have as much air-time in this book. This is relatively minor though - the book, like its predecessors, is engaging and Anderson continues to excel in leaving you wanting more. I also was a bit frustrated by the inclusion of a slightly more explicit scene between Basil and his lover than the rest of what has been portrayed in the series so far. I don't enjoy those sort of scenes, and it would be something that could lead me to give up the series if it got too bad or common.

Still, at this point, I am looking forward to the next book.

Completed 23 April 2022.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Image
Published by Tom Doherty Associates Books/TOR Fantasy: New York, 2014. Book 2 in 'The Stormlight Archives' series. Preceded by ' The Way of Kings .' Followed by (spin-off) ' Edgedancer ' and (main series) ' Oathbringer. ' Well, I finally read the second Stormlight book, this one even longer than the last  at a whopping 1080 pages, and once again found myself enjoying Sanderson's world immensely. The plot does take longer than strictly necessary in places - particularly in the storyline following Shallan Davar as she journeys towards the Shattered Plains - but overall is still a page-turner. By the middle of Words of Radiance our three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin) are finally in the same location, something that was never achieved in the first book. In keeping them apart for so long, Sanderson is able to give his readers a real understanding of what makes each character tick, and this becomes quite interesting as when these character
Read more