Customer Reviews

Bonds of Vengeance: Book 3 of The Winds of the Forelands (Winds of the Forelands Tetralogy)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Coe really does a nice job building the intrigue level between the humans and the Qirsi. Definitely a palpable tension between the Qirsi serving as ministers and their respective dukes,etc. That's a credit to Coe.

Coe continues to build on the layers he established in the first two books, in particular Grinsa and his relationship to Tavis and Cressane.

I definitely would rank Coe's work right up there with the best. He probaby isn't as wide a scope or as deep as Martin and Erikson, but he's very, very good. I Highly recommend that you read this series.

This is the third book in David Coe's five book series entitled "Winds of the Forelands".
I am finding that each book is better than the book before.
If you have read the other books the story just gets deeper and more interesting as the story proceeds.
The intrigue, betrayals, and hardships that some of the characters have to go through are amazing.
The changing of alliances and repercussions will even make you wonder whom to trust.
The story is original and refreshing.
Mr Coe is one of the authors whose titles I am always waitng for the new one to come out.
And this one was no exception and well worth the wait because of the publication delays in the title coming out.
I can not wait for the next book in this exciting series.

David, David, David....I have just one thing to say...write faster! This series has gotten better and better, and I can hardly wait to see what happens next. I couldn't put this book down and it is an amazing piece of fantasy. If you've never given David B. Coe a chance, here's your chance. This is some really intriguing, well-written fantasy.

If you enjoyed the first two books of the "Winds of the Forelands" series, you'll most likely enjoy this one as well. The plotlines that were established in the first two entries of the series are all addressed here (to varying degree) and for the most part the action carries forward and moves us closer to an ultimate resolution. While at times I felt that the plot was in danger of being stretched to accommodate future volumes, by the time I finished book 3 I was satisfied with the pace and with the new twists and developments.

"Bonds of Vengeance" introduces several new characters and settings, and reintroduces some others that haven't been seen since book 1. For the most part the characters remain rather two dimensional, although there are exceptions to the rule. Tavis in particular seems to be evolving into a somewhat complex character, and I can't help feeling for Kearney & Keziah's situation, which becomes even more layered and nuanced in this outing.

Overall I felt that BoV was a fine addition to a series which has consistently held my interest, and continues to do so.

Bonds of Vengeance is the long-awaited third volume in David Coe's Winds of the Forelands series.

This volume focuses almost entirely on the political intrigue, which was hinted at in Rules of Ascension: Book One of Winds of the Forelands and dramatically increased in Seeds of Betrayal (Winds of the Forelands, Book 2). Coe reveals just how entangled the Qirsi Conspiracy is in the events of every major house and kingdom in the land. Some of the plots and characters introduced in Seeds of Betrayal are fleshed out here, but the sheer volume of characters and various intrigues makes it hard to keep track of exactly who is betraying who. You really need to re-read both previous novels before attempting Bonds of Vengeance, and even then it gets a bit confusing.

You can't help but admire Coe's ambition. In just three installments he has created enough characters and sub-plots to make Robert Jordan blush. I just hope he can bring them all to a satisfying conclusion in (far) fewer volumes than the aforementioned Mr. Jordan!

Despite the relatively slow pace, Bonds of Vengeance isn't as focused on character development as I expected. The only characters we really get a better knowledge of are the assassin Cadel and the Weaver, who sadly remains somewhat two-dimensional.

It's not quite as compelling as Seeds of Betrayal, but Bonds of Vengeance is still a fine chapter in a very engaging series that should appeal to most fantasy fiction fans. Expect to be entertained, and you will not be disappointed.

David Coe has done a great job of keeping the plot moving through all three volumes so far and I can't wait to dig into the last two books. If you like multiple plots and non stop action this is your series.

David B. Coe's "Winds of the Forelands" was first promised as a four-book series. Somewhere along the way it expanded to five books, which suggests that one extra volume was demanded by the publisher to squeeze more money from the fans. "Bonds of Vengeance" is that volume.

I can't really give a plot summary beyond saying this. In addition to keeping track of every character from the first two books, we also meet a host of new folks in the country of Sanbira. At this point we must be tracking the intrigues in at least a dozen different castles. With such a large cast on stage, Coe must constantly rotate from one place to another. Each location gets at most three or four sightings in the entire book, not enough to advance the plot. At the end of "Seeds of Betrayal", war was about to break out between Eithibar and Aneira. At the end of "Bonds of Vengeance", that same war is still about to break out.

But there's a bigger problem than mere slowness. All the locations in the story seem the same. Every court is ruled by a King, Duke, or miscellaneous other. Then there's a chief Qirsi minister and a bunch of subordinate ministers. Always there's suspicion that the Qirsi are part of the conspiracy, and manipulation, and endless debate. Coe comes up with every possible combination and permutation of possibilities. The minister is innocent but gets accused, the minister is guilty but isn't accused, the minister is a double-agent suspected of being an agent, the minister is a triple-agent accused of being a double-agent, and so forth. All the different cases start blending into each other. The book would have flowed better if there weren't so many. A more tight focus would have produced better results.

In short, "Bonds of Vengeance" is too much of an average thing. Writing a good novel is as much about knowing when to stop as knowing what to write. Include to many characters and subplots and you'll eventually lose your way. For books that do a better job of managing a large cast, try The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn), Beyond the Summerland (The Binding of the Blade, Book 1), or, for a taste of the classics, The Worm Ouroboros.

Bonds of Vengeance is the third in a 5 book series entitled the Winds of the Forelands. The previous books in order are Rules of Ascension and Seeds of Betrayal. Winds of the Forelands is the second series by Coe. Although featured prominently in the first 2 books, Tavis and the woes of the Eandi, for the most part, play second fiddle to the story lines of the Qirsi and Grinsa here. The Eandi are the ruling culture in the land. They have at times suppressed the culture and persons of the white-haired, magic welding, Qirsi. By the time of this novel, many of the Eandi nobles and landowners have Qirsi members in their households, some of whom are highly placed. This book ties up some loose ends started in the first chapter of the saga and reviled details of the Qirsi

I've read his Tobyn-Ser series and it was well and tightly written. Great world building and character development.

His first two book in the Foreland series were just as well written, but his third book Bonds of Vengenace looses focus with reptitive scenes of assasination and endlessly new characters, as well as, endlessly new kingdoms with their own political intrigues that keeps cropping up to the point where you couldn't care less who they are and why they are even in the story. This book readd like a filler. There were moments when he touched on characters in the first two Foreland books which were much more interesting to read, but it was like watching soaps where each character gets his or her five minute in the sun. Even thought he is an excellent writer, this story just couldn't hold my attention. I found myself skipping chunk of the book till the end.

Seriously, wait for it to come out in paperback. This book is a filler.

"Bonds of Vengeance" introduces the matriarchy Sanbira into the Eibitharian and Aneiran political landscape with the third installment of the "Winds of the Forelands" saga. The exceptional political developments suitably compliment the rare action towards the Weaver's final vision. Because different characters and various realms are heading in separate directions after two novels, Sinbira doesn't receive much attention (the book is about 15% to 20% thinner than its predecessors) yet effectively illustrates the affects of the Qirsi conspiracy.

Unlike other authors who might buildup an overall plotline over ten books to the final confrontation between good versus evil, it appears this series will not be the case. Expect many lives, including Tavis Curgh and Cresenne, to change after some major events. Keziah becomes perhaps the strongest and most pivotal character for this book aside from her relationship with the King Kearney and her brother Grinsa.

A comprehensive appendix would be useful for the vast assortment of characters.

I recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Thank you.