Customer Reviews

The Golden Tower: Book Two of The Warriors of Estavia

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

 

 

Like most, I enjoyed the first book of the series more than the second. The majority of this book deals with that awkward in-between stage where several characters are gearing up to make important life choices. I'm hoping the third book will be all the better for having these insights into the main characters, and give it more depth.
Overall, this is shaping up to be a lovely series/trilogy and I am looking forward to the next book. I've enjoyed everything I've read by Fiona Patton, and I've found that her books are wonderful re-reads. They hold up.

This book was a pretty good middle in what I expect to be a trilogy. We meet again Brax and Graize, now young men of 20, and Spar, a prickly adolescent of 15. We also get to meet Graize's godling, now a character in its own right. The book is a little slow to start but does pick up in after the first third. Not a lot really happens in this book. The entire story leads up to one event that is pretty easily anticipated if one follows the foreshadowing the author provides. I would have liked to see more character development in this story: the three principals really haven't changed much at all in the 4-5 years that separates this book from the first installement. Patton also seems to leave a few straggly story ends around in this book. Nothing major but still it makes the reader pause a moment and say, "huh?". Over all, I enjoyed this book even if it did not make a great an impact on me as the first. I can only hope that the author does not wait 3 years before coming out with book 3!

I liked the first book better then this one but overall was a good read.I found myself not interested in brax since he became such a man-whore.I missed not hearing enough about kem and yash two of my favorites.But now I'm hooked on spar, graize, and now hisar's future, looking forward to the next book in the series.

The city of Anavatan is both magical and mundane. It is the home to six gods and thus protected by the God Wall that keeps malevolent spirits out. Like any city, it has its rich and poor; even homeless children like Brax, Spar, and Graize, who have untrained power. Brax is indifferent to Spar until all three were trapped outside during Haven's Dance; three nights of terrible storms. To save himself and Spar, Brax pleaded with Estav o save them and he promises to become her favorite. Brax becomes a warrior and Spar became a powerful seer.

Graize was thrown over the God-Wall and also became a powerful seer. Filled with hatred Grazie uses his power to create the Godling called Hisar. Spar befriends him and he taught it things about the world.. Graize lives for one thing; revenge against Brax and Anavatan. He is using the Petchan tribe to help him destroy his enemies and his memories of being a childhood pickpocket in Anavatan to survive. Graize captures Brax, Spar realizes he cannot rescue him in time so he must turn to the Godling for help if he can figure out how to do so.

THE GOLDEN TOWER is pure magic, enchanting the reader with the magical city; a place of palaces and slums populated and divided by seers and Gods who communicate with their followers, at times in person. The city and the Godling are the main characters because each plays a major role in the plot. Spar, Brax and Graize represent differing personalities that make up the functioning city (seer, warrior, and outsider). If this first entry in the Warriors of Estonia fantasy saga is any indication of the quality of the series, fans are in for a delightful time.

Harriet Klausner

"The Warriors of Estavia" series continues four years later with "The Golden Tower" as Spar, Brax, and Graize preparing for and having numerous prophetic visions while attempting to outsmart the Gods. At times the unusual sentence structure, whether it is on purpose or from poor editing, detracts from the potentially appealing yet lethargic plot. The writing is mediocre offering little sense of fantasy adventure.

The storyline is disappointing on many levels but the many sexual references, whether it is in regards to craving sex or having just had sex, is the most glaring. I briefly speculated if the author was a teen new to hormonal influences due to the repetition then concluded it is providing poor filler material for a boring volume. The bi-gender characters switch between genders too often, sometimes multiple times during a chapter making it challenging to follow the third person pronouns. However clever moments, such as when Incasa the God of Prophecy and Probability explains how his dice work for him in Chapter 6, would be a vast improvement in providing quality depth. The books' synopsize on the inside jacket effectively sums up the prior novel so one could avoid reading it if one wants to read the book independent of any others.

Brief sexual overtones may not be suitable for young readers or those intolerant towards same sex relationships. A better detailed map of the significant terrains and comprehensive appendix would have been useful.

Thank you.