Marith Altrersyr – father-killer, dragonlord, leader of the blood-soaked Amrath Army – is keeping his promises. He is determined to become King of all Irlast and take back the seat of his ancestors.
Only Thalia, once high priestess of the Lord of Living and Dying, the holiest woman in the Empire, might stop Marith and his army’s deadly march. But she is torn between two destinies – and if she was to return home, what would she fi nd there? A city on the brink of ruin: diseased, despairing, dying?
Crawling through a tunnel deep under the ruins of her city, Landra Relast vows vengeance. Her family has been burned, her home destroyed, and now Marith – once her betrothed – must die.
But as Landra cuts through the wasteland left in the wake of Marith’s army, she finds that she is not the only one who wishes him ill… ancient city of Sorlost
Assume spoilers for The Court of Broken Knives
(CW: violence and gore)
Or: A Lesson in not Leaving your ARCs Unread for 2 Years OMG I’m So Sorry. So this book has been sitting on my shelf for two years. I could say that I had moved to a new country just before it arrived, which was true. But I also bought the ebook. And the audiobook. So, you know.
Anyway. I read this in one day. Essentially. In less than 24 hours. But that writing style. I remembered it from the first book, and I loved it again in the second. There’s just something about it being so poetic yet raw. It’s one that’s deceptively hard to pull off well, but wow does this book soar. It also does something I’ve realized I really appreciate: have little bits of light-heartedness tucked inside passages. Nothing distracting but enough to add some fresh air to the experience. I especially liked Tobias’s sections for this. I got a real sense of eyerolling and “seriously?” vibes from him. Seeing him react that way to a giant army bent on Death! Death! Death! was a nice contrast.
Where the first book focused a bit more on the world and the plot, I felt The Tower of Living and Dying was more centered around the characters themselves and how they end up dealing with the actions of the previous novel. Marith is struggling with being a king of Death! Death! Death! while Thalia is trying to save the last scraps of humanity her husband has. And you can feel the turmoil she goes through throughout the book. Though I will say that I wish we had seen just a bit more of that. Also, I mention her briefly below, but I felt at times Landra could get pushed to the wayside. That might just be on me, though.
Also, Orhan and Darath are amazing. You can practically feel their struggles both as individuals and together. Theirs were my favorite sections because of how raw they felt. Yes, I still enjoyed reading about Marith’s further descent into madness and Landra’s bloodthirsty quest for vengeance. Each major protagonist added something special to the story. But something about Orhan’s & Darath’s sections just stood out to me. Maybe it’s that the outside world is such a mess and all the politics and war going on; and yet here these two are trying to make it work together. While also dealing with the aforementioned mess from the end of the first book.
The Tower of Living and Dying is powerful in its character portrayal. It paints a bleak image of how one person’s actions can affect so many. The poetic language almost acts as a barrier, a way to filter and process what’s actually happening. I can’t believe it took me so long to finally read this amazing book.
(I received an ARC from the author. I also purchased an ebook and audio copies myself. Check out where to purchase the book here.)
(This is part 2 of a dual review. Check out Hiu’s review here. Check out our review of The Court of Broken Knives here.)
