Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes

[Shingetsu]

As usual, I can't decide what to read next on my book shelf. I guess I've narrowed it down to an urban fantasy series, or The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes. Which the final book just came out in paperback earlier this year. I heard the ending was only so-so. I wanted to ask anyone who had read all the books what they thought of the series. I don't want any spoilers really, just some thoughts.

 

[DarrellR]

Well I thought the series was pretty good. It had some new ideas in it and I appreciated its approach to some of those different aspects that aren't usually heavily common. The way Keyes utilized music in the series was a nice touch that grew on me as I progressed through it. The characters for the most part were enjoyable though I kind of liked the ones that I guess would be classified as secondary characters more than the main one (Anne).

I do agree with what you heard though. The ending left a poor taste in my mouth and the last book just felt a bit rushed for some reason. It was as if he had to compact everything in that one book and it leapt around tying up one end after another. Just didn't feel it closed out in a proper way to do the series justice. None the less it was still a good read and I enjoyed it.

 

[Shingetsu]

Thanks DarrellR. I started reading The Briar King. I guess I'll see how it goes for myself. Hopefully I won't loose interest or be too annoyed by the ending.

 

[GOLLUM]

Overall an excellent series and very well written IMO, although the ending was a little rushed.

I've got some other books by Keyes I've not had time to read yet but I'll make sure I report back on those when I do.

 

[Shingetsu]

Thanks GOLLUM. It'd be nice to hear about those as well.

 

[Frozeninja]

Just finished reading The Born Queen earlier today in fact. Like everyone else the ending didn't sit well with me, but I enjoyed the last book as a whole. Definitely one of the better series I've read in the last year.

 

[Werthead]

The first two books were excellent. The third was weaker, but still readable. The fourth one felt like it had been written by someone else. Very mechanical, derivative and the ending was appallingly-handled.

It's a difficult series to recommend because the first half is great but the second is awful.

 

[Shingetsu]

It's not some kind of sad ending where they kill off a bunch of the main characters do they? Not that I want spoilers exactly.

 

[GOLLUM]

My lips are sealed but I can't agree with Werthead on this one to the extent that the second half of the series was awful. Absolutely, the second half went down in quality but it was still of a pretty decent standard IMO and overall Keyes is worth checking out.

 

[Shingetsu]

I hope I see it in the same way when I get to those books GOLLUM. I'm halfway through The Briar King. Normally I would be done by now but been a bit busy.

 

[Frozeninja]

My lips are sealed but I can't agree with Werthead on this one to the extent that the second half of the series was awful. Absolutely, the second half went down in quality but it was still of a pretty decent standard IMO and overall Keyes is worth checking out.

Agreed, I definitely found the 3rd and 4th books enjoyable.

 

[Shingetsu]

I've started The Charnel Prince now. So far I'm really liking the series. Interesting characters and lots of things happening. I haven't read many series that switch between characters for the chapters like that. The only one that comes to mind is the Wheel of Time series. Though this is pretty good because the chapters are only 10 pages or so. That way it isn't too long before learning more about other characters.

 

[Frozeninja]

Switching characters for chapters isn't really that uncommon; Martin, Erikson, Bakker, Williams, Wurts. They all do it, that's just off the top of my head.

 

[Shingetsu]

I suppose not. Though it seems like it's less common where every new chapter is a different character. It might be a few chapters per character or something. I have a bad memory anyways. I'm sure I've read more series that do it. Pretty sure it happends in J. V. Jones books as well.

 

[GOLLUM]

Yep quite a few do it including Jones.

I actually like it. Somehow it keeps the story more fresh with multiple POV chapters although I appreciate some folk find it confusing.

Cheers.....

 

[Shingetsu]

I finished The Charnel Prince. It was just as good if not better than the first book. I hope I feel the same way about the third book once I start it shortly.

 

[Shingetsu]

I thought the third book was as good as the first two. The Born Queen was mostly fine until the last 120 pages. I thought the ending was going to be much much worse, but it wasn't actually bad. I think I would have changed a few things, and it probably needed another 200 pages. All in all it was a good series. I didn't really have any problems with it other than a few of the ending details. I'd recommend the series to others.

 

[GOLLUM]

Glad you liked it...

 

[Anomander]

I read the entire trilogy. This is not the first of Gregory Keyes novels/stories I've read. I feel rather strongly that Greg always starts amazingly - The waterborn had one of the most electric beginnings I've experienced in recent times - I rate the possibilities of Perkar high up with Rand Al-thor and his mates in the Rob Jordan series.
For some reason - the waterborn part II fell short. I felt very strongly that the concluding parts of the kingdom series also left a bit to be desired - It was rammed with possibilities that (to me) seem'd to fade towards the end. I also felt that his need to "realise" (meaning make real) a fantasy story messed up the story a bit for me - I wasn't particularly keen on the people having come through a portal, and the entire sci-fi allusion. It's fantasy, there's absolutely no need to explain everything, just enough to have a good story.

In the end, I rate Greg highly I read another one of his stories - Age of confusion? Newton's Cannon, etc. That was truly fantastic and ground-breaking.

I think Gregory Keyes is an amazing story teller. I however feel that he is somewhat limited in the qualities of the stories he has to tell, which is a bit disappointing. His stories would be excellent for many writers, but for his writing skill, I guess I kind of expect just a little bit more.

I rate him just somewhat below GRRM and RJ - waaay above average

 

[nixie]

Recently finished The Born Queen, and like others have said the ending could have been better. Anyway think I'm going senile now as I was reading the book I could clearly remember events from Briar King and Charnel Prince but couldn't recollect anything from Blood Knight. I knew I'd read it, its with the other two so must have done. I decided to give it a quick skim to refresh my memory, guess what I've never read it, I'd started it the first few chapters I could remember, then I must have put it aside for some reason and never picked it up again.