Valour – The Faithful and The Fallen #2 – John Gwynne
War has erupted in the Banished Lands as the race for power intensifies.
Corban flees his homeland searching for peace, but he soon discovers that there is no haven in the west as the agents of Rhin and roaming bands of giants hound his every step.
Veradis leaves the battleground and rushes to his King’s side. But he has witnessed both combat and betrayal and his duty weighs heavily upon him.
Maquin seeks only revenge, but pirate slavers and the brutal world of pit-fighting stand in his way.
Nathair becomes embroiled in the wars of the west as Queen Rhin marches against King Owain. The need to find the cauldron of the giants drives him on.
Sides are chosen and oaths will be fulfilled or broken in a land where hell has broken loose.
Review:
When I read Malice back in 2013 (review here), I knew I was reading one of the next big series. Though it starts off slow, introducing a whole cast of characters and an interesting world, it picks up around the middle and sets the tone for a fascinating story that would entice many. Although I faithfully bought all the books when they came out, I never got a chance to read them because life got in the way. I felt that now was the perfect time to jump in and binge-read all of them. Boy, am I in for a ride! Valour is the second book in the series and I was glued to its pages from start to finish.
Valour follows the events in the Banished Lands over approximately a year from the end of the first book. Over the course of that year we can see a lot of growth in all the characters and because war is raging in the Banished Lands, everyone seems to be on the move. This gives us a chance to explore the world a bit more and see it all through the eyes of various characters both on the side of Good and Evil.
Let’s start with the characters. A lot of the familiar ones from Malice have returned but there are some new additions and changes. Uthas, one of the Benothi Giants is one of them. He is yet again one of those characters that sides with what we would define as ‘Evil’ because he believes it is the best path for his people. The decisions he makes are based on what his people have endured in the past and how he wants to change that in the future. Even though his intentions are noble, his actions undo any of the good he would want to do. He is not the only character in these books that seems to be stuck between what’s right and what’s wrong, we can see them popping up on both sides. Veradis is another prime example and he’s one of my favourite characters. In this book he starts to question what he’s doing more and more, though he always gets back to the same point: “It’s for the greater good”… Right?
Another one of my favourites in this book is Maquin. Only a side character in Malice, he now gets a complete storyline of his own. I loved reading his chapters. He goes from fugitive, to rebel, to slave in quick succession and it wreaks havoc on his mental state. There’s one thing that keeps him going though: revenge. Maquin’s chapters were sometimes quite painful to read, his despare over who he had been forced to become palpable.
Coralen is another new addition. Half-sister to Halion and Conall and absolute bad-ass warrior, she is definitely also on my favourites list. She is short-tempered, fiery, fiercely loyal and very matter-of-fact with a depth of emotions she masterfully hides from her companions most of the time. I was extremely happy to have another girl gifted with sword and knife added to the little warband.
Corban continues to transcend the “common-boy-turns-hero” trope. Lead by a purely good heart and soul but reluctant to believe he is destined for something greater, to lead. He wishes to dismiss this talk of him being the Bright Star as madness, rather focussing on the oath he swore to his Queen and keeping his friends and family alive. Corban in many ways grows from a child to a man in this book, fully blossoming as a gifted and cunning warrior. I loved his idea that involved the Wolven and how it continued to be a part of their further identity later on.
Valour takes us into Cambren, Rhin’s land and seat of power and then further into Domhain, the last country in the West that hasn’t been overrun by Rhin’s forces. Following Maquin we also visit the Vin Thalun islands and get a close up look into the workings of their fighting pits. Queen Fidele also gives us another point of view of Tenebral, Nathair’s home. Ultimately the story takes us even further into Benoth, ruled by the ancient giant Queen Nehmain of the Benothi clan. Though the story is definitely more spread out in Valour and a lot of the characters travel through most of it, it never feels tedious. There are plenty of exhilirating fights to keep the blood flowing.
The Faithful and The Fallen is proving to be a series you just can’t miss out on. It is addictive and incredibly well written. If you’re reading this review not having picked up Malice yet, do it! This is a classic in the making.
Release Date: March 27th 2014
Publisher: Pan
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 648
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
