Amazon.com: Customer reviews: A Time of Dread (Of Blood & Bone Book 1)

Any reader of fantasy will enjoy this one...

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2019

I have been reading fantasy for over 40 years. I was around when Donaldson first released The chronicles of Thomas Covenenant materials.

I can not imagine anyone disliking this. However, I agree with the note on the book from Mark Lawrence that this will especially be enjoyed by people who like the early traditional style of ( I would add) Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldson, early Ray Fiest, Tad Williams' Dragonbone chair series etc... There is not a ton of world building with complex religions and politics, even though there are several "groups" of individual peoples and some politics. It is not one of those novels where the unpronouncable names and cities and religions and such require a fifteen page roster to help you keep track.

The characters are individuals but directly connected to their cultural loyalties and mostly direct in their characters, though one will surprise the heck out of you at the end. Many of the characters are young people coming into their own and facing trials. This is standard fair for lots of fantasy, even for Jordan's Wheel of Time. However, the characters are not so simple as to be flat.

The third person narrative begins with several story lines taking place that will merge somewhat later in the book. But this is not confusing.

Some sword fighting with a tiny splash of magic. A few heads fly and one or two people get a sword in the gut. But nothing extensive or repulsive and no sex.

The writing is good here. This is not one of those books with all short and choppy sentences and lots more telling than showing. Mainstream fantasy readers will really enjoy this book.

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G. McKay

A review of the entire series.

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2020

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The first book was good, the third was fairly bad. There's a great world, there's a fine plot, adventure, character development, enemies, hints of darker tidings. All that you can want... initially.

By the third book however... This is a book about stabbing, stabbing, this is a book about stabbing, stabbing... Oh sure, the occasional bashed skull, and bite and whatnot. It's a never ending series of melees, and battles on the way to the big final battle that we've been waiting forever for. Then there's there's some expounding about the basic simple theme of the book, with the chance to listen to various characters philosophize about courage and honor, and truth, and friendship! We get it. Please stop, it wasn't that tough of a concept really.

The POV switches every chapter, and we check on on the main characters in rotation, without fail, even when nothing is really going on of interest.

Grievous bodily harm. Everyone takes horrific wounds, and yet is up and about in the next scene, and battling through the "pain." How heroic, that they can work around severed muscles with that can do attitude!

It becomes tedious and utterly predictable. This would have been great if it was edited down to two books. As it is, I can't really recommend it, I know I won't be re-reading it.

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Paul Andrew Wandless

Great new story in the Banished Lands

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2020

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What a great new story John Gwynne has started. I knew there was a time jump and that Corban and the rest of my fave chars would not be the focus of the books anymore. That is probably why I waited so long to finally read this series. Needed some distance before truly saying goodbye to those characters. Corban is truly one of the best characters in all of fantasy, in my opinion.
But...John did an amazing job giving me new characters to meet and get invested with their individual stories. Gwynne's strength is his character building and woven arcs and he doesn't disappoint with creating these new chars. I think it was a great idea for continuity for some to be descendants from the main characters of the Faithful and the Fallen series. This allowed for John to weave in some of what happened in the past 100 years since the end of that series and let us revisit some of those chars through the memories of those still living. So a big thank you to John for finding a way to honor and incorporate them while still being fully focused on the new story.
The first half of the book did a good job introducing new main like Drem, Riv, Bleda and Cullen along with a host of others that feel equally important. It also fleshed out what world was like now and the new threats that were surfacing.
A Time of Dread has the Banished Lands being protected by the Ben-Elim against what seems to be left the Kadoshim. But as usual. All is not what it seems and there are many twists, turns, reveals, surprises and yes...glorious battles, close quarter fighting and unexpected, sad deaths. But it wouldn't be a John Gwynne book if everyone made it out of a fight unscathed or alive and that's what makes his stories so great. You're not always sure who to root for, but you find yourself so invested in the strong character writing, that you're always worried one will get killed. If you've read the Faithful and the Fallen, you know that no one is safe.
This book is a great introduction to this new story and sets the stage well for the rest of the trilogy. I can wait to get started on book 2!

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Travis HaydenTop Contributor: Fantasy Books

Gwynne strikes again with...

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020

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Gwynne strikes again with another thrilling and darker installment in the Banished Lands world and first book to the Of Blood and Bone trilogy. I really appreciated that Gwynne took a much darker tone to this first entry. I enjoyed all the new characters and the one returning character. The world has kind of changed just a little bit with the land being separated, but that is all I will say because this is a continuation of the Faithful and the Fallen series and roughly 100 plus years have passed by. The story and plot did such justice calling back to the original plot and characters while also solidifying its own identity. I am incredibly eager to keep the story going by picking up book two hopefully immediately.

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***“Sometimes the only answer is blood and steel”***

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2019

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I haven’t read the Faithful and the Fallen series, but after reading this book I’m very much a fan of John Gwynne’s writing and I’ll have to go back and read the original series set in this world 120 years before the events in this book. That said I don’t feel like I had to have read that series to enjoy this one since I completely enjoyed it.

A Time of Dread is just that. It is the beginning of the ramp up to something dangerous, evil and enough to fill you with Dread. The story starts a little slowly since we are following four different points of view. Since I’m used to reading a lot of fantasy that is a normal thing for me in the first book of a new series. Don’t worry though by the end you should be filled with plenty of dread and so many things will have happened that you will forget the first part was slow.

With the four varied PoVs we get to see a lot of this world from different perspectives.

Bleda is a prince of a human clan and taken as ward by the Ben-Elim (winged angel people) to ensure that his tribe is peaceful. He has a lot of insight into how the Ben-Elim politics work and how they use fear and their strength to almost hold every human tribe in servitude to them.

I liked how his arc showed what everyday life was like in Dressel and how the new threat on the horizon was affecting the Ben-Elim, it showed their long-term goals also in terms of the human tribes and how they are trying to control all of them.

Riv is also in Drassil, the Land of the Faithful, with Bleda. But she is from a family of warriors that train to fight alongside the Ben-Elim. Still we find that there is something different about Riv and following her PoV we not only learn about the inner turmoil between some of the Ben-Elim but also what they have been plotting for years. She is hot headed and quick to temper but fiercely loyal to friends and family as well.

Drem was actually my favorite PoV. He is the son of a trapper and lives in a sleepy small villiage when they aren’t on the road. But it seems like there are more and more people in the area that just seem a little off and not quite right. I loved his journey and the slow tease of the odd happenings out in the middle of nowhere. His journey from farmboy trapper to hero in the making was a really good one. Plus he was present for all the horrible things we learn about the Fallen and I for one was shocked by those revelations.

Sig the final PoV in this tale is a Giantess and while her faction also fights against the Fallen they do not like the Ben-Elim and stay separated from them. It is her tale that seems like would have tied into the prior series more. She is so likeable and ride a bear who seems like the best of both worlds being both a mouth and fighter.

The title describes this book great. There are some harsh deaths, horrible revelations and big twists that made my first read of a John Gwynne book truly memorable. Now it seems I must read the first series The Faithful and the Fallen because I now feel like I’ve missed out on a great author and an even more fantastic fantasy tale.

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Y.I. Washington

10 Stars

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2021

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There's nothing like reading a novel that you know has been written with excellence.

Mr. Gwynne has knocked it out of the stadium again. That's all I can say for fear of leaving spoilers.

If you're reading Gwynne for the first time,trust me, you won't be disappointed.

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Kent Gaskill

Loved it

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2020

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Much action kept me riveted through this first installment. A great story developing with many surprises, especially as the end of the book came around. I'm looking forward to the next installment!

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Giovanni

Awesome book

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2021

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Absolutely awesome book. I got a little burned out from my normal genre so I branched out and gave this book a try. I just started a time of blood because it was so good. Think "lord of the rings" on steroids.

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