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alexey pehov

reviews

Shadow Blizzard by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala 3) by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Harold, master thief, and his band of companions have reached the deep catacombs of Hrad Spein, where Harold must go in alone to face unknown horrors and retrieve the Horn that will save Siala. He is magically bound to the Key with which the dark elves sealed Hrad Spein, and the Master’s servant, the sorceress Lafresa, is close behind him.
Harold and his companions must face H’san’kors, evil magic and the agents of the Nameless One, but unless they find the long-lost Horn darkness will overrun the realm of Valiostr. Harold’s destiny is tied to the fate of the kingdom… (publisher)

Large part of the book is about Harold and his quest through Hrad Spein. It’s also called as Palaces of Bones and it’s very describing name… Creepy place!

I like Harold as the hero because he’s not your typical hero. Thieves are rarely called heroes but Harold is very likeable. And then there’s Kli-Kli, who wouldn’t like the jester? And speaking of jester, I totally didn’t see that coming! Even though I liked Harold my fav people were the elves. I wish there would have been more of them and I would have liked to learn more about their world and history.

As it is in war, we lose more characters and I understand that it belongs to war but how could you do that! And it was evil to do it so soon in the book! But we meet few people who I had totally forgotten about which was nice. I should have reread the first 2 books before this…

My only complaint is that the part in Hrad Spein could have been tiny bit shorter and the battle scenes in the end less jumpy. There were too many perspectives to the battle and from people we hadn’t meet before.

I enjoyed these books so much and I’m gonna miss this world. I hope more of his books gets translated because I’m reading those for sure!

4,5/5
Published: Simon & Schuster UK (2012)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 464
Source: my own

reviews

Shadow Chaser by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Chaser (Chronicles of Siala 2) by Alexey Pehov

Saddened because they have left one of their number in a grave in the wilderness, Harold and his companions continue their journey to the dreaded underground palace of Hrad Spein. There, knowing that armies of warriors and wizards before them have failed, they must fight legions of untold, mysterious powers before they can complete their quest for the magic horn that will save their beloved land from The Nameless One. But before they can even reach their goal, they must overcome all manner of obstacles, fight many battles…and evade the frightful enemies on their trail. (Goodreads)

The first book started little slow but I felt this has more action. There doesn’t actually happen all that much but there was still many battles. I should have re-read the last book because I had forgotten who was whoand what happened but it didn’t take long to remember everyone.

Harold isn’t too happy to be the supposed hero and thinks his life was much more simple as a regular thief. But he’s also started to wonder if he has changed. He didn’t have any friends or family, which he thought was a liability, and now he has whole bunch of outcasts who he can call friends. Has this made him softer?

Harold doesn’t have as much spotlight as in the last book but I didn’t feel like anyone had real spotlight over others.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Kli-Kli the goblin jester . But it seems like there is much more to him than just being a fool. Can’t wait to find out what he really is about. But my favourites were the elves. I wish there was more about them in the next book! I love it that elves resemble orcs with fangs and all.

I had some problems with one battle, mainly with the outcome at least but it’s better not to speak more about it here. I really liked this and you gotta love good fantasy book! Can’t wait to read the next book!

4/5
Published: Simon & Schuster UK (2011)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 357
Source: publisher

reviews

Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Prowler (Chronicles of Siala 1) by Alexey Pehov

After centuries of calm, the Nameless One is stirring.

An army is gathering; thousands of giants, ogres, and other creatures are joining forces from all across the Desolate Lands, united, for the first time in history, under one, black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of the great city of Avendoom.

Unless Shadow Harold, master thief, can find some way to stop them.

Epic fantasy at its best, Shadow Prowler is the first in a trilogy that follows Shadow Harold on his quest for a magic Horn that will restore peace to the Kingdom of Siala. Harold will be accompanied on his quest by an Elfin princess, Miralissa, her elfin escort, and ten Wild Hearts, the most experienced and dangerous fighters in their world.and by the king’s court jester (who may be more than he seems – or less). (Goodreads)

This is the first book in a popular Russian fantasy serie. There were times that I regretted that I haven’t read Russian so I could have read the original edition. It started little slow but got better towards the end. Mainly because it took far too long to Harold to actually leave to the quest, but after he does things started rolling smoothly.

A thief called Harold is framed into stealing an object before being recruited by the king to the most dangerous burglary in his life. He has to steal a Horn from Hrad Spein. He gets help from people from different races; dwarf, gnome, goblin, elves and human warrior group called The Wild Hearts. The elves are no Tolkien-elves but are nearly as ugly as orcs with fangs.

The book’s sales have been decreasing lately due to popular things like e-commerce and other platforms taking over. The digital world has caused physical booksales to decrease dramatically and this one is no exception. The author has tried overcoming objections in sales but it’s been a tough road with giants like Amazon having so much power in the industry.

I liked the snarky, quirky Harold. The story is told from his point of view in first person so we get good look what goes on in his head. It reminded me of David Edding’s Belgarion-serie.

All in all, I found the book good and I’ll definitely read the next one!

3/5
Published: Simon & Schuster UK (2010)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 394
Source: won at giveaway