Valley of the Shadow Reviewed by Literary Braun
Amy Braun posted a marvelously detailed review of Valley of the Shadow on her blog.
Ever since I reviewed Rise of the Storm by fellow Weekend Writing Warriors author Christina Ochs, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the sequel. I’m not really sure what I expected throughout Valley of the Shadow, the second book in her Desolate Empire series, but Ochs did not disappoint. Rise of the Storm is rich, compelling, and epic. Valley of the Shadow is the same, amplified a hundred fold. I was expecting a lot of drama spread over a huge expanse of time (I’ll get to why this is awesome later), but I wasn’t expecting to be hit with some serious emotion that pulled on my heartstrings with ruthless force.
Valley of the Shadow might be a little slower than most books I read (not a bad thing, and only mentioned because I tend to fare with non-stop action urban fantasy), but it held my attention from beginning to end. Especially at the end, if I’m being honest. What a cliffhanger. Yikes. Since this is a sequel, I’m going to post a minor spoiler warning. There are a few things I wish I could talk about, but I’m not one to give away massive spoilers like the ones I suffered in Valley of the Shadow unless I can’t avoid them. So if you only want my recommendation on whether you should read these books or not, to you I say, “What are you waiting for?! Do it now!”
Read more here. There are some tiny spoilers, but they should do no more than whet the appetite! Thank you Amy!
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It was my pleasure! Definitely a great book with lots of surprises. 🙂
Yes! I agree! You were really starting to roll at the end of Rise of the Storm, and then Valley of the Shadow just took off! I’m darn near afraid to find out what happens in the third one! 😮
Aw, thanks! Well, so far at least, there’s only one major casualty in book three. Of course, I’m less than halfway. 😈
Only one and you’re half way through the book? You’re being too kind! 🙂
Yes, I need to toughen up a bit! To be honest, I’m dragging my feet on the next big character death. I’d do anything to avoid it, though the story demands it. 😟
Well you must feel somewhat vindicated. After all you kind of have a script to go by. 🙂
Yes, though that’s the problem- I don’t want to follow the script! But now that I’m thinking about it, maybe I can come up with alternatives.
I have complete faith in your omnipotence! (Is that the right attribute???)
If you mean all-powerful, you’ve got it right. Thanks, though I feel I’m doing a crummy job at it. 😀
Oh, you probably felt that way with the other two, too, and look how great THEY turned out! Don’t fret. Just kill off a bunch of people and enjoy it! 😀
Yeah, I always seem to have these doubts right around the middle. It’s just hard to get enthusiastic about killing characters I’ve come to love.
Just put your head down and charge like a football player.😜