Name: The Blood of Whisperers
ISBN: 9780356514154

Devin Madson

'AN IMPRESSIVE DEBUT' Novel Notions They call him the Usurper. A man of common blood sits on the throne. At his command, the last emperor was executed. But now the empire is on the brink of war. Vengeance is coming. Praise for Devin Madson: 'Complex and immersive . . doesn't let go until the final electrifying pages' Fantasy Book Review 'A visceral, intriguing, intense and emotionally charged ride' Grimdark Magazine 'Intricate, compelling and vividly imagined' Anna Stephens The Vengeance trilogy The Blood of Whisperers The Gods of Vice The Grave at Storm's End More books by Devin Madson: The Reborn Empire We Ride the Storm We Lie with Death We Cry for Blood

The Vengeance Trilogy, Book One

The Blood of Whisperers

Sade A

** spoiler alert **
           
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When i started this book i had high hopes, the book starts in a way that promises intrigue and a break from the norm. 
You quickly see though that the author isn't interested in doing anything outside the norm and although there were some positive parts they were largely overshadowed by all the negatives

Characterisation: I did not think a whole lot was done to actually help you know the characters. Madson claims that her characters are morally grey but reading this, it's fairly easy to put them in boxes and label character A bad or Character B good. You don't find yourself wanting to root for Katashi or his causes no matter how he phrases them. That's how not morally grey the characters are.

Contrived Plot: You know i can probably overlook most things in a book, I mean no book can be perfect when you really think about it but when an author starts putting in aspects of the plot that you 100% know can lead to only one logical conclusion then you have to call foul. Especially if not putting that obviously contrived plot would lead to something that actually seems less forced.

(view spoiler)[a. Darius's oath: Very convenient for what happened in the end. It didn't even make sense that he pledged himself both to Kin and to Hana. How exactly was that going to work? especially as he knew that she was gunning for the throne. Did that even make sense except to put him there to save her? The answer for me is no. Obviously this was just written in to make sure Hana survived.

b. Shin's staying over at the palace: Okay so when Hana foolishly decides to assassinate Kin, Shin goes with her. During the commotion of her capture he escapes. She neither sees' nor hears for him for a while. Quite suddenly on the journey to the other palace (i forget the name) she says: "Shin was there. For an instant our eyes met, but he made no sign of recognition beyond allowing his gaze to rest on me a moment too long. Then looking for all the world like one of Kin's soldiers, he straightened his red sash and marched on". No surprise whatever.
Explanation for this is given that Darius had pilfered uniforms of soldiers and asked Shin to stay and "guard" Hana. *insert incredulous face. Shin?? A man who had no loyalty to Darius?? That Shin? Shin, a pike who was basically fighting to kill Kin? 
Keep in mind also, that Darius was not in charge of the army and the soldiers marching were responsible for Kin's safety, a man who has been previously stated to have survived 48 assassination attempts. How then pray tell, was it possible to sneak Shin into the army? Did no-one notice? Is it really possible that no-one would notice? Again a contrived plot put in for one purpose, ensuring Hana's character was still in play.

c. Darius explanation of how he knew who Hana was: lol that explanation was laughable at best. Especially as, Kin who was supposedly smart didn't figure out that anything was fishy until Hana refered to Laroth by his first name.

d. The refusal to nail down exactly what an Empath can and cannot do: Look i love magic in books as much as the next fantasy fan. What honestly put's me off is writers leaving their magic system open to whatever whim they want. All of a sudden, empaths have the power to pass through walls , and stop moving objects? Really????? Again totally not a problem except this "revelation" came at a point when if this hadn't happened, Katashi could not in a billion thousand years, have taken over. (hide spoiler)]


Weak Female protagonist: I'm going to be honest with y'all, i am completely and utterly sick of authors penning female characters without a brain. You see this Hana girl, i was over her. Everything she did was without a plan. 
Girl was just acting out and never for once refused to sit down and go, okay how do i play this to my advantage. Is it too much to ask for a female character that actively and sensibly goes about securing her future? It's not like female characters cannot act this way but where you have male characters being calculative and smart about everything, why can't your female characters be like that too? Let me tell you that not one of the male characters would have done what Hana did without a solid plan. 

I would love to talk about Endymion but honestly this book could have gone off without him. Apart from stating that he's an all powerful empath and could throw a wrench in Katashi's plans, i did not think his character was utilised as well as it could have been, considering he's supposedly the main main protagonist of this book/series

All in all, In the quest for an epic fantasy, this book sells short its characters and plot. 
Leading readers on what can only be described as a contrived plot to achieve the story.

Maria

ощутимо слабее второй серии (которую я прочитала раньше), что в целом логично - эта была написала раньше. и вообще по слову whisperers я ожидала левантийцев, а их тут нифига нет, только всякая игра престолов ((
читаю, чтобы дотянуть время до последней книги

Tom Turner

I've been wanting to read Devin Madson for quite some time now, and she certainly wasn't a disappointment. Her characterwork is incredible and I had no idea how this book was going to end, but even 10 pages towards said ending! My thirst for book 2 is undeniably strong!

The Blood of Whisperers The Vengeance Trilogy, Book One

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