Blackveil [Paperback]

 

 

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The first and second books in this series were well plotted, if a little overly reliant on sudden divine interventions to resolve moments of conflict. The Third volume was a good extension of the series but with some parts of the plot feeling forced. This last effort however feels contrived and of much lower quality of plot and character development than the 3 books before it, so much so that I set the book aside and I will likely never bother to finish it.

This book begins with Karigan confronting her father about his past, and finding out more about her mother. After returning to the castle she is asked to join the mission to Blackveil as she is one of the few that have been there and survived.

I didn't particularly care about for any of the other characters, if they lived or died, or their subplots. Maybe it has been too long since I read the other books in the series and I didn't remember much about them.

There are a few surprising moments, but much of the plot line is predictable. I did still enjoy reading it and found it hard to put down. It also ends in a cliffhanger which has me eagerly awaiting for the next book(s).

This book is the sequel to High King's Tomb, of the Green Rider series. This picks up weeks or months after the events described in High King's Tomb. Karigan is on an errand to deliver a message to her father, and to take him to task for a few indiscretions. In the meantime, Lord Amberhill is preparing to depart from court, and is feeling the call of the sea. Alton D'Yer is at the wall, and though he now has a translation of the manuscript of the magician who created the magic of the wall, he still struggles to make sense of it and to protect the structure separating Sacoridia from Blackveil. And Second Empire is on the march, with Birch to the north mounting his army and Grandmother inside Blackveil off to a nefarious plan. When an Eletian delegation arrives at the sacoridian court, they reveal their intention to take advantage of Morhavon's absence from Blackveil to ascertain what became of their beloved Argenthyne. They also invite the King to send a delegation of his own to accompany them. What their true purpose is remains unclear to Sacoridians, but the King and his counselors decide to send a contingent with a Coutre province forester, a soldier, an army officer, and three Green Riders. Because Karigan is the only Rider besides Alton to have been inside Blackveil, she is assigned to the detachment, and must prepare to march into the tainted forest on the day of the spring equinox.

Ms. Britain has not lost her knack of making characters sympathetic, of making simple dialogues interesting and touching at times, but this synopsis is a much harder sell than previous ones where there was more action, more friendship, more heroism and less defeatism. The start of the book is slow. There is much in the way of exposition, and instead of later finding out that there was much actually happening at the same time like in High King's Tomb, later on the reader figures it was still mostly exposition. There is a great deal about Amberhill's departure from Sacor City that seems hard to connect to the actual problems in Sacoridia. It was clumsy to spend so much time on his adventure, I find, if it needed to be elaborated, it could have been done in a following book.

It is obvious to me that the author has tried to make her characters more complex, more conflicted this time around. For example, Karigan must discuss adult topics with her father, as an adult affected by his actions. And I think the struggle for Karigan to understand her father sets the pace of the book. Other characters seem to evolve, Alton, Laren, Zachary and especially Estora who is almost the inverse in terms of character to Karigan. And because Karigan struggles with new roles, and struggles to make choices, this adds to the sense of her isolation.

The tone of the book is much darker than previous ones, of course it makes sense that a trip to Blackveil would be filled with hardships, but all of the other subplots are also very dark in nature. Karigan finds herself isolated or in the process of being isolated in much of the book. Because much of our sympathy is already with Karigan, we also feel bad when she is discouraged. Another factor in why the book is harder to like is despite a few skirmishes, Karigan is less active, less in charge in this book. Much of the action is led by the Eletians, and they just aren't all that easy to empathise since they disdain everyone else and keep their agendas hidden. A political subplot at the castle also makes for hard reading, though it was one of the craftiest pieces of story Ms. Britain has come up with this book. It breaks a dilemma in the series, and creates great dramatic tension.

The ending is also not as well handled as for previous books. I think the actual climax comes too soon. Then the story rushes through some of the most interesting events in the book, when it should have been rewarding us with more actually happening to unravel the plot. A few new ideas are introduced at that moment and a few legendary characters come and go so quickly that it feels like a shame they weren't used more. It's clear that one of those ideas, the tumbler "jester god" is present at another time in the book, but the link seems tenuous and it is not clear enough how the two events relate, in my opinion. And there is the cliffhanger. Actually one should say the cliffhangers. Amberhill's seemingly unconnected story arc ends on a note of suspense that though seems completely unrelated the the Blackveil events, is actually interesting. It is an obvious sequel setting. The other cliffhanger is related to the main story, and is not a thing of suspense. It does not leave us thinking "how?", as in "how is this possible?" or "how did this happen?" or "how will so and so manage from there?". It leaves us asking "what?", as in "what the heck?". That is not suspense, that is curiousity. It leaves us curious.

In previous books, despite the intended sequels, the author still managed to complete her story arcs with some sort of conclusion. In this one, this does not really happen for the main plot and a few other subplots. It does give us a little triumph, but almost no time to enjoy it. Also in this book, the subplots don't come together as neatly at the end as they did in Green Rider and High King's Tomb. Instead, much of the outcome, story and characters, is scattered. I understand this might have been the author's intention, to make the fight with Morhavon more immediate, more desperate, (like the second book of a trilogy, never mind this is book 4 and that I don't think the series is intended for 5 books) but it makes for a less cathartic ending and certainly a more frustrating read.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!
I recently started the Green Rider series and have enjoyed every book so far! Blackveil kept me enthralled throughout the whole book and I can't wait for the next book to be... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Jen

3.0 out of 5 stars A little disappointed
I really enjoyed the book, except, I do not enjoy being left hanging at the end of a book that will take another 3 or 4 years before I find out the outcome. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Colleen A. Bartell

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